Alex Sarama
Founder, Transforming Basketball
Alex Sarama is the founder of Transforming Basketball and Head Coach of the Portland Fire in the WNBA. Alex was previously Assistant Coach and Head of Player Development for the Cleveland Cavaliers. In the sports world, he is regarded as a leading voice within skill acquisition and the constraints-led approach.
36 articles36 articles
How to Coach Basketball Shot Selection
What Is Basketball Shot Selection and Why Does It Matter? Basketball shot selection is one of the most important skills a player can develop.
Using Floor is Lava in Youth Basketball
How to Use Floor is Lava to Transform Basketball Spacing? There are many times throughout a season when you will want to use a CLA to emphasize certain principles of play with your team.
Small-Sided Games Basketball: Ideas for Your Practices
What Are Small-Sided Games in Basketball? Are you new to the Transforming Basketball approach? In this blog, we give you some unique ideas for different small-sided games that you can use in your practices.
Why You Need to Constrain Space in Small-Sided Games
Are you struggling to see complete transfer from your small-sided games in practice to the real thing?
Youth Basketball Principles of Play for Beginners
For a U10 team (7-9 year olds) of total novices, what are some effective principles of play? This is one of the most frequent questions we receive at Transforming Basketball!
Where to Start for Coaches New to a Constraints-Led Approach
Living in the age of information, paralysis by analysis is easier to experience than ever. Implementing a Constraints-Led Approach with a basketball team is no different.
How to Introduce and Run Triggers in Your Basketball Conceptual Offense
Firstly, if your unsure of what a conceptual offense is, I recommend starting with the video below... https://www. youtube. com/watch? v=kxquqVe4EcU&t=247s Then for a deeper dive, this clinic is a great resource.
How Can You Effectively Develop Your Coaching Staff?
One of the questions we receive most frequently at Transforming is "how would you introduce these ideas to other coaches in the program or across a whole club?"
What External Cues Are Optimal to Develop Better Shooters?
This is a bit of a ‘catch 22’ scenario! While we make use of BRADs extensively at Transforming (original credit to Sefu Bernard), we don’t believe in having a list of external cues that are uniformal to every player.
The Importance of Defense in Basketball Player Development
Defense is arguably the biggest thing missing within the player development and skills training world. If watching a work-out or scrolling through social media, it is rare to find a work-out where defense is emphasised.
How to Use Constraints in Basketball: Playing with Time Pressure
We often get asked about our most frequented task constraints. This is a difficult question, because we don’t really have many. This is because everything we do is in response to what is happening with our players.
Ecological Approach in Basketball: Swedish Federation
What Is an Ecological Approach in Basketball? The Swedish Basketball Federation are one of the first basketball federations in the world to adopt an ecological approach in their coaching and player development frameworks.
Using Small-Sided Games and the CLA in Large Numbers
Since starting Transforming Basketball, a question we’ve received frequently is how to use the CLA with large numbers. This could be for youth camps, tryouts, or simply high practice turnouts.
Reconsidering Effective Learning In The Basketball Practice Environment
"Learning is characterised by a search for functional performance solutions, where the learner is challenged beyond mere repetition and imitation of a putative classic action" - Nonlinear Pedagogy in Skill Acquisition by Chow et al.
Rethinking The Idea of Vitamins In Basketball Player Development
The Spurs famously coined the term “vitamins” many years ago. This now refers to the delivery of short sessions of on-court player development.
Why Do we Not Use 1-on-0 at Transforming Basketball?
We frequently get asked about why we refrain from using 1-on-0 drills at Transforming Basketball, and more specifically, why we are so against how it is commonly used.
Functional Solutions in 1-on-1 Player Development
1-on-1 can be one of the simplest, but most effective ways, to improve functional solutions in driving, shooting and finishing.
The Medieval Siege and Transition Defense: A Youth Basketball Defense
As John Kessel and Mike MacKay have frequently said, we don’t coach basketball. Rather, we coach people who happen to play basketball. This is where coaching deliver should be aligned with how people learn best.
