✓ Accepted Answer
Honest take, because I wish someone had told me this earlier.
Everything you will read about best will make it sound more complicated than it is. Here is what 5 years of working with athletics has actually taught me.
Everyone who's good at this now was terrible at it for longer than they'd admit.
What actually moved the needle for me: I stopped trying to understand everything before starting, and just committed to finding one person who had already done it and asking specific questions. After that, went from amateur to regional finalist.
The one thing I would prioritise: do not compare your beginning to someone else's middle.
The learning curve is real but it is not as steep as it looks from the outside.
by ryanjones5263
The way this question is framed suggests you might be hitting the same wall most people hit with best.
Here's the diagnostic framework I use for this exact type of problem.
**Most likely culprit:** comparing progress to elite athletes too early. This accounts for roughly 61% of cases I have seen.
**Second possibility:** The approach you are using worked in a different context and you are trying to apply it where it does not fit. athletics has specific conditions where it works well and conditions where it falls apart.
**Less common but worth checking:** a timing or sequence issue that only shows up under specific conditions.
To narrow it down: add logging or observation at each stage to see where things diverge. That will tell you which of these you are dealing with.
by nataliecharron66726