TeamScout.com
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I think the Scouting Organizer is the jewel of the series. There are no less than six pages devoted to each team you wish to scout. The booklet starts with an instruction sheet which was nice, but I felt the layout inside was intuitive enough to start using right away. If you took the Scouting Organizer to a game and opened it for the first time, you'd be busy in a heartbeat taking notes and sketching plays. Beside the diagrams for tracking court movement, there are several vital questions listed. For example, "How do they defend ball screens?" "Does a certain player receive the inbound pass?" I appreciated that as they prompted me to observe those aspects of the game and not overlook them. At the end of each section is a list of notes to help you plan your next practice and be better prepared for the scouted opponent. All in all I think the Scouting Organizer is very well thought out and well worth the price. |
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Ever since I started making practice notes on the computer, I've found those records to be invaluable in subsequent seasons. I try to document the drills carefully and whatever insights I wanted to share with the team, but the real drawback was not retaining the drill diagrams on the computer copy. Sure, I could draw on the paper before practice, but saving that paper for years ahead has never been practical. The Practice Planner is able to capture a full high school season of practice notes complete with diagrams and annotations about players. I can envision saving each season's planner for future review and know that because of the sturdy, high quality materials they would be viable for many years. You get two pages per practice. They contain a places to list your objectives and announcements, an activity schedule, notes about your players, plus two full court and two halfcourt diagrams. I also feel this tool is a good investment. The price may seem a bit steep, but consider the reality of how you are storing your practice notes now. You'll probably agree this is a good value.
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We actually put this book to work first. Right after we received it, I faced a small emergency at game time. No stat person! Fortunately I had all three of the books with me. I gave the Game Statistics to an alumni player who came to see us play. Sitting with a friend, he kept our statistics for us - no training required - and I was able to enter them in to the computer later on. The Game Statistics is half the price of the other pieces and justifiably so. While it has the same high quality appearance and durability, it is a fairly simple spreadsheet where you list player names and use hash marks (or whatever you desire) to record rebounds, assists, etc. Its a very competent rendition of that kind of spreadsheet, but I don't know that I'd want to keep an entire season of stats in this manner. However, if you don't have a laptop and software for this purpose, the Game Statistics will get you in business in no time. You just need a person familiar with the game and perhaps a spotter, and you can capture every relevant statistic that you want. The only suggestions I have for this tool is to add a line for the team names and date, and maybe incorporate a shot chart on half the page.
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Recommendations Go to www.theteamscout.com and check out the materials. You can buy the components individually or as a set. As for recommendations, I would buy the Practice Planner no matter what kind of team I was coaching. If you're into scouting opponents, then the Scouting Organizer is the best tool I've seen yet. If you are getting both of those, then you may elect to buy the whole set at a discount get the Game Statistics, too. I don't mean to put the Game Statistics down as I have worked with teams whose statistical needs were nicely satisfied with tools of this type. Its a good product. |
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