The Problem with the Read and React Offense in Youth Basketball
Evaluating the Read and React Offense in Youth Basketball The Read & React Offense is undoubtedly a much better alternative than a lot of the other extremely rigid motion offences or continuities that are used in youth basketball.
Are Line and Box Drills Effective in Basketball Practice?
Every year ‘Line and Box Drills’ do the rounds on Basketball X. These are viewed as fundamental drills which should supposedly be a staple of every youth basketball practice.
How To Use Guided Defense in Player Development
Guided defense is when the defense is constrained in how they can defend an offensive player(s) within a particular sequence or possession.
How To Use Jungle Shooting To Improve Your Team's Shooting
How to Use Jungle Shooting https://twitter. com/AlexJSarama/status/1487809933978611718? s=20&t=8FTc5UmvTXpgf3adLXOnhQ Are you searching for a representative small-sided game to improve your team’s shooting?
How to Give Better Coaching Feedback & Informational Constraints
One of the biggest misconceptions of the CLA is that coaches cannot use feedback. Feedback is vitally important, but critically, through the CLA feedback is viewed as one form of task constraint.
Why Players Should Not Always "Run the Play!"
Many coaching styles develop overtly passive offensive players, who focus on merely regurgitating patterns versus acting upon natural affordances which create an offensive advantage.
How to Apply the Theory of Differential Learning in Basketball Shooting
A question we receive frequently at Transforming Basketball is how we develop adaptive shooters. This is where differential learning (DL) forms a key part of our player development framework, existing as a highly useful tool for complementing CLA practice tasks.
Deception in Basketball: How to Teach It Ecologically
What Is Deception in Basketball? Let’s start by considering what deception in basketball is. A 2022 paper by Ramsey et al. , forms the basis of this blog article.
NBA Combine Testing: Why It Fails to Evaluate Talent
Why NBA Combine Testing Uses the Wrong Framework How is it possible that current NBA combine testing methods may bias, rather than effectively inform, front office decision-makers?
Why Pass and Cut Motion Offense is Harming Youth Basketball
How Pass and Cut Motion Offense is Harming Youth Basketball? A post on the Transforming Basketball Instagram page went viral a few months’ ago speaking about the ineffectiveness of pass and cut motion offense.
Developing Young Bigs: A Contemporary Perspective
Positionless basketball is nothing new, and has been spoken about as a concept for multiple years within the basketball world.
The Ecological Player Series: A Deep Dive into Jalen Williams
I have a background in ecological psychology and have been conducting a variety of research at UConn’s renowned Center for the Ecological Study of Perception and Action.
Reframing The Youth Basketball Experience
Within the global basketball community, the need to provide a better youth sports experience for children is one of the reasons that Transforming Basketball exists.
CLA Transcends Basketball: A 360 Degree Perspective
How the CLA Transcends Basketball By Adam De Groot The covid Pandemic was a difficult time for all of us, however, for many it provided an opportunity of a luxury that we don’t get a lot of: time.
Transforming Basketball Book: What Coaches Need to Know
What Is the Transforming Basketball Book? Earlier this week, we announced that my book 'Transforming Basketball: Changing How we Think About Basketball Performance' is coming out on April 9 on Amazon.
Taking Transforming Basketball On the Road: Lebanon Recap
In April 2023, Kareem Kalil and I ran a series of player clinics and coaching workshops in Beirut, Lebanon.
Constraints-Led Approach for Basketball Beginners
Constraints-Led Approach for Basketball Beginners "I love your ideas but I'm not sure they can be applied in any given situation. I'm coaching a young team and most of them don't have the skills to implement your kind of drills.
Evidence-Based Basketball Coaching: An Introduction
Why Basketball Coaching Needs an Evidence-Based Basketball Coaching Approach? Approaches within the basketball industry are predominantly based upon experiential knowledge and traditions. This is perhaps most notable within coaching.