John Wooden's Record Breaking Coach

John Wooden is a man that knows what success is. Three of the most important traits from Wooden’s pyramid are competitive greatness, confidence, and enthusiasm. Competitive greatness is being

Coach Steve Rocker is one of the most successful high school basketball coaches in Kentucky’s history. Coach Rocker was very successful in previous years. Strangely, this year was very different for him. For the first time in his professional life, he is falling short of his expectations, the community expectations, and the team’s expectations. His team lost a lot of games, but most importantly the boys had no motivation or desire to bring the team out of the rut they found themselves. His players have lost their will to win, their love for their teammates, and their passion to play. Coach Rocker’s motivational methods that have always worked before and resulted in success are now failing, and he doesn’t know why. He argues that his players have become selfish and bored with winning because they have been so successful in previous years. “And there’s no question that my guys have lost their drive to win because they’ve won so much in the past. Now all they want is individual ‘wins’…which just doesn’t cut it on a team” (Gongwer, 2010, p. 17).

Coaching basketball is about strategizing and directing the movements and actions of a basketball team or individual player. Coaches strategize and scout opposing teams and find ways to defeat them as easily as possible. A successful basketball coach needs to now the understanding of how to play the game. A basketball coach must be able to manage the duties of the job by recruiting the top players, get them in shape, make a team, motivate players and teach them how to play the game of basketball. Coaching is usually done by a single person, with the help of one or more assistants. A coach is the face of the team, helping it achieve the public relations goals of the organization and build a positive image that will improve recruiting. (Edmunds). A coach is responsibiable for setting up and an environment so that the team can use its skills and abilities to their full potential. Therefor a coach has to make a game plan for each game, so that his team will be ready for the next opponent. A coach has to know his team and the opponent abilities to be able to match his team up with the opponent. A coach must know to mix the players who can start right away and players he can develop into starters. A coach may want to put 12-15 players on the roster just in case of injuries. To get ready for the season the coach starts putting in offensive and defensive plays the will run and teach the players situational plays to fit the team style and running practices. During a game a coach has

In all of college basketball history, there has only been one coach to win ten NCAA Basketball Championships. Who is this phenomenal coach? It is none other than the legendary John Wooden. Being one extraordinary basketball coach, his legacy was built on and off the court in the most incredible ways.

Herb expected his team to achieve elevated, difficult, and challenging goals. He expected his players to sacrifice their time for the greater good and the team. He instilled the importance of selflessness and teamwork into their heart and soul’s. Pushing the team to the point of exhaustion, helped them realize the level he expected them to perform at. They began to realize that giving one hundred percent was not enough, and neither was two hundred percent; nothing was ever going to be enough. He made them realize that maximum performance could always be obtained and exceeded. Herb understood his players, and understood how to get the best out of each individual player. Making their best a part of the team, made the team a strong, unbreakable unit. To have his team achieve such high expectations and goals, he had to find ways of motivating them.

Ten seconds on the clock-his hand is cramping struggling to make the next gesture- six seconds left, his heart is racing- three all the people around him are moving slowly-one, his hands flick and the chance to impress coach John Wooden literally slips through his fingertips. Zero, the alarm sounds the ball makes it through the hoop, the crowd goes wild! This is it! This marks the 30th win of John Wooden’s coaching career. Not only is John remembered for being coach but he will also be recognized as a great teacher, writer and coach!

Coach Wooden is a known servant leader, thanks to one of his mentors in life, Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa taught him that not only to serve his players as a coach, but also to serve them as a mentor with emphasis on respect and love. For example every year Coach Wooden takes thirty minutes out of the first practice to teach the freshman the proper way to put on their sneakers. They are college players and should be able to properly put on shoes, yet John shows them to insure the prevention of blisters and sprained ankles. When asked why he cares so much he replied, “That's your first lesson. You see, if there are wrinkles in your socks or your shoes aren't tied properly, you will develop blisters. With blisters, you'll miss practice. If you miss practice, you don't play. And if you don't play, we cannot win. If you want to win Championships, you must take care of the smallest of details" (Meier, J. 2015). John Wooden also was a servant leader for most of his life by how he acted. He served others as an example of how to be a hard working, genuine, inspirational leader. John wooden did this because he was taught from the sincerest of all servant leaders, mother Teresa, that “A life not lived for others, is not a life” (Meier, J. 2015).

