“If you have two athletes with the same level of practice and skill, on the day that one is more motivated, he will shift his speed-accuracy tradeoff more than the other one,” Krakauer told me. It is a short-term modulator on the long-term practice effect. Players can practice all they want, but in some brief, ideal circumstances, motivation can give an extra boost. A negative modulator, such as nervousness, can have the same effect in reverse. “When you talk about having a natural ability,” Krakauer said, “it may not just be a natural ability in the skill. It may be an ability to do better
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