Under development May 12, 2026 will be finished soon
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The first part of this three part blog explained what is "Muscle Memory" in a sport performance with a warning of different meanings. In some sports, like curling, new students are explained how to develop "Muscle Memory" while in others like Lawn Bowls the athlete learn about it themself. Eventually all athletes reach the personal development of where their physical and psychological development are the next steps.
Once we have developed an instinctive performance (Muscle Memory) our future progress is to make changes without allowing the conscious mind to interrupt our instinctive performance. Here I will attempt to show how we can build step by step changes to our "Muscle Memory Performance" by allowing with practice the subconscious mind to correct the errors which often occur because of changes in our condition of play or our body's tiredness or laziness.
Yes, the experience of having things go wrong can be a teacher but first we must understand why certain set-back in our performance progress occur and teach our subconscious mind how to correct them. In a blog about petanque, where I was assisting an international elite prepare for a World competition I show him that the subconscious mind was able to see his performance with the precision of millimeters at his distance of 7.5 meters ( almost 25 feet) and afterward indicate a result because of that precision. And if you think of how small a muscle tension of the eyes is when we judge speed of a on-coming car over 50 meters away by the eye muscle's tension (re-focus on the car's movement): you can understand how detail we can development instinctive performance by just thinking of them during our delivery procedures. Yes, there is mental skills which require practice the same as a physical skill but by knowing our direction of progress we will advance faster and give us more satification in our progress.
The first part also gave a couple of examples of changes which were required and how "Tags" were used to communicate to the "Muscle Memory" so as not to interrupt the subconscious mind's instinctive performance. The sport of Petanque was used because there we find the biggest problem of a "Muscle Memory" interruption. The athlete actually performs a missed take-out shot because the short duration of time between his performance and seeing his result success or failure very often prevents their "Muscle Memory" from finishing because they think of seeing their success. The instruction for the eyes to see the shot actually creates a incompleted performance.
The basic principle of using the Muscle Memory "Tags" (memory thoughts) is to make a change or improvement rather than do hours after hours of physical practice which would be required from performance experience. This method will develop a communication of your intention of expected change to the subconscious mind who will practice will automaticly make that change.
If I was watching a Youtube video and something was said which I wanted to type into my blog; I would not be able to complete remember the sentence before I finished typing it. Because I am visual and if my Muscle Memory is "touch typing" my vocal memory is lost because I am visual in my natural abilities. My daughter is vocal or audio in her nature and if she is doing something with need of concentration she must have earplugs with music or her instinctive performance is interrupted. So some people are visual and other audio and the choice of a "Tag" must reflect that nature else it will create an interruption.
So "Visual Tag" or "Audio Tag" are needed to use. A coach in suggesting a "Tag" as a remainder to muscle memory, must first define the type of memory nature of that individual. As there are two type of individuals: "Visual Aware" individuals and "Audio Aware" individual.Myself, if I am building a "Tag" it must be visual if mental. However, any "Tag" which is physical and does not interfer with the muscles of the performance will work well with out creating a "Muscle Memory" interruption.
In seeing a memory of a previous lawn bowl rolling up the green in our "Mind's Eye, which is a visual image we are remembering as it happen when I was playing at that distance, I can compare it with the jack distance and maybe even change it for another memory. This is used just prior to the start of "Muscle Memory" to communicate to my subconscious mind information like the actual Jack distance.