Jackson has given the nickname of the “Zen Master” to the game of basketball. In the book Sacred Hoops, Jackson wrote about the motivation, teamwork; moreover, learning how to keep calm in tough situations. In the book of Sacred Hoops, the author

Everyone is looking to succeed, some people just do not seem to understand how. Success is defined as the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. In John Wooden’s novel, They Call Me Coach, he uses his own experiences to inspire coaches and players all across America. Although Wooden had many wins throughout his career, nevertheless, he also suffered many losses. Overall, though, he was one of the most successful coaches/players of all time, being elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player and a coach. This novel provides specific examples of Wooden’s pyramid to success, which makes it a great read for anyone looking to conquer their goals, not just in sports, but in life.

Writers Gardner and Wooden explain that an organization, its leader, and its followers can only be strong if there is an alignment of moral standards and values, as well as open communication. In Coach John Wooden’s book, he states that having high morals and values dictates the capabilities to make responsible and appropriate decisions, which constitute good character. Coach Wooden states, “a good explanation of character is simple: respect for yourself, respect for others, respect for the game, whether it’s basketball, business, or anything else” (Wooden, 2005, p.73). To simply explain, a leader who treats others with respect will attract followers who believe these same standards. Equally, John W. Gardner echoes Wooden’s statement

Steve Kerr said “Michael didn’t even seem human, he was so confident and so strong.” (Lazenby, 2014, p 3). Michael Jordan illuminated to the world how persistence and mastery of the basics allow us to achieve

Reflecting daily upon these values will increase my ability to articulate a holistic coaching philosophy. A personal coaching philosophy can be used as a tool itself, enabling a coach to question their practices and develop their own understanding and knowledge (Nash, et al., 2008). Already being interested in Sports Psychology, the reflective learning practice was already something I was aware of and keen to know more about.

This article was made by Colvin Geoff in October 30,2006.Colvin wrote this story not only to give people inspiration to be the best but also how they succeeded it they didn't give up they worked every day at it they had dedication and determination to be the best they could be. They got their motivation from coaches friends and family.Many people ask how do you be the best, and the answer is never giving up never wanting to quit because you didn't make that shot you could have to win the game, because you're not always gonna win and when you make mistakes you learn from it and you get the power to get back up and try it again, don't just give up because people don't believe in you and don't have faith that you one day will be the best and

Players that were coached by Herb Brooks kept notes and joked about different “Brooksisms” that were used throughout the years as forms of motivation for the players. One example of a negative approach to motivation is when Brooks said, “You’re playing worse and worse every day and right now you’re playing like it’s next month.” Herb Brooks was not a negative coach by any means but he knew when to be positive, when to be negative, and when to be there for the players in the locker room in order to get his team to perform to the best of their capabilities. One of the more famous positive quotes from Brooks is, “You’re meant to be here. This moment is yours. You’re meant to be here at this

“You’ve got to keep your stars in line, the guys in the middle motivated, and the people at the bottom contributing to the success of the team” (Bacon, Bo’s Lasting Lessons 122). This is one of the many coaching philosophies held by football coaching legend Bo Schembechler. While several coaching methods have been developed in modern day, Schembechler is far from the first coach to have influential ideas on coaching athletes. In fact, athletes have been coached ever since the existence of sport in ancient Greece thousands of years ago. These ancient coaches had their own methods and philosophies on training athletes as well. Successful athletes in the ancient world could even become “professionals” in athletics and make a career out of it with the proper planning. In truth, there are many similarities and differences between coaching philosophies and career planning of athletes in antiquity and in modern day.