Pat Summitt's Definite Dozen: The 12 Principles Explained

Pat Summitt's Definite Dozen: all 12 principles in order, plus the Tennessee identity, practice rules, game goals, offense and defense that sat beside them.

Pat Summitt's Definite Dozen is the list of twelve principles behind her Tennessee teams, and this page gives all twelve in order with the team identity, practice rules, game goals, offense and defense from the same Tennessee materials.

Pat Summitt's Definite Dozen is the list of twelve success principles behind her Tennessee Lady Vols. Her clinic handout says they came from her parents, Richard and Hazel Head, while she grew up on a dairy farm in Henrietta, Tennessee.

This page gives the twelve in the handout's order, then the team identity, practice rules, game goals, offense and defense from the same Tennessee materials. Other named frameworks sit beside this one on basketball leadership, and writing your own is covered on basketball coaching philosophy.

The Dozen is a list of character principles. The Tennessee handouts bundle it with a short team identity, timed practices, written game goals and a pressure defense.

Pat Summitt's Definite Dozen: All 12 Principles

The handout gives the twelve as titles, in this order:

Respect Yourself and Others.
Take Full Responsibility.
Develop and Demonstrate Loyalty.
Learn to Be a Great Communicator.
Discipline Yourself So No One Else Has To.
Make Hard Work Your Passion.
Don't Just Work Hard, Work Smart.
Put the Team Before Yourself.
Make Winning an Attitude.
Be a Competitor.
Change Is a Must.
Handle Success Like You Handle Failure.

Several titles name their own failure. Principle 7 names effort without thought. Principle 5 names a player who needs someone else to discipline her, and building toward self-discipline is on basketball team rules. Principle 12 names a team that treats a win and a loss differently. Principle 4 treats communicating as a skill a player learns, and the teaching side of that is on coaching communication.

Post the list as written and hold players to the words on it.

Tennessee's Identity Beside the Dozen

The same handout bundle carries the on-court identity that sat beside the twelve principles.

Winning Keys. Pressure defense. Control the boards. Take care of the ball. Take good shots.
Team motto. Play hard. Play smart. Play together. Play with confidence. Play with an "attitude."
Team slogan. Offense sells tickets. Defense wins games. Rebounds win championships.

At a 2003 clinic Summitt added two lines. One was "Win in life with people." The other was a formula: philosophy plus terminology plus the assistants all together equals a team together.

Keep the identity short enough that every player can say it from memory. More on shared language and identity is on basketball team culture.

How Tennessee Organized Practice

Every minute of a Tennessee practice was planned and timed. The practice organization pages list the rules:

Staff and minutes. Meet the staff every day and hand out jobs. Plan every minute and set a time for each drill or situation. Treat water breaks like game timeouts, with drinks behind the baskets.
Managers with set jobs. Video, stats, equipment and taping the court.
Talk on the floor. Players call "two points" and "rebound." The team has an offensive captain and a defensive captain.
Whole, part, whole. Teach the whole, then the part, then the whole. Write the plan and keep it.
Emphasis over coverage. Put offense or defense first by which one you want to stress, because what a coach emphasizes matters more than what a coach teaches. Avoid being predictable.
Named drills. Drills break down your own offense and defense. Give every drill a name and explain its purpose. Make drills competitive, because what the coach rewards is the key.
Records. Shoot free throws tired. Record every shot, every post feed, contested and uncontested shots, and box outs. Keep stats and tape every practice.
Game conditions. Practice at game tempo and in game situations, with officials, clocks and scorers when possible. Play every player at every position.

The practice checklist ran from stretching and position work through team defense, transition, press defense, breakdown drills, team offense, out-of-bounds plays, press offense, shooting, free throws, special situations, scrimmage and conditioning. Templates for your own plan are on basketball practice plan.

Plan it to the minute and keep the record.

Game Goals and Bonus Points

The program's game goals for 2004-05:

Defense. No transition layups, 30 deflections, 12 steals, 20 forced turnovers, and hold the opponent to 15 free-throw attempts.
Offense. 25 free-throw attempts, 75 percent at the line, 50 percent from the field, 38 percent from three and outscore the other bench.
Rebounding. Outrebound the opponent by 10.
Bonus points. Charges taken, and-one plays, hustle plays, layups in transition, screen assists and offensive putbacks.
Minus points. A late transition pickup, no ball pressure, no help defense, no box out and no contested shots.

Count the effort plays you say you value.

Offense, Defense and the Fast Break

Offense. Summitt's offensive philosophy has five parts:

Take care of the ball. Pride in every possession, and pass to the first open player.
Play together. A side, top, side mentality: get the ball inside to the post and use screens.
Attack. All five attack in transition and own the offensive glass.
Take good shots. Work together for open shots, and make layups and free throws.
Team goals. The numbers above.

