The Inner Game of Tennis - W. Timothy Gallwey
One-Sentence Summary:
An excellent overview of building a framework to achieve peak performance in sports and life through the lens of tennis.
Rating On Time Of Review:
Easy to read. Direct. Based on experience. Exceeds 8 out of 10.
Book notes below. My thoughts are in italics. Opinions are mine during the time of review.
Date Reviewed: June 9, 2020
Chapter 1 - Reflections on the Mental Side of Tennis
The focus for an athlete isn’t to master a specific skill, like a backhand, but the skill of effortless concentration. Gallwey notes how most people try to consciously think about explaining steps to others to master a certain skill but they can rarely execute on it themselves. By focusing on consciously, you tense up and you can’t execute. The key is to be doing things unconsciously. I imagine this is what people refer to as ‘muscle memory’… thought technically muscles have no ability to memorize… it’s the training of the brain. This seems to be the focus of the book, to focus on building ‘effortless’ concentration.
Chapter 2 - The Discovery of the Two Selves
“….Self 1 (teller) and Self 2 (doer) are two separate persons.”
“Getting it together in tennis involves the learning of several internal skills: 1) learning how to get the clearest possible picture of your desired outcomes, 2) learning how to trust Self 2 to perform at its best and learn from both successes and failures; and 3) learning to see “nonjudgmentally” - that is, to see what is happening rather than merely noticing how well or how badly it is happening.” / Self 1 is essential because of the positive reinforcement that one needs to provide oneself. But the key is to disengage that self once practice starts so that it doesn’t get in the way from overthinking and wanting to “do well”…. That makes it ‘conscious’.
Chapter 3 - Quieting Self 1
**I feel like there is a similarity to Gallwey’s Self 1/2 with Kahneman/Tversky’s System 1/2. The self 2/system 1 is the initial reaction. The first thought that leads to the body ‘acting out'. Self 1 is the System 2 that consciously thinks. It may give you positive reinforcements but whenever Self 2 does something and it didn’t work out, the Self 1 will immediately attribute that action as being ‘bad/negative’… it is also the part of the mind that will attribute what happened in the past to infer a similar effect in the future. But in reality.. when you are practicing… each new rep needs to be detached from before. Only facts matter here. Self 2 only needs to do the actions. Self 1 is the one that attributes worry and consciousness from past results. To stop Self 1, train the self to accept each outcome as an independent outcome. Just observe & acknowledge. “Ah this is so… moving on.”
**“Read this simple analogy and see if an alternative to the judging process doesn’t begin to emerge. When we plant a rose seed in the earth, we notice that it is small, but we do not criticize it as "rootless and stemless.” We treat it as a seed, giving it the water and nourishment required of a seed. When it first shoots up out of the earth, we don’t condemn it as immature and underdeveloped; nor do we criticize the buds for not being open when they appear. We stand in wonder at the process taking place and give the plant the care it needs at each stage of its development. The rose is a rose from the time it is a seed to the time it dies. Within it, at all times, it contains its whole potential. It seems to be constantly in the process of change; yet at each state, at each moment, it is perfectly all right as it is.” / An awesome analogy for patience in the process for growth. This is the understanding and objectivity Self 1 needs. To be able to stand back and observe the slow progress.
“They were trying to live up to an expectation, a standard of right and wrong, which they felt had been set before them. This was exactly what had been missing during the first set of balls. I began to see that my compliment had engaged their judgmental minds. Self 1, the ego-mind, had gotten into the act.” / We are programmed to always rely on a set of standards to tell us if something is right or wrong. If we can’t find preset standards, we will attach to any kind of external validation. To thwart this, one needs to set out internal parameters to adhere to instead. One particular parameter can to just sit observe a result ‘as so’ and figuring out what to do for the next repetition. And not relaying judgment of right or wrong. That can be dangerous.
Chapter 4 - Trusting Self 2
Self 2 is the intuitive side and Self 1 doesn’t trust Self 2. It leads to tightening your technique. A detached interest is necessary.. just like how a parent will let someone else’s child take risks in life while not letting their own.
“Trust the body to learn and to play, as you would trust another person to do a job, and in a short time it will perform beyond your expectations.” / A method that can be implemented into management as well I presume.
Self 2 learns through imagery: sensory images like visual/feeling. Aka, experience.
**“Getting the clearest possible image of your desired outcomes is a most useful method for communicating with Self 2…” / This could probably be applicable not just for physical training but for one’s career as well. Hence the power of vision boards or to even write out the ’10 year dream’ exercise Debbie Millman recommends. The more specific ones vision, the more powerful it will be. One needs to trust that the body will adhere to the vision. I think that when I come at a fork in the road where I need to make a decision… that’s where gut instinct comes in… my gut knows whether something is right or not and I imagine that because of the vision I’ve built up in my mind of where I actually want to go. My gut is the Self 2 I need to trust.
Chapter 5 - Discovering Technique
**Self 2 learns through experience and Self 1 learns concepts from reading instructions. Hence, without trusting Self 2 you won’t be able to achieve excellence because instructions are mere results of someone else’ Self 2 learning via experience. It’s like reading about investing vs. Actually investing. Same goes for biographies. You read about business tactics/strategies/stories but one needs to still experience.
**Constantly try to listen to your body. That’s what gut instinct is. Listen to the gut which has ‘experienced’. The value of the 10K hours is in building up the experience (maybe even iterations) so you can listen to your body when your gut tells you something. The 10K hours is also a process of trusting your gut.
