Shadowing
and feedback

Support, back-up, and teachers for trainee commanders.

1.1. What is shadowing (at Triple Trouble)?

Generally speaking, a person who joins and follows another commander to pay close attention to that commander's actions and words is called a shadow.
This concept could also be applied to other roles like blocking or husk-killing. However, we mostly use "shadow" in relation to commanding.

There are two types of shadows:

• A trainee shadowing an experienced commander
  When someone wants to get into commanding, they can run along with an experienced commander and possibly take notes for themselves or to ask questions later. Some trainees practice by guessing what calls/decisions the experienced commander will make next.
  
  

• An experienced commander shadowing a trainee
  Ideally, whenever a trainee leads a wurm-kill-squad, there should be an experienced commander running along. The shadow is supposed to watch over the trainee and help if needed to make sure the event goes fine. All info below is about this type of shadowing!

In both cases, the shadow stays in the background for the most part, but keeping their eyes and ears open.

1.2. Tasks of a shadow

• The commander who follows will pay close attention to how the trainee is leading. For the most part, they will only silently take notes.

• The shadow is available to answer questions when the trainee is not sure what to do. This communication should happen on the whisper-list for TS runs, ingame whisper or party chat can be used, too.

• Also, the experienced commander can back-up the trainee in case they suddenly don't know what to say/do anymore and vocal instructions are not enough (blackout).

• If the trainee is about to do a heavy mistake that could make the event fail, the shadow can step in or take over the lead - for smaller mistakes the shadow should let the event continue and mention what went wrong afterwards. If possible, the ingame or TS whisper should be used first, before stepping in in the open chat.

• After the run, the shadow will give feedback to the trainee to say what was good and what can be improved. They can possibly write down some points for the trainee and for other shadows to check on.

2.1. How to give feedback

• Take notes during the event.

• Start the feedback by asking the trainee about their opinion on the run (how did they feel with it? are they happy with how it went overall? "self-feedback").

• Go through the different points from your notes. Talk about the most important ones. Do not talk about too much / for too long. That will make it easier to remember and actually work on the points!

• "Sandwich-principle": Start with positive feedback, then mention negative points, and end with something positive. This will not "leave a bad taste".

• Stay calm; getting upset over mistakes will not help anyone. Afterall, the trainee is there to learn.

• Give constructive feedback: Rather say how to improve instead of saying what went wrong.

• Finally, ask the trainee if they have any questions. Remind them of the possibility to ask questions or come back for help later as well.

2.2. Checklist for feedback notes

Here are some points you can think about when giving feedback to a commander trainee at Triple Trouble.
You can also copy the list to directly take notes or make your own list.
Note that not all of the points listed here may apply to each command.

• Organization:
  - getting commanders (discord / TS / ingame, ...)
  - sorting tasks
  - getting people to the map / taxis
  - balancing squad numbers and special roles
  - advertising special roles / wurm times / etc.
  - being on point (short/fast, but complete)
  
  

• General
  - voice: well understandable (loud and clear, not too fast), nervous?
  - communication with other comms (on point, complete, reacting to others)
  - being focused, handling ingame chat + whispers + commander chat
  - focus on leading/making calls over doing event mechanics / damage
  -  usage of squad markers
  - first command (on head) or more runs done before?
  - time management
  
  

• Explanations
  - getting people into squad
  - awareness of new players
  - extra loot at Crimson, getting the waypoint on Amber and Cobalt
  - vocal and squad chat
  - with own words, not read out
  - all info mentioned (general introduction, head mechanic, damage phase, waiting/clearing, damage stop, decap coordination, 2nd phase...)
  - amount of detail in relation to time and new players
  - chronological order
  - moving around to show spots/markers
  - answering questions
  
  

• Escort
  - getting buffs at the main WP
  - escort explanation
  - battle standard count (optional) / setting up other skills
  - "rules" if not mentioned before: no map chat, no mushrooms, revive downed, dead use WP
  - noticing eggs being vulnerable (+right order on Cobalt)
  - not missing any wurms, larva'
  - NPC safe or fighting/dead?
  - escort husk
  - escort achievement
  - stacking + count in arena
  
  

• 1st phase
  - mechanic and special calls (Amber: handling first husks, debuff timer;  Cobalt: keg spot change and  keg despawn timers)
  -  zerg control (vocal, say/squad chat)
  - damage phase calls
  - correct estimation of damage (safety burn needed?, damage stop in time)
  - clearing (not too much, not too little)
  - positioning to keep people away from abomination/kegs/blue container while waiting
  - animations: right calls and timing
  - handling unexpected husks and eggs / keeping special team safe
  - commander communication
  - decap coordination
  - handling more difficult situations (e.g. trolls, running short on time, resetting abo, disappearing kegs ..)
  
  

• 2nd phase
  - kill veterans if time
  - positioning  (especially when last to decap)
  - getting people to stack (no other targets)
  - recognizing animations
  - calling dodges in time
  - call for battle standards / revives
  - break bar