Giving Athletes Feedback on their Performance

Giving Athletes Feedback on their Performance

Author: Rolton Edwards

Editor: Elya Wardini

One of the key aspects of being a great coach is being able to give constructive feedback. This is especially important after a poor team performance. In practice, games, and/or competitions, figuring out what to say and how to say it can be incredibly difficult. The situation becomes even more complicated when you need to address an entire team of athletes. To help you navigate these difficult conversations, here are some tips.

Accountability Starts Before the Event

Each athlete needs to be accountable for their own actions. This is the foundation of building a solid team that works together. Having defined roles and expectations gives athletes something they can focus on while they compete. It also gives them a sense of self-worth while defining their internal locus of control, an incredibly important aspect of the growth mindset.

As the coach, you develop the plan under which your athletes operate. If there is something of particular concern, be sure to address it in practice while actively outlining how the athletes can prepare for the situation. Then you can hold individuals accountable away from the group.

Give Constructive Feedback

When giving feedback to athletes, it is important to note why you are giving them feedback. If your team has performed poorly and you are frustrated with them, now may not be the time to point out every mistake they’ve made. The purpose should never be to shame an athlete for poor performance.

Instead, the purpose of your feedback should be to give your athletes actionable advice they can take with them to their next practice, game, or competition. If the athlete does not receive the feedback (either because it is all negative or demeaning), they will not be able to execute the action requested.

One way to increase the likelihood your athletes will receive the corrections you give them is to keep the ratio of encouragements to corrections high (encouragements:corrections). This is called the “feedback sandwich” technique and it goes as follows:

Positive feedback ~ Constructive feedback ~ Positive feedback

This framework allows you to provide feedback while still pointing out the positive aspects, building the character of the athlete.

Focus

Ask yourself, what was the goal of this event and was it achieved? If the goal was not achieved, what key factor hindered the performance? Do not overload your athletes with information. Focus on ONE key element. Athletes need to understand what specific improvements they need to make to improve their performance.

Know Your Athletes

After the performance, you need to know how to properly critique your athletes. This is quite difficult with a large group of athletes, therefore you need to talk to them individually. Different athletes have different personalities. Some respond to more direct criticism, some completely shut down when confronted.

It is important to remember that athletes have their own internal feedback system. They know how they performed. Your role as the coach is to reinforce the good behaviour while giving constructive feedback on how to improve on the poor behaviour.

Listen

Listening to your athletes is still the best way to figure out what kind of feedback they need. Get them to tell you how they felt, and provide them with the feedback that they are looking for.

References

Positive Coaching Alliance. (2016, February 18). Stephen Bardo: Accountability In Sports And Life. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YI82DatFj4

Positive Coaching Alliance. (2016, July 1). Colt McCoy: Coaching Athletes As Individuals. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjLO0yrGmp0

Pawlowski, A. (2015, September 9). How to be mentally tough: 4 lessons from sports psychologists. TODAY.com; TODAY. https://www.today.com/health/how-be-mentally-tough-4-lessons-sports-psychologists-t42916