Inner Game

[smiley74]

I am re-reading this book for the third time and am atually trying to implement the philosophy on court. Has anyone else had success with the IG?

I was shocked how many bad thoughts I had about my game while playing on court. I am really trying to correct that.

I tried watching my shots impartially and watching the seams of ball to focus.

Of course, I was hoping I would suddenly be an amazing player! LOL

How long did it take for the ideas to work? I guess it all depends on Self 1 and Self 2, right?

Also, has anyone not had success with this philosophy?

I have found my stress level go down while on court while trying out the ideas, for sure.

[futuretoptenner]

I read this book and think the philosophies behind it are great. That was months back. Today I smashed a 120$ racket. So.. re-reading is definitely a good idea.

[JavierLW]

Originally Posted by smiley74

I am re-reading this book for the third time and am atually trying to implement the philosophy on court. Has anyone else had success with the IG?

I was shocked how many bad thoughts I had about my game while playing on court. I am really trying to correct that.

I tried watching my shots impartially and watching the seams of ball to focus.

Of course, I was hoping I would suddenly be an amazing player! LOL

How long did it take for the ideas to work? I guess it all depends on Self 1 and Self 2, right?

Also, has anyone not had success with this philosophy?

I have found my stress level go down while on court while trying out the ideas, for sure.

It probally has to do mostly with someone's personality and their ability to change. And of course their awareness of themselves as a person.

(some people may be in loser denial, you know the sort of people who when you talk to them, they sound great and have all the right answers but when it comes time to function, it's a way different story, but they feel that they can do no wrong so they will never learn......)

The day after I read this book, I played a player in a singles match who I observed was doing one of the very things that the book warns against.

I accidently hit him a few weak shots and he kept complaining how "EVERYTIME YOU HIT ME A WEAK SHOT I SEND IT INTO THE NET!!!!". (he's not being objective, he's infering a negative value to the occurance which means he's not letting himself correct the problem)

Otherwise when we were slugging it out, Id have to say that I felt this guy's strokes were definately better than mine, and I didnt really notice too many stroke flaws that I could exploit.

So once he said that a few times, I decided to hit EVERY ball with no pace. Meanwhile I decided on my side of it, Im going to just focus on watching the ball and see where that takes me.

I ended up killing him, and I found myself reacting a lot sooner than normal, and I was catching up with balls and hitting amazing shots that at the time werent always the norm for me.

I still try to do that to this very day. Last Saturday I had a grudge match against a certain oppoenent who is very much my level and we've had some decent battles.

It's a weird match because if I do the things Im normally good at (going to the net and making others go to the net), he's actually better than I am, but if I do what Im not as good at (baseline bashing), I seem to actually have an advantage.

We both care very much who wins these matches, it's kind of strange but it's almost like a verification of who is the better tennis player at the time even though it shouldnt be, and I think for both of us, that idea and feeling is sometimes hard to overcome and it may take away from playing our best tennis.

But in this match I decided that on every serve, I was going to go to the line, just focusing on my serve. And if I was going to return, I would just watch the ball and focus on that return. No matter what happened on any particular point, my job is always the same, just focus on that next point. (obviously Im still aware of things that may be going wrong and I'll adjust, but not in a negative or positive way, just objectively)

Sure enough I was down 4-6, 2-4, and I made a couple minor adjustments and was able to continue on and win the match 4-6, 6-4, (7-2).

My opponent pretty much caved though when I was serving at 5-4 mostly because it's sometimes hard to overcome that momentum if you are out there worrying about whether you are going to lose or not.

[Cindysphinx]

I'm sorry, I wasn't helped by IG. Self 1, Self 2? Nah. It just didn't work for me. Too touchy feely or something.

[fe6250]

Personally I haven't found that I can remember to do this consistently, but for those times where my game isn't quite working right or I get a little nervous - a simple recitation of 'bounce / hit' seems to focus me on watching the ball and helps me get out of the 'funk' quicker.

[shell]

Ahhh, I had forgotten about bounce/hit!! Must remember that...the rest, as I remember it, seems a little odd. But then, I lose in odd ways most of the time, so maybe I should give it another shot!!

[Supernatural_Serve]

Inner Tennis Playing the Game, Gallwey's follow up book is better. It responded to a lot of questions he got from reader's of his Inner Game of Tennis, "how do I apply this to my game." So, its more practical, actionable, and useful.

[fe6250]

Thanks for the tip on the new book - I'll check it out. I liked the inner game of golf too - although it did nothing for my tennis! .

[smiley74]

Thanks for all the feedback!

Javier- thanks also to you for taking the time to share your experience in depth like that!

Yeah, I am trying the bounce/hit when I watch the seams of the ball.

Supernatuarl-Wow! I didn't realize this new book was out. Thanks for letting us know! I will head to Amazon.com right now! LOL