The By Any Means Coaches Podcast

In this episode of the By Any Means Coaches Podcast, we sit down with Rikki Broadmore , head coach at Barking Abbey Academy and one of the most respected youth development coaches in the UK. Rikki breaks down how he designs principles of play around personnel, why efficiency metrics matter more than systems, and how Barking Abbey reverse-engineers the modern game to prepare players for college, pr...

In this research review episode of the By Any Means Coaches Podcast , the conversation dives deep into the impact of scaled equipment—lower rims, smaller basketballs, and modified environments—on youth basketball development. Through the lens of current research and the constraints-led approach, the episode challenges long-held assumptions about “toughening kids up” with regulation equipment and i...

In this episode of the BAM Coaches Podcast , Tyler Clark, Alex Silva and Coleman Ayers host an open group discussion with coaches from the BAM community - diving into real-world challenges, questions, and reflections around some of the most common mistakes made when putting together small sided games and designing practices. The conversation explores what coaches are currently wrestling with in th...

In this episode of the BAM Coaches Podcast , Tyler Clark and Coleman Ayers sit down with Joerik Michiels for a wide-ranging conversation on coaching, entrepreneurship, learning, and personal evolution. Joerik shares his journey from building one of the first player development academies in Belgium to eventually walking away from multiple businesses in pursuit of freedom, alignment, and life qualit...

In this episode of the BAM Coaches Podcast, Coleman Ayers walks through a thought experiment: how he would design and run an entire country’s basketball federation if it were built around ecological dynamics, skill acquisition, and long-term athlete development. Drawing from experiences working in over 35 countries, Coleman explores how culture, environment, and structure shape the way athletes le...

In this episode, the BAM Coaches break down one of the most underrated yet impactful concepts in player development : Time on Task . We explore what time on task really means, why it’s a massive competitive advantage in both team and player development settings, and how coaches can immediately improve it through smarter drill design, communication, and constraint-based training. From youth players...

In this episode of the BAM Coaches Podcast, we break down a simple but powerful framework for evaluating, building, and teaching offense in basketball. Coleman Ayers introduces a three-part lens: advantage creation, advantage maintenance, and advantage finishing to help coaches cut through the chaos of offensive evaluation. Instead of getting lost in systems, sets, or play calls, this framework al...

In this episode of the By Any Means Coaches Podcast , we sit down with Ed Silva , a longtime collegiate head coach, mentor, and leader in the basketball community. Coach Silva reflects on his 25-year coaching journey and shares how his leadership philosophy has evolved from fear and shame-based coaching to an approach rooted in love, respect, empathy, and accountability . Through powerful stories,...

In this episode of the By Any Means Coaches Podcast , we’re joined by Ofek “OP” Pazuelo , professional player development coach for Elitzur Netanya (Israel First Division) . Ofek shares his unconventional journey into coaching, his deep dive into Constraint-Led Approach (CLA) and skill acquisition, and how intention—not drills—is the foundation of effective player development. From youth basketbal...

Change of speed is one of the most talked-about concepts in player development, and for good reason. But too often, it’s taught in an oversimplified way: rep it out, add a hesitation, slow down then go fast, and assume it will magically transfer to the game. In this episode, we break down why that approach falls short and how we think about change of speed through the BAM Framework. The key distin...

Most players and coaches think in-season development means one of two things: Either you don’t train at all, Or you train the same way you do in the off-season… just shorter. We believe there’s a different approach.  In this episode, we break down how to actually plan in-season player development to move the needle. Instead of generic workouts, intensity guesses, or “feel-good reps,” we walk throu...

Can small-sided games actually build better athletes, not just better decision-makers? In this episode, we break down a 2024 randomized controlled study showing that scoring-based small-sided games helped trained high-school players jump higher, get stronger, and land more efficiently, while possession-only games and normal practice did not. We explore why attacking, finishing, and rebounding crea...

