People also mistake the appearance of effortlessness with the reality. I used to play the trumpet and there was always this drumbeat of “don’t press the mouthpiece into your mouth so hard”. I think every instructor I ever had told me some variant of that. Supposedly new learners press way too hard trying to hit the high notes, while professionals hit those notes without that level of force.

Turns out nope. Someone did a study and measured the force and it was basically the same across skill levels. The professionals just make it look easy because they are used to it and more skilled.

Which makes sense, right? Highly skilled people often make things look effortless even when they objectively are extremely difficult tasks.