Types of Feedback
Intrinsic Feedback
Intrinsic feedback comes from within the performer often called the ‘feel’ of the movement. As they complete an action they will know whether or not the action was performed correctly. They receive information from their touch receptors, balance mechanism in the inner ear and stretch receptors in the muscles is termed proprioceptive feedback.
Kinaesthetic feedback refers to the information fed directly into the spinal cord from the muscles, tendons and joints to give information that can be responded to without conscious control giving knowledge of where the body is in space.
A skier would use Intrinsic Feedback to correct their position if they feel off balance. They would need to get this information from themselves as it would be very quick.
Extrinsic Feedback
Extrinsic feedback is when external information is provided about the performance. When the performer produces a skill, information is gained from their environment or others people such as coaches, team mates and the crowd. An example of extrinsic feedback is when a hockey player sees the ball go into the net or when a coach gives verbal guidance to a javelin thrower about their technique.
During a swimming lesson, a coach will use Extrinsic Feedback as the beginner may not know when to kick their feet.
Concurrent Feedback
Concurrent feedback is when performers receive feedback whilst they are performing the skill or activity. This feedback can be intrinsic and extrinsic but the performer must utilise selective attention to prevent performance becoming disrupted by focusing on the wrong cues.
This is essential during a training session/match as it allows the coach to provide feedback during play.
A basketball coach may use Concurrent Feedback during a dribbling drill, to correct the players technique as they do the movements.
Terminal Feedback
Terminal feedback is presented after a performance and can be immediate or delayed. It is more likely that performers will remember an incident if feedback is given immediately at the end of a performance. Performers will usually have a debrief with a coach to identify strengths and weaknesses, with a view to adjusting the practice schedule for the following week.
This is valuable feedback as it allows time to talk to the players after the game or in a time-out to go through more in-depth instructions.
A golf coach will watch the shot before providing Terminal Feedback to the performer; as a golf shot is often too quick to correct during the movement.
Effective Feedback
For feedback to be effective the coach must take into account some important points. The timing of feedback is crucial, the coach should provide it as soon as possible and ideally as terminal feedback. This ensures the performer takes the most information in when reflecting on the performance.
The feedback should be relevant and meaningful for the performer to use, it should be clear and specific to the performance in question. As the short term memory has a limited capacity the quality of feedback is important and needs to be succinct with not too much or too little information for the performer to process.
Feedback needs to be individual to the performer rather than to the group, and it needs to encourage the performer to recognise intrinsic feedback this helps them to learn to feel the different movements. It is advised that feedback uses different methods and can be both verbal and visual which should be recorded for subsequent reflection.