What would John Wooden Do ?

One of the consistent characteristics of successful coaches is the ability of the coach to recognize adjustments individual players need to make and providing them with a plan to make those changes. The old saying "you are only strong as your weakest link" is one you hear often, but one that needs to be also narrowed down to evaluate individual players, as well as, the team as a whole. As your team and individual players continually chip away at eliminating flaws in their games your chances for increased success are greatly enhanced. The term increased success was used in place of winning as the value of winning is one that is often misunderstood at numerous playing levels.

No coach enters a game with the mentality of not playing to win, but balancing the level of commitment to winning and the level of developing is what separates the the great coach for the less talented. At the youth levels the coach that puts more weight on winning than developing is one that usually holds back the advancement potential for all their athletes. Even at the higher levels of play, a coach will be presented will numerous situations where they will have opportunities to make long term development decisions that impact the team for the positive in the long run, but might not be in the best interest of winning at that moment. An example of this might be playing a particular player in a situation that they are attempting to grow into over a player who may already the ability to be successful in that setting. This decision might backfire and cost the team a victory today (although the difference between the stronger and less talented player in most of these situations on most teams is usually very small and usually has little bearing on success) but the long term development of that player and the entire team can be significant if the coach manages this situation effectively. Do not equate the above with placing an unqualified player in a situation where they have little chance to be successful with the hopes they will magically learn to play at a much higher level.

The second significant opportunity a coach has to maximize growth is to give players the license to make mistakes. Again this mentality is much more important at the early development stages than that of the advanced levels of play. But even at the higher levels a coach that can process a mistake by a player in a positive and constructive manner is much more likely to have a player make a better decision the next time they are faced with a similar situation. Contrast that with a coach that berates the player for making a mistake and not taking the time to process the situation with the player or make a plan for improvement in that area. Why would anyone be surprised that the first coach having a much better chance to impact the player in a positive manner. The real tragedy of the second coaches tact is that the reason many of them berate the player is that they often don't have the tools to make the positive plan for the player and mask this with an emotional response rather than doing nothing, or are so emotionally tied into winning or losing being the lone measuring tool for success that they fail to recognize the great teachable moments that mistakes present.

One of the greatest coaches of all time had a great saying that speaks to the license to make mistakes idea was the legendary basketball coach of UCLA, John Wooden. One of Coach Wooden's core beliefs was that "the team that makes the most mistakes eventually wins". How could this possibly be true if he also didn't allow his players to make mistakes and also have the skills to both identify them and then take the steps to correct them. In fact he did and labeled these opportunities positive corrections. Coaches are faced with numerous challenges and must wear many hats. They are continually presented with opportunities to impact positive changes for their players both as players and as a young maturing individuals. One consistent characteristic that always seems to be present in the coaches that are the most effective in this charge, is the ability to communicate with their players in an environment of mutual trust in a constructive manner.