So I read "The Inner Game of Tennis"...

[leodevlin]

... over the weekend and was a great read. I found it quite insightful and the explanation about the two selfs and the games people play with themselves and on the court are really refreshing.

With that said, I felt like the book was more helpful in focusing on the learning process . When it came to the topic of nerves , competition and playing scared, I found it to be a bit generic.

It kept reiterating about how one needs to quiet down Self 1 , so that Self 2 can be free and to play for Joy and in the moment but there were no concrete steps for achieving this state of mind. The author himself admitted that is something you cannot fully control and that you just have to let Self 2 take over. The view of looking at your opponent not as competition but someone who is a partner trying to make you play better is logical and makes sense, but trying to convince yourself of that when you have match point against you while preparing for your second serve is not that easy. I feel that I need more "hand holding" through this process.

As someone who tends to to really tense up in matches given who I play and what the score of the match is, I didn't find the book that useful in addressing this specific aspect of the game.

I totally concede that I may have missed some main points of the book and was hoping that someone who has read the book and used it successfully in order to overcome crippling nerves could enlighten me a bit.



Any input is greatly appreciated,
Leo

 

[zill]

... over the weekend and was a great read. I found it quite insightful and the explanation about the two selfs and the games people play with themselves and on the court are really refreshing.

With that said, I felt like the book was more helpful in focusing on the learning process . When it came to the topic of nerves , competition and playing scared, I found it to be a bit generic.

It kept reiterating about how one needs to quiet down Self 1 , so that Self 2 can be free and to play for Joy and in the moment but there were no concrete steps for achieving this state of mind. The author himself admitted that is something you cannot fully control and that you just have to let Self 2 take over. The view of looking at your opponent not as competition but someone who is a partner trying to make you play better is logical and makes sense, but trying to convince yourself of that when you have match point against you while preparing for your second serve is not that easy. I feel that I need more "hand holding" through this process.

As someone who tends to to really tense up in matches given who I play and what the score of the match is, I didn't find the book that useful in addressing this specific aspect of the game.

I totally concede that I may have missed some main points of the book and was hoping that someone who has read the book and used it successfully in order to overcome crippling nerves could enlighten me a bit.



Any input is greatly appreciated,
Leo

Letting Self 2 take over sounds really good but results will vary depending on the person's talent levels.

What I found really helpful was the close analysis of the opponent and play him/her accordingly.

 

[nyta2]

... over the weekend and was a great read. I found it quite insightful and the explanation about the two selfs and the games people play with themselves and on the court are really refreshing.

With that said, I felt like the book was more helpful in focusing on the learning process . When it came to the topic of nerves , competition and playing scared, I found it to be a bit generic.

It kept reiterating about how one needs to quiet down Self 1 , so that Self 2 can be free and to play for Joy and in the moment but there were no concrete steps for achieving this state of mind. The author himself admitted that is something you cannot fully control and that you just have to let Self 2 take over. The view of looking at your opponent not as competition but someone who is a partner trying to make you play better is logical and makes sense, but trying to convince yourself of that when you have match point against you while preparing for your second serve is not that easy. I feel that I need more "hand holding" through this process.

As someone who tends to to really tense up in matches given who I play and what the score of the match is, I didn't find the book that useful in addressing this specific aspect of the game.

I totally concede that I may have missed some main points of the book and was hoping that someone who has read the book and used it successfully in order to overcome crippling nerves could enlighten me a bit.



