okansas.blogspot.com Occassional thoughts about orienteering
Thursday, June 19, 2008
But can you teach someone to navigate?
But can you teach someone to navigate?
That's a good question. I guess the easy answer is - yes, but there might be some natural "talent" involved, too.
One reason it is so hard to learn to navigate is that it is so hard to "feel" what a better navigator is doing. How does Thierry Gueorgiou think? What does it feel like to navigate the way he does for a leg?
It is a lot easier to get a sense of what it feels like to run like Gueorgiou. You can get an idea by running really fast through the forest. You probably can't hold his pace for very long, but for a short distance you can get a feeling for his speed.
But what does it feel like to look at a map, make the navigation decisions, and then follow through like a World Champion? That's a lot harder to get an understanding of.
Because it is hard to understand how a better navigator thinks and feels, it is harder to figure out how to get to that level.
I suspect the same issue makes it hard to reach your potential in any activity that relies on something going on inside the brain.
