Technique Critique is a Cracking the Code feature that lets you get personalized feedback based on short clips of your playing.

Rather than provide one-size-fits-all teaching about how things “should” be done, Cracking the Code takes an evidence-based approach based on years of data gathering from interviews with elite players, researchers, and lessons with players who have come to us for help. By viewing short video clips of your playing, we can quickly identify issues that we’ve seen many times before, and recommend adjustments used by expert players with similar techniques.

You can access Technique Critique two ways:

Platform Critique

By uploading your video clips directly to our platform, you can get guaranteed feedback from our instructors. You’ll also have the option to make these critiques private, viewable only by you and the instructors. Even if you choose to make them visible on the platform, instructor feedback will only be readable by you and other subscribers.

Technique Critique, or “TCs”, are stored in your TC library, with titles, dates, and easily recognizable poster frame images. The clean organization of your TC library is designed to allow instructors to quickly get a sense of what you’ve been working on, and what next steps to recommend. It’s also a great way to chart your own progress.

Platform critique is a subscription feature, but if finances are an issue, you can apply for a Cracking the Code Scholarship, which offers full site access, including Technique Critique.

Forum Critique

By creating a thread in the “Technique Critique” section of our forum, and including links to publicly viewable videos stored on external video sharing sites like YouTube, you can get feedback from members of the highly technical Cracking the Code community.

Our forum is public, so any critiques you post will be readable by anyone, even those who are not logged in. While instructors can and often do respond to forum critiques, their response is not guaranteed.

Sounds great! Where do I go from here?

You’re probably excited to get rolling, but if you simply make a critique and ask us to “analyze” your playing, that doesn’t give us much to go on. Not only that, but the questions you have may already be answered in our instuctional material.

That’s why the Technique Critique process works best after you’ve gone through the introductory steps in the Pickslanting Primer. This includes the table tap tests, tremolo tests, and the process for identifying your joint motion and escape. This will give you the basic terminology you need to ask really clear questions using language that instructors and community members will understand.

If you’ve already watched that material and haven’t found what you’re looking for, no problem — fire away! We’re here to help.