How to learn (or teach) any skill in 3 simple steps

Stephen Wardell Curry is the best shooter to ever pick up a basketball.

He wasn't born that way; shooting a basketball is a skill. Steph had to learn that skill.

Here is a very cool video from 2019 about how he did that.

^ In that 12-minute video, they cover a lot. But tucked right there in the middle, right around the 4:15 mark, is the nugget that gives you the key to learning anything in the world.

It's a pretty simple 3-step process.

Step 1, practice the things you're comfortable with. The things you can do pretty automatically at this point, without exerting any conscious thought or effort.

Step 2, increase the difficulty little by little until you reach a move that's you can't complete automatically. Something you have to consciously exert effort to be able to complete. Notice the changes in your body and breathing.

How do you know when you've reached Step 2? Brandon Payne, Steph's trainer, spotted a telltale sign in Curry. Payne noticed that when Steph started holding his breath while performing a movement, this was the first sign that the current activity put him in a state of "neuromuscular overload". That's when the physical demands placed on the nervous system and muscle fibers exceed their current capacity to process signals, contract, and recover. Basically, it means the move is too hard to complete comfortably or automatically. It functions as a big sign saying "Congratulations, you've reached step 2! You are at the edge of your current capabilities and are now nudging the frontier of your abilities outward into new territory." (It's a big sign.)

Step 3, practice that movement or activity until you can complete it comfortably, with steady breathing, without having to exert much conscious effort. Practice it until it feels relatively easy. How long will this take? It depends on the person, the difficulty of the skill being practiced, and so on. Be kind to yourself and be patient.

That's it. That's the process.

With this method, you can learn pretty much any physical skill your body is capable of performing, and you can teach anyone the same.