Feedback: A brief Fútbol-centric Note
A brief Fútbol-centric view on how to best apply and interpret modern research on Feedback.
We explain modern research in Fútbol terms, free of arcane jargon. Fútbol already has a rich language, let’s use it.
We briefly touch on team culture, training and communication which will be topics for other Posts. There will be a much larger Post on team culture and communication channels between players and coaching staff (the feedback and feed-forward) in the near future: ‘Forging a Team Culture and Identity’
We will also have a Post “A Simple Training Model — A little is more than enough’ on an actual training session to discuss some more complex topics such as when using ‘desirable difficulties’ in order to develop players’ Game Intelligence, as well as tone when giving feedback.
As always, in all my posts, defining what we refer to helps everyone understand the conversation. Simplified enough to actually not get lost in useless semantics.
Feedback — Feedback is a deliberate form of information which transmits your coaching methodology and your Game Model to your players. Information we as coaches/trainers pass on to our players based on their actions during training and matches. Feedback can be intentionally negative, intentionally positive and, unfortunately, unintentionally negative when the intention was actually to be positive on the part of the coach. Our most important use of Feedback is to precipitate a change in our players’ understanding of the Game.
Instruction — Our primary task as youth coaches/trainers is to develop our players and this is done via our teaching instructions. The most effective type of instruction is explicit coaching.
Feedback is NOT encouragement. Don’t confuse them. Think Pep or Simeone working a 4v4+3 Rondo: for them it’s often encouragement, hyping up the pressure and competitive aspect. While often enforcing reminders for technical and tactical habits.
Feedback and its two closely related partners: Team Culture and Communication. Which we will briefly touch on in this Post.
Feedback is also a key component in theories such as purposeful practice and deliberate practice.
Feedback, along with a quality training curriculum, is one of the two most important components in player development and learning.
Feedback is tightly wound with our relationship with players.
It should be common sense we need feedback to help our players improve their skill-set.
There has been much research done in this area in the last 40 years, but disappointingly it’s rarely discussed or explained in Youth Fútbol education and in Fútbol in general. We will discuss some more concrete findings in research.
In a Seminal paper Hattie and Timperley’s ‘The Power of Feedback’, they note: “Feedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning and achievement, but this impact can be either positive or negative.” The Authors also not something profoundly important, “feedback can only build on something; it is of little use when there is no initial learning or surface information.” Feedback is useless if the players don’t understand the purpose of the activity and/or their role within the activity and in relation to the others
We often see a presentation or video of clip of a coach/trainer give feedback many levels above a player’s understanding. Experienced trainers/coaches can instantly tell if the players can understand if the presenter’s feedback is applicable and/or understood.
We can agree that constructive feedback improves the performance of our players, but, counter-intuitively, a gain in performance may not always result in improved retention or the ability to transfer what they have learned to another similar situation they encounter during training or matches. Meaning we don’t always retain the original intention of the feedback.Feedback and Coaching Instruction are intertwined.
Feedback different with youth players vs pro players. Experts and Beginners process information completely different from each other.
If you are familiar with my other Posts you understand that:
The Players’ ability to retrieve information is heavily context dependent — they form a link between what they have learned (know) to related situations they encounter in training and matches. These contextual links provide cues or prompts which helps players to retrieve what players need when they need it.
It’s up to you as a coach to decide how feedback applies to your squad, it could also be a case-by-case basis.
How should you choose to communicate with your players?
Take into account age level, experience, skills, and environment?
Is your team culture strong enough for certain types of feedbacks?
Feedback should be 100% dictated your explicit coaching and by their current knowledge.
Feedback should match their current understanding.
Don’t skip any steps. Don’t make assumptions about what your players understand. This is why team talks such as tactical discussions, small-unit discussions, 1on1 talks are so important. It helps you gauge their level of learning and understanding.
How do I motivate my players? Motivation is tied to my team identity, meaning our team culture.
Building a team culture is tightly integrated with our Identity as a team. We will discuss this in another Post but for now we will highlight some items:
I use goals, they can therefore see what they are achieving, how exactly they are improving.
In order for feedback to result in improvement, players need to believe that they can do something about their current performance. They need to know from you that every little action on their part matters in making your team better. Taking ownership is a powerful tool on their way to becoming better players.
I break down the role and responsibilities of each player during training and during matches. This defines who they are and if they will contribute to building a positive and competitive team culture.
I instill a sense of purpose and unity in each squad so they can compete against other units: For example during training the backline vs midfielders vs attackers.
Recommendations on feedback:
Be specific and clear. Players Roles and Responsibilities as a unit (backline, midfielders, and attackers) and in a Formation (4–3–3) should be well understood. This will involve small-unit work and 1on1 discussions. We often make video clips for each unit and player position.
In an activity it should be focused on the role and responsibilities of the player rather than directed at the player and targeted to increase players’ commitment.
