Life Lesson #33: Muscle Memory

Muscle Memory

Understanding Muscle Memory is understanding the body’s ability to learn and adopt new habits and movements. Whether positive or negative, the body has developed a specific habit over years of repetitive movement. We say that this movement has been ingrained into the athlete’s muscle memory, meaning that the muscles remember a certain way of executing, regardless of conscious thought. In order to break this habit and create change, the body must be re-trained. In essence, the body requires a manual override. As instructors, we must assist the athlete to consciously make a specific change, over and over again, until the new movement becomes habit. In this example, the phrase Muscle Memory refers to the way in which the body executes, accepts and learns a new movement. When explaining muscle memory to kids, I use the following order of statements to break down the idea. Let’s take a specific example to explain how muscle memory is involved with changing a baseball habit. We’ll use the common flaw of rushing to the plate, not staying back early in the pitching delivery. Right now, when an athlete executes his pitching motion without thinking, he will rush to the plate – the movement currently in his muscle memory. The athlete needs to realize and accept the fact that his body is rushing forward, understand some of the negative results associated with such a habit, and then have the desire to correct it. With that being said, in order to change this habit, the athlete needs to engage his brain each and every pitch to consciously make an effort to stay back. And do this enough times so that when he doesn’t think about it, the body still repeats the new, desired movement (staying back). The brain leads the body to change, and we must control our brain’s thoughts. • Without thinking, you do something one way • You are being asked to do it another way • If you trust in your coach, and the movement makes sense, you are willing to change • You need to think about the new movement each and every pitch • Do this enough times to ensure that the body performs the new movement without thinking • When you execute the new movement without consciously thinking about it, you’ve trained your muscle memory and created a new, more positive, habit Typically, athletes fight change. They are comfortable doing something a certain way and are hesitant to adopt new, different methods of movement. They must first trust an instructor or coach, and believe that he is truly attempting to help. Secondly, they should understand why they are being asked to change, and exactly how that change will benefit them. With trust and understanding, combined with tons of effort, an athlete can manually retrain his muscle memory so that a new (more positive) movement is executed without thinking. Better to build good habits early, then try and break back habits later. Get better!