Preview, Practice, Perform

I've been playing a good amount of Mario Kart lately. Specifically, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for the Nintendo Switch. This game has a dozen "cups," sets of four race courses each, and it has five settings for speed: 50cc, 100cc, 150cc, 150cc (but the courses are all flipped to be mirror images of the way they normally are), and 200cc. 200cc races are insanely fast, and racing at these speeds requires different mechanics than racing at the slower speeds does. I've been trying, with some success, to master the courses at 200cc, and I've actually figured out a program that makes this fairly manageable.

First, I "preview" the cup I want to master. I make an initial attempt at it, not really expecting to do well, but expecting to learn. I refamiliarize myself with the layout of each course, identify the turns that'll be difficult to take at these speeds, and try to figure out the best way to race those courses. If any of the courses are particularly challenging, I move on to the next phase: Practice.

In addition to the racing cups, you can also set up "VS Races," where, instead of racing the same four courses in a specific order, you can choose which courses to race on, and in which order. Using VS Races, I can race on the same course repeatedly, practicing that course specifically, until I get good at it.

Once I'm confident with each course in the set, I attempt to "perform" that set of races, to see if I have truly mastered that cup. I attempt each course in order, and if I get first place in all four races, I have mastered that cup.

But I realize that this "Preview, Practice, and Perform" program can be used for far more than just Mario Kart. Almost any skill could benefit from approaching it this way. First, take a stab at it and find areas where you're weak, then practice those areas specifically, then try again once you've mastered the areas in which you previously struggled. If any weak spots remain, identify them and practice them. If not, then congratulations, you have successfully mastered that skill. Granted, not all skills can be safely "previewed." Some skills need to be studied and practiced extensively before an actual attempt is made. Yet, with skills with lower-stakes, previewing them can be a good way to identify areas where you need to practice before you can perform again.

I glad that I learned this program from a low-stakes skill like playing Mario Kart. I'm looking forward to applying the Preview, Practice, and Perform program to other skills in real life.