Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

The Gym Is a Classroom

I felt that running a practice session was almost like teaching an English class in that I wanted to have a lesson plan. I knew the detailed plan was necessary in teaching English, but it took a while before I understood the same thing was necessary in sports. Otherwise you waste an enormous amount of time, effort, and talent.

I would spend almost as much time planning a practice as conducting it. Everything was listed on three-by-five cards down to the very last detail.

Everything was planned out each day. In fact, in my later years at UCLA I would spend two hours every morning with my assistants organizing that day’s practice session (even though the practice itself might be less than two hours long). I kept a record ...