Let’s Go One-On-One
Swen Nater

As Director of Employee Outreach for Costco, I trained hundreds of warehouse employees how to use Phono-Graphix®, a one-on-one phonics-based remedial reading program, to help an elementary school child catch up to grade level in reading. Once trained, an employee visited the local elementary school and worked with one child for one hour, once a week, for fifteen weeks. The average increase in reading level (measured by Woodcock Johnson word attack test) was more than one grade level.

The evidence that one-on-one instruction produces faster results is overwhelming. But this shouldn’t be a surprise. One-on-one works best for several reasons, some of which are: Tailor-made instruction, Therapy-type adjustments, On the spot correction, and More repetition. But I’m not telling you something you don’t already know. Many of you can site personal experiences, as a student and a teacher, that would validate the research. Would Coach Wooden endorse one-on-one instruction? He would because he used it himself and it played a major role in making disciplined and skilled championship teams.  

The first half-hour of a two and one-half hour UCLA practice (one-fifth of the practice time) was reserved for individual and small-group instruction. For example, while the rest of us were working by ourselves on things we needed to improve, Coach was working with one player (or two) at a basket. His one-on-one curriculum was derived from that day’s practice plan and from individual special needs he had jotted down during a previous practice on the back of a 3 X 5 card. Here’s one example.

The 1964 team used a full-court press and Keith Erickson was the back man—the last line of defense. Coach worked with Keith on discerning whether or not to go for the steal when a long pass went to the front court, where he was. He needed to learn whether he was capable of making the interception or not. If he was right, he would get the steal. If he went for the steal and was wrong, the opponents would score. So, during the first half-hour of a practice, Coach taught Keith by having two players, one on the left and one on the right, go down the court. He would pass one of them the ball. Keith practiced making decisions and, at first, failed many times. But, in time, Keith became very skilled at the task, came up with many steals, and made very few errors.

Why is one-on-one teaching important in sport? Because, as Coach told me, “Players make plays; plays don’t make players.” What he meant was, a coach must teach his team how to run a play but, if he stops there, it will not be effective. It is the individual who, when he gets the ball in a high-percentage situation, must finish the team play by making an individual play and score. It may require one-on-one skill like driving past a defender and making a reverse lay-up, for example.

It is not possible for a coach to teach players how to make these moves while teaching a group; he must work with the individuals one-on-one. It is during that time he can:
1. Watch and gather data on what the player already knows and what he needs to know.
2. Demonstrate and explain how to do the skill
3. Let the player try it and correct him, and
4. Allow the player repetition in the correct method.

Is one-on-one teaching also possible in the classroom? “Are you crazy?” some teachers might ask. “I can’t use the first hour or my day teaching one-on-one.” True, but be creative. One week before the first day of fourth grade, I came to America from Holland and I couldn’t speak a word of English. However, I was one year ahead in math. So, during math teaching, Mrs. Rutgers, from time to time, had the rest of the students do work on their own while she taught me to read. By the end of the year, I was reading fifth grade books.

Conclusion:
Some coaches might say, “That half hour before practice, when Coach Wooden taught one-on-one, could have been used better by teaching the team.” They might say regarding their own situations, “I can’t afford to spend a half hour teaching one-on-one.” I say, you can’t afford not to, that is, if you want to build a championship team.