Why Making Mistakes Is Key to Mastery
Mistakes do not just signal errors; they facilitate cerebellar learning.
Posted March 21, 2026 | Reviewed by Margaret Foley
When I was learning to play tennis in the early 1970s, my coach was also my father, a neuroscientist who saw racquet sports as a living laboratory. On the surface, his advice for improving muscle memory and mastering your game was cliché: "Practice, practice, practice."
Although this advice was commonplace, it was also backed by science. Dad believed that rigorous practice was key to "hammering and forging" muscle memory into cerebellar Purkinje cells .
Back then, the Marr-Albus cerebellar learning model of the late '60s shaped how brain scientists viewed the cerebellum as a pattern recognition engine that refined motor skills and coordination through practice.
The idea was that repeated movements, such as acing your serve or driving a stickshift without grinding gears, would gradually rewire the cerebellum's Purkinje cell synapses. With enough repetition, finely tuned movements would become automatic. Once automaticity was baked into Purkinje cells, your body's muscle memory would "know" what to do without overthinking it.
In many ways, Dad was right about the importance of the cerebellum in mastery. After enough hours on the court, something clicks. The procedural movements involved in serving a tennis ball that once felt stiff become more fluid. The mind quiets when cerebral thinking subsides and the cerebellum takes over.
But knowing what we know today, there was a missing link in how he viewed practice making perfect. It wasn't just the successful repetition of hitting winners that optimized cerebellar function; it was the mistakes and unforced errors that really mattered.
The Hidden Power of Getting It Wrong
For decades, neuroscientists have known that the cerebellum depends on powerful "error signals" to improve movement. These signals are carried by specialized neural structures called climbing fibers. When you mistime a serve or mishit the ball, these fibers fire, sending a message to your brain that the movement didn't go as planned and adjustments are needed.
These signals activate Purkinje cells, triggering bursts of calcium that help rewire neural connections. This process, commonly referred to as neuroplasticity, is the biological bedrock of how the brain learns.
Notably, when it comes to cerebellar plasticity, a "scientific paradox" has confounded researchers in the decades since the Marr-Albus theory was introduced in 1969. Climbing fibers also activate inhibitory cells that should prevent those calcium signals from happening. How can the brain promote learning and suppress it at the same time?
A "Hidden Circuit" That Lifts the Brakes
A new study published in Nature (2026) by scientists at Duke University and Harvard Medical School offers a compelling solution to this enigma. They discovered a previously unknown "disinhibitory" circuit in the cerebellum that acts like an internal volume knob for learning.
"The key is having 'brakes' that can control neural plasticity ," first author Santos-Valencia said in a March 2026 news release . "Rather than constantly increasing error messages to produce plasticity and learning, a braking mechanism allows the brain to open a window for learning when needed and closing it when it's not."
Using high-resolution electron microscopy in mice, the researchers found that climbing fibers do not activate all inhibitory interneurons equally. Instead, they preferentially activate a specific group of molecular layer interneurons (MLIs) known as MLI2 cells.
The MLI2s do not inhibit the Purkinje cells directly. Instead, they shut down another group of inhibitory neurons, known as MLI1 cells, whose normal role is to suppress cerebellar learning by dampening the calcium signals needed for synaptic plasticity. In simpler terms, one set of neurons shuts off another set that normally blocks learning.
By inhibiting the inhibitors after a glaring mistake, the brain briefly lifts its own brakes, which facilitates cerebellar learning.
This mechanism is most effective when multiple climbing fibers fire in synchrony. This "team effort" usually occurs after unmistakable errors. When strong error signals arrive together, the MLI2 cells "open a window" for learning, allowing Purkinje cells to generate the robust calcium signals needed to drive lasting plastic changes that lead to mastery.
Back to the Tennis Court
Seen through this lens, those early, frustrating days on the court take on new meaning—the times I was not acing it, double-faulting, or watching a moonball lob sail over the court's outer fence weren't wasted effort. What felt like failure was, in fact, the very mechanism needed for mastery and achieving superfluidity .
Each mistake triggered a climbing fiber signal. When those errors were consistent and unmistakable, they engaged this "hidden circuit" and lifted the brain's internal brakes.
In the 1970s, my father emphasized repetition as key to cerebellar learning because that was cutting -edge science at the time. But new research suggests that repetition of robotic perfection is not the best way to enhance sports performance. To up your game, you need to take chances and make big mistakes. Or as Billie Jean King famously said: "Be bold. If you are going to make an error, make a doozy."
It's the combination of practice and the clear error feedback provided by noteworthy mistakes that takes peak performance to the next level.
Why This Matters Beyond Sports
While this study was conducted in mice, the cerebellum is highly "conserved" across species. However, direct evidence in humans is still emerging.
The implications of the latest cerebellar research extend far beyond a tennis court's baseline. Whether you are learning a musical instrument, a new language, or a complex professional skill, the principle appears to be that the brain learns best when errors are clearly defined. Subtle or inconsistent mistakes do not engage the MLIs' disinhibitory circuit as effectively as glaringly obvious ones.
This research also highlights why high-quality, immediate feedback is so essential. Training methods that make errors "loud and clear" are likely more effective because they generate synchronous climbing fiber activity that shifts the balance toward lifting the brain’s inhibitory brakes.
Rethinking "Practice Makes Perfect"
The adage still holds, but it needs an update. Practice alone doesn't make perfect; practice with noteworthy mistakes does.
So, the next time you are struggling to master a new skill, let go of self-control and perfectionism . Making errors that are "doozies" paves the way to mastery. These blunders trigger the signals your brain needs to open a window for optimized cerebellar learning by disinhibiting Purkinje cells.
Fernando Santos-Valencia, Elizabeth P. Lackey, Aliya Norton, Asem Wardak, Cole S. Gaynor, Sean Ediger, Marie E. Hemelt, Tri M. Nguyen, Wei-Chung Allen Lee, Nicolas Brunel, Court A. Hull & Wade G. Regehr. " Climbing Fibres Recruit Disinhibition to Enhance Purkinje Cell Calcium Signals ." Nature (First published: March 18, 2026) doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10220-4
David Marr. " A Theory of Cerebellar Cortex ." The Journal of Physiology (First published: June 01, 1969) doi:10.1113/jphysiol.1969.sp008820
James S. Albus. " A Theory of Cerebellar Function ." Mathematical Biosciences (First published: February 01, 1971) doi:10.1016/0025-5564(71)90051-4
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Christopher Bergland is a retired ultra-endurance athlete turned science writer, public health advocate, and promoter of cerebellum ("little brain") optimization.
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.