What is a Practice Session?

What in fact is practice? Is it all sailing other than racing? Racing other than important regattas? All sailing and racing until you quit trying to improve?

We talk about practicing to improve our Laser sailing and racing skills, but is racing different than practice? Clearly sailing alone and repeating boat handling or mark rounding drills is what we traditionally think of as practice. It would be hard though, to make a case against competitive racing also being a great practice routine.  Each time I put my Laser in the water, actually each time I visualize sailing or racing, or read a sailing book I improve my responses and or thinking the next time I sail. Which experiences are practice and what should we call the other experiences – real sailing?

Some of this blurred language comes out of our cultural tendency to see accomplishment as achieving a particular point – the mountain peak, the winner’s circle – and not valuing as highly the process or journey we’re making. (Funny, that’s one of the things we razz our powerboat friends about; they’re trying to get someplace, while we’re enjoying the process.) Accomplishment is as much about making positive small steps toward greater competency as about passing by one of the more notable goals we’ve set for ourselves on our way to the same place, greater competency.

I see my Laser sailing as a long-term learning process. Each time I bring sailing into my consciousness, read an article, work on boat-prep or go out on the water in my Laser for any reason, I am building my skills. I build my skills through solitary practice, when working on specific skills with other sailors, and through competing with other Laser sailors in organized races.

What I used to think of as practice I now think of as getting time in the boat (experience.) All time in the boat or time thinking or reading about the boat is a part of the experience I bring with me the next time I go sailing or racing, and the next race is experience I take with me into the following race.

So what we used to say about practice, “Have a goal and a focus,” becomes true about every sailing experience. The goal or focus sharpens your awareness and encourages you to repeat (practice?) the maneuver or experience until you become unconsciously competent at it.