Are your tryouts actually helping you select the right players, or are you just running traditional drills that mask an athlete's true capability?

In this episode of Block & Talk, we dive deep into the science and art of the tryout environment. We move past the surface-level evaluations of isolated drills and explore how to design high-information settings that reveal technical, tactical, and psychological traits.

Key topics we cover include:

• Drill Design: Why moving away from isolated skills toward game-like environments helps you see the "real" player.
• The Projection Problem: How to balance evaluating an athlete’s current performance versus their future physical and developmental upside.
• Beyond the Ball: Why the most valuable information is often found in the space between reps—how an athlete responds to errors, communicates with teammates, and manages their competitive intensity.
• Athlete Perspective: Actionable advice for players on how to get noticed by making teammates better rather than just chasing highlight-reel plays.
• Building the Ideal Tryout: We design a model 2-hour session from scratch, identifying the activities that provide the most accurate data for your program.

Whether you are a coach looking to refine your selection process or an athlete trying to stand out, this episode provides a blueprint for making better decisions on the court.

Listen in as we break down how to stop simply "testing" athletes and start truly evaluating them.