Coach 'Em Way Up by Lynn Guerin

Author:Lynn Guerin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Entrepreneur Press
Published: 2020-11-14T16:00:00+00:00

FIGURE 7–1 How John Wooden Thought About Change

The quality of Coach’s thinking set the tone for his feelings, determined the correctness of his behavior, and defined the course of his actions—for himself and as the leader of his team. His mind was not cluttered by spending time thinking about himself, worrying what others thought about him, or comparing himself with others (let alone trying to be better than them). He knew if he was not thinking correctly, not much good would follow. Instead, his thinking was driven by an insatiable appetite to learn and improve his abilities to teach and make a difference in the lives of others. The challenge for you as a coach is to do the same.

So, what does that mean? In the first chapter of Practical Modern Basketball, Coach defined a high-quality thinker as someone who puts in the effort to:

▸ meet all events whether favorable or unfavorable with calmness and composure.

▸ have a love of wisdom and knowledge.

▸ study the processes governing thought and conduct.

▸ know the general principles or laws of a field of knowledge or activity.

▸ study human morals, character, and behavior.

That said, Coach was constantly testing his capability too. He believed there were no real secrets to the “game,” at least not for long. He knew if he got stuck in one way (his way) or the past, he couldn’t evolve his thinking and find the best way. There are always good ways and better ways to do things. There are always others who can do things better or see different opportunities than you in the game and in life. What are they thinking about? What do they know that you don’t? How can you learn from them to improve your thinking? Every year Coach took on a summer project to improve his thinking and what he did in a certain part of the game, or in a certain part of his life. The “trick” is to find the best way with the goal of perfection always in mind. Being satisfied (i.e., complacency) is always your enemy. You must firmly believe in what you are doing and that it is not what you do as much as how well you do it based on sound thinking.

THE WISDOM OF WOODEN • THE WISDOM OF WOODEN • THE WISDOM OF WOODEN

EVOLVE YOUR THINKING

Basketball was a control sport when Coach took his first job at Indiana State in 1946. In Practical Modern Basketball, he recalled how he eventually chose to adapt to the fast-paced style of the other teams, because the fans liked it and it was fun to watch. An entertaining bad team might also buy him another year on the job where a boring bad team might not.

But while he never had a losing record as a college basketball coach and even made the NCAA tournament a few times, Coach never came close to winning a championship until his 16th season, when his Walt Hazzard–led team made the 1962 NCAA Final Four. After getting so close for the first time, Coach didn’t think, “I’ve got this figured out.

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