In the latter of the three stages, feedback is important, but not essential. Associative players need feedback, but more to improve their decision making or tactics, as the basic skills needed in the sport have become automatic. Whereas, in the autonomous phase, the person is very skilled and can make the right decision automatically.
Feedback is still important in maintaining player’s confidence, essential when correcting specific aspects of a skill.
Learning theories are relevant to feedback mainly due to how they can help a coach/instructor in determining which particular feedback method works best in certain situations.
There are many theories as to how learning happens, a few are explained below:
Operant Conditioning is used on a situation where the performer decides which is the correct response from a range of actions. It is then the coach’s job to reward them, thus shaping the performers behavior. The performer doesn’t need to understand why the action should be performed this way, only that they will be rewarded if they do. It is very similar to Pavlov’s theory of ‘Classical Conditioning.’ A tennis player can be told to aim for one specific area of the court, and then have the area reduced until a near perfect shot is achieved. By rewarding these actions, it means the player will perform it more often, thus achieving higher levels of success.
Trial and Error is where the player works through a wide range of methods to achieve the skill. Then he/she decides on the most effective way to achieve maximum success. It requires a lot of time, but can be more beneficial as the performer can also see the worst methods of doing the skill. Therefore they can avoid doing it. Golfers often use different methods of swinging, maybe to see which method makes the ball travel straighter or even further. This trial and improvement method will let the player achieve maximum success in the very technical game of golf.
The two theories described tell how the learning of a skill will be remembered due to the effort involved. A performer inputting a maximum amount of effort is unlikely to let the techniques learned go to waste. However this could be detrimental, as, if a wrong technique is learned and not corrected, the performer will have that technique lodged in their brain, which can be very difficult to correct.
Within the concept of feedback there are two main types.
Internal/intrinsic feedback is the first of the two forms of continuous feedback. It comes from inside the body via the proprioceptors. As the name suggests it is internal, meaning it is dealt within by our own mind. Kinaesthesis is a secondary form of intrinsic feedback. It involves small reactions within the brain that automatically react if something within the performance is done wrong. They let the body know something hasn’t been done right thus letting the performer correct their method internally.
The second type of feedback is External/Extrinsic/Augmented. Since it is external, the actual feedback we receive comes from an external source, be it by sight, sound e.t.c. When a football player shoots, he can judge if his attempt is successful by visually seeing if the ball is nestled in the back of the net or not.
There are however, two methods of feedback; they are not types but more ways in which to apply feedback.
Firstly is positive feedback. It is used to increase a participant’s confidence. If something is performed well, then a coach will compliment the performer on a success. Even if one specific aspect is not done correctly, the coach can reassure the player, letting them know that it was just a mistake and they will recover next time.
Negative feedback is basically the opposite of positive. It isn’t used to destroy a person’s confidence, but more to constructively criticize their performance and letting the performer know where they went wrong. Negative feedback can however be essential in a positive outcome in the professional sporting world. Say for example, a specific play that the team has worked on is used unsuccessfully, thus they can use the poor outcome to build a more successful strategy in the future.
Knowledge gained from sporting participation can be a crucial aspect of feedback and can be hugely beneficial to a sportsperson.
Knowledge of Results is a form of extrinsic feedback. Here the performer can become aware if the result of their performance has been a success. It is used in every type of competitive sport. Anytime anyone performs a skill, whether it is successful or not is usually obvious by someone else’s reaction. Like scoring a goal in football, this is shown by the crowds and team-mates reaction.
Knowledge of Performance is internal. It’s not the team performance or reaction that we care about in this situation, but it is based on the knowledge of our own performance and how we ourselves have played.
Next, I plan to detail the importance of feedback in the three stages of skill learning:
Cognitive as described earlier, this is the stage where feedback is the most essential. Since the players are at the basic stage where learning all the basic skills and rules of the game. In order to achieve these skills successfully, a coach needs to constantly reassure the performer. Here it will mostly be positive feedback, as negative may have the reaction of ruining a person’s confidence.
Associative at this stage the performer has learnt the basics of the skills and has to concentrate on practicing the skill. Coaches should use a combination of external and intrinsic feedback to help the player further along the path to autonomous skill. Here they can analyze their own performance, internal feedback, as well as external feedback from the coach. They can think more about the technicalities of the skill, rather than the basic performance themselves. For example, a golfer can now think where it is they wish to place the ball, rather than just intent on hitting the ball straight e.t.c.
The Autonomous stage this is where all of the world’s top sportspeople are. They perform all the skills automatically and rely mostly on intrinsic feedback. The feedback is more technical, and not based on simple performance specifics. For example, a golfer can really rely on the specifics of the shot, while in the associative phase they are relying on where to place the shot, autonomous performers can aim to place spin, bounce or even use the different types of shot available with expert precision.
In conclusion, feedback is essential for learning skills, throughout even to the professional level as assessing the person’s performance can let the player reach the elite level of the sport. It is essential that any low level coaches are thorough in their use of correct and productive feedback.
Personally, I aim to use feedback extensively to help myself perform at a higher level within my sport, football, and to hopefully take my game to a higher level and compete in a more elite type competition.
