The Inner Game of Tennis: The ultimate guide to the mental side of peak performance
- Downloads：3434
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-07-27 08:55:02
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：W. Timothy Gallwey
- ISBN：1447288505
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Reviews
Colm Alton
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This was a fantastic book about the process of learning， competition and self discovery。 The principles of this book are specifically in the context of how one develops as a tennis player but they also apply to our relationships， careers and even spiritual lives。 I really do believe that I would have enjoyed tennis far more when I was younger if I had read this book。 I love how the author frames winning and losing （success and failure）and that every moment is an opportunity to be present and to This was a fantastic book about the process of learning， competition and self discovery。 The principles of this book are specifically in the context of how one develops as a tennis player but they also apply to our relationships， careers and even spiritual lives。 I really do believe that I would have enjoyed tennis far more when I was younger if I had read this book。 I love how the author frames winning and losing （success and failure）and that every moment is an opportunity to be present and to fully express ourselves。 Even if you don’t play tennis this is a fantastic read。 。。。more
Alex
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A bit outdated， routine self help theory on trusting your inner motion and focusing。 Shallow and repetitive。 Applies not just to tennis but to pursuit of goals。 It’s very so not q be ok you bring to the beach toImprove your volleys。 Might be better off watching winmbleton olamdnoixkinf up tioaThere。
Dirk Lapere
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some interesting points （but lots of repetition of the same points）。
Bill Zawrotny
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Definitely the worst "tennis self-help" book I have ever read。 I barely made it through to the end。 But it did raise an interesting point or two that I will try to incorporate into my game。 Definitely the worst "tennis self-help" book I have ever read。 I barely made it through to the end。 But it did raise an interesting point or two that I will try to incorporate into my game。 。。。more
Rahul Shah
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It does a really good job of telling the reader about how to approach improving in any gestural skill。 It also talks about how verbal or written instruction is sometimes counterintuitive to those skills。 Does not do a great job covering how to improve or to take feedback and put it into action， just expects it to be natural， which doesn't always make sense。 It does a really good job of telling the reader about how to approach improving in any gestural skill。 It also talks about how verbal or written instruction is sometimes counterintuitive to those skills。 Does not do a great job covering how to improve or to take feedback and put it into action， just expects it to be natural， which doesn't always make sense。 。。。more
Steve Lydick
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bought a copy used， the 1974 version so unsure if i missed added forewords/etc。 what a delightful read。 stillness， calm， focused on the concentration of the winning efforts not the wins themselves。 through these efforts there is not an uplifting juxtaposing the degradation of another but only the joint uplifting via the challenge。 very eastern。 the two selves reminded me of reading kahnemans system 1 & 2
Jen Mitten
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 My favorite quote in the book was "Abandon" is a good word to describe what happens to a tennis player who feels he has nothing to lose。 He stops caring about the outcome and plays all out。 It is a letting go of the concerns of Self 1 and letting in of the natural concerns of a deeper and truer self。 It is caring， yet not caring; it is effort， but effortless at the same time。 My favorite quote in the book was "Abandon" is a good word to describe what happens to a tennis player who feels he has nothing to lose。 He stops caring about the outcome and plays all out。 It is a letting go of the concerns of Self 1 and letting in of the natural concerns of a deeper and truer self。 It is caring， yet not caring; it is effort， but effortless at the same time。 。。。more
Christopher Gow
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Pretty cool， not super original， though I realize it’s an old book。 Basically applying the ideas of mindfulness to tennis/learning to play tennis with the hope that you can then apply the lessons about tennis to your life。。。 so like a book on mindfulness and learning。 If you’re interested in that， Google “beginner’s mind” and if you’re interested in that， maybe read this。 The most insightful stuff to me were the section at the end about competition （is it inherently bad/good？？） and the stuff abo Pretty cool， not super original， though I realize it’s an old book。 Basically applying the ideas of mindfulness to tennis/learning to play tennis with the hope that you can then apply the lessons about tennis to your life。。。 so like a book on mindfulness and learning。 If you’re interested in that， Google “beginner’s mind” and if you’re interested in that， maybe read this。 The most insightful stuff to me were the section at the end about competition （is it inherently bad/good？？） and the stuff about how principles we use to teach are always sort of “translations” from real experiences。 So we can really learn only by experience， though we can use the experience of others as a guide。 。。。more
Rachel Kemna
