The Basketball Podcast Gerard Hillier on Modern Player-Centered Coaching (EP401)
Dec 3, 2025
Gerard Hillier, a progressive coach educator at Knox Basketball in Melbourne, dives into modern player-centered coaching. He shares insights on the 'season of proof,' where filming and analytics reveal coaching effectiveness. Hillier emphasizes ecological dynamics, allowing players to learn through self-discovery and game-like tasks. He discusses tracking decision-making metrics and using constraints to teach defense. With a fresh approach to coaching, he highlights the importance of player interviews for understanding and confidence, and the value of live coaching observation.
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Invest In Coach Education
- Create a dedicated coach-education role to upskill coaches and cascade learning to players quickly.
- Deliver frequent clinics and accreditation to build consistent approaches across a large club.
Season-As-Case-Study
- Document an entire season (drills, games, intents, film) to create shareable evidence for new coaching approaches.
- Use small data and film clips weekly to link training constraints to game actions.
Learning Through Game-Like Messiness
- Ecological dynamics lets players explore perception-action coupling with defenders and decisions present.
- Apply constraints to nudge behavior rather than rely on explicit scripted drills.