Any input is greatly appreciated,
Leo

great book, that i've probably read half a dozen times or so now...
my summary for not tensing up, is to stay in the moment. focus on what needs to be focused on, and by doing so i feel my mind with the essential (eg. watch his toss intently during his serve), vs. unessential (if i miss this return i'll lose my break chance).
i try to limit my conscious mind to just deciding strategy and tactics (eg. analyze conditions, opponent skils/weaknesses/etc...), but try to let my unconscious mind handle the execution (ie if i'm thinking about the specifics on a stroke during a match, i'm probably not playing my best)
despite "knowing" this, i still play "scared"... ie. i know i need to return higher/deeper - especially against good players... but will get "scared" to make a mistake and will return "short & safe" (leading to my opponent putting me on the defense on their serve+1). instead i need to allow myself to do the "right thing" even if it means making some mistakes in the short term
regarding opponent as partner... i think i've played enough matches now, that i don't care about any individual loss... and care more about the overall process of improvement... eg. i'm working on something specific against a buddy, and i'm ok losing 0-6, as long as i got something from the session... the self1 creeps in when i really start to care about the score and W/L. i think it's harder for traveling juniors and pros, where real $ is on the line if you lose your first match, but the process is still the same (kinda like dollar cost avg investing, you keep plugging away, with the belief that the overall trend will be up, as long as you keep focusing on the "right stuff" (with a coach!), and doign/practicing "the right things", eventually they come out in a match)

why do you tense up (don't want to lose?)? what's is the outcome if you lose (lose a ladder spot? lose 50k in first round of FO? etc...)? what are you thinking about when you tense up (other than the specific shot you're supposed to be hitting in that moment)?

 

[Dragy]

but trying to convince yourself of that when you have match point against you while preparing for your second serve is not that easy.

I have had more than one match ending this way (DF) in several month. Meanwhile, there are couple of facts which reinforce my boldness to execute the serve and expectations for the point after serve is made:
- I’ve saved numerous crucial points in similar situations
- I’ve got to this match point situation somehow, it’s not that everything is decided right here; more of chance to continue playing, which is fun

I need to read the book. Not translated into Russian, not easily attainable… dunno why want a paperback

 

[eah123]

I think there are several good summaries of the book on youtube. It does take a bit of thought on how you would apply the principles to your specific needs.

For example, you describe yourself as "someone who tends to to really tense up in matches given who I play and what the score of the match is."
This could mean that Self 1 is saying "you are better than that player, you'd better not lose!" and your Self 2 tries to "force" winners instead of playing "smart" points.

So to apply the Inner Game principle, when Self 1 starts saying things like that, you say "Be Quiet, Self 1. What is something more important thing to focus on?" It maybe something as simple as "Make a good toss" if double faulting is an issue for you. And then you quickly use imagery to go through the motion of making a perfect toss while preparing to serve. Then you "trust" Self 2 to be able to do the toss and make a good serve. You don't even think about what to do when the opponent hits a return, etc, because Self 2 already knows what to do.

I can give more examples on how to apply them based on specific situations, just describe them!

 

[socallefty]

I’m one of the few who didn’t like that book too much as it didn’t help me mentally and I couldn’t relate to all the Self 1/2 stuff. However, another book ‘Smart Tennis’ by Dr. John Murray helped me a lot as it has more practical mental preparation tips that I can relate to and I follow many of them ever since reading it.

Maybe the first book is good for those who are adult beginners in tennis and it doesn’t help people like me who got a lot of coaching and on court hours in junior tennis in addition to playing many other team sports competitively. I think the second book helps even experienced players to polish up their match play and preparation.

 

[McGradey]

This book has been very helpful for me. It has a few key insights/takeaways that I have found useful:

• Trusting your body to take care of the shot rather than using your mind to 'supervise' your swing
• Using images rather than words as instructions — visualise rather than 'tell'
• Removing judgement from the learning process: if you are trying to change something or embed a new shot/technique, you simply observe the result of your attempt in a dispassionate manner; avoid attaching emotion to the outcome and just store the information for your next attempt
• Unrelenting focus on the seams of ball
• “Bounce-hit” when all else fails or you are having a rough day on the court

A lot of the concepts were not new information but reading the explanations provided helpful context and made things stick in my head, in a good way.

Will also look up the book @socallefty has suggested above. Interesting stuff.

I find a lot of self improvement books are like this regardless of topic — they have a handful of great insights surrounded by repetition and sometimes fluff, but the good parts make reading the book feel worthwhile.

 

[leodevlin]

Letting Self 2 take over sounds really good but results will vary depending on the person's talent levels.

What I found really helpful was the close analysis of the opponent and play him/her accordingly.

Thanks, I am not sure I caught the part about analyzing the opponent , need to go back and see how I missed it.

