
The Inner Game of Everything: 1974 Tennis Book Is Still a Sensation - walterbell
https://www.buzzfeed.com/reeveswiedeman/the-inner-game-of-everything-why-is-a-four-decade-old-tennis?utm_term=.da0pmdxdZ#.pyDjVqyqN
======
andy_ppp
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieb1lmm9xHk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieb1lmm9xHk)

This video of Timothy Gallwey teaching a woman how to play tennis. In 5
minutes.

The book is one of the best I've ever read (go get it now), it's about mental
focus, improvement by not trying and about not judging your results.

I was sitting in front of a really difficult problem earlier today but I kept
persisting at it even though at points I got frustrated ("I'm not sure I'm
smart enough to do this...") I managed to stop thinking for a bit and try
again without understanding the code fully and it ended up working. I'm not
saying being intuitive always works with programming but sometimes if you feel
out of your depth it can really help push you through.

~~~
andrewwhartion
"It's not trial and error, it's trial and correction".

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steveeq1
"Inner Game of Tennis" was recommended on Alan Kay's reading list:
[http://www.squeakland.org/resources/books/readingList.jsp](http://www.squeakland.org/resources/books/readingList.jsp)

he also touches upon it on a presentation he did in the mid '80s:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50L44hEtVos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50L44hEtVos)

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kranner
I read this book last year and saved some notes/highlights. Here they are in
case they are useful:

The Usual Way:

1\. Criticise or judge past behaviour.

2\. Tell yourself to change, instructing with verbal commands repeatedly.

3\. Try hard. Make yourself do it right.

4\. Critical judgement about results leading to repetition of process.

The Inner Game Way:

1\. Non-judgmentally observe existing behaviour.

2\. Ask yourself to change, programming with image and feel.

3\. Let it happen!

4\. Calm observation of results leading to continuing observation of process
until behaviour is automatic.

Highlights:

\- The secret to winning any game lies in not trying too hard.

\- … to value the art of relaxed concentration above all skills.

\- Getting it together … involves: i. learning to program your Self 2 with
images rather than instructing yourself with words. ii. learning to ‘trust
thyself’ (Self 2) to do what you (Self 1) ask of it. iii. learning to see
‘non-judgementally’, i.e., to see what is happening rather than merely
noticing how well or how badly it is happening.

\- It is the initial act of judgment that provokes the thinking process.

\- First the mind judges the event, then groups events, then identifies with
the combined event, and finally judges itself. As a result … these self-
judgments become self-fulfilling prophecies.

\- Letting go of judgments does not mean ignoring errors. It simply means
seeing events as they are and not adding anything to them. Judgment begins
when an [event] is labelled ‘bad’ and … a reaction of anger, frustration or
discouragement follows. Use descriptive but non-judgmental words to describe
the events you see.

\- The substitution of [positive thinking] for [negative thinking] may appear
… to have short-range benefits, but … the honeymoon ends all too soon.

\- Always look for approval and wanting to avoid disapproval, this subtle ego-
mind sees a compliment as a potential criticism. [Its] reasons, “If the pro is
pleased with one kind of performance, he will be displeased by the opposite.
If he likes me for doing well, he will dislike me for not doing well.” The
standard of good and bad [has] been established, and the inevitable result
[is] divided concentration and ego-interference.

\- Ending judgment means you neither add nor subtract from the facts before
your eyes. Things appear as they are — undistorted. In this way, the mind
becomes more calm.

\- It is the mistrust of [the doing self by the thinking/worrying self] which
causes both the interference called ‘trying too hard’ and that of too much
self-instruction.

\- The more ‘important’ the point, the more [the thinking/worrying self] will
try to control the shot, and this is exactly when tightening up occurs. The
results are almost always frustrating.

\- The main job of Self 1, the conscious ego-mind, is to set goals, that is,
to communicate to Self 2 what he wants from it and then to let Self 2 do it.

\- In a tennis-playing society, Self 1 can assume an important role by
frequently exposing Self 2 to models of high-caliber tennis.

\- As Self 1 learns to let go, a growing confidence in the ability of Self 2
emerges.

\- When one learns how to break a habit, it is a relatively simple matter to
learn which ones to break.

\- We all develop characteristic patterns of acting and thinking, and each
such pattern exists because it serves a function. The time for change comes
when we realize that the same function could be served in a better way.

\- 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 done with childlike disregard for imagined difficulties. You can prove
this to yourself by your own experience.

\- Awareness of what is, without judgment, is relaxing, and is the best
precondition for change.

\- Concentration is not staring hard … or thinking hard about something.
Concentration is fascination of mind.

\- After I developed by practice some small ability to concentrate my mind, I
discovered that concentration was not only a means to an end, but something of
tremendous value in itself. As a result, instead of using concentration to
help my tennis, I now use tennis as a means to further increase concentration.

\- Simply focus on your breath, absorbing more and more conscious energy into
the awareness of the experience of breathing. It may help to allow your hands
to open as you inhale and to close as you exhale. Then ask your hands to open
and close slightly less. Don’t force your fingers to do this; simply ask them
and let them respond. If your mind begins to wander, bring it back gently to
your breathing. As your mind stills and settles into a calm state, let
yourself be alert to every split second of breathing and experience as fully
as you can this state of relative quiet.

\- There would be no problem with competition if one’s self-image were not at
stake.

\- Obstacles are a very necessary ingredient to this process of self-
discovery.

\- It is only against the big waves that he is required to use all his skill,
all his courage and concentration to overcome; only then can he realize the
true limits of his capacities.

\- Normally, we tend to concentrate only when something we consider important
is happening, but the player of the Inner Game recognises increasingly that
all moments are important ones and worth paying attention to, for each moment
can increase his understanding of himself and life.

