Fundamentals, Virtuosity, and Mastery

Summary

Greg Glassman comes from a competitive gymnastics background. In gymnastics, the perfect routine can only achieve 9.7 out of 10 total points. The last .3 is given from showing risk, originality, and virtuosity.

Risk and originality are fairly straight forward. Risk is performing a movement that is likely to be botched and originality is coming up with a routine that is unique to you.

The main focus of this article is virtuosity.

Virtuosity is defined as performing the common uncommonly well.

Mastery of a skill comes from the basic mechanics of movement, not the ability to squeak out ‘advanced’ movements. The curse of the novice for both coaches and athletes is to want to move past the fundamentals and chase fancy movements.

Greg gives a great example of teaching the snatch before the overhead squat, or the overhead squat before the air squat. If you’re knees and ankles cave in, you lose your midline, or can’t keep your heels down in an air squat, you have no business attempting an overhead squat let alone a snatch.

We all have the tendancy to reach for the next shiny thing but this is a good reminder that results will come from mastering the basics which build a base for bigger and better things.

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Highlights

• [page 1]: Fundamentals, Virtuosity, and Mastery

Stamp [page 1]:

• [page 1]: In gymnastics, completing a routine without error will not get you a perfect score, the 10.0—only a 9.7. To get the last three tenths of a point, you must demonstrate “risk, originality, and virtuosity” as well as make no mistakes in execution of the routine.

• [page 1]: Risk is simply executing a movement that is likely to be missed or botched; originality is a movement or combination of movements unique to the athlete

• [page 1]: Virtuosity is defined in gymnastics as “performing the common uncommonly well.”

• [page 1]: Unlike risk and originality, virtuosity is elusive, supremely elusive. It is, however, readily recognized by audience as well as coach and athlete.

• [page 1]: it is always the mark of true mastery (and of genius and beauty).

• [page 1]: There is a compelling tendency among novices developing any skill or art, whether learning to play the violin, write poetry, or compete in gymnastics, to quickly move past the fundamentals and on to more elaborate, more sophisticated movements, skills, or techniques.

• [page 1]: If you’ve ever had the opportunity to be taught by the very best in any field you’ve likely been surprised at how simple, how fundamental, how basic the instruction was. The novice’s curse afflicts learner and teacher alike.

• [page 1]: What will inevitably doom a physical training program and dilute a coach’s efficacy is a lack of commitment to fundamentals.

• [page 1]: Rarely now do we see prescribed the short, intense couplets or triplets that epitomize CrossFit programming.

• [page 2]: The urge to quickly move away from the basics and toward advanced movements arises out of the natural desire to entertain your client and impress him with your skills and knowledge.

• [page 2]: Teaching a snatch where there is not yet an overhead squat, teaching an overhead squat where there is not yet an air squat, is a colossal mistake. This rush to advancement increases the chance of injury, delays advancement and progress, and blunts the client’s rate of return on his efforts.

• [page 2]: There is plenty of time within an hour session to warm up, practice a basic movement or skill or pursue a new PR or max lift, discuss and critique the athletes’ efforts, and then pound out a tight little couplet or triplet utilizing these skills or just play. Play is important. Tire flipping, basketball, relay races, tag, Hooverball, and the like are essential to good programming, but they are seasoning—like salt, pepper, and oregano.

• [page 2]: But good enough never is, and we want that last tenth of a point, the whole 10.0. We want virtuosity!!