Phantom Practice is the purported phenomenon in which a person's abilities continue to improve, even without practicing at all. It is mostly associated with practicing a musical instrument. After habitual practicing, a person may believe that they have continued to experience improvement even after they stop practicing. Whether these individuals have actually improved or whether it is simply a subjective perception on their part has not been ascertained.
Kinesthetic memory
The phenomenon of retaining a physical skill that has not been used in a long time is well understood. The physical skills of holding and playing an instrument are held in a reflex-level long-term memory called "kinesthetic memory", "motor memory", or "muscle memory." Kinesthetic memory is very durable, and as such, a person may retain the ability to perform on an instrument that they previously played regularly, even if they have not practiced the instrument for weeks or months.
During the interval of not practicing, a person purporting to have experienced "phantom practicing" may have developed other factors besides instrument practice which contribute to the quality of musical performance, such as confidence or knowledge of musical styles and idioms. For example, a drummer who abandons music in their teens, and then studies dancing as an adult may find that their sense of rhythm has improved if they return to drumming.
