Using knowledge of results (feedback based on what actually happened, like where a ball landed or how a movement was executed) to help another person refine a specific skill is a genuine coaching ability, distinct from simply performing the skill yourself. Digital tools — recording video of a performance, for example — let you capture and review timing, technique and movement in detail that's hard to fully notice in real time, whether reviewing your own performance or providing feedback to someone else. Effective feedback is specific and actionable ("try bending your knees more on the landing") rather than vague ("do better") — the difference determines whether feedback actually helps someone improve.
Example
Recording a friend's tennis serve on a phone and reviewing it together in slow motion might reveal that their toss is drifting too far behind them — a specific, visible detail that's much easier to identify and correct on video than by simply watching in real time, and specific enough to actually act on, unlike generic advice to "serve better."
Key terms
Knowledge of results:
Feedback based on the actual outcome of a movement, like where a ball landed.
Actionable feedback:
Feedback specific enough that a person can use it to make a concrete change.
Questions
1. Knowledge of results is feedback based on:
The actual outcome of a movement
A completely random guess
Something unrelated to performance
Only a person's feelings, with no connection to outcome
2. Digital tools like video recording can help by:
Capturing detail that's hard to notice in real time
Removing the need for any feedback at all
Making performance review impossible
Only being useful for professional athletes
3. Actionable feedback is:
Specific enough that a person can use it to make a change
Always vague, like "do better"
Feedback with no useful information at all
Only ever negative, with nothing constructive
4. "Try bending your knees more on the landing" is an example of:
Specific, actionable feedback
Vague, unhelpful feedback
Feedback unrelated to movement
A type of refusal skill
5. Coaching a skill is different from simply performing it because coaching involves:
Helping another person refine their own skill
Doing the skill yourself with no involvement of anyone else
Ignoring the other person's performance entirely
Something with no connection to feedback
6. Reviewing a recorded performance in slow motion can help:
Identify specific details that are hard to notice at full speed
Make identifying details harder than watching live
Remove all useful information about the performance
Replace the need for any coaching at all
7. Vague feedback like "do better" is generally:
Less useful than specific, actionable feedback
Always more useful than specific feedback
The only type of feedback ever needed
Something with no difference from specific feedback
8. Why might feedback based on knowledge of results (an actual outcome, like where a ball landed) be more useful for improvement than feedback based only on how a movement felt to perform?
Outcome-based feedback provides an objective, external reference point, while how something feels can be inconsistent or not fully reflect what actually happened
How a movement felt to the person performing it is always exactly as reliable as the actual, objective outcome
Outcome-based feedback provides no additional useful information beyond how a movement subjectively felt
There is no meaningful difference between outcome-based feedback and feedback based purely on subjective feeling
9. Why might recording and reviewing a performance together (coach and performer watching side by side) be more effective than a coach describing what they saw from memory alone?
Reviewing actual footage together allows for precise, shared reference to specific moments, rather than relying on a coach's possibly incomplete memory of what happened
Describing a performance from memory alone always provides exactly as much detail and accuracy as reviewing recorded footage together
Recorded footage provides no additional useful detail beyond what a coach might remember and describe verbally
The method used to review a past performance has no bearing on how effectively feedback can be given
10. Why might overly general feedback ("you need to improve") fail to actually help someone get better at a skill?
Without a specific, identifiable action to focus on, a person may not know exactly what to change or how to practise differently
General feedback always provides exactly as much practical guidance as highly specific feedback
The specificity of feedback has no real bearing on whether it actually helps someone improve a skill
Vague feedback always motivates a person more effectively than detailed, specific feedback
11. Why might providing feedback on just one specific aspect of a performance (rather than everything at once) sometimes be more effective coaching?
Focusing on one specific, manageable change at a time can be easier to actually understand and practise than being overwhelmed with many corrections simultaneously
Giving feedback on every single aspect of a performance at once is always the most effective approach to coaching
The amount of feedback given at one time has no bearing on how effectively a person can act on it
Focusing feedback on a single specific aspect provides no genuine benefit over giving comprehensive feedback all at once
12. Why might a peer coaching another peer (rather than only ever being coached by an adult or expert) still provide genuine value, even without professional-level expertise?
A peer can still offer a fresh, external perspective and specific observations that the performer themselves might not notice while focused on their own performance
Peer coaching provides no genuine value whatsoever compared to always being coached exclusively by an expert
Only a professional expert coach could ever meaningfully help someone notice details about their own performance
The relative expertise level of a coach has no bearing on whether their feedback could still be genuinely useful
13. Why might comparing a performance recorded today against one recorded weeks earlier be a genuinely useful coaching and feedback technique?
A direct, visual comparison over time provides concrete evidence of progress or areas that still need continued focus, rather than relying on a vague impression of improvement
Comparing recordings from different points in time provides no useful additional information about a person's progress
A vague general impression of improvement over time is always exactly as reliable as a direct, visual comparison
Reviewing performance over time never actually reveals anything useful about a person's progress or areas for continued focus
14. Why might a coach checking that feedback was actually understood ("what do you think you'll try differently next time?") be an important final step, rather than simply delivering the feedback and moving on?
