What to do about LR/RC when focusing on foolproofing games

demiiisodaaa

Hello 7sage!

I've bombed my Feb test, got over it, rested, and now I'm back on the grind..!!!!! Yay!!! Aiming to take the test June/Sept. In my PT's, I've been scoring mid to high 150s and getting around -8 on games. I realized if I am going to enter into 160s I need to address my games section.

So I am planning to devote March and maybe part of April to foolproofing 1-35 and perfecting the games. My concern is that when I focus on games for a month or two I might be getting worse in LR and RC. What are your thoughts on that? Should I be doing a little bit of LR and RC on the side to keep the momentum going? Even if it means like one passage a day, or 1 LR section a week? Or is it safe to focus on perfecting the games for a while?

I am not too concerned about RC getting worse, because I realized I haven’t really improved in RC to begin with. But for LR, I am worried that I might lose my momentum and have to start from scratch again after I come back from foolproofing games. Do you guys have any ideas about how I can continue to practice LR on the side while foolproofing 1-35?

Thanks in advance

_oshun1_

I think that it would be a good idea to drill LR as well. IDK how much time you have but when I took 3-4hr/day to foolproof LGs, I got through 3 LG sections a day.

When I foolproof LG again, I will either take that same amount of time, 3-4 hrs, foolproof 2 LG sections, and drill+BR 1 LR section,

or I will wake up earlier giving myself an additional couple hours to drill+BR 2 LRs and then in the evening I will FP 3 LGs.

This does depend on how much time you have per day and how long it takes you to FP LGs.

goingfor99th

Drill LG until you get bored then switch to a different section type. Drill that section type until you get bored. Rinse, repeat.

Victor Wu

@goingfor99th said:
Drill LG until you get bored then switch to a different section type. Drill that section type until you get bored. Rinse, repeat.

Interesting. What's your reasoning behind this approach? I have thought about how to best approach foolproofing. My idea was to devote 1 day out of my 6 days of study to devote to LR, so that I don't get rusty.

goingfor99th

@"Victor Wu" said:

@goingfor99th said:
Drill LG until you get bored then switch to a different section type. Drill that section type until you get bored. Rinse, repeat.

Interesting. What's your reasoning behind this approach? I have thought about how to best approach foolproofing. My idea was to devote 1 day out of my 6 days of study to devote to LR, so that I don't get rusty.

The essence of a 'drill' is to repeat a process enough times that it becomes reflexive. For an example of this methodology, look at how the US military employs drill instructors. I think the brain learns better if you blast it with the same thing over and over, up until the point where you temporarily lose interest [precursor to burnout]. Once you're bored but not burnt out, you can switch to a different section type and do it all over again.

This process worked exceedingly well for me. The effectiveness of this approach also depends on where you are in your preparation.

hawaiihi

I had the same question! What I did was that on days where I had more time, I would just do like one LR/RC section and BR it the next day. Really easy, just enough to not get rusty and to practice my bubbling technique. I'd do the ones from PTs 1-35 and do them fairly low pressure and sometimes untimed, just to keep the brain in shape.

Victor Wu

@goingfor99th Thanks! I'll definitely consider using this approach. I have heard of instances where people take a break and end up improving after the break. Did you find that you improved, stayed the same or got rusty when you returned to a section?

goingfor99th

@"Victor Wu" said:
@goingfor99th Thanks! I'll definitely consider using this approach. I have heard of instances where people take a break and end up improving after the break. Did you find that you improved, stayed the same or got rusty when you returned to a section?

There was some surface rust when I returned to a section type, but that always went away after a day or two of studying that section type. Don't freak out if this happens to you--it's normal and does not mean that you've forgotten anything/haven't improved. For example, at one point in my preparation after I practiced only LG for a month, I returned to LR and struggled with reading how I had been when I left off. After two days, though, my accuracy and comfort with stimuli was higher than it had ever been.

For perspective on rust: I prepared from July/August 2016 to June 2017. At the end of January, I was scoring 160. I gave myself February completely off, took a PT on my first day back in March, and scored a 162. It takes a long time for 'surface rust' to turn to actual rust, you know what I mean?

Victor Wu

@goingfor99th Yeah, I know what you mean. Okay, thanks for your insight. Good to know different perspectives on how to approach studying for this exam.