 

[leodevlin]

great book, that i've probably read half a dozen times or so now...
my summary for not tensing up, is to stay in the moment. focus on what needs to be focused on, and by doing so i feel my mind with the essential (eg. watch his toss intently during his serve), vs. unessential (if i miss this return i'll lose my break chance).
i try to limit my conscious mind to just deciding strategy and tactics (eg. analyze conditions, opponent skils/weaknesses/etc...), but try to let my unconscious mind handle the execution (ie if i'm thinking about the specifics on a stroke during a match, i'm probably not playing my best)
despite "knowing" this, i still play "scared"... ie. i know i need to return higher/deeper - especially against good players... but will get "scared" to make a mistake and will return "short & safe" (leading to my opponent putting me on the defense on their serve+1). instead i need to allow myself to do the "right thing" even if it means making some mistakes in the short term
regarding opponent as partner... i think i've played enough matches now, that i don't care about any individual loss... and care more about the overall process of improvement... eg. i'm working on something specific against a buddy, and i'm ok losing 0-6, as long as i got something from the session... the self1 creeps in when i really start to care about the score and W/L. i think it's harder for traveling juniors and pros, where real $ is on the line if you lose your first match, but the process is still the same (kinda like dollar cost avg investing, you keep plugging away, with the belief that the overall trend will be up, as long as you keep focusing on the "right stuff" (with a coach!), and doign/practicing "the right things", eventually they come out in a match)

why do you tense up (don't want to lose?)? what's is the outcome if you lose (lose a ladder spot? lose 50k in first round of FO? etc...)? what are you thinking about when you tense up (other than the specific shot you're supposed to be hitting in that moment)?

See, know my strategy, but I just don't trust my body to stay relaxed to do the execution. The voice of Self 1 is too loud.

And it is quite strange I play with tennis buddies, nothing on the line, no tournaments, no money, these are nice people and we are not playing for bragging rights. I just don't know why I care so much about not losing.

I believe, it's really the desire to feel like I am improving given the time I am putting in. And when I play someone where I know I am a better player, the thought of losing means failure, wasted time and effort etc . I just want to get rid of all these thoughts and get that feeling back when I was a kid and just loved hitting the ball. The goal I have set to get to the next level is really bringing out Self 1 and he won't shut up .

 

[leodevlin]

I think there are several good summaries of the book on youtube. It does take a bit of thought on how you would apply the principles to your specific needs.

For example, you describe yourself as "someone who tends to to really tense up in matches given who I play and what the score of the match is."
This could mean that Self 1 is saying "you are better than that player, you'd better not lose!" and your Self 2 tries to "force" winners instead of playing "smart" points.

So to apply the Inner Game principle, when Self 1 starts saying things like that, you say "Be Quiet, Self 1. What is something more important thing to focus on?" It maybe something as simple as "Make a good toss" if double faulting is an issue for you. And then you quickly use imagery to go through the motion of making a perfect toss while preparing to serve. Then you "trust" Self 2 to be able to do the toss and make a good serve. You don't even think about what to do when the opponent hits a return, etc, because Self 2 already knows what to do.

I can give more examples on how to apply them based on specific situations, just describe them!

Thanks for your input. The situations are always a bit different. Sometimes I am already feeling the nerves before the game starts. I feel butter flies , my body is tense, when I see a short ball on the forehand side, which is a ball I usually kill when rallying , my arm is too stiff, racket motion is off, it's as if I haven't practised that shot 100000 times already.

Same with the serve, I am especially bad with second serves, in fact sometimes my first serve rate is higher than the second, because knowing I have one more chance makes me more relaxed. I probably double fault on 90% of my second serves if it's ad out which is pathetic I know.

Again these nerves usually do not show up when I play against someone who I know is and SHOULD BE better than me. It comes out a lot with people who are every close or slightly worst in terms of skill. I may have beaten them 20 times , but ironically I don't feel the confidence when we play again because in my mind I never really played my game when I won the matches. I either played 70% of my game or they made a lot of mistakes.

There could be more scenarios but hopefully that should give you the picture.

