When I was taking flatpick guitar lesons, my teacher recommended the closed eyes trick when learning licks. That way you concentrate on the sound of the notes and your fingers develop the muscle memory to repeat those notes.

He also taught me some mandolin finger excercises, where you play the scales by keeping your fingers constantly on the strings, never having more than one finger in the air at once. his keeps your fingers closer to the strings like was mentioned about Doc Watson earlier.

rr