The Brain Has Its Limits — And That’s Great News for the Coach!

By Thierry Verviers

In 1956, American psychologist George Miller published a study that changed the way I understand learning and coaching. He demonstrated that human working memory — the one we use to process information in real time — can only effectively handle 7 elements at a time, give or take 2. This is what’s known as Miller’s Law, or the 7 ± 2 principle. Since then, research has refined that number, and we now talk more about 5 ± 2 — meaning between 3 and 7 elements maximum, depending on the individual and the context. And that’s where the uncertainty principle comes into play: we can’t precisely predict how many elements a given person will be able to process at any given moment. It depends on their fatigue level, their stress, their experience, and the complexity of the information itself. In other words, working The Brain Has Its Limits — And That’s Great News for the Coach!

In 1956, psychologist George Miller published a study that changed our understanding of coaching. He demonstrated that human working memory—the part of the brain we use to process information in real time—can only effectively handle about 7 ± 2 elements at a time. Modern research has refined this to 5 ± 2.

This “uncertainty principle” is a gold mine for tactical players. If you only use one type of serve, your opponent reduces uncertainty to zero and can dedicate their entire brain power to a lethal return. However, if you vary direction, length, speed, and spin, you force them to manage multiple unknowns simultaneously, quickly hitting their cognitive limit.

“Be Perverse and Do the Reverse”

Larry Hodges, a member of the US Table Tennis Hall of Fame, expands on this in a recent Butterfly Online article. He suggests mastering the “reverse” versions of your standard serves—the reverse pendulum, reverse tomahawk, or reverse backhand.

You don’t need these to be your primary weapons. Their mere existence creates an extra layer of uncertainty that clogs your opponent’s working memory. As Hodges wittily puts it: “Have you ever met a player who was happy that their opponent had more serve variations? So be perverse and do the reverse!”

Reference

Larry Hodges (2026) — Reverse Serves — Butterfly Online