~~~
ncphillips
Awesome notes!

One thing that just struck me was the emphasis on relaxed concentration.

I have been using Headspace for guided meditation for the last couple months,
and just finished the Focus series. In that series the instructor, Andy, also
emphasized that a calm and relaxed focus is more effective then an intense
focus, as well as the idea tha lasting concentration is not achieved through
intense staring, but through curiosity and by "letting go".

~~~
kranner
Thanks!

I can recommend a couple of books focusing on relaxed approaches to
meditation. I can't always manage to relax during concentration exercises but
when I do the results are often surprisingly good.

[https://www.amazon.com/Natural-Meditation-Effortless-
Meditat...](https://www.amazon.com/Natural-Meditation-Effortless-Meditative-
Practice/dp/B00T3JGZTY)

[https://www.amazon.com/Meditators-Dilemma-Innovative-
Overcom...](https://www.amazon.com/Meditators-Dilemma-Innovative-Overcoming-
Revitalizing/dp/1611802482)

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cpdean
The Inner Game of Javascript: Everything is 'undefined' or the object you
didn't expect.

~~~
michaelcampbell
The real inner game of js is elm. ;-)

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neves
There's a lot of "The inner game of..." books. It looks interesting, but I
don't play tennis. Should I buy the original one, or some other books of the
franchise?

~~~
nilram
I read "The Inner Game of Music" ages ago and found it helpful to my choral
singing at the time. It's probably been revised since I read it, but more than
one of the reviews on Goodreads suggest that reading the original one on
Tennis might be preferable. (For one, "If you're looking for similar concepts
I would highly recommend reading 'the Inner Game of Tennis'. It presents the
same concepts but in a more concise manner that does not assume the reader is
clueless. The tennis metaphors are not a hindrance and the book is
considerably shorter!"
[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/848522.The_Inner_Game_of...](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/848522.The_Inner_Game_of_Music))

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chrisbennet
_Practical Shooting : Beyond Fundamentals_ by Brian Enos is something similar
for practical pistol shooters (P.P. shooting is a shooting sport). It isn't
for beginners like the "Inner Game" but has some great insights even if you
don't shoot i.e. its insights are probably transferable to the mental game for
many sports.

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WalterBright
My problems with tennis are with the racket. There's a hole in every one I use
that is just about the size of the tennis ball.

~~~
blablablame
Not sure if you want to pick the game again, but never ever losing track of
the ball helps with that. You physically can't, but try to see the ball hit
the strings. That helps.

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tiatia
I have the ebook. Should try to read it again.

I wish more of this Russian technique would be available in English:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconcentration_of_attention](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconcentration_of_attention)

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forgotpwtomain
Somehow the author, as is often the case with self-help books, was never
_very_ good at any of the things they claim to teach. Personally I think it
likely that the entire industry is a scam, but if someone has a link to a
scientific study which says otherwise - I would be quite interested.

edit: > By 2006, research firm Marketdata estimated the "self-improvement"
market in the U.S. as worth more than $9 billion
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-
help#The_market](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-help#The_market)).

~~~
D4N_
Whilst I agree that many self-help books are poor, I think it's unfair to
dismiss someone as a coach simply because they never achieved greatness. There
are many examples of successful sports people who's coaching achievements far
exceed their achievements as a player (Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho or
Arsene Wenger are all good examples). This is because the skills required to
coach are different (although overlapping) with the skills necessary to be an
elite athlete.

