7.2 Selecting Corrective Cues: Short, Specific, Actionable
Key Takeaways
- An effective cue is short, specific, and actionable: it tells the athlete exactly what to do next, in a handful of words they can process mid-set.
- Cue the action, not the fault: 'push the floor away' outperforms 'stop letting your hips shoot up' because the athlete cannot act on a negative.
- One cue at a time. An athlete under load can act on one instruction; a list produces none of them.
- If a cue fails twice, change the cue rather than repeating it louder — repetition of a failed cue is the most common cueing error.
- Cue selection is matched to the root cause: a motor-control fault responds to a cue, whereas a load or mobility fault does not and needs a different intervention.
What Makes a Cue Work
The content outline names three related tasks: communicate cues to correct unsound mechanics, use multiple cueing strategies, and utilise effective cues that are short, specific, and actionable. That last phrase is the definition, and each word carries weight.
- Short. Two to five words. An athlete mid-thruster has almost no available cognitive bandwidth, and a sentence is discarded before it finishes.
- Specific. It names one thing. "Tighten up" is not specific. "Ribs down" is.
- Actionable. The athlete can perform it immediately. "Improve your hip mobility" is true and useless in the moment.
Cue the Action, Not the Fault
The most reliable construction rule: tell the athlete what to do, not what to stop doing. "Don't let your knees cave" requires the athlete to hold the error in mind and then invert it. "Knees out" is one instruction, and it points at the target.
| Instead of (negative) | Say (actionable) |
|---|---|
| "Don't round your back" | "Chest up" / "Proud chest" |
| "Stop letting your hips shoot up" | "Hips and shoulders together" |
| "Don't bend your arms early" | "Straight arms until your hips finish" |
| "Don't let your heels come up" | "Drive the floor away" |
| "Stop pressing forward" | "Bar behind your ears" |
| "Don't sag in the middle" | "Squeeze your glutes" |
External Beats Internal
Cues that direct attention to the effect of the movement on the environment or an object generally outperform cues that direct attention to a body part.
- Internal: "contract your glutes at the top of the swing."
- External: "throw the kettlebell at the far wall."
The external cue produces the same muscular action without the athlete having to consciously manage it, and it avoids the disruption that conscious control of an automated pattern causes. Use internal cues for teaching a position in a slow, controlled setting; use external cues for fast, dynamic movement.
A Working Fault-to-Cue Reference
| Fault | Primary cue | Backup cue |
|---|---|---|
| Knee valgus in the squat | "Knees out" | "Spread the floor" |
| Heels rising | "Weight in your heels" | "Drive the floor away" |
| Lumbar flexion in the deadlift | "Chest up" | "Long spine" / "Show me your logo" |
| Hips rising early in the deadlift | "Hips and shoulders together" | "Push the floor, don't lift the bar" |
| Early arm bend in the clean | "Straight arms" | "Arms are ropes" |
| No hip extension in the clean | "Stand all the way up" | "Finish tall" |
| Elbows dropping in the front rack | "Elbows up" | "Show me your elbows" |
| Pressing forward instead of overhead | "Head through" | "Bar behind your ears" |
| Losing the hollow in a kip | "Squeeze your belly" | "Long body" |
| Soft shoulders overhead | "Push up into the bar" | "Ears forward" |
Build your own version of this table for the movements you coach most. The value is not the specific words — different athletes respond to different language — but having a first cue and a second cue ready so you are not inventing under pressure.
When a Cue Fails
Repeating a failed cue louder is the most common cueing error in affiliates, and it produces frustration in both directions. Escalate instead:
- Same cue, once more. Sometimes it simply was not heard.
- Different words, same intent. Move to your backup cue. "Chest up" becomes "show me the logo on your shirt."
- Change the channel. Move from verbal to visual — demonstrate the fault and the correction — or to tactile, with consent.
- Change the constraint. Give the athlete an environment that makes the fault impossible: a wall to squat toward, a plate under the heels, a band around the knees, a lighter bar, a dowel along the spine.
- Change the task. Regress to a progression step where the position is achievable.
Most coaches stop at step one or two. Steps four and five are where genuinely stuck athletes get unstuck, because a well-chosen constraint teaches the position without any language at all.
Cue Selection Depends on the Root Cause
A cue is a motor-control intervention. It only works when the athlete has the capacity to do the thing and simply is not doing it. Matching the intervention to the cause:
| Root cause | Does a cue work? | Correct intervention |
|---|---|---|
| Motor control / understanding | Yes | Cue, demonstrate, constraint |
| Load too heavy | No | Reduce the load |
| Stability / strength deficit | Partially, briefly | Reduce load and build the specific strength |
| Mobility restriction | No | Modify the movement; program the restriction |
Cueing an athlete who physically cannot achieve a position is worse than useless: it tells them, repeatedly and publicly, to do something they are incapable of doing. If two well-chosen cues fail, stop cueing and check the cause.
An athlete's knees collapse inward at the bottom of the squat. Which cue is best constructed?
A coach gives an athlete the same verbal cue four times across a set with no change in the movement. What should the coach do next?
An athlete cannot reach a full overhead lockout because they lack the shoulder range of motion passively. What is wrong with continuing to cue 'push up into the bar'?