The Greatest Coach Ever. PERIOD.

Don’t get me wrong; I enjoyed reading The Martian Chronicles and Catcher In The Rye when I was in high school.  I don’t think it will come as a surprise to my English teachers that those were two of the only books that I actually DID read in high school.  The rest of the required reading was more of a ‘skim’ shall we say.

I read a lot now and have come across some real treasures. I think this book should be essential reading for all grade nine students and I think they read it again in grade 12.

The Essential Wooden by legendary UCLA Basketball Coach John Wooden.  By legendary I mean 10 NCAA Championships in 12 years, seven of them consecutive titles.

The quote or idea that I most remember from the book is this one…

He says that you never know what is going on under the surface for an athlete.  Maybe they just flunked an exam or had a fight with their girlfriend, boyfriend, parent or spouse, who knows.

For whatever reason, that athlete may be dogging it a little in practice.  Giving less than 100% with the idea that at the next practice they will make up for it by giving extra effort.

Wooden says:

“Give me 100 percent. You can’t make up for a poor effort today by giving 110 percent tomorrow. You don’t have 110 percent. You only have 100 percent, and that’s what I want from you right now.”

So that’s not to say an athlete is not entitled to a bad day, as long as they understand that the opportunity to get better that is wasted today, is gone forever, there is no getting it back or making up for it tomorrow.

If you haven’t read it – order it today.  It is short and very easy to get through, it will improve your life for under $15, now that is a pretty great investment isn’t it?

Cheers!
M