Alex Sarama, coach for the Portland Trail Blazers and London Lions, discusses small-sided games, incorporating science into coaching, the challenges of managing a large team, and the importance of varied warm-ups and high-paced practice sessions.
Task constraints and small-sided games are crucial for skill development and creating adaptable learning environments in coaching.
The constraints-led approach in coaching requires individualizing task constraints and continuously modifying games to promote specific skill development.
Coaches need to be adaptable and consider cultural and contextual differences when applying coaching methods, instead of blindly copying successful approaches from other countries.
Deep dives
The Philosophy of Transforming Sports
The podcast episode discusses the philosophy behind Transforming Sports, a coach education company. The host, Alex Sarma, explains that the company aims to optimize basketball performance and create excellent learning environments based on evidence-based research in skill acquisition. The philosophy is grounded in ecological dynamics, which focuses on the interaction between perception and action in movement. The approach emphasizes the use of constraints to shape movements and create skillful performance. The podcast explores how this philosophy can be applied in coaching, highlighting the importance of individualizing task constraints and the use of small-sided games to promote adaptable and creative play.
Individualizing Task Constraints and the Use of Small-Sided Games
The podcast emphasizes the importance of individualizing task constraints in coaching. By changing constraints based on players' needs and abilities, coaches can create optimal learning environments and challenges. Small-sided games are highlighted as a crucial component of the constraints-led approach. The key difference from traditional approaches lies in the flexible and adaptive nature of small-sided games. Rather than using the same game repeatedly, coaches are encouraged to modify and create new games based on what emerges in practice. This allows for specific and intentional skill development, while providing players with varied and engaging experiences.
Navigating Cultural Differences in Coaching
The podcast touches on the challenge of navigating cultural differences in coaching. The guest, Alex Sarma, shares his experience working in different coaching contexts, such as the UK, the US, and Serbia. He emphasizes the need for coaches to be adaptable and aware of the social, cultural, and historical constraints present in each context. Sarma discusses how the constraints-led approach can help coaches account for these differences and create coaching methodologies that suit the specific needs and contexts of their players. The importance of not blindly copying coaching methods from successful countries, but understanding the bigger picture and tailoring approaches accordingly, is also highlighted.
Utilizing task constraints to enhance skill development
Task constraints are powerful tools that can be used to enhance skill development in sports. By introducing different constraints, such as changing the size of the playing area, adding dribbling requirements, or limiting certain movements, coaches can create specific challenges for players that encourage the development of desired skills. For example, introducing a turnover rule if players turn their back to the defense for more than one second can discourage this behavior and promote better offensive decision-making. By using task constraints, coaches can create unique training scenarios that force players to adapt and develop their skills in realistic game-like situations.
The importance of specificity and representative training
One key aspect of skill acquisition is the importance of training in a way that is representative of the actual game. Coaches should aim to create training scenarios that mirror the demands and dynamics of real gameplay. This means designing small-sided games that closely simulate in-game situations and require players to make decisions and react in ways that they would in a real game. By doing so, players are more likely to transfer their skills and decision-making abilities from training to actual games. Additionally, coaches should be mindful of the specific rate limiters or weaknesses that their team or individual players may have, and design training sessions focused on improving those specific areas. By providing the right challenges and constraints, coaches can help players develop the necessary skills and abilities to excel in their sport.
In Episode 117 of the "We Talking About Practice Podcast," everything revolves around Small Sided Games, CLA, and Alex's journey to bring science into basketball training. We also discuss Alex's coaching routine and his responsibilities with the Portland Trail Blazers, London Lions, and Transform Basketball!
