Reach for the Summit: The Definite Dozen System for Succeeding at Whatever You Do

by Pat Summitt

Pat Summitt, head coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols, was a phenomenon in women's basketball.  Her ferociously competitive teams won three NCAA championships in a row--1996, 1997, and 1998.  The 1997-98 Lady Vols posted a historic 39-0 record, prompting the New York Times , among many others, to proclaim them "the best women's college team ever." In this groundbreaking motivational book, Pat Summitt presented her formula for success, which she called the "Definite Dozen System." In each of the book's twelve chapters, Summitt talked about one of the system's principles--such as responsibility, discipline, and loyalty--and showed you apply it to your own situation.  Along the way, she used her own remarkable story as a vehicle for explaining how anyone can transform herself through ambition.  Pat Summitt's story will motivate you to achieve in sports, business, and the most important game of all--life.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Sports, Biography, Leadership, Basketball, Self Help

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 1998

About the author

Patricia Sue "Pat" Summitt was is a women's college basketball head coach. She served as the head coach emeritus of the Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team. She is the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history of either a men's or women's team in any division. She coached from 1974 to 2012, all with the Lady Vols, winning eight NCAA national championships, second only to the record 10 titles won by UCLA men's coach John Wooden. She is the only coach in NCAA history, and one of three college coaches overall, with at least 1,000 victories.

Reviews

[Stacy Parrish · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Pat Summitt. I love her because she does not just coach basketball, but she teaches girls how to become women. I read this book often. She is a constant compass in my own life and in my own coaching career. Her words stay with me...If you are a coach, this is a must read.

[Jake Dingman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! I’m a huge Pat Summitt fan and reading her philosophy was eye opening.

[Glenda Nelms · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pat Summitt was more than a coach, she was a educator, a mother, a role model, and motivator. Coach Summitt inspire people to be successful in life. I recommend this book to anyone who wants learn about achieving goals and learning from mistakes.

[Roy Peek · Rating 5 out of 5]

With the NCAA Basketball Tournament tipping off it was a good time to run the court with this book.

Excellent read for any coach, manager, and leader. Coach Summit is not only about basketball but about life and how to get better each and every day. The stories of her career and the stories from her players perspective was insightful and all about learning to be better with each opportunity. "Change equals self improvement. Push yourself to places you haven't been."

She reinforces that we need to push our staff ourselves and be ready to compete on the court and in the office. For all those in sales and service this applies as much as those in sports. "You can't always be the most talented person in the room, but you can be the most competitive."

Good read for any coach (work or sports) and everyone of us can learn a tip or three from this book.

Enjoy.

[Molly Welch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very eyeopening for me. She was not only a coach but an example for young girls that taught them how to be women. The book is written in a very engaging manner and offers good insight into Coach Summitt and her philosophy on life and success. This book is more about life lessons and how to be a good person and live life among others. One quote that stood out to me is "The reason so many people undersachieve is simply because they are afraid to make a mistake, or to fail, or to be wrong. They're afraid to find out what's inside of them"(Summit 53). This quote stood out to me because on the court I sometimes don't want to make a mistake so badly I don't make anything happen either and still end up disapointed.

[Mac McGowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book for anyone to read who is interested in becoming a better and more successful person! It was also interesting, well-written and exciting. As a girls high school softball coach for 15+ years, this book was tool I used with the girls (they would read it over our 4-month season and pick three things per chapter that meant something to them) to teach things about working hard, taking pride in what you do, integrity, character and so many of things you want to instill in young people. Even after 20 years I still have former players tell what a huge impact this book and a John Wooden book had their lives. It's not just for teenage girls . . . or teenagers . . . it has lessons for all of us to learn but written in such a way to keep you turning pages. While I was a much softer version of Pat Summitt, I agree with her Definite Dozen without reservation! Highly recommended!

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book. I have always looked up to Pat as a coach and even attended her camp when I was in Junior High. She has taught many athletes and had much success throughout her career as a player as well as a coach. This book takes Pat's "definite dozen" philosophy and goes into detail for each one. As a basketball coach and taking over for the junior high team I was very excited to read and learn from one of the best. She really took each part of the dozen and shared how she put it to use and how her players responded to them, good or bad.

[Laura Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I love Pat Summitt, I didn't think I'd enjoy this book as much as I did. The book is written in a very engaging manner and offers good insight into Coach Summitt and her philosophy on life and success.

[Cradle2ACasket · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is more about life lessons and how to be a good person and live life among others. This is a great book. So good I bought 3 of them so I could share her wisdom with others. Worth the read for sure.

[Teatum · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really, really loved the storytelling and the lessons. Some skimmable sections (after you get the gist, you're good). A small pang of sadness at the end of the book, knowing Pat hasn't been with us 2016. I'll always have a soft spot for hoops.

[Marcelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was highly entertaining and I firmly believe in the "definite dozen" Summit describes in her book. However, her methods are not my own and I'm certain, even if I'd had the talent, I wouldn't have wanted to play for her. That's OK. Her style works for many others.

