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What is the real game? It is a game in which the heart is entertained, the game in which you are entertained. It is the game you will win.
To uncover and explore the potential within the human body is the quest of the Inner Game; in this book it will be explored through the medium of tennis.
I began saying less and noticing more. To my surprise, errors that I saw but didn’t mention were correcting themselves without the student ever knowing he had made them. How were the changes happening?
I was beginning to learn what all good pros and students of tennis must learn: that images are better than words, showing better than telling, too much instruction worse than none, and that trying often produces negative results.
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.
Man is a thinking reed but his great works are done when he is not calculating and thinking. “Childlikeness” has to be restored. . .
In short, “getting it together” requires slowing the mind. Quieting the mind means less thinking, calculating, judging, worrying, fearing, hoping, trying, regretting, controlling, jittering or distracting. The mind is still when it is totally here and now in perfect oneness with the action and the actor.
When the mind is free of any thought or judgment, it is still and acts like a mirror. Then and only then can we know things as they are.
Getting the clearest possible image of your desired outcomes is a most useful method for communicating with Self 2, especially when playing a match.
Letting go of judgments, the art of creating images and “letting it happen” are three of the basic skills involved in the Inner Game.
Many times I have seen students hitting perfectly good shots, but complaining about them because they thought they did something “wrong.” By the time they have brought their stroke into conformity with their concept of the “right” way to do it, the shot has lost both power and consistency, as well as naturalness.
In short, if we let ourselves lose touch with our ability to feel our actions, by relying too heavily on instructions, we can seriously compromise our access to our natural learning processes and our potential to perform. Instead, if we hit the ball relying on the instincts of Self 2, we reinforce the simplest neural pathway to the optimal shot.
too many verbal instructions, given either from outside or inside, interfere with one’s shotmaking ability.
Bottom line: there is no substitute for learning from experience.
“No teacher is greater than one’s own experience.”
From the point of view of the student, the question becomes how to listen to technical instructions and use them without falling into the Self 1 traps of judgment, doubt and fear. For the teacher or coach, the question has to be how to give instructions in such a way as to help the natural learning process of the student and not interfere with it.
“Hold the foil as a bird, not so loosely that it can fly away, but not so tightly that you squeeze the life out of it.”
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. Starting a new pattern is easy when
Awareness of what is, without judgment, is relaxing, and is the best precondition for change.
See what it feels like to ask yourself to do something and let it happen without any conscious trying.
When you try hard to hit the ball correctly, and it goes well, you get a certain kind of ego satisfaction. You feel that you are in control, that you are master of the situation. But when you simply allow the serve to serve itself, it doesn’t seem as if you deserve the credit.
“Now I’ve got the secret to this game; all I have to do is make myself relax.” But of course the instant I try to make myself relax, true relaxation vanishes, and in its place is a strange phenomenon called “trying to relax.” Relaxation happens only when allowed, not as a result of “trying” or “making.”
As one achieves focus, the mind quiets. As the mind is kept in the present, it becomes calm. Focus means keeping the mind now and here.
By learning to focus while playing tennis, one develops a skill that can heighten performance in every other aspect of
In tennis the most convenient and practical object of focus is the ball itself.
It is not distracted by other thoughts or external events, it is totally engrossed in whatever is relevant in the here and now.
The practice of watching the seams produces interesting results.
The mind is so absorbed in watching the pattern that it forgets to try too hard. To the extent that the mind is preoccupied with the seams, it tends not to interfere with the natural movements of the body.
Though focus of attention helps your tennis, it is equally true that playing tennis can help your focus of attention.
The greatest lapses in concentration come when we allow our minds to project what is about to happen or to dwell on what has already happened.
“Relax your forearm. Relax your mind. Simply relax into the present, focus on the seams of the ball, and let it happen.”
My own device, and one that has been effective for many of my students, is to focus attention on breathing. Some object or activity which is always present is needed.
Whether on or off the court, I know of no better way to begin to deal with anxiety than to place the mind on one’s breathing process.
When a player comes to recognize, for instance, that learning to focus may be more valuable to him than a backhand, he shifts from being primarily a player of the outer game to being a player of the Inner Game. Then, instead of learning focus to improve his tennis, he practices tennis to improve his focus.
