Why so many reps in instructional videos?
This is something I’ve been wondering about for a long time but kept forgetting to throw out there. It’s the kind of thing that drives me a little nuts.
I love to learn, and will seek out all sorts of information looking for something new to incorporate. As a result, I end up watching a lot of instructional videos.
What I often find is that a lot of time on the videos are spent showing the same drill being executed over and over again. If you’re demonstrating a drill, why do we have to sit there for 30 seconds, or a minute (which feels like an eternity in the Internet age) watching 20 or 30 reps of a drill?
Wouldn’t it make more sense to explain the drill and its purpose, have a player do maybe five repetitions, and then move on? I mean, if I need more reps I can just run the video back with my mouse (if I’m watching on the computer) or a remote (if I’m watch a DVD).
What I often find is that I end up watching a lot of these videos on 2X speed, or dragging the bar forward, just so I can get on to the next piece of information. Unfortunately, if whoever made the video says something brilliant during repetition 20 I’m probably going to miss it.
Maybe this is a holdover from the days of VHS tapes, where fast-forwarding ran a small risk of breaking the tape. Or maybe it’s a function of having 15 minutes of content but needing a 40 minute video in order to sell it.
I don’t know, but please, please, please. Can we minimize the reps when there’s nothing new happening and speed things up?
Am I alone in this? Does it drive anyone else crazy to have watch the same person do the same things over and over and over again?
Posted on August 27, 2015, in Instruction and tagged fastpitch softball, instructional videos. Bookmark the permalink. 1 Comment.
YES, YES, I will do the same things, If I want to see a drill I’ll put the one instance in slow mo to get a good look at everything but the repetitive views are a big turn off.
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