Effects of Knowledge of Results and Change-Oriented Feedback on Swimming Performance

Purpose: This study examined the effect of providing knowledge of results (KR) with, and without, promotion- and change-oriented feedback on repeated-sprint ability in swimmers. Methods: Twenty-nine male and female swimmers (age = 16 [1] y, height = 1.74 [0.07] m, body mass = 61.0 [8.4] kg) were randomly allocated into 2 different feedback conditions, or a condition without feedback (NoFb), as a crossover, repeated-measures design. In one feedback condition, the swimmers were provided with lap completion times as KR. The other feedback condition was athlete-driven, where the swimmers were asked to estimate their lap completion times, and the investigators responded on whether their actual sprint times were faster (promotion-oriented), slower (change-oriented), or the same. Results: The results showed significantly faster average completion times during the repeated-sprint swim protocol in the athlete-driven KR (P = .014) and KR condition (P = .023), when compared with the NoFb condition. However, significantly faster best completion time was only found in the KR condition (P = .012), when compared with the NoFb condition. Furthermore, the stroke rate was significantly greater during the athlete-driven KR (P= .009) and KR (P = .021) conditions, when compared with the NoFb condition. Conclusions: The KR condition exhibited the greatest benefit for improving several swimming performance measures during a repeated-sprint protocol, and the increase in stroke rate may have contributed to this performance enhancement. Thus, it is recommended that swimmers receive lap completion times during repeated-sprint training sessions to optimize training quality.