For Example when working with the backline on a playing out under pressure scenario I will often say “This is what we expect our Fullbacks to do” or “This is what gives our defenders a solid advantage” and proceed to model a physical action with a tactical understand, we want one chunked response every time they see a similar situation.
In this manner, many mistakes are seen as steps on their way to learning as opposed to calling out errors which they can take personally and sometimes shutdown emotionally.
Explanatory and focused on improvement, not just verifying performance at that particular time and session. Use details from other activities which are used to build up the current training activity. For example reminders of ‘tactical habits’ such as scanning, dismarking, looking for 3rd man runs, decoys, etc.
Designed to attribute outcomes to internal factors that players can control. Players learn that any activity is dependent on their previous training and the communication with their teammates. Factors which they can control.
Designed to make players consider unstable factors that are dependent on effort and concentration. For example: “I want you to work on your half-turn when we do our 3v0 pass & move activity”. We help players put their actions in larger activities such as Triple Rondo and apply them to other activities such as a Double Rondo or 3v0 Pass & Move Drill.
Feedback while training? Does a coach/trainer distract a player? Again, let’s not confuse encouragement with Feedback. We can often encourage and interject urgency and pressure during an activity to simulate the pressure of match.
Feedback depends on the coaching methodology and the level the players are in terms of experience and understanding.
Watching players struggle week after week in the false belief they will somehow magically ‘get it’ down the road is criminal. Knowing what many of you already have understood about how our players learn new information you should be very proactive when it comes to Feedback. Learning timing and how much is an important step to becoming a better coach/trainer.
Is what I’m giving feedback on going to contradict the next phase of their learning, meaning what I’m going to teach them next?
How to tell if my players are processing my feedback correctly or even in a positive, advantageous manner?
It will probably benefit players for coaches/trainers to reduce the quantity and frequency of feedback over time to help prevent players becoming overly dependent on their coaches. We give them the technical and tactical training, teach them their roles and responsibilities within our Game Model, we need to give them enough challenging training for them to put all their training into action. Not this does not mean becoming silent during training, encouragements, tactical and technical reminders should be a constant tool in your environment.
As the more astute coaches/trainers have already learned, some of our well-intentioned feedback can backfire resulting in players aiming lower than they are capable of (reduced expectations) or giving up.
Feedback is more likely to be effective if it helps our players believe that making effort will result in improvement, or that adopting a more challenging aim is worth it.
Feedback: what’s actually needed and what’s actually noise?
The truth is the way sometimes coaches give feedback is irrelevant if it’s not received, understood and results in players making progress. How often we see a trainer be very expansive and attack-minded during training but much more cautious when playing a match. Defender are encouraged to join the attack in training but not during a match. These are confusing messages for players. It makes them question their relevance and their respect for you as a coach/trainer.
But how often might our feedback result in players making less effort, aiming lower and abandoning goals? Sometimes well-intentioned feedback has the effect of making players decide to give up or reduce their aspirations. In some cases, no feedback at all might be preferable. Just giving players feedback might be harmful.
Reducing Feedback? For more experienced players who are very comfortable in your Game Model, the answer is yes.
This does not mean that we should avoid giving our players feedback on how they’re doing. But it does suggest that feedback should be scaffolded. Withholding, delaying and reducing feedback can boost long-term retention and lead to more sustained learning with more experienced players.
In Summary: Feedback should make players want to improve an aspect of their game and/or mentality.
We want our players to reflect on their efforts after a training session. A brief wrap-up conversation for the entire team, for each unit and the some of the individual players is a great way to improve their development.
Often, the most important factor in determining the impact of feedback is the relationship the coach/trainer has with his players. By relationship I don’t mean a coach should try to buddy up to every player. With experienced and enough background knowledge we as coaches learn how to handle each individual player. Some need a firm hand, others need constant reminders, and others need more freedom.
To repeat:
Giving feedback can often backfire and have depressingly unintended consequences depending on how players attribute success and failure.
Explaining a new training activity and the difficulties of this activity can go a long way in helping players understand that initially they will make plenty of makes and which are caused by the intrinsic difficulty of the training activity and which are caused by their technical/tactical deficiencies. Once they clearly see what they need to work on to improve their role in any activity it will give them the achievable goal they need to continue training in a motivated way. Motivation is highly depend on the goals and how achievable they are.
Note I have not discussed any of the feel-good terms which have become popular in the Pseudo-coaching circles: Grit, Growth Mindset, Mindfulness, and Emotional Intelligence.
Building a proper team culture, proper communication, an expansive coaching methodology are all you need. These are all tangible and coachable.
Sources:
Soderstrom, N. & Bjork, R. A. (2013). Learning Versus Performance, Oxford Bibliographies Online: Psychology, New York: Oxford University Press.
Ericsson, A. K., Krampe, R. T. & Tesch-Romer, C. (1993) ‘The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance’, Psychological Review, 100, 363–406.
Hattie, J. & Timperley, H. (2007) ‘The Power of Feedback’, Review Of Educational Research. 77(1), 81–112.
Tuesday, May 5th, 2020
