The 4 on 3 Youth Basketball Drill That's Changing How Kids Learn the Game
Most third and fourth grade basketball games look the same: constant whistles, jump balls every thirty seconds, kids standing around confused, and parents in the bleachers watching what amounts to organized chaos. I've seen it more times than I can count. It's frustrating for everyone — the kids, the coaches, the parents. But there's a format that flips the whole experience on its head, and once I learned about it, I couldn't stop thinking about how different youth basketball could feel. It's ca
U14 Basketball Player Development Through Constraints: What Coaching at London Lions Academy Actually Looks Like
Only about 10% of youth basketball coaches can explain the difference between using small-sided games and coaching through constraints. I know that sounds harsh. But after listening to this conversation between Alex and Will Twigg about their work with an under-14 group at the London Lions Academy, I'm more convinced than ever that the gap between those two things is where real U14 basketball player development either happens — or gets completely wasted. This episode hit me hard. Not because it
Youth Basketball Coaching Kids: What a Sports Scientist and Coach Wants Every Parent and Coach to Hear
Nearly 70% of kids quit organized sports by age 13. Let that number sink in for a second. I came across this stat a while back and it never really left me — and when I heard Sergio Lara-Buel unpacking the mission behind his nonprofit movement on this podcast episode, it all started making sense. This conversation about youth basketball coaching kids hit differently than most coaching discussions I've listened to. Sergio isn't just an academic theorizing from a lectern. He's a professor of sports
Alex Sarama on Episode 100: What It Really Takes to Build a Basketball Movement From the Ground Up
Five hundred coaches. That's the number that stopped me cold when I heard Alex Sarama mention it almost in passing — 500 coaches now active inside the Transforming Basketball membership community, sharing ideas, changing their seasons, rethinking everything they thought they knew about the game. And this is a company that's barely a year and a half old. When I sat with that for a second, I genuinely couldn't decide if that was impressive or a sign that the basketball coaching world has been star
The Real Reason Confidence Breaks Down When Developing Female Basketball Players
Here's something I hear constantly, and it never stops being striking: a young female basketball player who looks unstoppable in practice — sharp, decisive, fluid — and then the game starts and she disappears. Not physically. Mentally. The confidence just evaporates. I've watched it happen, I've talked to coaches who've agonized over it, and I've read enough on the topic to know this isn't a coincidence or a personality flaw. It's a pattern. And when you look closely at what's actually happening
Developing Female Basketball Players: Why Multi-Sport Backgrounds and Movement Training Matter More Than You Think
Most coaches I talk to are stunned when they hear this: some of the most skilled female basketball players didn't specialize in basketball until they were 15 or older. Not 8. Not 10. Fifteen. When I think about what that actually means for how we approach developing female basketball players, it flips a lot of conventional wisdom completely on its head — and I think that's a conversation worth having seriously. The Early Specialization Trap Nobody Wants to Talk About Here's something I've see
How Germany's Basketball Scene Is Quietly Leading a Coaching Revolution (And Why Most Coaches Still Aren't Listening)
Only a handful of countries in the world are genuinely rethinking how basketball is taught at the grassroots level. Germany might be one of the most interesting ones right now — and most people haven't noticed yet. I came across a conversation between Alex and Simon Bertram, a coach working with Bamberg, one of Germany's most respected youth basketball clubs, and honestly, it stopped me in my tracks. Not because of some radical new drill or tactical system. But because of something far more unco
Why a Strength Coach's Daughter Changed the Way He Trains Young Basketball Players
Most strength and conditioning coaches have a moment — a specific turning point where everything they thought they knew gets quietly dismantled. For Jamie, that moment wasn't a seminar, a certification, or a conversation with a mentor. It was watching his daughter figure out how to move through the world. That's what started all of this. And honestly? When I heard that, I immediately thought — of course. Of course that's how it happens. The most profound coaching realizations rarely come from a
Developing a Youth Basketball Program in Vietnam: Real Challenges, Retention, and What Actually Matters
Somewhere in Ho Chi Minh City, there are 400 kids sharing two basketball courts, dribbling on patches of concrete, and never getting a chance to shoot on an actual basket after practice ends. When I heard that, I had to stop and sit with it for a second. That image alone tells you everything about what developing a youth basketball program looks like outside of North America — and honestly, it reframed how I think about infrastructure, retention, and what "success" even means in grassroots baske
Developing Youth Basketball Program Culture From Scratch: What This Coach in Vietnam Is Actually Building
Only 400 kids enrolled. Low retention. Coaches still running sessions like it's a military drill. And a young coach from abroad trying to figure out how to change all of it — without speaking the local language. When I first heard this conversation, I couldn't stop thinking about how many people working on developing youth basketball programs never have to face this level of complexity all at once. Most of us get to inherit something. This guy is starting from absolute zero, in a foreign country
Youth Coaching — The Complete Guide to Developing Players Who Actually Stay in the Game
Nearly 70% of kids quit organized sports by age 13. I've sat with that number a lot. It's not a trivia stat — it's an indictment of how most youth coaching is currently done. Kids aren't leaving because the game got hard. They're leaving because the experience stopped being worth showing up for. That's a coaching problem. An environment problem. Sometimes a philosophy problem. I've spent a lot of time around gyms, around coaches at every level, and around conversations that get into the real me