Technique

I recently ran into a friend of mine at the gym who's a personal trainer. After chatting with him I asked him a few questions about how I could improve some of my exercise techniques so I could get to the next level. While I've been exercising with free weights for over twenty years and have a lot of knowledge in the sport from both personal experience and what I've learned from magazine articles, it doesn't compare to his knowledge. After all, he makes a living from it so it's in his best interest to know as much information as possible. I may have ten years on him in age and years of working out, but his knowledge is deeper and gets into the details of muscle mechanics. That type of knowledge puts him way ahead of me in experience regardless of how many years I have under my belt.

After talking with him, it reminded me of some detailers that I've met over the years that have decades of experience but their work doesn't reflect it. I've also met detailers who had a few years of experience but were doing work that was far better. The difference? Technique and knowledge - the good kind. I've found that the most knowledgeable detailers are the ones who've taken classes in detailing or collision/bodyshop work. On occasion I've met someone who was a self-taught natural. But that's rare. Bottom line, more years doesn't always equate to better results. For example, I met a detailer who has a very successful shop and has been detailing for about thirty years. However, when I saw his paint correction work, I noticed a lot of what he produced was nothing but masking - hiding swirl marks with polishing glazes. It occurred to me that you can have a lot of years of experience of doing the wrong thing. Consider one who learns a bad habit when they're very young and continues to do it throughout adult hood. Sure they are masters at what they do but what they do is incorrect. 

Detailing has become more popular than ever in the last decade. Ten years ago we didn't have detailing forum boards where members discuss and share detailing techniques, preferred products and so on. We didn't have YouTube to watch how-to videos about using rotary polishers. If you wanted to learn, you had two options: you could either teach yourself or be taught by someone with experience.

While I believe that forum boards and how-to videos are fantastic mediums for learning, I believe that they are best seen as supplements rather than replacements to traditional one-on-one instruction.

If you are interested in becoming a professional detailer as a career or just to get to the next level, I highly suggest you seek a detailing class or some certification program in body shop repair. 

I truly believe that people who are best at what they do regardless of what they do (doctors, shoe makers, seamstress, chefs, detailers, writers, barbers) learned from someone who is a master at what they do and at one time was taught by a master. This master could be a mentor or a teacher.

The knowledge on the Internet today is immense and it's easy to believe that you can learn a new skill by reading posts or watching someone perform the task on a YouTube video. But absolutely nothing can compare to learning one-on-one with an instructor who is a master at their profession and has been recognized for it. Whether you've been detailing for months or years, it's never too late to develop good techniques.

-Michael Mankarious