Confirming understanding helps ensure the feedback will actually translate into a genuine change in future practice, rather than being misunderstood or forgotten
Simply delivering feedback without any follow-up confirmation always results in exactly the same improvement as checking understanding
Whether a person actually understood a piece of feedback has no bearing on whether they can meaningfully act on it
Checking a performer's understanding of feedback provides no genuine additional value to the coaching process
15. Why might a coach need to balance being encouraging with being genuinely honest when giving feedback on a performance that has clear room for improvement?
Feedback that is only critical can be discouraging, while feedback that is only encouraging without honesty may not actually lead to genuine improvement
A coach should always give feedback that is either purely critical or purely encouraging, with no possible balance between the two
Balancing encouragement and honesty in feedback has no real bearing on how effectively a person is likely to improve
Genuinely honest feedback and encouraging feedback are always in complete conflict with no way to combine them
16. Why might learning to give effective feedback to someone else also help improve your own understanding and performance of the same skill?
Analysing another person's technique closely enough to give specific, useful feedback often deepens your own understanding of what the skill actually requires
Coaching or giving feedback to someone else never actually has any effect on your own understanding of a skill
Understanding a skill well enough to coach it and understanding it well enough to perform it are always completely unrelated
Giving feedback to another person provides no genuine benefit to your own skill development or understanding
17. Why might a coach using video review need to be careful not to overwhelm a beginner with too much detailed technical feedback all at once?
A beginner may become discouraged or confused if given more detailed corrections than they can realistically process and practise at their current stage
The amount and complexity of feedback given has no bearing on how a beginner is likely to respond or improve
Beginners are always able to process and act on exactly as much detailed feedback as an advanced performer
Overwhelming a beginner with extensive technical detail always leads to faster, more effective improvement
18. Why might timing matter when giving feedback — for example, waiting until immediately after a specific attempt rather than only summarising at the very end of a long session?
Feedback given close to the specific moment it relates to is easier for a person to connect to exactly what they did, compared to a delayed, generalised summary
The timing of when feedback is delivered has no real bearing on how effectively a person can connect it to their own performance
Feedback delayed until the very end of a session always helps a person improve exactly as effectively as immediate feedback
Immediate, moment-specific feedback provides no genuine advantage over a single generalised summary given later
19. Why might asking a performer "what did you notice about that attempt?" before offering your own feedback be a valuable coaching technique?
It builds the performer's own self-reflection and awareness, which is a skill they can use even without a coach present, rather than only ever relying on external feedback
Asking a performer for their own reflection before giving feedback never actually adds any value to the coaching process
A performer's own self-reflection is always completely irrelevant compared to feedback given directly by a coach
Building self-reflection skills has no genuine connection to a person's long-term ability to improve independently
20. Why might effective coaching sometimes involve deliberately withholding some feedback in the moment, saving it for a later, calmer discussion?
In a high-pressure or emotional moment, feedback may not be well received or processed, so waiting for a calmer moment can make the same feedback more genuinely useful
Withholding feedback in the moment never actually has any effect on how well it is eventually received or acted upon
Feedback should always be given in the exact moment an event occurs, regardless of the emotional state of the person receiving it
The emotional state of a performer has no bearing on how effectively they are likely to receive and act on feedback
21. Understanding coaching and feedback for helping others improve mainly helps you to:
Provide specific, evidence-based feedback that genuinely supports another person's skill development
Assume vague, general feedback is always just as useful as specific, actionable feedback
Ignore the value of reviewing recorded performance when providing coaching
Treat coaching a skill as identical to simply performing that skill yourself
Answer key (parent copy)
1. The actual outcome of a movement
2. Capturing detail that's hard to notice in real time
3. Specific enough that a person can use it to make a change
4. Specific, actionable feedback
5. Helping another person refine their own skill
6. Identify specific details that are hard to notice at full speed
7. Less useful than specific, actionable feedback
8. Outcome-based feedback provides an objective, external reference point, while how something feels can be inconsistent or not fully reflect what actually happened
9. Reviewing actual footage together allows for precise, shared reference to specific moments, rather than relying on a coach's possibly incomplete memory of what happened
10. Without a specific, identifiable action to focus on, a person may not know exactly what to change or how to practise differently
11. Focusing on one specific, manageable change at a time can be easier to actually understand and practise than being overwhelmed with many corrections simultaneously
12. A peer can still offer a fresh, external perspective and specific observations that the performer themselves might not notice while focused on their own performance
13. A direct, visual comparison over time provides concrete evidence of progress or areas that still need continued focus, rather than relying on a vague impression of improvement
14. Confirming understanding helps ensure the feedback will actually translate into a genuine change in future practice, rather than being misunderstood or forgotten
15. Feedback that is only critical can be discouraging, while feedback that is only encouraging without honesty may not actually lead to genuine improvement
16. Analysing another person's technique closely enough to give specific, useful feedback often deepens your own understanding of what the skill actually requires
17. A beginner may become discouraged or confused if given more detailed corrections than they can realistically process and practise at their current stage
18. Feedback given close to the specific moment it relates to is easier for a person to connect to exactly what they did, compared to a delayed, generalised summary
19. It builds the performer's own self-reflection and awareness, which is a skill they can use even without a coach present, rather than only ever relying on external feedback
20. In a high-pressure or emotional moment, feedback may not be well received or processed, so waiting for a calmer moment can make the same feedback more genuinely useful
21. Provide specific, evidence-based feedback that genuinely supports another person's skill development