Hoops Mind

Visualization and guided imageries has helped Harrison Barnes enjoy a breakthrough season, posting career highs in several categories. More importantly, it has helped him off the court as well. 💯 You too can enjoy the same benefits. hoopsmind.com

Tagging-up ≠ blind crash. Executed well by getting to the high side and pinning your man in, it slows your opponent's transition while optimizing your second shots.

Most coaching research tells us what should happen. Ethnography shows us what actually happens. This review of 34 studies dives deep into real-world coaching—warts, nuance, and all. What we learn? 📌 Skill learning is social 📌 Coaching is relational 📌 Context shapes…

Strong coaches don’t do it all. They build others who can. ✅ Delegate with purpose ✅ Define the “why” ✅ Stay close enough to coach, not control ✅ Celebrate ownership, not just output Delegation isn’t giving up—it’s building up. sloanreview.mit.edu/article/delega…

Let's keep it simple: 1. Principles 🧩 2. Personnel 🃏 3. Practice 🎥 When you nail all 3, you're in a really good spot. 🔨

Rosenshine was a teacher. His 10 principles apply to coaching. Want better transfer? ✅ Start with recall ✅ Teach 1 thing at a time ✅ Show the standard ✅ Ask players questions ✅ Scaffold off existing knowhow ✅ Revisit over time Design practice. Run learning.…

I wrote this and posted in in December 2023, after a games-based coaching workshop. An U14 squad took part. The power of observation is not to be underestimated. Try it.

When you change the way you look at something, the thing you look at changes.

Beck et al. remind us: real learning isn’t “yes or no”—it’s a trajectory. 👂 Heard it 👀 Recognized it 🧠 Recalled it ⚙️ Used it 🔁 Mastered it If we skip the messy middle, we mistake exposure for understanding. Teaching = designing for the full arc of knowing.

Want players to learn faster and retain longer? 🤯 Let them make deliberate errors. Not random mistakes—but on-purpose wrong answers they then correct. This creates: ⚡ Contrast 🧠 Self-explanation 🔁 Durable memory Feels harder. Works better. Don’t fear mistakes—design them.