I’m an official banner-waving member of the John Wooden fan club. He was a successful coach on the court, we know that through his multiple national championships. But he was also a successful coach off of the court, we know that from the reverence his former players give him. I’m sure all of us are trying to create those types of relationships and programs…so why not study the master? Before I talk about self-control, I’d like to recap the first half of this series which covered the foundation and peak of the Pyramid.
- Industriousness, Make Your Own Luck: 3 Reasons Why Hard Work Is Essential To Success
- Enthusiasm, Get Fired Up! 3 Reasons Why Enthusiasm Will Make You A Better Coach
- Friendship, BFF’s: Why Friendship Is Important To Your Team
- Loyalty, 4 Sure-Fire Reasons Loyalty Is Vital To Your Team’s Success
- Cooperation, The Coach’s Cooperation Checklist: Take These Steps To Success
- Competitive Greatness, The 3 Principles of Competitive Greatness: How To Be Good When It Counts
- Faith & Patience, The Ultimate Trifecta For Success: Your Team, Patience, And Faith
Now, on to self-control!
According to Wooden himself: “Discipline of others isn’t punishment. You discipline to help, to improve, to correct, to prevent.” So let’s look at those four areas and how we can teach our teams to have self-control…on and off the court.
- To help. All of us want our players to be the best they can be. In my mind, I want my players to have maxed out their potential in their four years with me. Whatever I do in the gym is geared toward that end.
- To improve. Building off of the previous point, we all want our players to get better. This is the cliché answer to the student-athlete who complains that their coach is “picking on them”. You know what I’m about to say: when I stop correcting you, that’s when you should be worried. Hopefully, none of us get to that point…let’s not stop helping our athletes improve.
- To correct. This is one of the toughest things for coaches to teach and for athletes to embrace. Correction isn’t criticism. Even when the coach corrects their athlete on a particular skill, that coach still loves the athlete. Too often, the athlete will make correction personal. It’s our job as coaches to teach our athletes to separate the two.
- To prevent. The biggest thing I want to prevent within my athletes is regret. I don’t want them to look back and wish their athletic experience were better because of something within their control. As coaches, we can’t force a person to give all-out effort or get after it in the weight room or make adjustments…a tough pill to swallow, but true. We can challenge them every day on those issues in order to prevent wasting athletic talent.
Imagine how great our teams would be, and how great their experiences on our teams would be, if we took the time to teach self-control.
Join me as I embark on a series discussing John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success. I believe his Pyramid can be applied to our teams, our recruiting efforts, how we behave as professionals, and to our lives in general. This series will cover Self-Control, Alertness, Initiative, Intentness, Condition, Skill, Team Spirit, Poise, and Confidence.
