Muscle Memory ... Good or Bad?

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pygmalion

Well-Known Member
Everywhere you turn in the sports and dance worlds, someone is singing the praises of muscle memory. Just put your body in so-and-so position, and your muscles will "learn" it. At least, that's the common wisdom, for what it's worth.

I really believe in muscle memory, to be honest. But I also remember the many, many hours I've spent trying to un-learn the muscle memory from years of playing violin -- my right wrist just "wants" to go into a certain position which would be VERY ugly for ballroom dance. So muscle memory is working against me, in that case.

Questions. What is muscle memory, anyway? Do you think it works to a dancer's advantage? Why or why not?
 
Do you think it works to a dancer's advantage? Why or why not?
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once they told me to pretend i was holding a violin i adapted to the left hand position for AT very easily. i tend to use analogies like that to explain frame & movement when teaching dance when i know about my students' background & specific hobbies.

repeating iterations can be of benefit. but practice doesn't make perfect. perfect practice makes perfect.
 
This is a great topic . . . muscle memory . . . something that I truly believe and trust in . . . albeit, flak from both sides of the issue will sustain the debate forever.

One thought . . . I would ask this of the epitome of dancers that use muscle memory - the bellydancer! Hope that they are reading . . .
 
I guess it can be a bad thing if your muscles' memory isn't really good, or accurate. I got used to doing certain things in a certain way when I started out with a less-than-average studio and have spent a lot of time trying to un-do those things. That's the hard part of muscle memory for me.

On a coincidental note, I am just starting a book called Muscle Memory. It's a murder mystery set in Boston. I'm interested in finding out how it got the title.....
 
For me, muscle memory is good when it is letting you do what you need to do. If you have a bad habit and it is in muscle memory, it is a pain in the butt to retrain yourself.
 
pygmalion said:
I really believe in muscle memory, to be honest. But I also remember the many, many hours I've spent trying to un-learn the muscle memory from years of playing violin -- my right wrist just "wants" to go into a certain position which would be VERY ugly for ballroom dance. So muscle memory is working against me, in that case.

Questions. What is muscle memory, anyway? Do you think it works to a dancer's advantage? Why or why not?
Click to expand...

Muscle memory is not a matter of belief or otherwise, it's just a pretty good model of how the brain and body work. As I understand it, you spend a certain amount of time practicing something physical and wierd (holding a violin f'rinstance), and not only does your body develop the necessary muscle to do so, but your proprioreceptor (the thingies which register muscle extension/contraction) /brain combination come to register that position as being a 'normal' one, and whatever it is becomes automatic/natural/whatever. You stop having to think about it which, when you consider dong something complex like dancing or playing the violin, is not only necessary but vital.

Time comes to start something new, and your brain/body combo won't start from scratch, but will try to fit something from its existing set of 'normal' positions or reactions. Maybe there will be a good fit, maybe you will have to start from scratch, or maybe you will have to carefully and deliberately have to unlearn something. It's the price we pay for being able to adapt to new stuff, I can't say its a bad thing. I find that understanding the process makes it easier.

Cheers
Sarah
 
Muscle Memory ... Good or Bad?
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Muscle, gooood!... Memory, baaaad!
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