Ever have that frustrating feeling where the technique you JUST drilled disappears the second you start sparring?

It's one of the biggest challenges in Muay Thai. We're all taught to train hard, but we rarely talk about how to train smart.

The truth is, elite performance is just as much a psychological skill as it is a physical one. If your skills aren't transferring from pads to sparring, it's not because you aren't training hard enough. It's because you might be training in a way that your brain can't process and retain.

In this episode, let's get into the science of learning and skill acquisition. We explore how your brain learns complex movements and provide practical tools to make your training more efficient, effective, and permanent.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

• How to avoid "Cognitive Overload" so you can actually absorb what your coach is teaching.
• The #1 Practice Mistake
• Skill Acquisition vs. Skill Testing
• The Science Behind Writing & Record Keeping
• Mental Toughness Tools
• The Undeniable Foundation to Everything

RESOURCES & LINKS:

• The 2026 Muay Thai Training Journal: Get the guided system I use to track my training, reflect on lessons, and build my "honest record." Check it out here.
• Sources and References:

• 1. Distributed Practice vs Massed Practice Explained – Sport Science Insider
  2. How Keeping A Journal Boosts Athletic Performance – Alchemy
  3. Pillars of Mental Toughness – Chris Stankovich
  4. Quantifying Contextual Interference and Its Effect on Skill Transfer in Skilled Youth Tennis Players – Frontiers
  5. Sports training in virtual reality with a focus on visual perception: a systematic review – Frontiers
  6. Stop Wasting Your Muay Thai Skills Training – Do This Instead – Heatrick Muay Thai Performance
  7. The Effects of Self-Talk on Shooting Athletes' Motivation – PMC - PubMed Central
  8. The Importance of Self Reflection – Player Development Project
  9. The Use of Group-Based Reflective Practice to Enhance Badminton Players' Performance: An Exploratory Study
  10. The Value of Sleep on Athletic Performance, Injury, and Recovery in the Young Athlete – Sci-Hub
  11. Transform Your ACL Recovery Today with Journaling – Colorado Sports Medicine & Orthopaedics

----------

If you'd like to more high-quality content, please consider supporting Muay Ying through Patreon. Any amount is appreciated and it will go towards my efforts to run all the platforms Muay Ying is on, as well as create content for each of them. http://patreon.com/muayying

You can also find us: instagram.com/muay.ying muay-ying.com

You can find the host (Angela) via instagram.com/angela.muaythai or angelamuaythai.com

Intro/Outro music by Maki of the Moon