Because one repeated Shema which R' Papa attributes to a lack of kavana the first time, Abaye answers that one cannot be familiar ''k'lape Shemaya" which one deserves to be hit.
1)Wouldn't such an approach (and knowledge on the part of the "victim") make him even more anxious and less apt to have kavana a subsequent time? How is this intended to correct the problem?
2)Rashi (top of 34a) seems to imply it refers to Tefila while from Gem. seems to apply to Shema. Rashi also says that they hit him is he is "rageel b'kath". Would this seem to imply he failed to concentrate three times?
Rashi says that we teach him and train him by hitting him. Obviously, we are talking about someone who is able to be Mechaven; he just is not careful and forgets. He will surely be more careful not to forget if he knows that the hammer is waiting. It is possible that "Ragil" means three times; however, I think that this is only an Etzah, and not a Din, and therefore I don't know if it means Davka three times.
D. Zupnik