Feedback 1

FeedbackThe use of feedback in the development of physical skills

Monday, 9 September 2013

FeedbackFeedback is information concerning the performer and/or outcome of a skill or movement, including information about errors and how to correct them.

Feedback can be given in so many ways.It is much more than a coach or parent yelling from the sidelines - it can be good news as well as bad - and it is essential for learning and improvement to take place.


FeedbackYou can store feedback information in the long-term memory and use it to reinforce or refine your performance when necessary. It is the final mechanism involved in processing a physical skill: without feedback, you cannot compare your performance with the ideal performance.

Feedback serves the following functions:

to motivate the performer

to reinforce what has been learned

to change the performance


FeedbackIt is important that feedback reinforces the correct elements of the performance, highlights incorrect elements and contains instructions for how to improve the overall performance.

Feedback should be constructive and useful, and it should motivate the performer to continue to learn.


Types of feedback

Internal feedback

External feedback

Augmented feedback

Positive feedback

Negative feedback

Continuous feedback

Terminal feedback

Knowledge of results

Knowledge of performance


Internal feedback

This is about the ‘feel’ of the performance. Your proprioceptors and kinaesthetic senses provide this information: eg, the vibrations of the bat when you hit the baseball off centre.


External feedback

This is provided by your external sense organs such as sight or sound; eg, seeing that your bowl dislodged the batter’s middle stump


Augmented feedback

This is external feedback from a source other than yourself; eg, information from a coach or videotape.


Positive feedback

This is affirming; eg, ‘Great shot. The ball went through the goal!’


Negative feedback

This demonstrates an error in the performance. It is best if followed by positive feedback; eg, ‘Poor shot, you landed in the bunker. Next time, play the ball from further in front of your feet so you can get more height on the ball’.


Continuous feedback

This is given during the performance. It usually concerns the feel of the performance; eg, ‘That volleyball spike did not feel right’.


Terminal feedback

This is given at the completion of the skill; eg, when your basketball coach tells you to bend your knees more when next shooting for a three pointer.


Knowledge of results

This is information about the result of your performance. Given at the completion of the skill, it can be external or augmented; eg, when the umpire calls your forehand ‘out’.


Knowledge of performanceThis is information about the actual performance. It can be internal, external or augmented; eg, you realise that your wrist was not firm when you volleyed the ball.

Knowledge of results and knowledge of performance are related but quite different: the former will not assist in changing subsequent performance, whereas the latter lets you know what went wrong and allows you to learn from your experiences.


Feedback & the learner

What type of feedback should be used and when?

Should feedback be the same for beginners and elite performers?


Feedback & the learner

Beginners need to know if they were successful; they need to know results without delay. Delays can lead to a lack of motivation and progress. Coaches should provide positive feedback for learners to maintain motivation.

A demonstration of what is expected should always follow an explanation. It is also important not to overload the beginner with too much information about the performance: only one or two points of focus are sufficient for the week, and these points should be continually reinforced for the beginner. The coach can introduce one or two different points of focus in the following week if the learner masters the previous points.


Precision of feedback

Feedback needs to be both precise and specific. Also, coaches must ensure that they use language and terminology appropriate to the athletes under their care. Learning can only occur if the feedback makes sense to the performer and if it offers solutions to help overcome difficulties.

Again, demonstrations can be a useful tool in this situation. eg, general feedback on a volleyball spike such as ‘Good shot!’ is far less effective than ‘Your body position was excellent and allowed you to hit through the ball, accurately placing it down the line’, which is much more precise and will result in reinforcing improvement in performance.


Timing of feedback Performers use feedback to compare the intended movement with the actual movement, and they remember any deviation. That transference of information into memory can be hindered if feedback is delayed. The increasing use of video feedback as technology has advanced now allows visual feedback to be provided almost immediately.

Athletes are able to perform a skill and seconds later watch their performance on screen. This instant, visual feedback, coupled with the coach giving verbal feedback is an extremely effective method of improving skills. It allows athletes to see what they did right, what they did wrong and how to improve. In addition to this, some computer programs can take your performance and superimpose over it an elite athlete demonstrating the same skill. This gives you direct comparison between what you are doing and what you should be doing. You can now see how to improve the skill as well.


Test your understanding

What is feedback?

Name the three functions served by feedback.

Explain the importance of both precision and timing of feedback to a performer.


Apply your understanding

For each of the forms of feedback, provide your own practical example. You may use personal experience examples of those you have observed.


Feedback 1

Technology

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