To transform the basketball world by helping individuals and organiZations make sense of an evidence-based approach

Our Mission

Producing world-class content which informs and educates
Hosting an industry-leading podcast
Sharing numerous free resources, activities and a weekly blog
Delivering transformative in-person events
Consulting with coaches, clubs, colleges and federations

It is a movement that inspires thousands of coaches at all levels of the game

How are we fulfilling our mission statement?

Transforming Basketball is more than ‘just’ a brand...

OUR BRAND VALUES

Joy

Curiosity

Integrity

Approaching our mission with a sense of deep purpose and conviction while keeping things fun and enjoying the journey!

Remaining continuously open to new ideas, frequently reflecting on how we can improve our own practices and approaches.

Sharing resources and information in a direct but professional manner, while staying true to the company’s mission statement, brand values and underpinning pillars.

The Why

Transforming Basketball was founded in 2023 by Alex Sarama. The WHY behind Transforming is to show how evidence-based ideas can impact every area of basketball; team development, player development, front office, athletic performance, analytics, mental performance, physical therapy and more.

The aim

The aim of Transforming is to help individuals and organizations make sense of skill acquisition research across a number of domains within the basketball landscape. Transforming exists to break down the complexity of these ideas by bringing the theory to life in a highly practical manner.

The Foundation

Transformational leadership exists as another foundational component of the Transforming approach. While knowledge of contemporary skill acquisition can create an optimal environment for developing skilled players, this accounts for little if it is not complemented with transformational leadership. A large emphasis at Transforming Basketball is placed on creating engaging, inspirational and physologically-safe learning environments for players AND practitioners.

The What

A constraints-led approach (CLA) underpins the methodologies adopted by Transforming Basketball. This contradicts many of the most popular drills used within basketball, such as the three-man weave, spot shooting, zig zag drill, 5-on-0 and more. This has implications not just for coaches, but also strength coaches, physical therapists, scouts and more!

The Future

When understood and applied correctly, evidence-based ideas have the potential to provide huge competitive advantages. Transforming Basketball methods have been adopted all over the globe, and at all levels of the game. Numerous clubs, national federations, professional, NBA and NCAA teams have engaged with Transforming Basketball methodologies.

The field of skill acquisition, known as motor learning in North America, informs the methodologies used at Transforming Basketball. Traditionally, skill acquisition ideas have had little to no impact on the basketball world.

Transforming Basketball aims to change this narrative by showcasing how important it is for coaching and organizational approaches to be well-informed by this evidence-based field. This enables players to effectively develop aligned with empirical evidence as opposed to relying on myths and unsubstantiated opinions. Embracing contemporary ideas means that organizations should be aware of concepts such as variability, representative learning design, purposeful manipulation of constraints, and more.

Transforming Basketball remains on the pulse of the latest research emerging within the skill acquisition community by placing these ideas into a practical context for basketball practitioners of all levels.

skill acquisition

principles of play

player development

Unified Approach

Transformational Leadership

skill acquisition

Transformational Leadership

A key focus of Transforming Basketball is helping practitioners develop effective interpersonal behaviors and improving athlete experiences through adopting the ideas of transformational leadership.

A healthy environment with positive team dynamics sets the foundation for organizations to fully benefit from contemporary skill acquisition ideas. Transformational leadership focuses not just on performance, but the personal development of every individual within a team.

Transforming Basketball places an emphasis on helping practitioners embrace the concept of transformational leadership by providing players and staff members with autonomy, offering authentic support, and acknowledging individuals' feelings and concerns. This differs greatly to the transactional leadership styles which dominate the basketball industry. Research has indicated that a transformational approach is correlated with positive psychosocial outcomes, including enhanced athlete and staff satisfaction, effort, motivation, and group cohesion.

Transformational Leadership

skill acquisition

Transformational Leadership

principles of play

player development

Unified Approach

skill acquisition

Rather than viewing offense and defense through the lens of attempting to control every possession, Transforming Basketball advocates for a principles of play based approach at every level of basketball. As opposed to focussing on rigid game models such as continuity offenses, fixed sets and automatic rules, Transforming Basketball presents the case for conceptual defensive and offensive principles that align with an ecological dynamics rationale.

Creative analogies and the CLA are used to shape such principles, developing players that can be adaptive performers in any environment. Principles of play provide a framework for practitioners in any role to shape their approach, as well as ensuring that player development occurs within the context of how players play within 5-on-5. This means shifting away from many of the rehearsal-based drills that form a key part of the traditional approach within basketball.

principles of play

player development

Unified Approach

Transformational Leadership

skill acquisition

Developing dexterity is a key part of Transforming Basketball’s player development approach. As defined by Nikolai Bernstein, dexterity is the ability of a player “to find a motor solution for any external solution.” This requires players to exhibit functionality within a variety of basketball skills by passing, finishing, shooting and moving in several different ways. This is the opposite to attempting to engrain fundamentals in the hope that taught techniques can be applied by players at the ‘right’ moment within the game.

An essential component of the Transforming approach is centered around identifying the specific "rate limiters" unique to each player. Rate limiters can be targeted specifically through the application of a constraints-led approach and differential learning. Strategic variability is embraced throughout this process as opposed to reducing variability through ‘on-air’ repetitions. In the words of Professor Keith Davids, "players cannot adapt to an environment they don’t inhabit."

player development

principles of play

Transformational Leadership

skill acquisition

Unified Approach

The prevalence of organizational silos at all levels of basketball leads to team and player development not being optimized to its complete potential.

Siloed operating procedures arise when organizations operate with departments such as the front office, coaching staff, athletic performance, physical therapists, analytics team, sports scientists etc., working independently as opposed to in close coordination.

Through adopting shared theoretical frameworks to view the game, such as the constraints-led approach, organizations can ascend out of siloed thinking and adopt highly unified organizational approaches. Professor Martyn Rothwell’s ideas on a Department of Methodology have been highly influential in shaping our ideas within this area.