WNBA expansion team Portland Fire uses training concept that emphasizes creativity, problem-solving
As the expansion Portland Fire prepared for their first WNBA season, players were introduced to a new training concept. Fire coach Alex Sarama has written a book on the method, called the Constraints-Led Approach, and the Fire have become something of an incubator for its use in the league. It means no more repetitive drills or step-by-step routines.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — As the expansion Portland Fire prepared for their first WNBA season , players were introduced to a new training concept. Fire coach Alex Sarama has written a book on the method, called the Constraints-Led Approach, and the Fire have become something of an incubator for its use in the league.
So what is it? It means no more repetitive drills or step-by-step routines. Players are forced to think and be creative, to problem-solve under duress.
Think controlled chaos. “Essentially, it’s all about, how can we practice with the most variability to replicate what players have to do in the game? Because as soon as they go into a game, we don’t know what the opponent is going to do, and we don’t know what’s going to happen in the next repetition.
So the players have to make their own decisions, and they have to problem-solve the whole time for the environments that they find," Sarama said. "CLA is all about very specifically, very intentionally, putting them in these environments in practice instead of doing drills. ” Players are taking to CLA So far, the Fire players are intrigued.
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