Thursday night, you finish the scout. Friday afternoon, half the team still hasn't opened it, and the ones who did are trying to picture Horns Fist from a sentence.
Scouting Reports are built for that gap, and they're live in Elite Hoops on the web today. You write the game plan for your next opponent next to your plays and practices, attach the sets they run, and every player opens it on their phone, free, with the plays running right in the report.
If you want to see one before reading any further, here's a sample report against Central High. It's a real report, made in Elite Hoops and shared by link. No account needed to open it.
Why I built it
Most scouting reports I've seen live in three places at once: notes in a document, plays in the playbook, and a printed sheet that stays in the locker room. By Friday, nobody's sure which version is current.
The part that bugged me most was the plays. A report says "they run Horns Fist, #3 comes off the elbow screen," and the player reading it has to picture that. Your playbook already has the diagram. It should be right there in the report, running.
So that's what this does. One report, plays included, on every player's phone, and a clean printout when you want paper.
What's in a report
You start from one of three layouts: Game essentials (the keys to the game and the opponent), Full report (keys, their offense, their sets, their defense, plays to run, transition, and out-of-bounds plays), or Build your own. Add or remove sections whenever you want.
Keys to the game. Three or four priorities, each with a target your players can check after the game, like "Under 10 turnovers" or "Under 15 shots for #3."
Their sets, most-run first. Name the set, write how they call it and how many times they ran it, then how we guard it. Attach the play from your playbook and players step through it right in the report.
Their defense, and our answer. Each look they play, from man to a three-quarter press, with how we attack it and the play we run against it.
Personnel. Their top threat, who we foul late, and who we sag off, then the starters and the bench. Each player gets what they do, how we guard them, their hand and drive, and the guarding cues that fit him, picked from thirteen, like Force left, Deny the catch, or Go over screens. On a Team Plan you can set which of your players has each matchup.
A staff notebook. The games you watched, notes for your assistants, and anything you mark staff only stay off the player copy. Press View as Player to see exactly what your team will see.
How players get it
On a Team Plan, your players have the report as soon as you save. They sign in to Elite Hoops on the web and it's there with the team's plays and practices.
By link, for anyone else. Share the report and send the link by text or email. It opens on any phone with no app and no account, and it shows the player copy only.
On paper. Print a player copy, a staff copy, or a blank worksheet to fill in courtside, on US Letter or A4, or save it as a PDF. Attached plays print step by step, so the handout has the diagrams too.
How to make one
- Open Elite Hoops on the web and choose Scouting in the sidebar.
- Press New Report, name the opponent, and pick a layout.
- Fill in what you saw. Attach plays from your playbook to their sets, or to your answer for a defense.
- Press Share to send it to your team or copy a link, or Print for the locker room.
Scouting Reports come with Elite Hoops Pro and every Team Plan. Your players never pay to read one.
What's next
Scouting Reports are on the web today, at elitehoopsapp.com on any computer, tablet, or phone.
If something in your scouting process doesn't fit yet, tell me. I read every one, and the next version of this comes from those notes.
