How To Give Better Feedback

Why this matters

Feedback is the main tool you have between the whistle and the next repetition. Good feedback changes the very next action a player takes. Vague feedback — 'well done', 'concentrate', 'come on' — feels supportive but leaves the player with nothing to do differently.

The common problem

Most grassroots feedback is a running commentary. Coaches shout at the moment of the mistake, describe what already went wrong, and then move on. The player hears noise, feels judged and repeats the same action two minutes later because nobody told them what the alternative looked like.

Try this instead

• Say what you saw, then what you want next: 'Your first touch went under your foot — take it into the space in front so you can play forward.'
• One thing at a time. If you give a player three corrections, they will remember none of them.
• Feed back to the individual, not the pitch. Walk over, use their name, keep your voice low.
• Wait for the natural stop. Let the practice run and coach in the reset, not mid-action.
• Finish with a check: 'What are you going to try next time?' If they can say it, they own it.

On the pitch

In a 4v4 possession game a midfielder keeps receiving with their back to goal and losing the ball. Instead of shouting 'turn!', pause the game as the ball goes out, walk in and say: 'Before it comes, take a look over your shoulder. If nobody is on you, open your body and take it that way.' Restart, then praise the first time they do it.

Questions to ask

• What did you see before you received it?
• Where could that touch have taken you?
• What will you do the next time that happens?