Hope this helps,

 

[leodevlin]

I’m one of the few who didn’t like that book too much as it didn’t help me mentally and couldn’t relate to all the Self 1/2 stuff. However, another book ‘Smart Tennis’ by Dr. John Murray helped me a lot as it has more practical mental preparation tips that I can relate to and follow ever since reading it.

Thanks for the tip , will give a try.

 

[leodevlin]

This book has been very helpful for me. It has a few key insights/takeaways that I have found useful:

• Trusting your body to take care of the shot rather than using your mind to 'supervise' your swing
• Using images rather than words as instructions — visualise rather than 'tell'
• Removing judgement from the learning process: if you are trying to change something or embed a new shot/technique, you simply observe the result of your attempt in a dispassionate manner; avoid attaching emotion to the outcome and just store the information for your next attempt
• Unrelenting focus on the seams of ball
• “Bounce-hit” when all else fails or you are having a rough day on the court

A lot of the concepts were not new information but reading the explanations provided helpful context and made things stick in my head, in a good way.

Will also look up the book @socallefty has suggested above. Interesting stuff.

I find a lot of self improvement books are like this regardless of topic — they have a handful of great insights surrounded by repetition and sometimes fluff, but the good parts make reading the book feel worthwhile.

Thanks, a lot of the points that you mention are about the learning aspect which I equally find useful.

The focus on the seams of a ball sounds a bit strange to me as it's very difficult to do when the ball is coming at you fast with spin, so not quite sure how one does that.

 

[McGradey]

Thanks, a lot of the points that you mention are about the learning aspect which I equally find useful.

The focus on the seams of a ball sounds a bit strange to me as it's very difficult to do when the ball is coming at you fast with spin, so not quite sure how one does that.

Unlikely to actually see the seams a lot of of the time. But focusing on a specific detail like that is a good trick to help ensure you really do watch the ball — often even though you may think you are watching it or telling yourself you are, you actually aren't.

 

[zill]

Thanks, I am not sure I caught the part about analyzing the opponent , need to go back and see how I missed it.

My bad got this book mixed up with “Winning Ugly” lol just went back to the book again and think it didn’t help me that much. For me I disagreed with his technical instructions.

But yes self 2 should take charge as you get better and become comfortable with your strokes but everyone knows that. Ultimately it’s about unconscious competence @Curious

 

[eah123]

Thanks for your input. The situations are always a bit different. Sometimes I am already feeling the nerves before the game starts. I feel butter flies , my body is tense, when I see a short ball on the forehand side, which is a ball I usually kill when rallying , my arm is too stiff, racket motion is off, it's as if I haven't practised that shot 100000 times already.

Same with the serve, I am especially bad with second serves, in fact sometimes my first serve rate is higher than the second, because knowing I have one more chance makes me more relaxed. I probably double fault on 90% of my second serves if it's ad out which is pathetic I know.

Again these nerves usually do not show up when I play against someone who I know is and SHOULD BE better than me. It comes out a lot with people who are every close or slightly worst in terms of skill. I may have beaten them 20 times , but ironically I don't feel the confidence when we play again because in my mind I never really played my game when I won the matches. I either played 70% of my game or they made a lot of mistakes.

There could be more scenarios but hopefully that should give you the picture.

Hope this helps,

Nerves at the start of the match is a normal thing, as your body is preparing you for the "fight". One trick I use is to get to the court 30 minutes early for a really long warm-up. Then I can use Self 1 to say to Self 2 "You had long warmup so you've got to be feeling a lot less nervous than the other guy!" Then quickly visually smooth confident shots while the opponent sprays balls during the start of the match. If I have the choice, elect to receive first which puts the pressure of holding serve on your opponent first.

For the double fault problem, I already covered an example of how to do it in my last post.

 

[nyta2]

...the desire to feel like I am improving...

i used to define "improvement" by winning... i've since redefined what "improvement" means.
with friends, i sometimes go into it thinking, i'm gonna lose this set/match, but that's ok, as long i do X.
X for example might be:
* s&v every service game
* c&c every service game
* go for dtl bh
* bh slice only
* only hit high deep cc until i've hit 6 balls (only then i'm allowed to hit a winner or come to net)
etc...

helps if you do it with folks you've beaten in the past, then see if you can beat them a different way.

for me there used to be a bit of "if i lose they'll think i suck and won't play with me again", but over time i realized there are so many people to play with that it doesn't matter...

