Slingshot Orbit of Technology

On the heels of the USMNT’s elimination from the upcoming World Cup, correspondent Jon Frankel meets Tom Byer, an unlikely development coach who’s been a big hit in Japan and China – and whose unique recipe for soccer success may be making its way to America.

Kicking should not be the first technique kids learn. Children should develop a love of keeping the ball close and gaining confidence with ball skills, what Byer calls “delivery mechanisms”. This technical component has been credited for helping improve the skill level of the Japans men’s and women’s teams over the past 15 years. With the women winning the 2011 World Cup.

Considered “an overall rethink” a common thread of success, parents. “Kids can start acquiring technical skills from a much earlier age. That’s not going to happen unless their’s an engagement by parents. It’s not happening with coaches … technical skills are rarely the result of coaching.” Byer points out that there are 211 countries in FIFA with only eight ever winning the men’s World Cup; with only three serial winners: Brazil, Germany and Italy.

Kids who come from a culture at home that values education will usually be the ones who excel in school. “It’s the same thing with soccer,” he said. “This is the missing link to what’s happening in the United States.” However parents are basically kicking the ball back and forth and therefor conditioning them form a young age that it’s a kicking game. Kids need to be more technically competent before they step into organized play.

An unfortunate fact of human nature is that when people make up their mind about something, they tend not to change it — even when confronted with facts to the contrary. “It’s very unscientific,” Musk says. “There’s this thing called physics, which is this scientific method that’s really quite effective for figuring out the truth.” The scientific method is a phrase Musk uses often when asked how he came up with an idea, solved a problem or chose to start a business. Here’s how he defines it for his purposes, in mostly his own words:

1. Ask a question.
2. Gather as much evidence as possible about it.
3. Develop axioms based on the evidence, and try to assign a probability of truth to each one.
4. Draw a conclusion based on cogency in order to determine: Are these axioms correct, are they relevant, do they necessarily lead to this conclusion, and with what probability?
5. Attempt to disprove the conclusion. Seek refutation from others to further help break your conclusion.
6. If nobody can invalidate your conclusion, then you’re probably right, but you’re not certainly right.

via: http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/elon-musk-inventors-plans-for-outer-space-cars-finding-love-w511747