John Wooden Fundamentals Quotes

I believe in the basics: attention to, and perfection of, tiny details that might be commonly overlooked. They may seem trivial, perhaps even laughable to those who don’t understand, but they aren’t. They are fundamental to your progress in basketball, business, and life. They are the difference between champions and near champions. For example, at the first squad meeting each season, held two weeks before our first actual practice, I personally demonstrated how I wanted players to put on their socks each and every time: Carefully roll the socks down over the toes, ball of the foot, arch and around the heel, then pull the sock up snug so there will be no wrinkles of any kind.

Characteristics of a Team Player We all fit into different niches. Each of us must make the effort to contribute to the best of our ability according to our own individual talents. And then we put all the individual talents together for the highest good of the group. Thus, I valued a player who cared for others and could lose himself in the group for the good of the group. I believe that quality makes for an outstanding player. It is also why the best players don’t always make the best team. I mean by this that a gifted player, or players, who are not team players will ultimately hurt the team, whether it revolves around basketball or business. Understanding that the good of the group comes first is fundamental to being a highly productive member of a team.

Why is that person in our organization if he or she is not contributing? What is the impact of a negligible producer on other team members? What can we do to enhance that person’s contribution? Do we move him to another “position,” restructure his current job, or make other fundamental changes that would amplify that person’s contributions? Should that person be removed from our team?

In Coach Wooden’s case, the term “drill” does indeed refer to making execution automatic, but it also means more. He designed lessons so that players could execute the fundamentals so well that they were able to, as the opportunity presented itself, take initiative and exercise imagination. “Drilling created a foundation,” he likes to say, “on which individual initiative and imagination can flourish.

John Wooden’s axiom: “Do not mistake activity with achievement.