Learn hard skills ...

What if there were a better way to learn how to cast a fly, swing a golf club, train with weights, walk with a prosthetic limb or fly a helicopter: a quicker, easier, more enjoyable way?  

A better way

SkillShaper is a revolutionary new training technology that can take you from beginner to intermediate, or from competent to expert, in a lot less time, with a lot less frustration than with conventional training methods.

Hard - because doing is different

The reason coordinated skills are so hard to learn is that how they are taught has so little to do with how they are done. Doing is different from teaching.

The internal mechanisms, the patterns or "schemas" that drive skilled actions, do not match the teaching.

A good cast, or stroke or pitch or strike is not the result of a list of internal instructions.  And it is not driven by a set of visual images of how it should look from the outside. Words and pictures are great for after-the-fact analysis. They are invaluable for editing and fine-point coaching. But verbal and visual analysis do not translate easily into better motions.

Here is the secret

Skilled movements are driven by something more internal, more active. Casting and hitting and bicycling and jumping and throwing are more like singing or dancing or vocalizing. They are rhythmic, responsive, graceful muscular patterns of effort and movement.

They are their own kind of "movement-song" with their own kind of "effort-music". Once you can hear the effort-music in your own movements, and can mimic the effort-music of someone else, you can perform that skill.

Simple as that

How SkillShaper works

SkillShaper technology turns continuous movement into continuous sound. The pitch, volume and quality of the sound reflects force and direction of the movement. It lets you hear the effort-music of what you are doing - while you are doing it. And once you know what it should sound like, then doing it the right way is as straightforward as mimicking the sound.

• Fly casting. Is your back-cast smoothly accelerating throughout the stroke? Is your stop at the end of the swing sharp enough? Do you pause long enough? Does the effort-sound of the forward cast match the sound of the backcast? It will be obvious if you are hearing them in real time.

  • Does it sound like the cast your coach just made? Or like the cast of the expert on the video you just downloaded?

• Golf: Are you letting up on the force of your swing before the golf club strikes the ball? You will hear it right away if the SkillShaper accelerometer on the club senses a let-off in acceleration. It will drop the pitch of the sound in your ear before you hear the "thwak" of hitting the ball.

• Pool: As you make a stroke with a cue stick, are you keeping the stick moving in a perfectly straight line, or is your forearm swerving it a bit to the right (which you'll hear in your right ear) or to the left (hear it in your left).

• Archery: In shooting an arrow, is your release slow, smooth and gradual?  Does your bow hand remain calm and still throughout the shot. You will hear all this in the moment of the act with a SkillShaper system. A good shot does not sound like a bad one.

• Rehab: If you are learning to walk again after a stroke, is your gait balanced? Are your legs moving symmetrically? With SkillShaper you'll be able to hear it.

Here is who it is for

• If there is a skill you'd like to learn
  • SkillShaper systems can help you learn the skill, by yourself or with a coach.
• If there is a skill you'd like your loved ones to pick up
  • With a single SkillShaper learning session, they can start to throw a flyline, shoot a pool ball straight, hit a golf ball further, stroke a tennis ball with power, or release an arrow more smoothly.
• If there is a skill you'd like to perfect
  • Audio feedback can help you shape the muscle memories you need for top performance.
• If you are a coach
  • SkillShaper technology can be an invaluable aid in getting your students up to speed (and loving what they do).
  • As a SkillShaping coach, your students will do better and your reputation will grow.
• If you are an equipment manufacturer
  • Grow your market by getting more people skilled in your sport.
  • Create new offerings. You may find new business opportunities in  training courses, learning materials, custom hardware and branded software.
• If you are an inventor, a developer, a specialist in another skill
  • Reach out and contact us. We are always interested in new implementations and extensions of our core technology and would be happy to explore licensing, collaboration or partnering deals with you.