John Wooden Practice Quotations

You cannot attain and maintain physical condition unless you are morally and mentally conditioned. And it is impossible to be in moral condition unless you are spiritually conditioned. I always told my players that our team condition depended on two factors / how hard they worked on the floor during practice and how well they behaved between practices.

Cervantes said the journey's better than the end. Practices, to me, were the journey.

Practice self-discipline and keep emotions under control. Good judgment and common sense are essential.

I am not a strategic coach; I am a practice coach.

Earlier in life, I put family in front of faith. I've fixed that. But I always tried to keep work fourth on the list. I was proud when [my wife] Nellie told an interviewer, 'I never could tell whether John had a good practice or a bad practice, because he never brought it home'

What you do in practice is going to determine your level of success. I used to tell my players, 'You have to give 100 percent every day. Whatever you don't give, you can't make up for tomorrow. If you give only 75 percent today, you can't give 125 percent tomorrow to make up for it.'

I don't think I was a fine game coach I think I was a good practice coach.

My assistants and I often would spend more time planning a practice than the actual practice itself

When people ask me now if I miss coaching UCLA basketball games, the national championships, the attention, the trophies, and everything that goes with them, I tell them this: I miss the practices.

I would spend almost as much time planning a practice as conducting it. Everything was planned out each day

Condition comes from hard work during practice and proper mental and moral conduct between practices.