What do ACT practice tests and basketball have in common? More than you might think. Let me tell you a story.
A few years ago I had the opportunity to coach my son's city league basketball team. We had quite a few really good players. They had a lot of fun playing together. With one exception.
They never won a game.
Sure, there were a lot of teams better than us, but there were also teams that weren't. So what was it? Why didn't we win any games?
The answer is simple. I couldn't get them to execute fundamental basketball. There was no concept of using screens. The centers insisted on bringing the ball up the floor. The tallest kids on the team liked to try three pointers, leaving 5'7" guards to rebound. Defense was poor. And so on.
Before I became their coach they would get together occasionally and practice. Or so they called it. It was actually just playing together, a scrimmage of sorts. It usually devolved into simply running to one end of the court, throwing up a shot and then running the other way...Repeated over and over. They weren't really practicing. They were playing. It wasn't a smart use of practice time. To be fair, they were having fun, but they weren't progressing at all. They weren't learning. That's not the strategy you want to use when practicing for the ACT.
I tried to run practices where fundamental principles were taught. They learned them to a degree. But it was too late. Haven't not practiced them sufficiently, it rarely helped much in a game. And so we lost. And lost. And lost.
Just using ACT practice tests to prepare is the same thing. While you can simply take them in preparation for the ACT, you can be much more efficient and smart about how you use them. And you'll reap much better rewards in the end if you do.
You must first learn tips and strategies for each of the types of questions that are asked on the ACT. Practice tests are the time when you practice using those tips and strategies, kind of like learning fundamentals of basketball. Do this over and over and over so that when you get into the real test, you don't even have to think about it.
Use ACT practice tests to discover your weaknesses. Shouldn't some of your time be devoted to focusing on strengthening your weaknesses? Just a basketball practice. If you continually work on your strengths, you'll never get better at the things you need work on. Practice tests are your time to do that. Make sure you identify each type of question. See which ones you get wrong and look for patterns that would show weaknesses. These may be weaknesses of knowledge, or strategies, of understanding, or of simply carelessness.
Only after you have learned tips and strategies and then discovered and solved your weaknesses should you drill yourself in test after test. This helps you speed up taking the test, a key part in doing well on the ACT.
Just like in basketball, practicing makes perfect. But the very best way you can prepare is to use ACT practice tests to practice your test taking strategies and tips, identifying and strengthening your weaknesses, and then drilling in order to gain speed.
And just like in basketball, it helps to have the best practice equipment. The very best set of ACT practice tests you can get is the Real Act Prep Guide. It has actual ACT tests straight from the makers of the ACT test. You can't get better than that.
