The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance

Does it matter how and what we think about while we are playing tennis ? Yes, it matters so much that it affects our tennis performance significantly and could even affect our mental well being. W. Timothy Gallwey obviously understands both tennis and psychology very well and has written an excellent book that very clearly explains why it matters how we think about our tennis performance. As a long time tennis player I enjoyed reading the book and learned very much from it. I am eager to start applying Gallwey's advice as soon as possible. If you often scold yourself everytime you make a " mistake " and / or you are trying too hard but not quite achieving the performance you aim in tennis then you can not afford to not read this book. I read it twice and I recommend that everybody read it again and again every few months. Many tennis instructors do not know the psychological aspect of the game that is so well explained in the book. Their ignorance is obvious from the incessant verbal instructions they give their students. The harmful and correct ways of thinking explained in the book are not limited to tennis ; they can be applied to our self talk about anything and to any interaction between humans such as parenting, marriage, social, work and other relationships. The types of scolding comments and even positive instructions and praise we make to ourselves either silently or aloud when we are playing tennis are self defeating ; they re- enforce the performance that we label unsatisfactory. Then the negative comments we make to ourselves about our tennis performance become self fulfilling prophecies.Timothy Gallwey demonstrates that it is no use to replace negative self talk with positive self talk neither. Because positive thinking is actually negative thinking in disguise ; it communicates the demand for good performance and is therefore manipulative. Thus positive self talk and manipulative self praise also have an unfavorable effect on our tennis performance although not as much as negative self talk. Any instructions we give ourselves such as : " tilt the face of the racket a little more " or " I hit it very well this time " also interfere with the natural method of learning which is much more effective. We have the potential to learn naturally which is possible only when we let go, that is when we shut up and stop criticizing or praising our performance, stop giving instructions to ourselves and stop trying too hard to correct our mistakes. So what is the correct and effective method of improvement in tennis ? It is visualization in our mind of the desired strokes and consistent practice on the court. This practice must be without interference from the disruptive way of thinking and self talk. Gallwey does not propose that we do not pay attention to our tennis strokes. On the contrary, he says we must feel and be aware of our strokes without judgement i.e. without labelling our strokes as bad or good. If you think you are making mistakes eg : the ball keeps on getting caught in the net when you hit it, instead of saying to yourself things such as : " You loser ! you couldn't hit even one ball over the net ! " just observe how you play non - judgementally and visualize in your mind's eye the ball clearing the net and landing inside your opponent's court and continue to play. Do this consistently without giving yourself verbal instructions about how to hit the ball ( aloud or silent ), be patient and observe the eventual correction in your strokes. He says that each human being has two selves ; Self 1 who continually makes judgements about the performance of Self 2 and scolds or praises it. In the meantime Self 2 is trying to play tennis under nagging and much less often praising from Self 1.Self 2 has the natural ability to learn and improve, like a toddler learns to walk naturally without any lessons nor comments from parents about how to walk. But Self 2 can not learn naturally nor effectively as long as Self 1 judges and comments negatively or positively about Self 2's tennis performance and rolls out instructions to it. What we need to do is to silence Self 1 , visualize in our mind the desired strokes, continue practicing on the court and trust our body and mind's natural ability to learn. The power of visualization in the mind with open or closed eyes ( with open eyes when you are playing of course ) of the desired performance to improve it in sports and other aspects of life is mentioned in many other psychology books too. As I mentioned above this principle is valid whatever we are learning and in our communication with other humans not just in tennis. In fact Gallwey says that Self 1 could be a critical parent and self 2 his / her child. Achieving these will involve unlearning the bad habit of self judgement whether it is negative or positive. Gallwey says that if we fight the bad habit it will get stronger. Instead of fighting the existing bad habit, develop the new habit to replace it. In fact don't even see the bad habit as a habit. Like a toddler who promotes from crawling to walking does not see crawling as a bad habit to get rid of but rather as a stage in development. I observe that in many cases in addition to the disruption from their Self 1s many children taking tennis lessons also have to cope with additional negative comments sometimes even insults, yelling and unproductive praises from their tennis teachers, in front of their parents who bring them to the tennis lessons. The parents think that the tennis teachers are doing the right thing when they scold and yell at their children everytime they make a mistake. The result ; the mistakes get worse instead of being corrected. I have observed the same destructive attitude in swimming, basketball, gymnastics and classrom teachers at schools. It is a pity that most parents, teachers and bosses at the workplace do not know the psychology in this book titled " The inner game of tennis ". Certainly there are tennis and other sports teachers, parents, bosses who are effective communicators but unfortunately they constitute the minority ; most teachers, parents and bosses are of the Self 1 type even if they have no bad intentions. Some of them are aware of the inefficacy of their methods and wish they could replace them with better methods but they can not help it. These teachers, parents bosses their students, children and employees would benefit greatly if the teachers, parents and bosses read and applied this book. In the book the author also gives a detailed action plan about how you can become more aware of your various tennis strokes without thinking about them in the wrong way. Just observe various parts of your strokes non - judgementally, become aware of them, by feeling and hearing them as they are without labelling them as good or bad. If you decide there is a need for improvement visualize your desired correct strokes as you may have observed from competent players. Avoid Self 1 from giving instructions to Self 2 and let it happen. He also gives examples of how dogmas regarding the correct way of hitting various types of strokes have changed overtime ; tennis teachers were scolding their students about some " mistakes " until tennis pros challenged the dogmas and started playing like the long time believed mistakes. Only then did the non - traditional strokes become generally accepted. Another very important issue the author talks about is the wrong and correct reasons for playing tennis ; if you play tennis because you like the game, want to be healthy and fit, want to make friends and at the same time you want to win from time to time etc. you are on the right track. But if the only reason you play tennis is to win, beat everyone else, prove to yourself and to everybody how great you are then you are playing tennis for the wrong reasons. Tennis is a very good stress reliever when played for the correct reasons. But it becomes a source of stress if played with such selfish motives. There is nothing wrong with wanting to win but if you are playing tennis only to prove your supremacy over other tennis players it is very likely that your motive is to compensate for low self esteem even if you are unaware of this.You may have low self esteem regarding your failures in other aspects of your life ; your social, work, marriage, parenting relationships or other feelings of inferiority. I know tennis players who play very well, but are very unpopular and annoying because they always brag about their tennis and are unhappy about other aspects of their lives. It is OK to want to win and improve in tennis provided that our self esteem does not depend solely on our tennis performance and we do not belittle other tennis players. If currently, knowingly or unknowingly we are relying only on tennis to bail us out of our low self esteem due to other problems in our lives, it makes sense to deal with our low self esteem by reading and applying a good self help book on the subject such as " The six pillars of self - esteem " written by a psychologist named Nathaniel Branden. If reading and applying that book is not sufficient to improve our self esteem we should seek professional help. Let's play tennis for the correct reasons, not to liberate us from our low self esteem. Like any tennis player I am also pleased with myself when I win after a good game of tennis but I personally do not have the negative, the positive self talk nor the " I must be the greatest in tennis otherwise I am no good " attitude to the extent described in the book. Still, I found some mental and attitude corrections I need to make about my own tennis. I also realized that I am frocing my 10 year old son too much in tennis. I will ease the pressure on him. It would be nice if he won in the tournaments but not at the expense of his happiness. To summarize I highly recommend that you read " The Inner Game of Tennis " by W. Timothy Gallwey.