Defense. The goal is to be the best defensive and rebounding team in the country. Tennessee team defense means pride in every possession, trust in teammates, self and system, an aggressive attitude, physical play, and dictating the opponent's play by pressuring the ball, the pass and the shot. Rebounding finishes the play.

The ball-man defense has four ways to defend a screen on the ball:

Switch.
Show and step over the top.
Step back and slide through.
Trap.

Post defense follows one rule: play the high side when the ball is above the free-throw line, and front when the ball is below it.

Tennessee post defense diagram: the post defender plays the high side when the ball is above the free-throw line

Ball above the free-throw line. 2 has the ball in the right slot, so X5 plays the high side of 5 on the right block.

Tennessee post defense diagram: the post defender fronts when the ball is below the free-throw line

Ball below the free-throw line. 2 has the ball in the right corner, so X5 fronts 5 on the right block.

Half-court calls are numbers:

Zero. Pure man.
One. Allow the wing entry and switch every screen.
Thirteen. A 1-1-3 matchup zone.

Full-court calls cover man with an interceptor and a trap on the first pass. More on post defense is on post defense basketball.

The fast break. Tennessee runs off a steal, a turnover, a rebound and a made basket. To be ready to run, players are in great shape, handle the ball at a fast tempo, sprint ahead, spread and read the defense, make good decisions and make open jumpers and layups.

The primary break looks for a layup or a foul out of 1-on-1 and 2-on-1 reads. When three or more defenders are back, the secondary break enters with a pass and a screen on the ball. The full break is on fast break and transition offense.

Write the rule once and hold every player to it.

The 1-2-2 Structured Motion

At the same 2003 clinic Summitt taught a structured 1-2-2 motion, titled "Villanova" in the clinic notes. The spacing rules:

Space to your shooting range.
Define each player's shot selection.
Enter to either wing.

In the basic movements the ball goes to either wing, then the wing on the far side speed cuts to the rim and fills out to the corner on the same side. The player at the top of the key downscreens for the backside player, then backpedals out, and the ball is reversed to keep the continuity going.

Pat Summitt 1-2-2 motion offense diagram: entry pass to the wing and a speed cut from the far wing

1-2-2 entry and speed cut. 1 passes from the top of the key to 2 on the right wing. 3, the wing on the far side, speed cuts to the rim and fills out to the left corner.

The reads off the downscreen:

Curl. If the defender trails the screen, curl it. The screener backpedals out and goes to the top of the key.
Slip. If they switch the downscreen, the screener slips it.
Backdoor. If they take the reversal away, go backdoor and fill the spots.
Flare. If the defender steps under, flare, and the screener goes to screen on the ball.
A post option. One player can be designated to post.

Her line on all of it: "Must call your cut." Jay Wright's own Villanova offense, a 4 out 1 in, is on Jay Wright's Villanova system, and more continuity ideas on motion offense basketball.

Make the cutter say the read out loud before he makes it.

The Strength and Conditioning Standard

The handout bundle carries the program's strength and conditioning philosophy, written by its strength coach. It expects 100 percent intensity in every drill and asks players to see past temporary pain toward the goal of a national championship. The preparation line is "Failing to prepare is planning to fail."

Three goals. Enhance performance, minimize injuries and increase self-confidence.
The method. Progressive overload in a year-round plan, full range of motion and strict form on every rep, push and pull in balance.
Conditioning. An aerobic base in the preseason, then interval work in season, because basketball is anaerobic, with efforts of 3 to 60 seconds.

Lifts and loads for a school program are on strength training for basketball.

Prepare in the weight room the way you want to compete on the floor.

Teach Character on Purpose

A list on a wall does nothing until it is taught. Mental conditioning has to be trained on purpose, not assumed as a trait players either have or do not.

One mental conditioning framework uses six questions a coach can ask about the team: clarity, composure, concentration, confidence, character and courage. Like the Dozen, it is a named list a staff can repeat. Toughness tools for the same job are on mental toughness in basketball.

Pick the list, then put it on the practice plan. More coaching guides are on the coaching hub.

Questions Coaches Ask

What are Pat Summitt's Definite Dozen?

Twelve principles: respect yourself and others, take full responsibility, develop and demonstrate loyalty, learn to be a great communicator, discipline yourself so no one else has to, make hard work your passion, don't just work hard, work smart, put the team before yourself, make winning an attitude, be a competitor, change is a must, and handle success like you handle failure.

Where did the Definite Dozen come from?

The Tennessee handout says the principles came from Summitt's parents, Richard and Hazel Head, while she grew up on a dairy farm in Henrietta, Tennessee.

What was Tennessee's team slogan under Pat Summitt?

Offense sells tickets. Defense wins games. Rebounds win championships. The motto was play hard, play smart, play together, play with confidence and play with an "attitude."

How did Tennessee practice under Pat Summitt?

Every minute was planned and timed, drills were named, explained and made competitive, every shot, post feed and box out was recorded, and practice ran at game tempo with officials, clocks and scorers when possible.

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