Introduction to Sports Biomechanics: Analysing Human Movement ...

INTRODUCTION TO SPORTS BIOMECHANICS
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Finally, for activities in which balance is crucial, such as gymnastics and weightlifting,
we might prioritise from the base of support upwards. But would this approach work,
for example, in target shooting? From much experience, I would normally recommend
to students of movement analysis the ‘correct sequence’ or ‘what came before’ approach
to prioritising changes.
INTERVENTION STAGE – PROVIDING APPROPRIATE FEEDBACK
We come now to the final (intervention) stage of our four-stage process of qualitative
analysis. Before getting this far, the movement analyst must have conducted a means
analysis with the performer and their coach or therapist, identified the critical features
relevant to the question to be answered, and prepared how feedback will be provided,
including, for example, key words. Secondly, the movement analyst will have obtained
relevant video footage and any other movement patterns (see Chapter 3 for discussion
of the latter of these). Finally, the movement analyst will have analysed the video and
movement patterns and prioritised the critical features to be addressed.
The focus in this final stage is on feedback of information to address the requirements
of the needs analysis. If the previous three stages have been done badly, nothing
in the intervention stage will sort matters out. On the other hand, provision of
inappropriate feedback can jeopardise even good work done in the previous stages.
Several key points relate to providing information feedback. The information fed
back should augment that available to the performer from his or her senses; such
information is referred to, particularly in motor learning, as augmented feedback.
The success of any intervention strategy to improve performance hinges on the way
information is provided – fed back – to practitioners. The movement analyst must
address what information is communicated, how this is done and when; this should
have been partly done in the preparation stage. Practitioners may not always be
receptive to feedback, particularly if it is not obviously relevant to the problems that a
needs analysis should have identified; this difficulty often arises when no needs analysis
has been carried out.
Some fundamental points should be borne in mind about providing feedback. First,
we need accurate and reliable information to be fed back. Secondly, the information
should provide something that is not directly observable by coaches or other
practitioners. Thirdly, what is fed back should relate clearly to differences between good
and poor performance. Fourthly, feedback should involve the right information at the
right time and in an easily absorbed format. Lastly, the rapidity with which feedback
is provided, its presentation and interpretation are all important.
It is worth noting, in this context, that the implicit assumption that feedback is
inherently good is not totally supported. Further warning points are, first, that much
information relating to movement technique is available, with little clarity about what
should be fed back or how. Secondly, providing more information may cause confusion,
particularly if unrelated to the problem identified. Thirdly, calls for the provision
of immediate feedback, directly after the performance, don’t address several very