The Transforming Basketball Podcast

EP8: How Do Basketball Players Develop Skill with Dr. Alex Lascu

Oct 20, 2023

Dr. Alex Lascu, a researcher in skill acquisition and talent identification, joins the podcast to discuss the importance of research in coaching. They highlight the challenges coaches face in adopting an ecological approach and reconceptualizing talent. The discussion emphasizes the continuous nature of skill acquisition and the need to challenge assumptions. The podcast also explores attractor coaching behavior and the flaws in traditional talent identification processes.

35:52

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Episode guests

Alex Lascu

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Skill acquisition is an ongoing process of adaptation and learning by interacting with our environments and continually improving over time.

Talent should be reconceptualized as a combination of adaptability and decision-making, emphasizing individual uniqueness and inclusive talent selection processes.

Deep dives

Skill acquisition is an ongoing process of adaptation and learning

Skill acquisition is not a static process of acquiring knowledge and skills, but rather an ongoing process of adaptation and learning. It involves interacting with our environments and learning how we fit within them through the tasks we engage in. Skill acquisition is not about acquiring something, but about continually improving and fitting better within our environment over time.

Introduction

3min

The Value of Research and Skill Acquisition in Coaching

2min

Challenges Faced by Coaches in Applying an Ecological Approach to Coaching

3min

Exploring Attractor Coaching Behavior

7min

Rethinking Talent Identification: An Ecological Lens

17min

The Importance of Using an Ecological Lens in Evaluating and Developing Basketball Players

3min

In this episode, Dr. Alex Lascu joins the Transforming Basketball podcast to discuss how research can help, rather than hinder, practitioners within the basketball world. Alex highlights the importance of coaches 'trying new things', as well as the challenges coaches face in applying an ecological approach.

This leads onto a conversation about Talent ID. Alex and Dr. Alex Lacsu discuss the need to reconceptualize what ‘talent’ really means. Alex then shares some of the key themes from her last paper focused on deterministic and probabilistic approaches to talent identification and development systems.

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Key Takeaways

2:25 - Understanding Skill Acquisition: Elevator Pitch

9:02 - Attractors in Coaching Behaviours

14:59 - Responsiveness to an Ever-Changing Environment

16:15 - How do we Define “Talent”?

25:47 - “If we start to remove those assumptions that people come with nothing, we start to see what they're capable of.”

Links

Website: http://transformingbball.com/

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