One of the keys to success in poker is learning how to learn. The adult learning model, popularised in poker by Jared Tendler, is the perfect blueprint. Using this model, you will be able to streamline your progress and reach your goals in optimal time.
Why the Adult Learning Model
The study of learning over many decades has revealed that adults and children learn in different ways. It’s no secret that kids can absorb new information like a sponge soaks up water.
As poker players this is a key point, because there are a few pitfalls if you try to learn too fast. Adults simply cannot race ahead or else disaster for your bankroll awaits you.
The adult learning model is a simple four-stage process which easily highlights to the learner where they are at. It is not poker specific either. It is knowledge that academics in psychology departments around the world have known for years.
Level One – Unconscious Incompetence – You have no idea what you are supposed to be doing. At this stage you don’t know why you are bad, or how to change that.
Level Two – Conscious Incompetence – Now you have experienced an awakening. You have learned what you need to do, but you lack any skills to accomplish this.
Level Three – Conscious Competence – Your skills have now reached a level that is close to what you are aiming for. The issue is that you cannot perform the actions without a great mental effort. This takes away from your free mental space to perform other tasks.
Level Four – Unconscious Competence – Now you have arrived at the point of mastery. Your actions are automatic and require little to no conscious thought. This is the ultimate aim when you learn any kind of new skill.
The Pitfalls
Poker is an unusual discipline in that the number of technical skills is extremely high. Not all of them are complex, but often they do require a time investment to master.
This dynamic leads to players moving on to learn new material before they have achieved level four mastery. What now happens is that your mental space begins to fill up, eventually overflowing leading you to a state of confused frustration.
Once you arrive in this flustered state of mind you will no longer be able to perform at your peak. It is at this stage where all the mental game leak possibilities start to show themselves.
How to Optimise Your Learning
There is a clear, but unusual, method that will direct you towards the most optimal area for learning. It is known as inchworm learning.
Looking at the graph above you can see the possible range of performances and the frequency at which they occur. It is natural to see this varying range, so take comfort in knowing that everybody has a C-game. It’s not just you.
The concept is easy to utilise. You have a choice between working on your weaknesses or on new skills. Improving a weak skill to level four will make the back of your graph move to the right. This will make your strong performances occur more frequently.
Working on new material will also make your graph move to the right. Only this time it will flatten the curve. This means that your range of performances will increase. Once this happens it is crucial that you return to working on your weaknesses.
Following the inchworm approach while keeping in mind the four-stage adult learning model will guarantee you success at the tables.
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