Listen to the body from said experience. Be aware of results. Observe the pros and let your body learn and adapt via trial and error = iterations… like what Naval Ravikant says: 10K iterations.
“No teacher is greater than one’s own experience.”
Most people want to rely on Self 1. But that may not work for some people. The reason Gallwey also doesn’t provide some ‘optimal’ learning model is because he believes everyone has a different learning style and the individual needs to find out what that is. What kind of experiential learning that is.
**“…great deal of technique can be learned naturally by simply paying close attention to one’s body.” / not just in physical training but also mentally. When investing, note down the emotions you feel because it can also tell you how your mind and body is actually reacting. Take notes and overtime, you’ll build up techniques as an investor too. But journaling can be that powerful tool of listening to your body.
Chapter 6 - Changing Habits
**The inner game way of learning is as follows:
Observe Existing Behaviour Nonjudgmentally => Be factual. Detach Self 1 from the process. Look at your results like a bystander would.
Picture Desired Outcome => Visualize, imagine the necessary path to specifics
Let it Happen! Trust Self 2 => Trust the process. Let your intuition lead you
Nonjudgmental, Calm Observation of the Results Leading to Continuing Observation and Learning
Compared to the traditional approach:
Criticize or Judge Past Behaviour
Tell Yourself to Change, Instructing with Word Commands Repeatedly
Try Hard; Make Yourself Do It Right
Critical Judgement About Results Leading to a Self 1 Vicious Cycle
**I realize that I do the traditional approach to myself in my journals…. Where I get critical of myself for not staying focused or not working hard enough. Instead, I will get into the habit of just noting such observations. Just noting the observations and learning how I can learn and improve. Maybe even visualizing myself being focused will be helpful as well. Visualize the end, trust your body and go. The egotistic Self 1 wants to always be in control.. but control is tense… that’s fake control. You are really in control when you allow your body to fully relax.
Chapter 7 - Concentration: Learning To Focus
**“The zone”.. “Flow state” are the areas you reach when you hit that moment of ecstasy when things slow down around you and you hit this state of peak performance. People think there is a formula to reach it but that only triggers Self 1…. The conscious part that thinks it has to be in it…. To hit “the zone” you have to quiet Self 1 and trust in Self 2. If you have to ask yourself if you’re in ‘the zone’ then you probably aren’t. It’s the Self 1 obsessing to do things ‘the right way’. For this to happen, you need to learn to trust the process and constantly stay observant of Self 2. Listen to your body and be aware. When you focus on staying present, then you can be aware of your body. Only then will you be able to know you have entered into the zone. You can’t force it. It inadvertently comes as a result of reaching a point of absolute focus.
Thinking about powerlifting or calisthenics… a way to stay present and focused during each set would be to continue to focus on the breathing. In tennis, Gallwey refers to ‘watching the ball’ as the technique of maintaining focus.
**“Natural focus occurs when the mind is interested. When this occurs, the mind is drawn irresistibly toward the object (or subject) of interest. It is effortless and relaxed, not tense and overly controlled.” / even ending distractions during training would be powerful. Not listening to music/podcasts when actually performing reps is a crucial thing to implement. That’s required to get better at the sport. Same thing with work. Kill internet when in deep work.
“Attention is focused consciousness, and consciousness is that power of knowing.”
Chapter 8 - Games People Play On The Court
A fascinating look at Gallwey’s own career that has inspired me. He developed this passion for teaching tennis while doing it on sabbatical from his academic career. What does it say about me that I was more curious about Gallwey’s career?
**“….we are what we are; we are not how well we happen to perform at a given moment.” / Don’t tie your self worth/value to the result of your performance. No one should judge you by artificial competitions made by other people. That’s not how human value should be judge by. I don’t know what is the right way but arbitrary measures like money, fame, performance is not the right measure. Once again, it’s just as important to pick out what is NOT important and NOT the right measure.
Chapter 9 - The Meaning of Competition
“What is seldom recognized is that the need to prove yourself is based on insecurity and self-doubt. Only to the extent that one is unsure about who and what he is does he need to prove himself to himself or to others.”
**Everything is a competition, but think of competition as overcoming an obstacle. You win by overcoming the obstacle and the value of winning is in the value of beating that obstacle, not the specific person. Slowing others down as a way of competing is a sign of insecurity. Pushing yourself and others to your fullest capabilities to overcome each obstacle that limits your growth is the way. Those who compete with you are actually ‘obstacles’ who are cooperating with you to help you improve for you need challenge and adversity to obtain new levels in your skills.
Chapter 10 - The Inner Game Off the Court
“I believe the areas of business, health, education and human relationships will evolve in the understanding of human development and the inner skills they require.”
Be conscious of the fact that most forms of stress are the result of ‘attachment’ to the past. Let it go.
**The truly long journey of life may actually be a journey to learn to listen to your Self 2 and quiet Self 1. Focus and be able to tell the different between when you’re either internalizing the externally driven ideas of Self 1 or if it is truly Self 2 talking to you.
Disclaimer - I’m writing this for myself. For my past, present and future self. Much of what I write is my opinion. If it somehow ignites agreement in you then great, I’d love to hear about it. If it sparks disagreement in you, don’t reach out because I don’t care for it. There always are obvious exceptions and the flawed person in me hasn’t considered them all.