Too Many Cooks, Not Enough Gourmets: Examining Provision and Use of Feedback for the Developing Athlete
21st March 2022

- How many feedback providers were offering players performance relevant information?
- Was this feedback coherent?
- How did players make sense of the feedback they received?
- Ultimately, we need to consider how to deliberately curate the experience of athletes, ideally, this should involve the coordinated use of the what, how, and where of feedback.
- Coaching is a team game – it is rarely reducible to a single athlete-coach relationship. Engage with the broader network around you and the athlete.
- As has been suggested before, it is a good idea for you to integrate your practice with the the rest of this network. An effective way to do this is the creation of shared mental models amongst different stakeholders (coaches, practitioners, international squads, parents). To integrate with others, consider using stakeholder mapping with athletes to understand how to maximise the impact of feedback and who might moderate it? Ask the athlete who they receive feedback from and what feedback they get from different sources (just beware impression management!)
- If athletes are not acting on important feedback, consider how you might use ‘higher status’ providers to get the message across. For example, asking senior athletes to reinforce a message or spend time looking at a particular element of an athlete's performance.
- We need to prepare performers to make best use of feedback and engage in sensemaking – especially given that feedback is well established as being one of the most important features of performance enhancement. We want athletes making decisions based on quality of information, not shallow perceptions.
- This means athletes need to develop a psycho-behavioural skillset as they progress. They also need opportunities to critically engage with feedback. This is a very different approach to the 'feedback sandwich', making the message simpler, or identifying the 'right types' of feedback.

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Performance psychologistIn an increasingly confused world of ‘sciency’ researchers and commercial gurus, Grey Matters focus on providing a clear, evidence-based service that puts YOU in charge.
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A leap forward in performance
To find out how Grey Matters can take you or your athletes to the next level click below to get in touch.
Contact us
A message from Dave Collins
Performance psychologistIn an increasingly confused world of ‘sciency’ researchers and commercial gurus, Grey Matters focus on providing a clear, evidence-based service that puts YOU in charge.
View Dave on LinkedIn