Research Cluster

Video Feedback for Athletic Skills

This cluster shows how watching yourself on video helps athletes get better faster. Studies tested video feedback alone and video feedback plus watching an expert model. Both ways made dancers, cheerleaders, gymnasts, soccer players, and climbers do their moves more correctly. A BCBA can use these easy, low-cost video tools to give quick, clear feedback and boost skill learning for any learner.

49articles
1974–2026year range
5key findings
Key Findings

What 49 articles tell us

  1. Video feedback alone reliably improves athletic and motor skills across a wide range of sports and activities without requiring specialized equipment.
  2. Adding a picture-based task analysis and self-scoring lets learners improve their form without a live instructor for every session.
  3. Corrective feedback outperforms positive feedback for skill learning, and about half of learners prefer it — ask before defaulting to praise.
  4. Training peers with behavior skills training to deliver video feedback produces the same results as professional coaching for skills like weightlifting form.
  5. Allowing roughly half of practice attempts to fail during early learning produces faster skill acquisition than maintaining high success rates above 80 percent.
Free CEUs

Get 60+ CEUs Free in The ABA Clubhouse

Live CEU every Wednesday — ethics, supervision, and clinical topics. Always free.

Join Free →

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions from BCBAs and RBTs

No. A smartphone or tablet is all you need. Record each attempt, review it right away with the learner, and go through a step-by-step task analysis together. The research consistently shows results across sports with this simple setup.

Ask the learner which they prefer. About half prefer corrective feedback, and research shows corrective feedback produces better skill gains. Defaulting to praise for everyone is not supported by the evidence.

Yes. When you pair video review with a picture-based task analysis and self-scoring, learners can improve their form on their own. This works well for yoga, running form, and other skills where each attempt can be clearly compared to a checklist.

Train peers or other group members using behavior skills training to deliver video feedback. Research on weightlifting shows that peers trained this way produce the same results as professional coaches. Add periodic quality checks to keep their feedback accurate.

Yes, within reason. Research shows that allowing about half of practice attempts to fail — rather than engineering high success — actually speeds up early motor learning. You do not need to make every attempt easy.