Introducing the New Basketball Australia Coach Development Framework, Australian basketball coaches will have access to a fully connected, modern Coach Development Framework (CDF) - one that reflects how the game is coached, learned, and lived today.
Built with community, representative, and emerging performance coaches in mind, the new CDF brings together technical skill development, tactical understanding, learning design, wellbeing, inclusion, and applied decision-making into one coherent ecosystem.
Whether you coach under-10s on a Saturday morning, manage a rep program, or are preparing teams for tournaments and championships, this framework meets you where you are - and helps you move forward.
Two Clear Pathways. One Unified Framework.
The new CDF is structured across Competition Level and Representative Level learning pathways, ensuring coaches receive content that is relevant, practical, and appropriate to their coaching environment, while still allowing for progression and specialisation.
Every module is designed to answer one core question: “What does a better coach need to know right now?”
Competition Level: Coaching the Game Where It’s Played Most
The Competition Level pathway is built for coaches working in community and domestic basketball - where player development, enjoyment, and learning matter most.
At the Competition Level, the focus is clear: helping coaches create better learning environments and better game experiences, without overcomplicating the job.
Rather than treating skills in isolation, the framework leans into how players actually learn the game. Coaches will explore smarter ways to teach core skills like shooting, ball handling, spacing, and defence, while also understanding when and why those skills show up in games. Modules such as The Art of the Closeout and Spacing in Offensive Basketball go beyond the “what” and into the decision-making that sits underneath good play.
A strong emphasis is placed on movement and athletic development, recognising that good basketball players are, first and foremost, good movers. Resources like Building Better Movers challenge coaches to think beyond drills and toward developing balance, coordination, and confidence with and without the ball - particularly important in junior basketball.
The framework also encourages coaches to rethink how they design practices. Through content on constraints-based coaching, representative learning design, and effective drill design, coaches are supported to move away from static lines and over-coached environments, and towards practices that look and feel like the game itself. The result is players who adapt better, make smarter decisions, and stay more engaged.
Importantly, the Competition Level pathway doesn’t ignore the human side of coaching. Modules on giving and receiving feedback, emotional regulation, working with officials, and coach wellbeing recognise that coaching is as much about relationships as it is about tactics. These resources are designed to support coaches in staying effective, balanced, and confident in often challenging environments.
Inclusion is embedded, not bolted on. Coaches will find practical guidance in wheelchair basketball skills and inclusive coaching, helping them create environments where more people can play, learn, and belong - regardless of ability or background.
Representative Level: Coaching With Greater Intent and Detail
As coaches move into representative environments, the framework evolves with them.
The Representative Level pathway dives deeper into tactical complexity, preparation, and game management, supporting coaches who are now responsible for shaping team identity and responding to high-pressure situations. Rather than promoting a single “right way” to play, the framework explores styles of play, advanced defensive concepts, offensive movement, and screening actions, giving coaches a broader tactical toolbox to draw from.
Special attention is given to game context. Modules on special situations, defending a lead, catching up, and long tournament play reflect the reality of representative basketball, where preparation and decision-making often determine outcomes. Coaches are encouraged to think ahead, plan for moments that matter, and adjust in real time.
This pathway also widens the lens beyond systems and schemes. Content on long-term athlete development, developing the female athlete, mental health, and high-performance principles helps coaches better understand the athletes in front of them - not just as players, but as people progressing along different pathways.
Learning That Lives on the Court
One of the most significant shifts in the new CDF is the introduction of applied learning and simulations.
Through Courtside Simulations and practical coaching tools, coaches are placed inside real scenarios and asked to make decisions, reflect, and adapt. This approach bridges the gap between theory and practice, helping coaches build confidence in the moments that matter most - timeouts, substitutions, defensive adjustments, and in-game problem solving.
Alongside this, tools like Coach Logic, game review templates, observation frameworks, and learning reviews support coaches to reflect on their work, track development, and engage in meaningful conversations with mentors and peers.
Built to Grow With the Game
The Coach Development Framework is not a finished product - it’s a living system.
Basketball Australia is actively building additional content, with a strong focus on female-focused coaching and expanded wheelchair basketball resources that ladder across qualifications. These additions will further strengthen the inclusivity, relevance, and depth of the framework over time.
The new Basketball Australia Coach Development Framework is designed to support coaches not just to gain knowledge, but to coach with clarity, confidence, and purpose.
Wherever you coach.
However you coach.
This framework is built to help you do it better.
