The Importance of Background Knowledge in the Game

I’m delighted to speak to educator and author Doug Lemov on this week’s episode.

Doug is a former teacher and school principal. Doug’s international bestselling book “Teach like a Champion”, now in its third edition, describes techniques used by exceptional teachers. It has sold more than a million copies and is responsible for transforming classrooms around the world. In his book “The Coach’s Guide to Teaching” Doug brings his considerable knowledge about the science of classroom teaching to the sports coaching world to create championship calibre coaches on the court and field.

In this episode Doug and I speak about improving players’ ability to ‘read the game’. Specifically, Doug shares his theory that helping players to develop their reading of the game is similar to helping people to learn to read text. Doug discusses three factors that he feels are crucial for quick and accurate game reading: fluency, vocabulary, and knowledge. Together, we unpack these factors and bring to life how coaches can utilise them in practice.