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Title: The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey ISBN: 0-679-77831-4 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 27 May, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.62 (39 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: I can't believe I'm the first person to review this book
Comment: This is one of the pioneering books that brought about the field known as sports psychology.
A great self-help book, in my opinion, because it has an action plan you can follow. Basically, it will help you achieve total self-confidence if you don't already have it. The author talks about each person having a self1 and a self2. The former is your conscious ego and the latter is your potential. Self-confidence comes when we suppress self1 and allow the excellence in self2 to come out. We should trust ourselves to do what we want to do because everything we need is in self2. It is when we allow self1 to judge, we doubt ourselves. An important concept in getting rid of self1 is the art of being able to focus. If we focus on the here and now, this place and time, self2 will have a better chance to perform. How many times have we start to wonder about our cat or our past mistakes or day-dream how nice it is for something to happen when what we should be doing is to focus on the task at hand. In a way, self1 and self2 are similar to the conscious and subconscious mind. Whichever way you choose to believe is not what's important. What is important is that by conceptualizing this way, the complexity is reduced, and results can be produced quickly. How else can humans conceptualize confidence? Confidence without doubt, is nothing. Just like you cannot have hot without cold or fast without slow.
Lastly, we should cherish competition and our opponents. Our opponents are not our enemies but can be viewed as obstacles that allow us to grow and become better at what we do. Humans love to accomplish great things because they like to test their limits. Although this is fine, those who set out to overcome an obstacle should find out if the result they get is what they really want before they go about trying to overcome the obstacle.
Rating: 5
Summary: Fantastic book, the best book for tennis beginners & beyond.
Comment: I bought the hardcover version of the book shortly after its release, because I saw a film on the author. He taught a class that consisted of people, who had "never" played the game. In 20 minutes, they were hitting 20 shot rallies. Its great to philosophize on the "Inner Game", the "Zen" of tennis, but it doesn't help you play immediately. Swallowing the philosophy may be harder for some than the usual "practice makes perfect", learning curve for most sports. Therefore, Gallwey took a different approach. He observed the students swinging at the ball, asked them not to worry about hitting it. Instead, he had them tell him if it was rising, or falling, when they swung at it. Later, in another drill, he asked them to call bounce, exactly when it hit the court, and yell hit, when they struck it. Amazingly, these simple techniques had complete novices, consistently returning shots.
I had always liked the Eastern philosophies, but had rarely seen them applied, so well that they could be easily incorporated, in training for a sport. I even made up some of my own drills for playing back yard basketball, and improved my free throw shooting, by over 40 percent! What the drills accomplish is to maintain the focus, that the trained player sometimes takes years to master, in just a few minutes. If you "have" to call rising or falling, you "have" to look closely at the ball. You have to look "precisely" to call the bounce, and you will naturally be "in position" when you hit it.
A good deal of this book tells how Tim discovered the Inner Game, and how it applies to all facets of life. How doubt, and fear can cause you to tighten up, when it's not necessary. He wrote a follow-up book called, "Inner Tennis: Playing the Game". The follow-up book covered the techniques in more detail, and can help you develop a very polished game, with precious little practice. Most of these techniques become common sense, once you see the reasoning behind them.
I think there are a number of "Inner Game" titles out there, one of the most popular being on golf, since it's such a mental game anyway. If you've ever half-consciously tossed a paper wad, or a pop can, into the trash from 20 feet, you know the inner game. The techniques in this book allow you to repeat that sort of skill, to trust yourself, and your own mental coordination. It works! Before you buy the book try out one of the drills I mentioned. Hit a tennis ball with someone, or just off a backboard. You'll become a true believer fast!
Rating: 5
Summary: Great, not only for tennis
Comment: I read this book four years ago on the recommendation of a World Champion in the sport in which I compete - Fast Draw. I had often ranked high at major contests, but had never been able to make it to the winners circle at major competitions during 18 years of shooting. I was pretty sure that the only thing holding me back was the mental game.
While reading this book I was amazed at Gallwey's description of mental aspects of competition, and how I had experienced the exact same things. His explanations of how a competitor sabotages his own outcomes showed me what I had been doing wrong. His tips for getting into the correct mindframe made perfect sense, although were probably not the sort of things I would have come up with on my own.
After putting these tips into action I really saw a big improvement in my shooting. I won my first major championship within four months, and have been the overall world champion in my sport for three of the last four years. It was the things I learned from this book that allowed me to perform at my top level when the pressure was on.
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Title: Winning Ugly : Mental Warfare in Tennis--Lessons from a Master by Brad Gilbert, Steve Jamison ISBN: 067188400X Publisher: Fireside Pub. Date: 31 May, 1994 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Complete Conditioning for Tennis by Paul Roetert, Todd S. Ellenbecker, United States Tennis Association ISBN: 0880117346 Publisher: Human Kinetics (T) Pub. Date: September, 1998 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Smart Tennis : How to Play and Win the Mental Game by John F. Murray ISBN: 0787943800 Publisher: Jossey-Bass Pub. Date: 17 February, 1999 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Think to Win : Strategic Dimension of Tennis, The by Allen Fox ISBN: 0060982004 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 17 February, 1993 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Vic Braden's Mental Tennis: How to Psyche Yourself to a Winning Game by Robert Vic/Wool Braden ISBN: 0316105171 Publisher: Little Brown & Company Pub. Date: 13 April, 1994 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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