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This was an incredible book！ Far more than just about Tennis。It was really about the ego and the body。 The ego - which Gallwey describes as "Self 1" is the concious part of us that is always judging our performance， trying hard， and trying to "figure out" how to do something。 The body （which also includes the nervous system） is what Gallwey describes as "Self 2" - which is extremely intelligent， learning how to do complex bodily tasks through a observational learning and the mystery of natural c This was an incredible book！ Far more than just about Tennis。It was really about the ego and the body。 The ego - which Gallwey describes as "Self 1" is the concious part of us that is always judging our performance， trying hard， and trying to "figure out" how to do something。 The body （which also includes the nervous system） is what Gallwey describes as "Self 2" - which is extremely intelligent， learning how to do complex bodily tasks through a observational learning and the mystery of natural coordination。 He talks about the difference in coaching a tennis player from the coaching "Self 1" （ie telling someone what to do differently， judging， evaluating， analyzing etc）。 to focusing on promoting learning from "Self 2" - simply by helping his students quiet their inner voice of judgement by focusing on other things （like watching the seams of the ball， calling out when the ball hits the ground） - which help keep Self 1 occupied to leave Self 2 unimpaired so that it can do it's magic。He also tries to promote the natural learning process （which is how kids learn to walk） by encouraging his students to simply observe other people swing a racket well and observe their own swing。 He also recommends that we get the clearest possible picture of our desired result， and/or also start "enacting" a kind of confidence we see in others - as if we were recruited to be an actor playing the role of a professional tennis player。He also talks about a relationship of trust between the ego and body。 The reason the ego often tries so hard to control the body is because there's a dysfunctional relationship happening， stemming from lack of trust。 He recommends taking guidance from professionals as a means to explore your own experience - "Instruction from a more experienced player is only valuable in so far as it guides you to your own experiential discovery" It's not about simply mimicking and copying the form of someone else's best stroke， but someone who has discovered their best stroke can help you discovery YOUR best stroke。 He also talks about the limits of following instructions。 For example "keep your wrist firm on the backhand" - it's true that a racket held too loose on the backhand can inhibit playing well， but so can holding it too tight。 So it will not work by merely obeying the rule。 It's about experientially discovering the optimal degree of tightness。 Some of my favourite quotes are:"It's about learning the art of relaxed concentration" "It's about seeing things as they are without adding judgement to them。""Errors are not bad events， they are part of the learning process""When the mind is free of any thought or judgement， it acts like a mirror; then and only then can we see things as they are""It's about learning to trust self 2 to perform at its best and to learn from both successes and failures" 。。。more
Riley Womack
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Stoicism for the tennis pro。
Caleb Moran
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thanks jay boyle
Bertalan
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No familiarity with tennis necessary to enjoy this book to the fullest。
Tianyuan Liu
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relaxed concentration ， the most beautiful mind status that one can achieve :）
Hesama
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This book is really fantastic。
Gualju
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This book is totally amazing。
Matthew Bruning
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Top two book （along with Range by David Epstein）
Andrew Browning
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Loved this book！ I don't play tennis but I use the lessons learned in this book in my Jiu-Jitsu game。 Immediately after I started reading this book I noticed improvements in my game and my confidence。 One of my partners at the place I participate in walked up up me and said I've improved amazingly in a matter of weeks。 I told him it was because of this book and I recommended to read this book as soon as possible！ Loved this book！ I don't play tennis but I use the lessons learned in this book in my Jiu-Jitsu game。 Immediately after I started reading this book I noticed improvements in my game and my confidence。 One of my partners at the place I participate in walked up up me and said I've improved amazingly in a matter of weeks。 I told him it was because of this book and I recommended to read this book as soon as possible！ 。。。more
Bozh Idar
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Amazing。
Charvi Dhoot
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This book presented some interesting insights into how to forego inner conflicts to get good at your game， analogies you could also translate to things at work and life。 This paragraph from the book， particularly resonated with me， it was the main reason I picked up the book to read in the first place。All-in-all， I found the book quite helpful。 "The answer was quite unexpected。 What I really wanted， I realized， was to overcome the nervousness that was preventing me from playing my best and enjoy This book presented some interesting insights into how to forego inner conflicts to get good at your game， analogies you could also translate to things at work and life。 This paragraph from the book， particularly resonated with me， it was the main reason I picked up the book to read in the first place。All-in-all， I found the book quite helpful。 "The answer was quite unexpected。 What I really wanted， I realized， was to overcome the nervousness that was preventing me from playing my best and enjoying myself。 I wanted to overcome the inner obstacle that had plagued me for so much of my life。 I wanted to win the inner game。 " 。。。more
Delia