Part 2 of a discussion that Alex and Tyler had two weeks ago, this part of the discussion we go into more depth about reverse engineering your principles of play in a team setting and then using those principles to create your player development sessions and team practices We talk more about constraints, finding a balance between productive creativity and what's too much as well as talking ab...

Coleman and Tyler take a look into how Coleman built the exact philosophies that you can read about in his book, there's so much to learn from someones journey and their experiences. Coleman is a trailblazer in the player development space, he's forged his own path and didn't necessarily follow the traditional: play, intern as a rebounder/passer/defender, assistant coach and then fi...

NBA shooting coach Dave Love joins Coleman and Tyler for one of the deepest conversations we’ve had on shooting development. Dave breaks down shooting periodization, quantifying touch, movement coordination, skill adaptability, the massive misconceptions coaches still hold about shooting mechanics and much more. He shares stories from working with Aaron Gordon, Tristan Thompson, and other NBA clie...

In today’s episode, we’re breaking down what actually builds better defenders in the modern game. Most coaches approach defense with yelling, punishment, endless sliding, and shell drill reps… but none of that matters if your players can’t actually defend 1-on-1. This episode dives into the three major pillars of developing elite defenders individually (the part most teams skip) and how these foun...

In this episode, we break down a mini meta-analysis of three peer-reviewed studies on the quiet eye, or the visual behavior that predicts shooting performance better than mechanics, “form,” or feel. We look at how elite shooters use their eyes differently, what actually happens to gaze under pressure and fatigue, and why the final fixation on the rim is the single strongest predictor of accuracy a...

Welcome to the By Any Means Coaches Podcast! The podcast has a new look and format, and we're about to bring so much value it's not even funny. The important format changes:  1. Coleman Ayers (@byanymeansbasketball) will be giving you guys 2 solo episodes a week: he'll be taking a deep dive into the art and science of player development, every single episode. 2. Tyler and Alex will...

Basketball coaches talk a lot about “consistency,” “repeatability,” and “perfect reps.” But the human body was never built to operate like a robot. It’s built with noise… unavoidable variability in the nervous system, muscles, perception, and movement itself. And if you don’t understand motor noise, you’ll completely misunderstand shooting mechanics, skill acquisition, and why even elite shooters...

In this episode, we break down the 10 small-sided games I’d choose if I could only do 10 for the rest of my life! Because each game can be constrained and modified in countless ways, this list becomes an infinite toolbox for any coach or trainer. Whether you primarily run team practices or smaller, PD-focused workouts, these 10 SSGs give you a simple, scalable framework for creating game-like lear...

Yes, you read that title right, your best players should also be the best at your drills. Coleman takes a deep dive in a thought provoking prompt, a lot of coaches won't necessarily agree with this perspective and that's completely fine. There's a lot of value in your best players also performing your drills at the highest rate! Make sure to check out all of our socials and youtube...

Coleman puts shooting under the microscope in this episode, there's a ridiculous amount of value packed into this 20 min episode. If you want to really, truly develop yourself, your players and your team into lights out shooters... you need to listen to this podcast.  Repping out the same shot, in five different spots may not be the best approach when developing your ability to shoot. Shocker...

"If it ain't broke don't fix it" “Well, these drills worked for me,” “The kids just need more reps,” “We’ll get to that later.” We've all heard these phrases and even used them ourselves, it a part of your evolution as a coach and as a person. We all go through our own journey's while on the pursuit of becoming our own person and coach, where it becomes harmful is whe...

This was a great episode expanding on our conversation about consistency, we dive much further into the concept of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation - what exactly the difference is and discussing from our own experience when we've been either intrinsically or extrinsically motivated The biggest message I want to get across in this episode is that you can use both and both are powerful fuel...

Alex and I talk about timeout philosophies and how we approach giving feedback in-game, whether that's in a timeout, pre game, half time or post game Alex brings a plethora of experience from middle school AAU all the way up to division 2 womens basketball and everything in between, while most of my experience has been through the lens of an assistant position at a collegiate level The contra...