Swensday Stuff
Coach Wooden Walking the Talk
Swen Nater

I was in the middle of my “redshirt” year (practice player that didn’t lose eligibility) and practice was about to begin. It was 2:59 in the afternoon. Coach Wooden called all of us together and we sprinted to midcourt. “Gentleman, in today’s practice, we will focus on the side-post option of our high-post offense. I’m very pleased with how everyone has worked hard this year. Now let’s keep it going. How is everyone doing? Good. Let’s go to work. Get on the baseline for full-court loosening up drills. Hurry up.”

Any UCLA player will tell you, “That’s the way practice usually started.” But this was no usual practice. It was the one right after we lost our first game of the season to Notre Dame. We were ranked first in the country and the newspapers shouted, “UCLA is beatable. UCLA is at risk of not repeating as champions.” So why was Coach Wooden acting as though nothing happened? I played for 14 other coaches in my career and every one of them would have said something about that game. Here’s the answer.  

Every practice, he repeatedly told us to make the effort to become the best we can be, individually and collectively. He told us, “Don’t try to be better than someone else but never cease trying to be the best you can be. No one can ask more than that.”

Before every game, the last thing Coach Wooden told us before we went out on the floor to warm up was, “You have prepared the best you can. I know that and I hope you do too. When you play tonight, continue to do your best, physically and mentally. If you do, and only you will know that, I want your heads up after the game, regardless of the outcome. I’ll be proud of you and you can be proud of yourselves no matter what the score may be.” 

So why did Coach Wooden not mention the Notre Dame loss during his pre-practice talk? Because he was practicing what he was preaching. (No, that’s not accurate.) He was practicing who he was. He was being himself. Coach really believed, the peace of mind in knowing you have made the effort, was much more important than winning or losing a game. (No, that’s not accurate.) It was the only important thing. When, before a game, he told us to have our heads up after no matter what the score, he meant it.

Before that practice, all his jabber about “heads up” and “doing your best” was only talk because we won every game. When I saw Coach Wooden actually demonstrate it, when I saw him walk the talk, that’s when I understood how important that was. That one act may have been a main contributor to our success from that point on. Here’s what I mean.

That practice session was one of our very best of the year. Many coaches would have punished their players by making them run sprints or, in the least, would have had a depressed disposition that would have set the tone for practice. Coach Wooden, with his words and demeanor that spoke volumes about effort being the measuring stick, not wins and losses, motivated us to keep improving. What a fun and productive practice it was. 

Oh, by the way, we won the next 88 in a row.

Swen