How do most people watch video? They sit idly, listen to the filmmaker speak and are "out" somewhere until they hear or see something spectacular or something they disagree with. If something exciting happens they are interested, but their interest is tied to the theoretical part of their mind. That is why it is good to watch videos to develop your theoretical "muscles", but not so good to practise.
Do you remember what we discussed about the benefits of commenting? So, watching a video here can be very useful to simulate sweating. If you watch a video and imagine that you are actually playing the hands on the screen, if you can really visualise them, this action will activate completely different neural networks in your brain than passive observation. You can then imagine that the person filming is talking to you and telling you what to do. I would even suggest that you actually press that button on the screen, as if you were really playing poker. It may sound silly the first time you hear it, because we have identified with the idea that poker is a mind game, that knowing what to do and doing it are one and undifferentiated set of skills. Each video is an opportunity to put yourself completely inside another player's mind, to test your physical and mental limits in a safe environment. All it takes is visualisation and commitment.
Always bear in mind the power of fear and the walls of the mind, and remember how hard it can be to just press a button. You may think it's not that important, but the difference between pulling a bluff and calling a bluff but not pulling it off is more than pushing a button. If you've seen a bluff many times in many videos but never performed it yourself, it's usually just the fear of pushing the button that holds you back. Respect the physicality of poker. A simple action like shaking it off with an all-in or a bold bluff by pressing the button in a paused video can make a big difference in the next poker session.
Practice as if you were playing for real. Anything that can make your practice, learning and preparation as close to real poker as possible will dramatically increase your skill. Your mind is not as smart as you are - it can easily be fooled. Take advantage of visualisation, different techniques and detailed rehearsal.
Finally, let's look at targeted training. If we want our practice to be as close as possible to our actual performance, we should deliberately practise it while playing poker. Practice that has a specific purpose provides the perfect opportunity for this.
The first and simplest targeted training is the separation of attention. If you want to practice 3-barrelling, focus on that during the session. Pay extra attention every time there is an opportunity for a third barrel.In short, make your session about 3-barrels, and let everything else be in the background. It may seem too simple, but in fact it is very effective in improving a particular skill.
And of course remember the three types of learning we've already discussed - theory, practice and emotion. By disengaging your attention during the game, you can strengthen your theory or emotional neural networks. Let's say you have an emotional problem, you expect to lose every coinflip. You can play a focused session where you practice mentally imagining that you will win every coinflip. If you know that you are weak in certain situations and can isolate and neutralise your natural reaction, this session will especially enhance your learning process and growth.
The second type of goal-oriented training is artificial 
Experiment. In such an experiment, you will temporarily create rules to help you strengthen a particular skill for a certain period of time.
What does this look like in reality? Let's say you have a lot of trouble with 3-betters out of position. You can create an artificial excercism by going down a few limits and playing a session where you call every 3-bet out of position and try to play well postflop. By isolating yourself and constantly facing this situation, you will quickly gain experience and also force yourself to face your preconceived notions of what it means to be in this situation. Artificial experimentation is not only valuable for new experiences or perceptions of possibilities, but it can also break through a recurring negative belief, such as "it's impossible to play well when you're calling 3-bet out of position".
If you have a good strategy or psychology coach who guides you in the learning process in the right direction, ideally you would still have a regimen where you learn all these techniques to strengthen your weaknesses. But even without a coach, you are free to do this. By incorporating a sufficient amount of risk, mind maps, and good thorough preparation into your schedule, you will balance your growth in poker.
Haseeb Qureshi
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