 

[fuzz nation]

... over the weekend and was a great read. I found it quite insightful and the explanation about the two selfs and the games people play with themselves and on the court are really refreshing.

With that said, I felt like the book was more helpful in focusing on the learning process . When it came to the topic of nerves , competition and playing scared, I found it to be a bit generic.

It kept reiterating about how one needs to quiet down Self 1 , so that Self 2 can be free and to play for Joy and in the moment but there were no concrete steps for achieving this state of mind. The author himself admitted that is something you cannot fully control and that you just have to let Self 2 take over. The view of looking at your opponent not as competition but someone who is a partner trying to make you play better is logical and makes sense, but trying to convince yourself of that when you have match point against you while preparing for your second serve is not that easy. I feel that I need more "hand holding" through this process.

As someone who tends to to really tense up in matches given who I play and what the score of the match is, I didn't find the book that useful in addressing this specific aspect of the game.

I totally concede that I may have missed some main points of the book and was hoping that someone who has read the book and used it successfully in order to overcome crippling nerves could enlighten me a bit.



Any input is greatly appreciated,
Leo

If you're looking for some help with managing things between the ears, my strongest recommendation goes to Mental Tennis by Vic Braden.

 

[toth]

For me my biggest problem is my toss in tennis.
This book does not helped to solve my toss problem...

 

[zill]

For me my biggest problem is my toss in tennis.
This book does not helped to solve my toss problem...

I found it helpful to start the jump and make contact when ball is still rising nearing it's peak.

 

[eah123]

For me my biggest problem is my toss in tennis.
This book does not helped to solve my toss problem...

If you want to use the "Inner Game" approach to fixing your toss, it's important to have something for Self 1 to "say" and an associated mental image, then "trust" Self 2 to "do" it.

For example, use this technique from Feel Tennis:

Your Self 1 says "Keep lifting!" You go through the mental imagery of following through with the toss to achieve the final position and the ball going up to the correct height. Then "do" it. If you repeat for an entire hopper full of balls, your toss will improve.

 

[Pumpkin]

The best book I read on handling pressure was a novel called Das Boot translated The Boat. It's about the German submarines in the war. I learnt that a submarine can only go to a certain depth before it starts falling apart and the better it is built, the deeper it can go and the more pressure it can withstand.

There's no magical way of thinking to make pressure go away on the tennis court. You just have to be able to play under it and the more technically sound your game is, the more pressure it will withstand and hold up under.

 

[Dragy]

I probably double fault on 90% of my second serves if it's ad out which is pathetic I know.

If this figure is true (and I know this feeling, though within short timespan rather than generally), there's no way around techniques and practice. You don't fail to put a banana in your mouth when you want to eat, despite all possible pressure and nerves. But you couln't at some point early in your life. Your second serve will be as consistent eventually if you choose correct pattern and practice a lot.

 

[LOBALOT]

I’m one of the few who didn’t like that book too much as it didn’t help me mentally and I couldn’t relate to all the Self 1/2 stuff. However, another book ‘Smart Tennis’ by Dr. John Murray helped me a lot as it has more practical mental preparation tips that I can relate to and I follow many of them ever since reading it.

Maybe the first book is good for those who are adult beginners in tennis and it doesn’t help people like me who got a lot of coaching and on court hours in junior tennis in addition to playing many other team sports competitively. I think the second book helps even experienced players to polish up their match play and preparation.

I didn't like it too. I tried to read it as a kid my ADHD kicked in and couldn't get through 10 pages without zoning out.

Interestingly, my son who is an avid reader of self help and other books including on tennis couldn't get through it either.

 

[Fintft]

Thanks for your input. The situations are always a bit different. Sometimes I am already feeling the nerves before the game starts. I feel butter flies , my body is tense, when I see a short ball on the forehand side, which is a ball I usually kill when rallying , my arm is too stiff, racket motion is off, it's as if I haven't practised that shot 100000 times already.