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Amazing for musicians。 Recommended over and over and over！！
Hao Luo
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Wow this was first published in 1974 and the whole book is actually talking about *mindfulness* when it was not a popular concept back in the day…turn out “observe without judgement” not only applies to non-violent communication， “release the inner you” in acting as well as sports
Max
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Книга корисна， але тяжка。 В ній пишеться про те як зосереджувати увагу в тенісі й не панікувати коли граєш， і грати краще。 Методи， які в ній описуються， можна використовувати не тільки в тенісі， а й в інших іграх й на роботі чи в школі。
Aygül Salahlı
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Now all make sense。
Manoske
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The author does talk about tennis， but this is not a tennis book。 It is a coaching performance book。 The bottom line is that performance is primarily an internal struggle。 This book will help you understand it。
Ian
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Worth reading and thinking about。 I do not play tennis。 How do coaches and our own mental game actually hurt us when we focus on the wrong thing？ This classic is the start of figuring that out。 Check out Michael Lewis’s podcast for some condensed references in season 2 as he explores coaching。
Elena
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Self-control and grit are with humanity for ages， yet these concepts have been researched only recently， and we still struggle to be focused during the pressing moments and get stiff where the action is required。 There are several tennis-specific drills in this book that can improve our decision-making just by looking at what's in front of us。 In the end， tennis is an 80 % mental game， and just 20 % biomechanical capabilities — they say it is like playing chess in movement。 The key principles of Self-control and grit are with humanity for ages， yet these concepts have been researched only recently， and we still struggle to be focused during the pressing moments and get stiff where the action is required。 There are several tennis-specific drills in this book that can improve our decision-making just by looking at what's in front of us。 In the end， tennis is an 80 % mental game， and just 20 % biomechanical capabilities — they say it is like playing chess in movement。 The key principles of the Inner Game apply to every aspect of our life because they are rooted deep in our natural， child-like learning process。 。。。more
Max Walker
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I really enjoyed how this book was written。 It was definitely geared towards tennis。 But， I did not feel confused because of my lack of knowledge in tennis and still had a lot of takeaways from the book。 Gallwey does a great job of talking to both newbies and experts when it comes to tennis。 At the end of the day though， this book is really not about tennis。 It is about how to make changes in your life and the way you think about your life。 He does a great job of talking about big topics in smal I really enjoyed how this book was written。 It was definitely geared towards tennis。 But， I did not feel confused because of my lack of knowledge in tennis and still had a lot of takeaways from the book。 Gallwey does a great job of talking to both newbies and experts when it comes to tennis。 At the end of the day though， this book is really not about tennis。 It is about how to make changes in your life and the way you think about your life。 He does a great job of talking about big topics in small and bite sized ways without coming across as overbearing。 The book makes a lot of great points and has a lot of practical advice。 The latter half of the book is definitely more tennis heavy。 However， there are still good nuggets to be found。 I would definitely recommend this book to people interested in books about self help or mental health。 8。2/10 。。。more
Mindaugas Mozūras
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Images are better than words， showing better than telling， too much instruction worse than none。The Inner Game of Tennis made me think of my years in therapy （https://codingfearlessly。com/two-year。。。）。 At one point during those years， I've started describing two sides of me to my therapist。 I don't remember how exactly the discovery happened， but this discovery of my two sides helped me put into words the conflict going on inside me。 I've called the two "the emotional me" and "the rational me"。 Images are better than words， showing better than telling， too much instruction worse than none。The Inner Game of Tennis made me think of my years in therapy （https://codingfearlessly。com/two-year。。。）。 At one point during those years， I've started describing two sides of me to my therapist。 I don't remember how exactly the discovery happened， but this discovery of my two sides helped me put into words the conflict going on inside me。 I've called the two "the emotional me" and "the rational me"。 The rational side was the dominant one， and part of my journey in therapy was empowering the emotional side。This book is a guide to those two sides through tennis （I don't play tennis）。 Here they are called Self 1 （thinking brain） and Self 2 （feeling & doing brain）。 The book's focus is on enabling Self 2。 Thus I've found the content a bit familiar， as I've been on this journey before。 I still found a good reminder and a worthy read。 I imagine that it might be enjoyed even more by those for who the content would be completely new。 。。。more
Mary
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Absolutely great read for anyone who is a competitor and/or has had a negative experience with competition。 This book really helped me to reframe competition， negative self-talk and the learning process and address how I was sabotaging my own learning and growing process。
Gko
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