It’s hard to say just how good this book is. It’s really about a whole lot more tennis. It’s more like a book on Zen Buddhism (observing va judging, quieting your mind, etc) or “Thinking Fast and Slow.” It’s a great book for tennis players and for everyone who isn’t even interested in tennis but rather interested in doing good work

The Inner Game of Tennis From a mental aspect, tennis is arguably the toughest sport. You're all alone out there. In team sports there are teammates/coaches, boxing there are corner-coaches, golf there are caddies, and so on. But in tennis, there are not coaches to tell one what to do, or teammates to encourage one another. When a person is all alone, they tend to think. And sometimes, overthink. The book, "The Inner Game of Tennis" focuses on taking out overthinking. It breaks down a player’s thoughts process as a match goes on. For example, the book states, "First the mind judges the event, then groups events, then identifies with the combined event and finally judges itself." By using this step-by-step breakdown of events, it gives the reader a better explanation of not only what to do, but also how to do it. Additionally, the main chunk of the book splits the body into two parts: Self-1 and Self-2. Self-1 is the mind that thinks the entire match and makes too many mistakes. Self-2 is the subconscious mind, in which one does not think but simply plays. The whole goal of the book is to unlock Self-2, while getting rid of Self-1. If I had to rate this book, I would give it four of five stars. The book is an informational powerhouse for those who are looking to improve their game. For me, the best part about this book is that it is not made specifically for recreational players. As I hope to play tennis in college one day, “The Inner Game of Tennis” helped me so much in how I approach the game. It has done wonders for my overall tennis, whether it’s fixing my forehand or not choking on a big point in the match.