[Mary Frix · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coach Summit = GOAT. The woman was walking, talking inspiration. This book still has a lot of influence in my life and I was in the 7th grade the first time I read it. 25 years later, everything in this book holds true.

[Raegan Halliday · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved this book and all the stories & lessons it held!

[melissa sherlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

still powerful after all this time!

Read it! It is still relevant especially if you lead people at any level. Very easy to read and relatable

[hamptonenglish10 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lindsey Swain
Ms. Emmett
Book Review
7 January 2012

Pat Summitt head coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols is amazing in all of women’s basketball. Her ferociously competitive teams have won three NCAA championships in a row. The Lady Vols posted a historic 39-0 record in the 1997-98 season. Now, in this ground breaking motivational book, Summitt explains her formula for success, which she calls the “Definite Dozen System.” In each chapter Summitt talks about one of the systems principles, such as responsibility, loyalty, and discipline. Along the way, she uses her own remarkable story as a key to explain how anyone can transfer themselves through ambition. Summitt will motivate you to achieve your goals in sports, business, and most important game of all; life.

The genre of this book, I believe is non-fiction because Pat Summitt and Sally Jenkins are writing about how Summitt transformed the Tennessee Lady Vols team, and how she changed herself. Also how she reveals her remarkable childhood and Alzheimer’s disease. It is non-fiction because she herself is writing about her life as a head coach of Tennessee. “Reach for the Summitt” is a bestselling novel because it motivates people in everyday life, especially sports.

I would most definitely recommend this book to my peers because it is such a motivational heartfelt book. I would mainly recommend this to athletes of any sport. Anyone who wants to read a book about achieving a goal; this is the book for you. If you want to learn what success really is, Pat Summitt will explain it to you in all twelve chapters, plus question and answers pages before a new chapter begins. This is a book for someone who wants to achieve a goal and receive success from it.

[Lindsay Pinell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible.

[Calli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book about becoming better and more successful people. It is very easy to read, full of great advice and reminders, with lots of personal examples to illustrate her points. Pat has been head coach of the women's basketball team at Tennessee (since she was 22) for 34 years. She is very upfront with her weaknesses and mistakes, so that we can learn from the bad as well as the good. I started this book a while ago, but had to set it aside to catch-up on library books. I finally got back to it and whipped right through. I'm glad Charlie recommended it in her book (Kissing a Frog), or I might not have known about it. Really enjoyed it.

[gosobooks.com · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pat takes you through her family background values that shaped her person in adulthood and talked about fundamentally character formation and attitude, which she splitted into the definite 12 system for succeeding and the good part is that she talks about the failures as well and she used them for further success in her chosen career and above all, she is a family person and not the typical modern day "feminists" who only go about making so much noise but little effort to make the world a better place. To cap it all has she rightly said:"it's what you learn after you've known it all that matters". Kudos to Pat for this nice book.

[David Fish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading about what molded Pat Summitt really added to the value of all the lessons and ideas the presented in the book. She did a great job of tying different experiences into her 12 principals while also illustrating a story about how she got to where she ended up. As well, she had an easy to follow structure from her 12 principals to the details that made up each principal. Wrote down ideas from this book and tried to come up with a few bullet points of how I can apply those ideas and how they made me feel.

[Lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a must read for me when I was in highschool. Not only in the sense that it was written by a legend in women's basketball but also because Coach said we had to read it. Yes, I had basketball summer reading. Welcome to the world of Tennessee girl's basketball. This book does not only provide inspiration but also a look into the life of a remarkable woman.

[Kathleen Hiler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was inspirational for sure. Pat Summit became a hero for me at the time. I was moved by her story of how she was raised, her relationships in life, and how she became a became a winning coach. Her career was certainly about more than winning. Her players either loved her or hated her..but hey all played thier best fo her.

[Jehan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I greatly respect Summitt's work ethic and longevity. I enjoyed reading about her desire to equip her players with life skills and develop young girls into women but, I most enjoyed this book for it's insight into Summitt's upbringing and some of the experiences that made her who she is today.

[Mindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great advice from a strong ethic and motivational coach. A good read especially for coaches, teachers, and athletes. A lot of what Pat said does not only apply to coaching or playing but also to all aspects of life!

[Totsy Manning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pat is quite an amazing women who lead the way for many female athletes and female coaches. As I was reading this book I could put myself in the time period in her life and visual make a connection to her writing. She is a pioneer of Women's basketball on many levels.

[Debbie Weyerbacher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Motivating book

This book described what happens in Pat's mind. It explains the Pat Summit that is written about in newspaper articles and her actions as observed from the sidelines of Lady Vol basketball games.

[Alli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as part of my thesis. It made me rethink everything I ever thought I knew about feminism. I'm confident that was not the point of this book, but it still gives me a headache.

[Cyndi Dwyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good book from one of my personal idols. This book is about Pat Summits definite dozen philosophy, yet is interwoven with her personal stories along the way. Fabulous!

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book - very motivational book by the National Champion University of Tennessee's women's basketball team - Pat Summit

[Jasonpeery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book by a great coach. She tries a little too hard to show how tough she is, but still a great read.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I liked UT, I might have rated this higher.