Same with the serve, I am especially bad with second serves, in fact sometimes my first serve rate is higher than the second, because knowing I have one more chance makes me more relaxed. I probably double fault on 90% of my second serves if it's ad out which is pathetic I know.

Again these nerves usually do not show up when I play against someone who I know is and SHOULD BE better than me. It comes out a lot with people who are every close or slightly worst in terms of skill. I may have beaten them 20 times , but ironically I don't feel the confidence when we play again because in my mind I never really played my game when I won the matches. I either played 70% of my game or they made a lot of mistakes.

There could be more scenarios but hopefully that should give you the picture.

Hope this helps,

If you DF your second serve is probably bc you slow down your swing.
Try using your first serve twice, for a while.

 

[socallefty]

The best book I read on handling pressure was a novel called Das Boot translated The Boat. It's about the German submarines in the war. I learnt that a submarine can only go to a certain depth before it starts falling apart and the better it is built, the deeper it can go and the more pressure it can withstand.

There's no magical way of thinking to make pressure go away on the tennis court. You just have to be able to play under it and the more technically sound your game is, the more pressure it will withstand and hold up under.

You should see the movie ‘Das Boot’ - one of the top 5 war movies I’ve seen in any language.

 

[socallefty]

The more sound my technique and footwork becomes, the more mentally tough I become in matches and there are fewer ups and downs. Go figure!

 

[davced1]

Thanks, a lot of the points that you mention are about the learning aspect which I equally find useful.

The focus on the seams of a ball sounds a bit strange to me as it's very difficult to do when the ball is coming at you fast with spin, so not quite sure how one does that.

The seams of the ball are probably hard to track and I never tried but I did something similar recently. I watched the racquet head each time I made contact with the ball and I played great, it probably kept me in the moment so self 2 could operate without interference.

 

[Pumpkin]

You should see the movie ‘Das Boot’ - one of the top 5 war movies I’ve seen in any language.

You're right. I should watch it. Thanks for the tip. As a matter of interest what are your other favourites? Mine are ' Thin red line' and 'Platoon'.

 

[Pumpkin]

The more sound my technique and footwork becomes, the more mentally tough I become in matches and there are fewer ups and downs. Go figure!

Who? You or your 2nd self?

 

[McGradey]

Das Boot is one of the all time great movies. Masterpiece.

 

[leodevlin]

...and the more technically sound your game is, the more pressure it will withstand and hold up under.

Well but that is where the issues is here. When I am rallying or practising my technique seems to there but the nerves just interfere so much in the real game that my body is not relaxed enough to execute it. I know I have to be able to do it under pressure, just don't know how to overcome it.

 

[eah123]

For those of you who are still interested in the "Inner Game" principles but need more, I recommend reading the follow-on book, Inner Tennis, Playing the Game. It's out of print, but can be purchased used for a few dollars from the usual sources.

 

[ngoster]

It seems experience or lack thereof is causing self 1 to dominate your mind versus trusting self 2 to get the job done. I definitely relate to the playing with the same group of friends where everyone is comfortable with one another regardless of skill level. There's no pressure because everyone knows each other's tendencies, weaknesses and strengths. This perfectly describes the men's league team. We used to have doubles scrimmages with one another every Thursday. After many years of playing one another (even prior to playing league), regardless of who you pair up with, the teams were relatively even and matches were competitive. This, however, didn't necessarily translate on league day. Regardless of the level of competition, some of our guys did better than others relative to pressure. You can tell the mentally strong (self 2) from those who played "tight" (self 1).

I'm not, by any means, an expert on mental strength. I'm probably closer to the lower end of the spectrum, but what I've experienced recently after breaking away from the team/group is that it can be developed with more experience playing different players. This will allow you to hone your skills against different styles and pace. You will also leave your comfort zone by playing against randoms. You're actually doing it now with league play on league day, but the difference is that there's more pressure to win on league days. Do yourself (2) a favor and expand your network of tennis friends.

 

[Pumpkin]

Well but that is where the issues is here. When I am rallying or practising my technique seems to there but the nerves just interfere so much in the real game that my body is not relaxed enough to execute it. I know I have to be able to do it under pressure, just don't know how to overcome it.

