The Book is Coming Out!

Earlier this week, we announced that my book ‘Transforming Basketball: Changing How we Think About Basketball Performance’ is coming out on April 9 via Amazon. We are delighted for all the support and interest in the book from coaches around the world since we made this announcement!

I wanted to use this blog post to set the scene and provide coaches with more information on what’s to come! Over the years, it has been a really positive trend to see how coaches have embraced new ideas within the basketball space. This has led to a big uptake in coaches making use of small-sided games. However, frequently there is often confusion as to why certain small-sided games are used and how they can be adapted based on the needs of the individual (rate limiters) and the team (principles of play). This has led to many coaches confusing a games-based approach for a constraints-led approach. Furthermore, many coaches and practitioners in the basketball world are still using traditional approaches and are not aware that the evidence-based field of skill acquisition even exists…

I wrote Transforming Basketball to try and act as the catalyst for positive change within the global basketball coaching community. As I devoted a great amount of time over the years learning about ecological dynamics and the CLA, I realised how much of an insurmountable task this can be for coaches to make sense of the research and then practically apply it. My intention with the book is for it to be the ‘go-to’ resource for any practitioner interested in this space, sharing not just the research – but more importantly – what it actually means within a basketball context.

As such, Transforming Basketball consists of 11 chapters. I start by going deep into the theory, unpacking what terms such as self-organisation, degrees of freedom, perception-action coupling, affordances, and much more, all mean within a basketball-specific context. The theory is continuously complemented by practical examples, reflective tasks and interactive resources to further help practitioners make sense of this field. The book also contains a number of case studies and guest author contributions from leading basketball practitioners committed to applying contemporary skill acquisition ideas.

Listed below are the chapter titles:

Introduction – Exploring an Alternative Approach

One – Eclipsing the Status Quo: An Industry Built on Myths and Misnomers

Two – What is Skill? Designing Approaches Informed by the Complexity of Human Movement

Three – It Takes Two to Tango: The Power of Perception

Four – Why Learning is not Linear: Implications for Coaches and Practitioners

Five – Case Studies: Applications of a Constraints-led Approach in Basketball

Six – Contemporary Player Development: The Undiscovered Moneyball?

Seven – Principles of Play: Connecting Offense and Defense to a Theoretical Framework

Eight – Transforming Activities: Adopting Contemporary Methods at All Levels of the Game

Nine – Vision of the Future: Transforming Basketball through a Contemporary Approach

Epilogue – What’s Next?

Regardless of whether you work with beginners or NBA players, the book is written to provide coaches with numerous practical takeaways to immediately apply. To be the first to read Transforming Basketball and receive news on when pre-order sales go live, be sure to subscribe to our waitlist.

Thanks for your support and interest in these ideas. All of us at Transforming Basketball are excited for the release and sincerely believe that the book can have a positive impact on the basketball community!

Alex Sarama, February 2024

Listen to the Transforming Basketball Podcast E47 where Alex discusses the book along with his colleagues Adam Omiecinski and Gray Thomas.