Blog Posting #19, November 14, 2008

THE INVALUABLE 3 X 5 CARD

Many of you are aware, Coach Wooden had his entire practice plan written on 3 X 5 cards. But did you know, during practice, he wrote things down on the back of those cards? What he wrote was key to his teaching success.

The back of the card was reserved for jotting down such things as the following:
“Repeat this drill tomorrow.”
“Devise an extension to this drill.”
“For Wicks, encouragement works better than getting on him.”
“Nater needs more work on getting open for offensive rebounds.”
“The two guards need more work on not letting a driver get between them.”
“Middle defender on press is gambling too much.”
“Add the reverse option (center to elbow, reverse forward) the players just invented.”
“Once the double screen is in good shape, move onto the next option next practice.”

Why was this important? Couldn’t he have just remembered?

All of us know, if you don’t write it down while it’s fresh in your mind, you won’t remember the details. Writing things down was important for two reasons: Those things helped improve the next day’s practice, and it Preserved valuable learning for future years.

IMPROVING THE NEXT PRACTICE
As players ran drills and competed within the system, they made hundreds of adjustments. When something worked, they perfected it. When something didn’t work, they adjusted. But the coach can’t make adjustments to the practice plan once practice is underway. Once the practice plan was set, the plan ran Coach Wooden and so it went according to plan. But, he kept detailed notes on how to improve the next practice, in relation to drills, players, and teaching. Immediately after the practice, before the coaches showered, they sat down and compared the notes they had written on the cards. During practice planning the next day, those items were considered.

This approach is much like “therapy teaching.” Although a therapist may have a premeditated plan for all the sessions, the content of each session is influenced by what he or she learned about the patient during the preceding session. This is how a therapist maximizes progress.

PRESERVE KNOWLEDGE FOR THE FUTURE
The information learned during a practice influenced the content of the practice the following day. Before the practice planning meeting, Coach Wooden entered, what the coaches had written on the cards the day before, into his Three-Ring Binder that included the practice plans for that year. When the meeting began, the coaches used that information to plan the next practice.

But there was another reason for entering that information in the binder--preservation. At the beginning of the meeting, Coach Wooden opened a Three-Ring Binder for the previous year, the year before, or even a decade before. He wanted to reference the same practice of previous years just in case he had written down something that may help them plan this practice better. In many cases, it did.

CONCLUSION
Reinventing the wheel steals valuable time from practice planning. Begin now to develop your personal filing system. Start with that 3 X 5 card during practice and keep notes. Go over those notes after practice, while the practice is still fresh in your mind. Use that information to increase progress the next practice. Preserve that information for future reference. Your players, now and in the future, deserve it and, if you do, you will gain an edge on the competition.