I understand. I've found 'battening down the hatches' so to speak, works. Just aim for big targets, cross court, into the big spaces. Don't try to be a hero and belt the cover off the ball down the line. Make it easy on yourself. Don't panic if your opponent hits a winner while you are doing this, just stick to the plan. Confidence is a funny thing and it will start to flow and you can take more risks once you establish this base I am speaking about.

 

[Chas Tennis]

... over the weekend and was a great read. I found it quite insightful and the explanation about the two selfs and the games people play with themselves and on the court are really refreshing.

With that said, I felt like the book was more helpful in focusing on the learning process . When it came to the topic of nerves , competition and playing scared, I found it to be a bit generic.

It kept reiterating about how one needs to quiet down Self 1 , so that Self 2 can be free and to play for Joy and in the moment but there were no concrete steps for achieving this state of mind. The author himself admitted that is something you cannot fully control and that you just have to let Self 2 take over. The view of looking at your opponent not as competition but someone who is a partner trying to make you play better is logical and makes sense, but trying to convince yourself of that when you have match point against you while preparing for your second serve is not that easy. I feel that I need more "hand holding" through this process.

As someone who tends to to really tense up in matches given who I play and what the score of the match is, I didn't find the book that useful in addressing this specific aspect of the game.

I totally concede that I may have missed some main points of the book and was hoping that someone who has read the book and used it successfully in order to overcome crippling nerves could enlighten me a bit.



Any input is greatly appreciated,
Leo

The Inner Game of Tennis was first published in 1974.

The biomechanics of the tennis serve was not correctly understood in tennis until a 1995 publication. Internal shoulder rotation (ISR) was confirmed by researchers, B. Elliott and Marshall.

https://www.exeter.ac.uk/media/universityofexeter/internationalexeter/documents/iss/Elliot_et_al__1995.pdf

The biomechanics of 1970's tennis was not well understood and has changed greatly, although, ironically, ISR - for the serve was practiced many decades earlier. A clear high speed video exists of Gerald Paterson, "The Human Catapult", performing the ISR serve in 1919. [Rule change - before the early 1960s, one foot had to remain on the ground during the serve. After rule change, jumping allowed with both feet off the ground.]

Badminton researchers had correctly identified ISR for the badminton smash and tennis serve in 1986 and earlier.

Be warned about the specific biomechanics of techniques used in the 1970's vs 2022.

Tennis-Badminton Connection-Early Research on Pronation & Internal Shoulder Rotation

FYI I recently got a copy of Badminton, 4th edition, (1996) by James Poole and Jon Poole. Poole's work was referred to in an earlier reply by SystemicAnomaly. Poole referred to work by David Waddell and Barbara Gowitzke using high speed cameras to analyze badminton smashes. [Badminton serves...

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I hope that some of those that lived through this very interesting history of understanding the tennis serve will provide some insights.

 

[FiddlerDog]

If you get nerves, it means you don't trust your strokes, which means you have not been practicing.
Mental game is built during practice, not matches. Most rec players are mental basket cases.

 

[leodevlin]

If you get nerves, it means you don't trust your strokes, which means you have not been practicing.
Mental game is built during practice, not matches. Most rec players are mental basket cases.

That couldn't be further from the truth. I practice my serve a lot and when I do, I do really well , same with ground strokes , its the fear of losing which physically interferes with my technique.

Even my hitting partners are baffled by the gap.

I think people who naturally are stronger mentally never understand what me and others go through.

 

[Fintft]

That couldn't be further from the truth. I practice my serve a lot and when I do, I do really well , same with ground strokes , its the fear of losing which physically interferes with my technique.

Even my hitting partners are baffled by the gap.

I think people who naturally are stronger mentally never understand what me and others go through.

Patience, young Pandawan, it takes time!

I remember even in basketball it took me about 5 years untill I became an attacking players( the coach was pulling his hair off, as I was the best defender on the team, aka Dennis Rodman).

Have a gander: https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/having-trouble-keeping-my-calm.727007/