Issue 715 - "2025: Cooperation: Pressure Without Stress"


Wooden's Wisdom - Volume 13	Issue 715
Craig Impelman Speaking \| Championship Coaches \| Champion's Leadership Library Login
"2025: COOPERATION: PRESSURE WITHOUT STRESS" John Wooden Video Clip (36 sec.): Coach Wooden is asked: "What is the greatest challenge you ever faced in life?" We all face pressure—sometimes from ourselves, sometimes from others, sometimes from situations. John Wooden mastered applying pressure without creating stress. In his book "The Essential Wooden" Coach explained it this way: "Pressure is healthy. It can lead to improvement. Stress is unhealthy. It can lead to mistakes. I wanted our team members to feel pressure so that their opponents would feel stress. I applied this pressure on the practice floor by creating a buzzing businesslike atmosphere that had an intensity and focus equal to an actual game. I removed stress-the kind that comes from a fear of losing or an overeager appetite to win-by focusing exclusively on improvement and teaching the team that ongoing and maximum progress was the standard, our daily goal. Those under my supervision were not there just to loosen up and run through their paces. Not at all. They did that before I blew the whistle signifying that class was in session- that the pressure to improve was about to be applied." In his book "Role of a Lifetime" Larry Farmer described his practices with Coach Wooden this way: "Coach Wooden’s practices were meticulous. Everything was timed to the minute. Drills came one after the other, some half-court and some full court. Strenuous drills were followed by ones that were less strenuous. All drills were "game-like" to teach fundamentals while maximizing effort." Coach Wooden never talked about winning or the upcoming opponents but he kept the pressure high and the stress low. The brain’s chemistry shifts based on how you handle pressure: When you channel pressure into controllable actions (execution, preparation, and process) you create controlled pressure: Controlled pressure keeps anxiety low (cortisol), raises motivation (dopamine), builds trust (oxytocin), strengthens confidence (serotonin), balances alertness (adrenaline), and increases enjoyment (endorphins). Pressure becomes stress when it leads to worrying without action, doing nothing, or cutting corners: Stress spikes anxiety (cortisol), drops motivation (dopamine), erodes trust (oxytocin) , weakens confidence (serotonin), lowers alertness (adrenaline), and kills enjoyment (endorphins). Pressure changes your brain chemistry, but you choose whether it drives you or drains you. What do you do when you feel pressure? Click here for personal development exercise: Issue 715. Click here for Printable Poetry: Issue 715. Yours in Coaching, Craig Impelman www.woodenswisdom.com Follow @woodenswisdom	COACH'S FAVORITE POETRY AND PROSE Selfish I am selfish in my wishin' every sort o' joy for you; I am selfish when I tell you that I'm wishin' skies o' blue Bending o'er you every minute, and a pocketful of gold, An' as much of love an' gladness as a human heart can hold. Coz I know beyond all question that if such a thing could be As you cornerin' life's riches you would share 'em all with me. I am selfish in my wishin' every sorrow from your way, With no trouble thoughts to fret you at the closin' o' the day; An' it's selfishness that bids me wish you comforts by the score, An' all the joys you long for, an' on top o' them, some more; Coz I know, old tried an' faithful, that if such a thing could be As you cornerin' life's riches you would share 'em all with me. Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959)
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