Alex is a phenomenal coach and a pioneer in this space, he's an advocate for progressing and evolving the current state of development and basketball coaching as well as the overall approach to things like: performance training, front office work, athletic training, etc

The traditional/dominant approach is outdated, and as Alex mentions in the episode - you wouldn't expect your doctor to be using methods/medicine from 2000 or early because that would be malpractice, why do we continue to accept this as the status quo and not demand for this field to be as updated and progressive as possible. The most recent and relevant research/information should be applied to coaching as much as possible

Alex and I talk about a bunch of great stuff in this episode and he's always a treat to talk to and have the pleasure of having on the podcast, please make sure to check out all his stuff linked below:

Website - https://transformingbball.com/subscribe/
Podcast - https://education.transformingbball.com/podcasts/the-transforming-basketball-podcast
IG - https://www.instagram.com/transformingbasketball/

Enjoy the rest of Jack and I's conversation!

Jack is a great human & basketball player, he and I talk about his journey from being under recruited, having his freshman year taken away by covid, winning a national championship the next year and then back to back conference championships along with all the struggles and hardship in between 

After SMCC Jack takes us through his experience at Franklin Pierce which a NCAA Division 2 school in NH in the NE10, he played there for one semester and shortly transferred to UNE (University of New England) to finish out the year and why that change was so important to him and why it was such a better fit 

Jack provides some great insight for any players listening and anyone in general!

This week I touch on what exactly skill is, and how it differs from things like technique, as well as what exactly constraints are and how we can use/apply them

There's an important distinction that I think needs to be more known and that's the difference between a games-approach and the constraints-led approach, while you'll see a lot of crossover between the two they are very different. There are plenty of coaches that create small-sided games and apply one constraint and then leave that and let them play for awhile, and that's where I believe the misunderstanding comes from - some people think that I throw the ball out and just let my players play 3v3 freely... that's not the case. 

I work hard to engineer practice sessions to development skillful basketball players, and that happens through creating unique and creative small-sided games with specific constraints applied in order to elicit the skills needed to be improved upon. 

Let me know what you guys think!!

Trevor does an amazing job breaking down, what can be pretty dense, science about learning. In the weeds, talking to the researchers about their work and applying it constantly to his own work and then creating content and making it super consumable for anyone listening 

Trevor and talk about a metaphor he coined "zoo tiger vs jungle tiger", what that means to him and how it applies to life and even sport. We talk a little about representation and why it's so important and even why we lack in that area sometimes, we talk about the mindset needed to truly grow and then we talk about the importance of feedback when teaching and/or coaching!

Make sure to check out Trevor, you won't regret it:
IG - https://www.instagram.com/learnerlab/
Website - https://thelearnerlab.com/
Podcast - https://thelearnerlab.com/podcast/

Drake is true professional and currently working with one of the best force plate companies in the world (Hawkin Dynamics). Drake and I talk about force plates, interpreting data, applying the information you get from the technology, using that data to address things like asymmetries, things like how to recognize if an athlete is "cheating" a test and much more

I think the force plate talk is great, but you can also learn a lot from Drakes journey. Hearing about the amount of internships he did, the people he connected with, the positions that didn't work out and everything else in between speak to the industry and also why he's so effective at the position he currently holds with Hawkin

Make sure to check out Drake on social media and check out the force plates too!
https://www.instagram.com/strength2.speed/
https://www.instagram.com/hawkindynamics/
https://www.hawkindynamics.com/

Erik Huddleston is the assistant performance coach for the Indiana Pacers, Erik is a true professional and has equipped himself with so much knowledge & experience prior to entering the NBA. That education & experience presents itself during this conversation.

Erik and I discuss a lot of great topics: how to structure an NBA teams season for performance training, game-day lifts, using isometrics, addressing asymmetries - when to correct those asymmetries and when to leave them alone, PRI concepts like exercise selection for wide vs narrow ISA individuals as well the in between individuals and much more 

Make sure to check out Erik on IG!

https://www.instagram.com/eph.24/

We're back!! Our first guest since the hiatus us Alex Sarama, Alex is a basketball coach from the UK. He's extremely good at what he does, he's immersed himself in the literature of skill acquisition and ecological dynamics in order to develop basketball players and ultimately change the way we as an industry look at developing basketball players

Alex is a delight to talk to, he's extremely genuine and truly wants to change this industry for the better. I think he's one of the best coaches in this field and this is just one podcast that shows that

Make sure to check out Alex on all platforms!
IG - https://www.instagram.com/alexsarama/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/AlexJSarama?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Some great videos I came across -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGOUh0rmsaE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-SSSyUfDhM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Xt5Ouu3g98
Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-basketball-podcast/id1398261897?i=1000558143105

This week I talk about how to design better practices and how to optimize those practices. I discuss some important mindset shifts, important concepts and much more in order to accomplish the goal of designing better practices

Follow me on socials:
IG - https://www.instagram.com/tc.performance_/

The past two seasons with SMCC have been beyond rewarding: 2 YSCC Conference championships (back-to-back), first ever USCAA Division 2 National Championship in program history, multiple All Conference and All American players. I was lucky to be apart of all of it, and I was able to learn a lot from it as well.

My takeaways:

1. Trust & Buy-in = Everything
2. Film is so important
3. The mind is powerful beyond comprehension 

2 Bonus points:

1. The college system as a whole could do a better job with their practice design
2. Freshman need to come into the season better prepared 

Make sure to check out all my stuff on social media:
IG - https://www.instagram.com/tc.performance_/