Blog Posting #18, November 9, 2008

BEING “PARTICULAR”: A KEY TO EFFECTIVE TEACHING

It is widely known, when at UCLA, Coach Wooden was a very regimented person, on and off the court. Every morning, after he awoke, it was decaf coffee, the newspaper, the crossword, breakfast, and off to work. His schedule at work was similar. There was a time for everything. From what he told me, evenings were almost the same. Once, when I drove him to dinner, he told me exactly which way to go to save a few seconds. And he did not like to try new restaurants; he knew which ones were good. And he rarely asked for a menu; he usually already knew what he wanted and exactly how he wanted it. Coach Wooden was “particular” about what he did and how he did it. In short, he was particular about the proper way to do everything. This life style carried over to the basketball court.

Coach Wooden was also particular about time management. He lived what Benjamin Franklin once said, “Do not squander time for that is the stuff life is made up of.” For example, Coach was particular about his practice planning and, once the plan was set and every component was given a duration, that duration was never compromised; if a drill was to be run for ten minutes, it was run for ten minutes. As a result, great progress was always made during a practice session. And, as you might guess, practice always started and ended on time.

This trait was very apparent when he taught. There was a proper way to shoot jump shots, dribble, rebound, get open, play defense, and run plays. Coach Wooden knew the proper method and insisted, to the detail, we do it that way. He corrected and corrected and corrected until we got the message—he was not going to settle for anything short of perfection. Even when a player made a shot but didn’t follow through properly, he was corrected.

Are you convinced being particular is key to effective teaching and team success? Are you ready to make the changes necessary? If so, here are three suggestions:

ONE: GAIN DEEP SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE
You cannot be particular about something you don’t know deeply. For example, if you don’t know that a key to proper shooting is the elbow must start above the knee and end up above the ear, you won’t be able to insist players do that. Study every part of the game to the detail and draw your own conclusions about what the fundamentals are. Then, teach it and insist the players perform each component properly, every time.

TWO: JETTISON EVERYTHING THAT INTERFERES WITH YOUR PRIORITIES
Your priorities as coach are: Practice Planning, Teaching, Player/Coach Relationships, Research, Family, Friends, and Your Spiritual Life. Learn the “Joy of the Jettison.” Delight in saying “No” to anything that would take time away from those priorities. Many opportunities are presented to the coach, but those people that present them cannot teach your players.

THREE: BECOME PARTICULAR IN EVERY PART OF YOUR LIFE
Being “particular” is what Coach Wooden “is.” It’s not something he became when the practice started. It’s a life style. Become more particular off the court and you’ll see it carry over to the court.

CONCLUSION:
We all know, the main reason we coach/teach is to do our part to ensure young people become good citizens and people. We also know, it is our day-to-day example that will influence them the most. Twenty years from now, what a great feeling it will be when you know you set an example of being particular about the proper way to do everything.