Why do I recommend this book when almost all self-help books IMHO are market hype, and in truth, fraudulent. The only other “self-help” books I can recommend are Merton’ The Seven-Storey Mountain, St.Augustine’s Confessions, and Willian James The Varieties of the Religious Experience NOTE: the point is not my life; it is just testimony through an illustrative example. I first read this in 1982. I was living in Vermont, and in that peaceful place had taken the incredibly sport of bulleye pistol shooting (done single-handed with .22 Long Rifle and .45 ACP pistols). It is peaceful sport (I am a card-carrying pacifist and a Quaker). Anyway, I had moved up to the too 10% of such competitors in the state, even in the NE region. Hard work had gotten me this far, with coaching from senior shooters. But I had plateau. A top competitor who competed at a national level (and often won) noticed I hadn't been improving for months. He tslked to me and suggest some improvements. This helped a little, but I was obviously stuck. Finally this mann, a State Police officer, video taped and analyzed my faults. He gave me a traing program, but said it wouldn't be enough. So he said, read this book -it is not about tennis. He told me it allowed himmto move to the too. (The book also unexpectedly improved many other aspects of hislife, leading promotion (and eventually accept a high-salary offer from the State Police of another state.) So I read it. I was skeptical , until I grasp the core ideas, Applying these idea to my sport was truly a surprise! Over a couple of months, my score shot up and I started winning matches. Eventually I won the State hampionships, beating even the man who gave me the book. I started to apologize to him, and graciously said hecalways thought Imwas more gifted, and should win matches! He told that that attitude of gracious acceptance also came from reading Inner Game. Imfound the rest of my life improved as well. When I returned grad school, Inner Game helped me turn anxiety into excitement and joy. None of the the graduate-level science course were difficult for me because I was confident hard work would let excel in every course and in my dissertation work. I would not be a college professor today if I had not read Inner Game. The point is not my life ; that is just testimony through an illustrative example. Inner Game for skiing used to be very good, but apparently has been revised, and the core ideas were lost. So, with profound gratitude, I highly recommend this book. YMMY, but reading it will still be some you never forget or regret. It changed my writing and I published. It changed my sport and I began winning state and regional matches. It helped me sail through grad school to become the college professor I am today. Buy it. Read it.

GREAT BOOK!

This is such a good book for anyone that participates in any kind of sports - not just tennis. It has really good insights into the mental game and is applicable to other sports. It’s a must read for training and improving your mental game! I play pool competitively and this is the book I hear recommended the most!

With a myriad of self-help and personal development book's and courses available, I was compelled to buy this book after reading a comment by NFL player Tom Brady say that this was the book that changed his game. Just to be clear, I am not a tennis player nor do I have any intention of taking up the game. After reading a brief sample of the book I purchased it with great curiosity. The clear and concise style of authorship by Gallwey makes this a pleasant read and makes the application of the ideas very practical. Gallwey draws up on his extensive personal experience of teaching tennis to share his style of tutorship that encourages the student to "get out of their own way" and let the natural flow of the body or "self 2" as he puts it to do the work. Though the application of this program is through the medium of tennis, it can be just as easily applied to any sport or indeed, facet of life. It almost takes on the aura of a spiritual works by a devout practitioner without actually leaving the practical plane or getting all "woo-woo". Far from it in fact. Whether you are looking to perform better in your chosen sport, hobby, profession or life in general, this is a book that is elevated far above most of what is available out there by the more well known "self-help" gurus. The book is a life changer, not by offering you a short term buzz or illusionary pill that once it wears off you need more. Gallwey's work here produces the outline for you to take back control of your own life by giving up the control of "self 1". Its well written chapters provide real world practical advice and examples on how to best support your natural learning mechanisms, making permanent and positive changes that can provide fluid experiences. Even the chapters that offer technical advice on improving particular tennis skills provide a deeper insight on how to assist your own desires wherever you choose to apply them. I recommend this book for anyone keenly interested in self improvement or with an interest in how the body best learns new skills. No book shelf should be without this great work.

