Resources

We receive multiple enquiries every week from coaches and other practitioners within the basketball world asking how they can start exploring the ideas we share. An evidence-informed approach means adopting concepts that are been supported by studies and research. These ideas can be integrated into any organisational role within basketball. Transforming Basketball exists to share the what, why, and how behind these ideas.

A lot of the ideas we share are centred around an ecological dynamics framework. An ecological approach may impact how we coach, deliver video sessions, conduct a scout report, design a rehab program for a player recovering from injury, deliver athletic performance tasks and even how we design entire offensive and defensive defense principles of play!

Ecological dynamics is a theoretical framework aimed at studying the behaviors that emerge between neurological systems (extending to human beings and basketball players) and their environment. It comprises of ideas from dynamical systems theory and ecological psychology. Dynamical systems addresses the emergent coordination patterns we see in on the court. Ecological psychology on the other hand explains how players pick up information on the court to regulate those behavioral patterns.

The constraints led approach (CLA) is coaching methodology that is underpinned by ecological dynamics. By taking into account three categories of constraints (task, environment and individual), basketball practitioners can analyze emergent behavior and then manipulate variables to invite new behaviors to emerge. The CLA can be used to make sense of basketball performance by looking at how movements emerge to satisfy the interaction of constraints.

Constraints are boundaries which shape how movement behaviours emerge. Constraints are placed into three categories (Karl Newell’s Constraints Model, 1986): task, environment and organism. Task constraints are readily available for manipulation with examples such as rules of the game, coach instructions, or equipment. Environmental constraints are more global in nature and include crowd noise, surfaces, lighting as well as sociocultural values and beliefs. Individual (aka organismic) constraints refer to an individuals personal characteristics like their height, cognitions and physical capabilities. Constraints are omnipresent and always shaping what actions occur.

Opportunities for action embedded in the environment. These properties are individually scaled and time dependent. A teammate is only open so long and capable of receiving a pass before an opponent recovers and take away that opportunity, while simultaneously, the passer must be capable of throwing to and perceiving that opening in order to exploit it.

Intention is how a player(s) directs their attention to explore and perceive relevant information for their actions. In other words, the HOW of human behaviour. Attention is the information players detect and exploit when intending to act. Essentially, WHAT players are focusing on while moving.

The level at which the information in a practice activity is representative of the performance environment. Questions to ask may include: Does this look, sound, and feel like a basketball game?

Small sided games (SSG) are modified games played often in a reduced space, with smaller number of players and with specific rules. Different SSG formats (e.g. 1-on-1, 2-on-2, 3-on-2 etc) allow for the principles of representative learning design to be adhered to by creating small slices of the game in practice. While SSG’s form a key part of the CLA, they are not the CLA in their own right (see “what is the difference between a games approach and the CLA”).

Differential learning (DL) is a coaching methodology proposed by Wolfgang Schollhorn. DL is based on the notion that through exploring a wide variety of solutions for a particular task (different stances, ball sizes, etc.), the individual will sort out what elements of the solutions space are critical and what elements can vary. Stochastic resonance is a key theory underpinning DL.

Your theory is the foundation of upon which all your actions are built upon. We all have one, whether you are aware of it or not! We act towards a particular goal that is based on the idea that it will be effective. Having an awareness of your theoretical underpinnings and grounding them in sound theoretical principles is a great way to ensure your players can benefit from evidence- informed ideas.

No (technically elements of differential learning can be completed on-air). Instead we want players to make the most of the limited time they have available to practice. If they have access to other people who can serve as real defenders and teammates, they should take advantage of that. Practicing by oneself, especially when other players are not readily available, can add to any individuals’ creativity and exploration of the game.

Though both approaches use small-sided games to facilitate skilful behaviour, utilising a CLA involves intentionally manipulating constraints to afford new movement behaviours. In a games approach, activities have rules but they aren’t necessarily trying to invite particular behaviours. This may result in a somewhat vague and generic developmental approach. In the CLA, constraints for the activity/game are softly assembled around a particular intention and adapted based on the behaviours that emerge.

Beginners are treated the same as any other individual: we want them to spend time in representative learning environments. The difference lies in the level of complexity they face. Instead of taking away key elements such as defense, teammates, or other critical variables, coaches can decrease the complexity beginners are encountering in the task to match their current skill level. This is a concept known as task simplification, which can be achieved by scaling equipment, increasing or decreasing space, number of opponents, constraining the defense etc.

They’re not inherently ‘bad’. They don’t have cruel intentions. However, they can have cruel consequences as many of these activities are not designed to cultivate the skills they intend to. These traditional drills miss critical aspects of the environment (e.g., defenders, consequences, teammates, time and spatial elements, etc.) which shape how skills emerges in competition.