Coach John Wooden's Philosophy

Coach John Wooden was successful because he actually and truly lived out his philosophy, that was intertwined in his pyramid of success, through meaningful and trustworthy relationships with his players where he gave them a positive and consistent environment for them to be successful, which according to his philosophy, could only be attained when they made the effort to be the best that they were capable and that was what would give them peace of mind in the end regardless of the score. I think this allowed his players freedom to be themselves and play their best while not being pressured to worry about the score board or what the media thought about the game. His former players have repeatedly stated that Coach Wooden never talked about winning, only about playing to the best of their ability.

The practices were the journey for Coach Wooden and the game was the end result of what they had accomplished and learned during the week. The enjoyment of the sport was the actual journey instead of the game itself. Isn’t this just directly opposite of our culture that just focuses on the scoreboard? Between $60-70 billion is illegally wagered on college football each year according to NBC News. 25% of illegal wagers placed on college basketball each year come during the March Madness and 1 in 10 Americans play March Madness brackets. I would think the coach would call this madness. I think the world would spin more consistently if more people embraced Coach Wooden’s principles to life which actually appear to be just an application of the Fruit of the Spirit from the Bible--love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and