Teenage athletes deal with a lot of pressure especially if they are trying to be recruited for college sports. This book was recommended for my son who was going through a hard time and not performing as well as he would like, even with extra training and practice. Reading this book helped him to try and get back on track mentally and I think it was a useful tool for other aspects of life as well. Definitely worth a read.

This book is easily transferable to other sports. My chosen sport is Darts. I'm a reasonable player who has suffered from nerves and self doubt for years. I've tried lots of other motivational books and videos but never found too much improvement until this book. The techniques make perfect sense and work with immediate results. The quiet mind you'll acquire will improve your game very quickly. Just think of it as The Inner Game of Darts !

E' veramente disdicevole che nessuna casa editrice si sia preoccupata di tradurre in italiano e pubblicare questo best seller mondiale, fatto di poche pagine e denso di concetti semplici e chiari. Il titolo legato al tennis è fuorviante sul suo contenuto, che invece si può intuire dal sotto titolo "La classica guida al lato mentale della massima performance". Buono dunque per qualsiasi sport. L'autore, prima giocatore di tennis e poi insegnante, nel lontano 1974 ha elaborato una spiegazione sui motivi che ci frenano nel processo di apprendimento e miglioramento di uno sport e del tennis in particolare; e sull'approccio, o filosofia, da adottare per raggiungere i massimi risultati che il nostro fisico ed il nostro talento ci consentono. Il percorso parte dalla consapevolezza che l'attività fisica è realizzata dal nostro corpo in maniera quasi automatica ed istintiva, tramite un processo di apprendimento basato sull'esperienza di cui non siamo pienamente consapevoli. La nostra mente tende ad inserirsi in questo processo in vari modi ma prevalentemente attraverso l'elaborazione di un giudizio sulla nostra performance ed il conseguente tentativo di correggere l'errore o di ripetere il movimento vincente. Lo sforzo cosciente si sovrappone al movimento istintivo, lo domina e ne deprime le potenzialità senza risultare altrettanto efficace. Il secondo passo dunque è di silenziare la mente e consentire al nostro corpo di adattarsi da solo ai movimenti richiesti. In breve si scoprirà che i risultati arrivano da soli, senza il nostro intenso e consapevole sforzo per ottenerli. Il picco viene raggiunto con l'ultimo passo, la capacità di raggiungere quello stato di concentrazione durante un match che ci consente di ottenere la massima performance senza uno sforzo apparente. Il libro ha anche un paio di capitoli su come migliorare i propri colpi e la tecnica nel tennis, interessanti per i praticanti, e si conclude con una bella ed intelligente digressione su come affrontare ed interpretare l'evento competitivo ed agonistico, da tenere sempre in mente. Il tutto disponibile purtroppo solo in inglese. Ma non c'è da spaventarsi, il vocabolario utilizzato è veramente elementare, i concetti assolutamente accessibili. Sarebbe un vero peccato non fare un piccolo sforzo per assimilare la saggezza di queste cento e poco più pagine, che cambieranno definitivamente il modo di migliorarsi nella pratica dello sport preferito. Per un tennista, dall'amatore al pro, è una lettura fondamentale e direi culturalmente obbligata.

Timothy went deeply in our mind to output this book, too many reflections during the reading. Definitely recommend the reading!

Excellent book with practical advice on how to silence the self-doubt, worry and unfocused part of ourselves to pursue excellence and enjoyment in whatever we choose.

Excellent bouquin sur la dualité entre le corps et l'esprit (ego) dans la performance sportive, mais pas que ! Lecture donc recommandée pour tous, et pas seulement pour les tennis.wo.men (LOL). Idées : - Dans chaque match il y a deux duels, celui face à l'adversaire et celui dans la relation entre notre corps et notre esprit (inner game) - Travailler son focus et apprendre à faire confiance en son corps et en ses capacités pour être "in the zone". - On apprend mieux en regardant et en essayant de refaire qu'en écoutant les conseils. Les conseils des meilleurs et des pros doivent nous guider dans notre propre découverte expérimentale. Les meilleurs n'ont pas un jeu parfait, ils ont un jeu adapté à leurs spécificités et leurs sensations - Plus on se focalise sur quelque chose à corriger, moins on y arrive ("try too hard"). La solution : imaginer le résultat attendu et créer une nouvelle habitude plutôt que de corriger l'ancienne - Apprendre à développer le "laisser faire" et arrêter de juger sa performance (pb d'ego)