Jungling: Practice

I was playing a normal game with a friend when the following exchange occurred:

Random Jungler: First time jungling Irelia, I should be fine*.
Montegomery: Wouldn't it be better to do a run-through in a custom game first?
Random Jungler: Why would I practice in a custom game when I can practice in normals?

I didn't answer then because engaging in debates over the merits of practice in the middle of a game is ill-advised. To answer succinctly now, practice in a custom game takes five minutes and can save you hours of pain and suffering.

For reasons I can only speculate, the LoL community is generally averse to any practice done outside of live games. The concept of creating a custom game in order to practice a specific skill in a controlled environment is anathema. Many players prefer to spend fifteen minutes waiting to surrender rather than have the opportunity for more practice. While you can learn via this method, it's grossly inefficient and prone to reinforcing bad habits.

Almost every sport and performance art makes use of drills, and with good reason. Drills are short, simple, and repeatable; they make it easy to pick out a mistake and quickly correct it. A proper drill is the fastest way to train a specific skill. It's nearly impossible to do something complicated if you haven't first honed fundamental, prerequisite skills.

Practice is neither glamorous nor exciting, but jumping straight into the deep end is a lesson in drowning, not in swimming. A few minutes of practice will save yourself many an ignominious performance.

*For reference the jungle Irelia started Cloth Armor, farmed slower than a Warwick, tried to build Trinity Force without first building Wriggle's or gp10s, died on most of her ganks, and was generally an embarrassment to junglers everywhere.