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May 28 - June 5, 2023
The outer game is played against an external opponent to overcome external obstacles, and to reach an external goal.
The player of the inner game comes to value the art of relaxed concentration above all other skills; he discovers a true basis for self-confidence; and he learns that the secret to winning any game lies in not trying too hard.
All that is needed is to unlearn those habits which interfere with it and then to just let it happen.
The most common complaint of sportsmen ringing down the corridors of the ages is, “It’s not that I don’t know what to do, it’s that I don’t do what I know!”
Perhaps a better way to describe the player who is “unconscious” is by saying that his mind is so concentrated, so focused, that it is still.
It becomes one with what the body is doing, and the unconscious or automatic functions are working without interference from thoughts.
In other words, the key to better tennis—or better anything—lies in improving the relationship between the conscious teller, Self 1, and the natural capabilities of Self 2.
Self 1 (teller) and Self 2 (doer)
WE HAVE ARRIVED AT A KEY POINT: IT IS THE CONSTANT “THINKING” activity of Self 1, the ego-mind, which causes interference with the natural capabilities of Self 2.
For most of us, quieting the mind is a gradual process involving the learning of several inner skills.
The first skill to learn is the art of letting go the human inclination to judge ourselves and our performance as either good or bad.
As a result, what usually happens is that these self-judgments become self-fulfilling prophecies.
In short, you start to become what you think.
THE FIRST INNER SKILL to be developed in the Inner Game is that of nonjudgmental awareness.
The answer is: if your body knows how to hit a forehand, then just let it happen; if it doesn’t, then let it learn.
Letting go of judgments, the art of creating images and “letting it happen” are three of the basic skills involved in the
Inner Game.
Habits are statements about the past, and the past is gone.
In short, there is no need to fight old habits. Start new ones. It is the resisting of an old habit that puts you in that trench.
Self 1 should not be expected to give up its control all at once; it begins to find its proper role only as one progresses in the art of relaxed concentration.
To still the mind one must learn to put it somewhere. It cannot just be let go; it must be focused.
Watching the ball means to focus your attention on the sight of it.
The practice of watching the seams produces interesting results.
The ball should be watched from the time it leaves the opponent’s racket to the time it hits yours.
The mind is so absorbed in watching the pattern that it forgets to try too hard.
There are two things that a player must know on every shot: where the ball is and where his racket is.
Here and now are the only place and time when one ever enjoys himself or accomplishes anything.
Most of our suffering takes place when we allow our minds to imagine the future or mull over the past.
Self 2 will never be allowed to express spontaneity and excellence when Self 1 is playing some heavy ulterior game involving its self-image.
Yet as one recognizes the games of Self 1, a degree of freedom can be achieved.
