For any new skill (or any skill you’re seeking to integrate with skills learned previously) you generally progress through four levels of learning:
• Unconscious Incompetence – You’re not conscious of a stroke error, either for lack of sensory awareness, or because it’s such a strong habit that you don’t notice the inefficiency.
• Conscious Incompetence – You realize you have a problem to solve – perhaps because of a coach’s critique or from viewing video.
• Conscious Competence – You can correct the error or maintain the new skill (e.g. a weightless head), but it takes constant vigilance to avoid falling into old habits. [Note: There should always be some not-quite-right skill in your high-beam focus.]
• Unconscious Competence – Your new skill stays in good form even when you’re not focused directly on it. It takes 3000 to 7000 correct reps of a simple mini-skill, and up to 20,000 correct reps of a complex one – to progress to this point. This is sometimes called Muscle Memory.
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An excerpt from TI training materials.
TI Academy Blog 