When practice doesn't make perfect

[Sacman]

Personally, I'm not much of a practicer... I simply don't have the patience to sit there and essentially irl grind... so if I don't pick it up quickly, or if its not fun I usually don't bother...<.<

And when it comes to something like guitar... I really don't practice in the slightest... I can read a bit of music and know some basic scales, but for the most part I just sit there and play... there's no practicing chord progression or mapping out scales on the neck or switching between picking styles... that all gets really tedious and frustrating... easier just to play... and its more fun.. but than I've been playing for so long I don't really need to practice anymore... I'm hardly a shredded, but I'm at a place i like...

 

[DugMachine]

Then keep practicing. I think I read somewhere it takes on average, 10,000 hours to be a master at something. I'm not even close to that on guitar but I've practiced enough to not be that guy who goes "Oh I don't know that one, let me play Wonderwall again."

 

[Nouw]

It's not only the amount of practice that you put in, it is how you practice. You can sing all day if you want, but if you're not doing the proper techniques chances are you're not going to get better. Of course then there's luck, and all those other factors.

Then keep practicing. I think I read somewhere it takes on average, 10,000 hours to be a master at something. I'm not even close to that on guitar but I've practiced enough to not be that guy who goes "Oh I don't know that one, let me play Wonderwall again."

10,000 hours is a number mentioned in a book I read called Outliers. If you want to be the absolute best, and I'm talking Beatles/Bill Gates here, go for 10,000 hours. It won't guarantee success, I recommend reading the book, but it is incredibly helpful.

 

[Spade Lead]

For some reason, no matter how much I practice stuff, I somehow never get better (hell, sometimes, I get worse for some reason). Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can better myself despite this? (and don't say it's all in my head, it's not, I literally get worse sometimes when I practice something).

Practice RIGHT. Over-practicing makes it harder to learn things, as well as leaving you more likely to get injured in sports. Practice for a while, take a break, practice later on, or tomorrow. Also, sometimes take a break completely.

Example: I was DESPERATE to crack my brother's best time on Gran Tursimo 3 on a track, and the harder I pushed myself, the slower my times were. So I quit. Drove some other tracks, ended up playing other games, and basically ignored the goal of beating his time on that track. Then I came back and CRUSHED it by over two seconds on my third try after not playing the game at all for two weeks.

Sometimes you just need to take a break and concentrate on something else before your mind will figure out what you were doing wrong and you will get it right.

My brother used to do the same thing while skating. Can't master the Kick Flip? Take a few days off, come back and try again. He got it the first day after taking a week off of skating.

 

[DarklordKyo]

When practicing doesn't work, use gun.

If that don't work, use more gun.

That don't work...

Spoiler: USE MOAR DAKKA!

OK, more seriously, practice something enough, and will stick. How much that is, however, may depend greatly on what kind of person you are, and maybe you should consider a different hobby.

Okay, hilarious TF2 & (possibly) tvtropes references are hilarious, you win the internet for the day sir or madame.

 

[Byte2222]

For some reason, no matter how much I practice stuff, I somehow never get better (hell, sometimes, I get worse for some reason). Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can better myself despite this? (and don't say it's all in my head, it's not, I literally get worse sometimes when I practice something).

Practice RIGHT. Over-practicing makes it harder to learn things, as well as leaving you more likely to get injured in sports. Practice for a while, take a break, practice later on, or tomorrow. Also, sometimes take a break completely.

Example: I was DESPERATE to crack my brother's best time on Gran Tursimo 3 on a track, and the harder I pushed myself, the slower my times were. So I quit. Drove some other tracks, ended up playing other games, and basically ignored the goal of beating his time on that track. Then I came back and CRUSHED it by over two seconds on my third try after not playing the game at all for two weeks.

Sometimes you just need to take a break and concentrate on something else before your mind will figure out what you were doing wrong and you will get it right.

My brother used to do the same thing while skating. Can't master the Kick Flip? Take a few days off, come back and try again. He got it the first day after taking a week off of skating.

I'm agreeing with this too, you need to make the best use of your practice time, not overdo it and, if it's really not working, do something else. I do archery and know that, when I'm having a bad day, shooting for 3 hours is only going to make me worse, it's better to go home, clear my mind and try again tomorrow. The same thing's true with music (although you can slow that down). Similarly, when studying take a short break if you're having trouble concentrating and if it's really not working, try again tomorrow. This also means doing your homework earlier than the night before though

 

[Scarim Coral]

Technically it all about time, you cannot expect perfection in such a short time like a week however that imply more toward work like art, model making and etc. From what you said, you simply want to be better mostly at gaming and abit of a foreign languages (which is not my forte) which is a different thing.

 

[Denamic]

Fun fact: The more skilled you are at something, the more you'll be aware of how unskilled you are at it, whereas unskilled people are less aware of their inadequacies.
It's likely that you actually do get better at stuff, but because of your increased insight into the matter, you become more critical of your performance.

 

[krazykidd]

Trying is the first step to failure .

Seriously though . Pin point what you are failing at and why . When you can determin the source of your failings finding a way around it is easy . Then practice THAT . As for beyonetta hard mode , know you options , and try to figure out what's best in each given situation .

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Maybe it's an issue of focus? Pick one thing to really focus on for however many weeks and see if that helps. Maybe focus on one of the languages you're trying to learn for 2 weeks and NOTHING ELSE (except maybe Bayonetta) and see where that takes you.