Transforming Basketball
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Skill acquisition

Why We Need to Stop Coaching Basketball Fundamentals

George Vaz
27. Oktober 20252 min read

You may have read our first marquee blog which challenged the very nature of fundamentals.

In our membership community, we posed that very question to our members all around the world: How would you explain these ideas to a coach brand new to contemporary coaching informed by research?

As always, we had some great responses from our members….

Christoph's post on why players need skill rather than technique, linking perception and action to motivation

Technique and skill

Christoph does a great job highlighting the difference between technique and skill. Many coaches confuse both of these terms. The problem with learning a technique out-of-context is that you then have to re-learn it in-context. What coaches have the time for that?!

Tahj's post arguing that decision making and adaptability are the true fundamentals in modern basketball

Tahj succinctly poses the question as to whether or not we need to “redefine” what the fundamentals are. For example, instead of considering fundamentals as the ability to do a textbook chest pass 2-on-0, or a perfect jump stop 1-on-0, should we start considering decision-making as the new fundamental of the 21st century?!

Kane's analogy that nobody was taught how to walk, used to question breaking basketball fundamentals into drills

How we learn to move

Kane draws on how we learn to move as human beings. As children, we are not consciously taught movement or given breakdowns of how we should be crawling, jumping or running. Basketball should not be any different!

Jason George's post comparing driveway shooting to surfing and boxing to show why skills need game context

Sometimes, the best reflections draw on analogies and real life experiences as opposed to the research found in the papers and textbooks. Coach Jason George does an excellent job applying Transforming principles in Idaho. His challenge entry is one of the best and most thoughtful responses we’ve had to help coaches discover this new way of coaching. Now moving to Italy, Samuele works with a youth team where he applies the CLA. He provides a very interesting observation from watching his best players and seeing what they were doing more in practice. As Alex Sarama often says, “the best players are the most adaptable.”

Bastian's post on wasting practice time drilling the textbook underhand layup that rarely appears in games

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Does it show up in the game?

Finally, let’s hear from Bastian. The biggest flaw in fundamentals is the fact that we almost NEVER see fundamentals emerge in the game as they are practiced. Why? Because every possession is different and the constraints are never the same. If we know this, then why do we not promote such conditions in practice as opposed to treating variability as “undesirable noise”?

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George Vaz, Basketball coach, consultant and podcast host

George Vaz

Basketball coach, consultant and podcast host

About the author

George Vaz

George Vaz is a basketball coach, consultant and host of the Transforming Basketball podcast. Based in Goiânia, Brazil, he works with coaches, players and organisations to explore how basketball is taught and learned. His work connects coaching research with practical ideas for practice design and player development.

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