Brave, not flawless.
Why mistakes belong in practice.
For coaches and parents · 2 min read
A practice where everything works feels good. Often, not much is learned in it. Learning research separates performance during practice from what actually sticks. Conditions that make practice harder and produce more mistakes often lead to better retention. Robert and Elizabeth Bjork call them "desirable difficulties" (Bjork & Bjork, 2011). They are only desirable, though, as long as the kid can solve the task with the skills they have.
How hard, exactly? The challenge point framework says: if a task is too easy, you learn little. If it is far too hard, you learn little as well. You learn most when you practice just above your current level (Guadagnoli & Lee, 2004). For coaches that means: don't make a drill easier after the first mistake. Make it easier only when hardly anything works anymore.
Variety in practice helps too, but less than you often read. A review found a positive effect on transfer to the game, but it was small in studies from everyday training (Czyż, Wójcik & Solarská, 2024).
Kids only play bravely when a mistake isn't punished: no groaning from the bench, no subbing out after the first turnover, no comments from teammates or from the stands. That goes for parents as much as for coaches.
Our theses
- A practice without mistakes was too easy.
- A drill gets easier only when hardly anything works anymore, not after the first mistake.
- A kid who gets subbed out for mistakes learns one thing above all: to stop taking risks.
In PRACTX
- In PRACTX AI's planning, mistakes alone are no reason to make a task easier. The explanation for every planned session tells you whether a focus area was kept, stepped up or simplified.
- Under "Rules and philosophy" you'll find matching team standards, for example "We want brave players, not flawless players.", "We don't blame anyone for mistakes." and "After a mistake we move straight to the next play." Players confirm them in the app.
- The CLA rule variations on three levels help you set the right difficulty for a drill.
Sources
- Bjork, E. L. & Bjork, R. A. (2011). Making things hard on yourself, but in a good way: Creating desirable difficulties to enhance learning. In M. A. Gernsbacher, R. W. Pew, L. M. Hough & J. R. Pomerantz (Eds.), Psychology and the real world (pp. 56–64). New York: Worth.
- Czyż, S. H., Wójcik, A. M. & Solarská, P. (2024). The effect of contextual interference on transfer in motor learning: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology. PMID 39205981.
- Guadagnoli, M. A. & Lee, T. D. (2004). Challenge point: A framework for conceptualizing the effects of various practice conditions in motor learning. Journal of Motor Behavior, 36(2), 212–224.
As of 29 September 2026