“In criticizing, the teacher is hoping to teach. That’s all” Bankei
One of the most difficult things about being a coach is being able to build a relationship with the student that allows for constructive criticism to be exchanged. Whilst praise is important, it is only one half of the job. If it is not supplemented with constructive advice on improvement then it will just falsely inflate the student’s opinion of their abilities.
It is a delicate aspect of the coaches' work and I have seen many a young coach falter the first time they run a class and have to give advice on improvement as they don’t know how to phrase it, neither do they wish to cause affront. Like most things though, there are techniques that can make this easier for both the student and the teacher.
Always start from a neutral position: Start your feedback with something neutral like “I’ve been watching you fence for a while now and have a few observations if you’re interested….” This invites the attention and participation of a student and gives you as the coach an indication of their willingness to connect.
Move to a positive first: Continue with a positive statement such as “you have a very good lunge”. This gets a positive vibe going.
Avoid the “but” word: Don’t finish your praise with “but” as this does two things; it prevents the student absorbing the positive message by leaving no sentence break and it also subconsciously negates the first part of your positive feedback. Try using other words instead of “but” such as “however” or pause and use phrases like “it seems to me that…..” or “I did notice that…..” Have a look at the following sentence and experiment with other phrases like the above to see which impact you prefer. “You’ve got a really good lunge….. but your parry riposte could be improved”
Use positive words: Never say “your parry riposte is bad”. Rather try “your parry riposte would be even better if…” It’s a subconscious law that the human brain will fixate on negativity and even reproduce that behaviour subconsciously. It’s a bit like the story about the best magical medicine in the world. It would heal anything as long as you don’t think of a monkey whilst drinking it…..
Clearly demonstrate what you are explaining: Always accompany verbal feedback with a physical demonstration if possible.
Give a goal: Throw in something that gives the student something to aim at and a reason to take the feedback on board. “Doing it this way will mean you’ll get more hits” or “Retaining point control will allow you to make your riposte quicker” etc
Finish with praise: Any feedback discussion should always end with something positive. A brief “well done” or “keep up the good work” is a good finishing line.
Be prepared for the student to rebuff advice: Some people need time to digest information and may not take it in initially. Last Saturday a student responded to my advice on their distance work on compound attacks with “Well I haven’t been well this week and I probably shouldn’t be fencing at all really….” I just smiled and said “Ok, but do think about the different distances between a compound and simple attack. It will help you score more points”. Without wishing to be generalist and gender-ist, I find ladies are much better at listening to and considering advice. Men (and particularly young men) are not so disposed to listen so you might have to repeat it a few times.
Giving feedback is a skill but like most skills it can be improved with a little thought and plenty of practice. Feedback on this post is welcomed!!
