The importance of the feedback

When we are learning a particular task, movement or exercise one of the most important factors to assimilate it correctly it is to have an effective feedback or feedback. Through this player or student perceives the quality of execution of the movement. If there were any feedback learning would be ineffective or nonexistent.

In sports psychology we can distinguish basically two types or classes of feedback:

1. The intrinsic feedback. When a player learn sports skills information has been performed correctly and the quality of gesture or movement appears easy to implement if the player himself sees the results. For example, a basketball player or tennis can see if the thrown ball has entered or not. This information is obvious to the executor, however, even in these situations, is a considerable help indication coach regarding why it failed or wrong or conversely the cause that the trip has been effective. That is, if a football player or futsal takes a beating with a ball on the surface of the right foot and the ball reaches its destination, it has to feed back that the reason for good completion has been good hit and not be left alone with the goal as a result. The same applies if the trip has been defective and gone to the clouds not to step on well with the kickstand, for example. This kind of intrinsic feedback is especially important for learning individual technique and motor actions at the beginning of the process of teaching and learning.

The intrinsic feedback in turn can be exteroceptive (derived from the senses, the player sees his shot has been effective), proprioceptive (posture and movement, the player has maintained the balance to make a jump) or interoceptive (internal organs, when a distance runner feels fatigue from his elevated heart rate).

2. Extrinsic feedback. Also called increased feedback. It refers to the information that you need to give the subject when the intrinsic feedback is not given. For example, a runner needs to know the time is marking by external means. Extrinsic feedback can come from the coach, or other sources such as a video, a watch or similar signals. Extrinsic feedback may be based on the movements. For example tell a player, “Raise your head!” to promote a more effective ball driving. This could be communicated simultaneously to the movement, at the end of the execution of movement or time shift to finish the job or at a later meeting.

Techniques to increase the feedback

Sometimes, despite the erroneous movements they are obvious to the coach-educator they are not for the player-student so know it is not easy to transmit. It is customary when you are learning to perform an action the performer is unable to convert the instructions of his coach adequate motor behavior. On the contrary, and even worse, what happens is that the student-players themselves do not believe what you are telling them their coach. For this reason the coach has to have a very good ability to communicate feedback. To achieve an effective sports transmit feedback coach must give good reasons for him to believe the player to perform a certain movement will be useful and innovate and be creative in how to communicate. So if you are a coach and you’ve got here, you start thinking about how to reach your players and your own originality be truly effective.

To give some ideas on feedback techniques we can cite some examples that serve to stoke the ingenuity of coaches:

• Always say a certain word that players associated to poor reception (or good). For example, if you want your players to make good passes inside, every time you do one very well executed give a shout of “Ok!”.
• Position the bad players to see what happens when you make a bad action. For example, you place them wrong foot support in the shot to see that throwing the ball to the clouds.
• If you want to correct the career of a player, you could paint her soles to see where you are treading wrong.
• If you want your players lead with your head up, try to ask at the end of an exercise in which color was the breastplate that had mate next.

Every sport, every coach and every player is different and depends on the means already available, so are hundreds of thousands of equally valid options while having an objective feedback.

If you want a few more suggestions you can contact me and I’ll help you adapt to your needs.