Understanding rider progression

We know people learn by starting with being unconsciously incompetent (don’t know what they don’t know), then they become consciously incompetent (know what they don’t know), then as they practice the trick they become consciously competent (have to think about what they do in order to do it), and after having learned the trick and practiced enough they become unconsciously competent (they can do it without thinking about it).

If we plotted a riders progression as they learn a new trick on a graph with Ability on the y and Time on the x axis, I bet it would go up in steps. The ‘up’ bits are the rider going through the learning process to become consciously competent, and the ‘along’ bit is the rider performing the trick with unconscious competence.

Rider Progression Graph

I have absolutely no science to back any of this up, but I reckon the optimum progression rate would have an overall plot angle of 45 degrees. If the rider progresses at a steeper angle they aren’t giving themselves time to become unconsciously competent, and when it comes to doing complicated tricks in the air the rider doesn’t have much time to think about getting it right. Steep progression angles seem to have a higher risk of injury.

A rider can progress at a shallower angle, but they may become bored. Everyone learns at a different rate, and finding the right progression rate and setting yourself a timetable that says you aren’t going to try the next trick until you’ve done this trick a certain number of times, you may help get better without getting injured. And maybe part of the job of a good Instructor is to help riders progress in this way.