The importance of good feedback

“Feedback is the most important part of the learning cycle!” – this  was the take home message from a presentation a friend of mine gave at a Coach Training seminar I conducted several years ago.

Since that time I have explored this concept further and further, and made the “feedback sandwich” a core concept of my Coach Training.

The feedback sandwich comprises two pieces of bread (positives), with a filler (point for improvement), sandwiched in between.

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No matter what the level of the student, a feedback sandwich is always applicable. For very anxious or nervous students the ratio of positives might need to exceed 2 to 1, sometimes up to 10 to 1 and for elite level the mere 2 to1, but it remains a constant to me that all students will progress better if criticism is sandwiched by praise.

In many ways it isn’t in the Australian ethos to be praising, we are more tall poppy knockers and tend to be self-denigrating and play down our successes. 

But I always urge my trainee coaches to shake off this “ocker style” negativity and look for the good in people, and recognise and praise it. As Pollyanna said in one of my favourite childhood movies, “Look for the good in people, because if you look for the bad you are sure to find it!”

I often get trainee coaches to give a student a feedback sandwich and then I ask the student what the trainee coach said that did well, and what the trainee coach said they could improve on. The students can always tell me straight away what they needed to improve, but have to think back to what was said they actually did well.

Criticism carries more weight and sticks longer than praise and students will disbelieve positives, but cling to criticisms and worry and fret over something someone has said.

Giving good feedback is an art form and a skill, one that needs to be practiced regularly.

Last week I went out to watch some of the Gilbert Bockman Showjumping Clinic at Yandoo Equestrian Centre at Wilberforce about 20 minutes from our place. The Winning family have developed this into an amazing state of the art training facility and Jamie Winning and her partner Jamie Kermond are reaping the rewards with a lovely team of horses and some spectacular results.

Jamie Kermond is not only the reigning Australian Showjumping champion but has also just won his second consecutive World Cup series Championship. I caught up with Jamie during my visit to give him my personal feedback as recorded in this brief video. 

Gilbert Bockman is a perfectionist and a stickler for the basics done well. He has an astute eye , but English is his second language  and he is a coach of few words. Good friend James Mooney was very happy though with the feedback Gilbert gave him about his lovely warmblood Stallion “JB Evolution” at the clinic when he said it all in one word, “Perfect”! 

Now you would have to be happy with that feedback. Take a look and judge for yourself  . 

While feedback is an essential tool for a coach, try never to forget that it is equally valuable to a rider. The principles of pressure and release forms the basis of most horse training systems, but this is essentially a negative reinforcement based system. 

Negative reinforcement refers to something being taken away ( as in the pressure is removed), so we ask the horse to move forward with the pressure of leg aids and when they do we remove the pressure, and the same for rein pressure to slow and stop. 

The question of can we train them with positive reinforcement or feedback is an exciting one, and one that I have been delighted to explore since meeting Georgia Bruce.

Georgia was a Bronze Medalist in the Dressage at the Beijing Para Olympics and is Australia’s leading Clicker Trainer exponent. She showed me how a horse can accelerate their learning and overcome fears through the positive reinforcement of the Click and Treat system used in Clicker Training.

Georgia has many videos and books and her website is a wealth of information on clickering and training in general.

Just remember there are feelings everywhere, both horse and human, and if your feedback can influence these in a positive you owe it to yourself to start practicing good feedback. 

Good feedback is so much more than blanket praise, it is targeted and specific. For further reading you might enjoy this article on praise.

If you have questions or comments about topics in this blog please feel free to email me [email protected] 

Until next time.

Cheers,

Chrissie


This blog post is part of a series of posts I have been creating for the Horseyard blog. Check out their website here