The Inner Game of Tennis (book review)

I am sort of in a "book review" craze today.

Anyway, this book is not just about tennis, though it is a book about tennis. It is a book that talks about learning attitudes through tennis. It talks about our egoistic Self1 who likes being in control, and our capable Self2 that needs to have some free space in order to perform. The pressure that Self1 puts on Self2 actually causes anxiety and eventually hinders Self2 from performing, which reinforces Self1's conviction that Self2 doesn't know how to do things and needs to be told. This vicious cycle eventually leads to failure.

The important thing is to realise that Self2 needs space in order to perform, and that we need to be able to control our Self1 to prevent it from hindering Self2's progress. How we do that is by observing the facts and not passing judgment. By comparing the facts/feelings with a mental image of how things should be, we become aware of our own shortcomings as well as the areas that we are doing well in. For example, instead of saying "I am too slow", the fact is "I am half a second slow". "My hand is too low" should be "My hand is 2cm lower than the mental image". Something along those lines.

The book also talks about competition. I have talked about competition in my other blog on taiji, and reading the book, I realised that we had much in common about how to view competition. Competition should not be about winning. The goal is not in winning. But rather, the goal should be putting in maximum effort to win. When you goal is winning, you are competing against another person. When your goal is in putting maximum effort to win, you are competing against yourself, while your opponent becomes an assistant to help you improve.

So do grab a copy of this book. While you may not play tennis, the principles inside can be applied whenever we are learning a skill or trying to accomplish a task.