Neuroplasticity and Muscle Memory

In the Training Mindset article, I talked about the ubiquitous “Tactical Tool Box” and I wanted to expand on that a little bit. Another way of thinking about the “Tactical Tool Box” was given to me by a friend who put it this way: Every single time you draw from the holster or bring your rifle on target, your mind does the mental equivalent of placing a card into your mind’s file cabinet. The subject of that card is broken down into being either “good” or “bad”. You multiply these cards with constant training and eventually you have a pretty sizeable collection. When your mind does that mental action of “OH MY GOD” and blindly grabs into that file cabinet, it better pull out more good cards than bad. And that is coming from PERFECT practice that makes PERFECT. The reason I harped on the “perfect” is because I have always been told that practice makes perfect. But if I practice putting something together wrong over and over again does that eventually turn that thing into a perfect end state? Absolutely not. So, we have to ensure that we practice our techniques as many times as possible in the most efficient, proficient, and consistent way possible.

Now, I am going to throw out some 10 cent words here, and this is coming from a Marine who has to take his boots off if the counting gets more complex than ten, but I promise you it will be for your benefit. First one is neuroplasticity. Basically, as we learn something new, neurons in our brain are creating a new connection through a process called myelination, in which myelin (a fat- and protein-rich material) surrounds the neuron. Before myelination, these neurons were open connections - like laying a bare wire on a metal table and attempting to make a connection. Since there is nothing guiding the current, it will go in all directions and cause a weak energy transfer. Once we coat the wire in a insulating material (myelin), it directs the current and gives a better transfer of energy though the guidance of the insulation. As this myelination occurs through repetition, that insulation gets thicker and thicker to point where it will actually change the shape of our brain! This is why when we do something for the first time, it usually looks choppy and robotic, but over time it eventually smooths out and becomes one smooth action. This is most commonly called Muscle Memory.  Most animals, when they are born, come with parts of their brain already myelinated - connections such as to walk or to fly. We, as humans, have the capacity for higher brain function which means we generally take longer to build those connections.

I have heard other instructors break it down another way. We start out Unconsciously Incompetent, as in “we don’t know what we don’t know”. Click - no bang and I don’t know why this $2000 rifle is not working. Then we take our first professional class and we move to Conscious Incompetent, as in “I know I suck and I need to train more”. Once we have a long period of good training, we then move to the Conscious Competent where we know we are actively getting better. And at some point, down the road you will be at the end of a heavily dynamic shooting drill or force-on-force scenario where you arrive at the final goal of Unconscious Competence. You completed the task with proficiency and success and you did not have to actively think about what you did. Just like when you drove to work this morning, did you have to think about it? Did you actively thinking about shifting gears or hitting the turn signal as you barreled down the road going 70 MPH? Not at all, and you were probably texting your wife and changing to your favorite radio station at the same time. You have done this task so many times that it has become something you don’t think about, you just naturally do it.

So, start off slow — like Neo from the Matrix slow — and make sure you feel and identify every part of the weapon that is being touched and establish mental indexing points. This is used through a mental process called Haptic Perception or our ability to identify objects by touch. Then move it into the proper position of your presentation or whatever movement you are practicing as perfectly and consistently as possible. This is used by the mental process of proprioception or ability to sense the position of our body parts within our mental personal space.

If you have made it this far, I am sure that you are either mentally fried or a fellow gun nerd. But I want to hammer home that as long as you understand the mental foundations and actions of what your brain is going through, it will help you structure your training to meet that “perfect practice makes perfect” thing I have been trying to saying.

-Win