Feedback and Cueing

Feedback is the information a performer receives about a movement and its result. Some of it is intrinsic — the sensations that arise naturally from doing the action, such as what a swing feels like, where the limbs sit in space, and what the eyes and ears pick up. The rest is augmented, meaning it is added by an outside source: a coach's comment, a video replay, a mirror, a training partner, or a measurement. Augmented feedback is often split into knowledge of results, which describes the outcome such as whether the ball reached the target, and knowledge of performance, which describes the quality or form of the movement itself. Both kinds let a learner compare what they actually did with what they intended and adjust the next attempt.

A cue is a short instructional prompt that directs attention to one key feature of a movement. Because attention and working memory are limited, brief cues of only a few words tend to be more useful than long explanations, and giving one cue at a time is generally more effective than a list of corrections. Cues also shape the focus of attention. An internal focus points attention at the body itself ("bend the elbow", "squeeze the shoulder blades"), while an external focus points it at the effect of the movement on the environment, an implement, or a target ("push the floor away", "send the ball through the gap"). A widely reported general idea in coaching is that an external focus tends to produce more automatic, efficient movement and better retention, though some explicit guidance can help when a skill is entirely new. How feedback is delivered matters too: constant feedback can speed early performance but breed dependence, so it is commonly faded, summarised across several attempts, or delayed so the learner first tries to sense and correct their own error.