Now don't read this and not look at the two videos (below) for the first couple of minutes because if you don't watch and see what is common in these two videos (petanque and Lawn Bowls) you will not understand what "Muscle Memory'' can do. Remember, the mind is working by its self when "Muscle Memory" is doing it instinctive performance. In both these videos have the athlete is communicating to the subconscious the distance to the target. Below the Youtube Petanque video of Mark Watch the video of Petanque (Mark Wildeboer) below after the lawn bowls Youtube video of the 2016 World Bowls Pairs Gold Medal Championship Game where New Zealand lead, Angela Boyd who seems to do far too many arm swings before her delivery of the bowl up the green. Because the announcer does not know what is happening as Angela perfect her Delivery Style by "Telling the Muscle Memory the distance to the Jack" We hear the game announcer say "
ILikewise in the Petanque "Takeout" practice the Youtube video we see "Mark Wildeboer Petanque Shooting" ) with that toe-tapping "Tag" of communication to his "Muscle Memory" as to the "target ball" distance. Now that you have looked at both video's beginning what to you see that is common. "The toe Tapping" which is a "Tag" of repeated actions until the distance is known by the individual's mind. Like you feel the void of "Muscle Memory" so also you feel the correct distance and know to do you performance.
Actually what both Angela and Mark are doing is seeing their bowl roll up the green or in Mark's case, his ball flying toward the target. In their remembering the mental image and memory of the shot; they are both giving the "Muscle Memory a measure of the distance. Mark is seeing his ball fly to the target and Angela is looking a one memory image and as she watches it, realize it is not the correct image for the jack distance and changing it for an memory image of a bowl rolling to a farther jack. In both cases when they feel, or see the proper distance they allow the Muscle Memory to begin it's performance.
In Petanque there is such a short distance to the target that the time elapse between the "Finish of "Muscle Memory", (his ball throw release) and the ball's striking the target ball; (2nd screen shot); that Mark needs to allow his muscle memory to finish it Performance. The problem with many Petanque players is that if they think about "the result of their shot", then the conscious mind see it as a request to look at the target and "Looking" means taking control of the "Muscle Memory Performance" before it has finished.
In wanting to see the result of the take-out shot Mark must not see the action but hear the balls hitting. (Easy for a audive individual) and Angela has to see her bowl roll all the way to the jack. (Easy for a Visual individual) For Mark, the thought of wanting to see if he is successful will interrupted his "Muscle Memory Performance" caused the athlete to miss the shot. The opposite is so with Angela who if her concentration is off and she hears a sound distraction she will not have the distance. In both the tag is a "Toe Tapping" but where Marc probably has to do his shot after a set number of projection, (my self it is 4) Angela must do her projections until she is confidence of her distance is right.
Angela is doing a memory viewing and is likewise showing the distance but she has 15 seconds before her bowl arrives in the head and she see the result. (15 seconds because of the slow wet green speed). If Mark is not listening for that sound, which means his subconscious mind has preformed his instinctive shot. Mark will probably feel the "Muscle Memory" Void and hear the sound of his performance's success.
We see that Mark is an "Audive individual" and uses for his takeout performance a "Tag" as a auditive thought, or the sound of the petanque balls's making contact. We saw that Angela had to maintain concentration so sound did not destroy her "Muscle Memory and that Mark in doing a Petanque take=out must not allow a lack of patience to seek out the image of the successful shot if he wants to keep his auditive "Tag". This impatience is a major part of Petanque athletes failure at shots.
A "Tag" was introduced (the toe tapping) to allow the Muscle Memory to finish it "Muscle Memory Performance". The "Muscle Memory" Lawn Bowl athlete must h collect a thought or memory action (as an image) where they are viewing the memory of a previous performance. The raison for the toe-tapping is still there is that it was a "Tag" and it has now stayed a a control In thinking or physicially doing the toe-tapping, the Muscle Memory is not yet started. The same with Petanque, (Mark will be counting his toe taps) and when he has reached his count he will release his Takeout shot. (For me the count is 4 projection of distance.) while Angela likewise is thinking of her toe- Tapping until her visualize is to her satification and then allows Muscle Memory to complete the performance. These actions are called "Tells" like the Poker player sees "Tells" in his fellow player as indication of their thought. A very common tell in both sports is "Body Language" Tells. If the individual (any sport) is psychologic down his body is with his head low and bedy bend forward. Time for a coach sign of "Get it together" as they extend the "Muscle Memory" to completion. In Petanque, the release of the thrown ball; in Lawn Bowls geing sure of the feeling of distance and the Roll of the Bowl..
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