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John Wooden Talks Basketball
I am not going to ask you to believe everything that I say as the gospel. I wont hide anything, hold back anything. Ill give you my ideas and if they differ from yours, it doesn’t mean that you are wrong or somebody else is wrong, because there is more than one way to do things. If I seem adamant or positive about the things I do, I should be. If that is what I have done, I should have been positive about them and generally speaking, I think I have been considered a positive coach. I believe that you should play aggressively, both offensively and defensively. I believe that you should have confidence in what you are doing or else not do it. I believe in working on your team and not worrying about the other fellow and for that reason, I didn’t do a lot of scouting. If you disagree, that is fine, I am merely going to tell you the things in which I believe and have tried to practice to the best of my ability. There are a number of things that I feel are important in regard to coaching: 1. THE VERY FIRST thing that I want to start with is that basketball is a game of balance. a. Emotional balance b. Mental balance c. Physical balance. d. Rebound balance. e. Team balance. f. Offensive balance. g. Defensive balance Body balance is controlled by the head - how well you keep your emotions under control. The physical balance is controlled by the extremities. The feet are the first to be considered. I want the feet just wider than the shoulders; when shooting, when rebounding sand when on defense. You play basketball on the soles of your feet and not up on your toes. If the feet are too wide, you lose maneuverability, and if too close, you lose your balance. The hands should always be close to the body in alignment with the body. You have better control with the hands close to the body. On the defense you have three things to worry about: driving, passing, and shooting depending on the opponent’s locations. Keep the hands close to the body in blocking a shot up, but not out. The head is always directly above the midpoint between the tow feet, offence or defense, with the ball or without the ball. Drills to accomplish this: Defensive sliding, quick stops and starts, jump stops, dribble stops, one-on-one, imaginary jump shooting and imaginary rebounding. Keep all the joints flexible and relaxed. 2. EMOTIONAL BALANCE You must keep your emotions under control. Self-control is most important not only from the playing point of view, but also from the coaching point of view. I don’t believe you can be an example or model for your players if you tell your players who lose their tempers that they will be outplayed, and then you are a raving maniac yourself. This wont prove your point. It is just as well to say the coach who loses his temper will be out-coached. Continue to Next Page
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