Human’s love immediate feedback, especially numerical feedback. We have all read the studies on how performance feedback on bar speeds and jump height have been shown to increase the performance of an athlete. It is human nature to be competitive and its human nature to try and improve. However, I am going to make a short little argument as to why I think technologically driven feedback regarding performance scores (not technique or skill) is more effective than human feedback. This is not based on any research I have come across, it is merely based on opinion. so feel free to disagree.
Why Technology
The funny thing about technology is that we don’t humanize it. People don’t think computers have feelings like one might think an animal, plant or person has. For the most part, we see them as a bunch of circuits and wires made to unbiasedly provide a service. For example, when a computer gives you feedback on your search engine, you don’t get mad if its right or wrong, you just use it as a means to obtain the information. However, if your friend were to give you the wrong directions to a store, you might think they are “out to get you”. Long story short, computers don’t have emotions and technology doesn’t care about you, so naturally you don’t care about it.
Why does lack of caring matter?
Well, if you don’t think something has any emotional investment in you, then the feedback it provides lacks emotional context. For example, losing to the computer in a video game is one thing, losing to a friend is another. Just like how getting negative feedback from someone you have an emotional investment in is totally different than the computer telling you your score wasn’t high enough. When informed by someone you care about, the emotional response can vary depending on the tone of voice, body language, how someone delivers the message and the context in which it is measured. A computer doesn’t really have any of those qualities.
The Skip-It Phenomenon
For those that grew up in the 90s, you might remember the Skip-It. It was essentially a ball that was tether to your ankle and the goal was to spin it in circles with one leg, while the other leg had to hop when it came back around. Sounds kind of dumb, but in reality it was genius. The company made it so user friendly that all one had to do, was, well just start doing it. There was no set up time and most important of all, you got immediate feedback!
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0iFwT9MPbw[/embedyt]
Can we take advantage of this?
I firmly believe that when it comes to reporting numbers, having visual feedback (from technology) and having it provided immediately is one of the most powerful motivators out there. The numbers give the athlete a sense of ownership. If it were coming from some other conscious being, there is always someone else to blame. However, when the number simply comes from a screen, there is no one else to take ownership of it aside from yourself. It basically acts as an internal window in to your own effort and performance! It truly makes one compete against their own abilities.
Don’t take this wrong
I am not saying there should not be coaches! It would be idiotic to make that assumption. All I am trying to say is that when providing immediate numerical performance feedback (a very specific realm), making it as objective as possible is critical. I am also going to say this is only in context when the feedback itself is meant to motivate, not when it is being used to diagnose, analyze, or assess an athlete in more detail (this process needs to have human involvement). The lack of emotional ties, when presented to by an emotionless computer to an athlete allows the athlete to take ownership of the number itself. It is just like any form of neuro/bio feedback training that you may see with HRV or QEEG readings. Again, this is strictly for motivational purposes, just like the Skip-It