Pyramid of Success - John Wooden

Who was John Wooden?

John Robert Wooden (1910 - 2010) was an American basketball player and legendary coach. He was an outstanding player in high school and college, but eventually decided to coach. He went on to become one of the greatest teachers and life philosophers of our time. John Wooden was the first person to be inducted twice into the Basketball Hall of Fame, as a player in 1960 and as a coach in 1973.

In 1948, he started coaching the UCLA Bruins (University of California, Los Angeles). The team was originally one of the weakest in the Pacific Division. However, under John Wooden's guidance, the team won 10 NCAA (US) student championships in a 12-year period. During that time, Wooden's team won a record 88 consecutive NCAA games. During John Wooden's coaching career, UCLA won a total of 885 games - no other coach has been so successful.

What is the definition of success?

John Wooden was known for his short inspirational messages to players. For Coach Wooden, winning wasn't the priority, success was. He didn't care about prizes, medals and championships. He is particularly famous for his definition of success: 'Success is the peace of mind that comes as a direct result of the satisfaction of knowing that you did your best to become as good as you are capable of becoming.' In other words, whatever you do, do it to the best of your ability, do your best, and that will give you peace of mind and, through that, success in the work you do.

What is the pyramid of Success?

After formulating a definition of success, John Wooden developed his Pyramid of Success. The idea of the pyramid is simple: it consists of the personal qualities needed to achieve success at the top of the pyramid. His teachings often focused on how to be successful in life in general, not just on the basketball court. The key to John Wooden's success was the far-reaching and fundamental nature of his beliefs, wisdom and teachings as a coach-philosopher. This is why we believe that by following many of his teachings, we will be able to achieve success with Pirita Sverpaadiklub.

John Wooden's Pyramid of Success (H.Koik, C.Brock, Basketball Coaches' Vocational Training Textbook, 2006).

Training principles:

The following are some of the training principles of trainer John Wooden, which are also respected in Pirita Svertpaadiklubi's training sessions.

1. The most important thing is to get the basics right. The basics are learned until they come out quickly, flawlessly and without thinking.
2. Various exercises should be used. Although many of the exercises are the same all the time, there must be surprises to make the workout more fun and interesting. Monotony should be avoided, but some exercises still need to be done every day.
3. Teaching new material. When planning a training day, always ensure that the transfer of new knowledge occurs in the first half of the training session. There are two reasons for this: at the beginning of the workout our minds are alert and in the second half of the workout we can already apply the new knowledge.
4. Quick transitions. The transition from one activity to another should be quick. The transitions between exercises should be as fast as the activity itself. In this way, we increase the efficiency of the training and do not waste time.
5. Increase complexity. Begin with the simplest activities and gradually move to the more complex ones. Each maneuver and action should be carefully thought out and planned.
6. Improvement. The training philosophy is: the student develops every day and the goal is perfection. Each student, when reaching a point of fatigue, must push himself beyond that point. If these methods are followed every day, in time, the peak will be reached.
7. The exercise ends on a positive note. The trainer always plans something fun, interesting or challenging for the last five minutes of the workout.
8. Refrain from changing the plan during the workout. Once the workout has started, never change it, even though you may notice that an exercise needs more attention. In sailing, however, sometimes a sudden change in the weather requires a quick correction to the training plan for safety reasons.

Coach John Wooden believed that training should always be finished on time, as otherwise, the trainees might hold themselves back to save energy for a longer workout. If a workout always ends at a certain time, without any exceptions, intensity can be maintained throughout the workout.