The Inner Game of Tennis: The classic guide to the mental side of peak performance

A brief explanation of the meaning of “game.” Every game involves at least one player, a goal, some obstacle between the player and his goal, a field (physical or mental) on which the game is played and a motive for playing.

SUBGAME A: Perfect-o THESIS: How good can I get? In Perfect-o, “good” is measured against a standard of performance. In golf, it is measured against par; in tennis, against self-conceived expectations or those of parents, coach or friends. AIM: Perfection; to reach the highest standard possible. MOTIVE: The desire to prove oneself. OBSTACLES: Exter

If you think you are controlled by a bad habit, then you will feel you have to try to break it. A child doesn’t have to break the habit of crawling, because he doesn’t think he has a habit. He simply leaves it as he finds walking an easier way to get around.

I used to think that whatever was present in that state would leave me, was ephemeral. Now I know that it is always there and it is only I who leave.

I learned how effective the remembering of certain sounds can be as a cue for the built-in computer within our brains.

“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.

and then an alternative pattern of behavior, which serves the same function better, emerges quite effortlessly.

The surfer waits for the big wave because he values the challenge it presents. He values the obstacles the wave puts between him and his goal of riding the wave to the beach. Why? Because it is those very obstacles, the size and churning power of the wave, which draw from the surfer his greatest effort. It is only against the big waves that he is r

So I believe the best use of technical knowledge is to communicate a hint toward a desired destination.