The Inner Game Of tennis

[Horton]

 The Inner Game Of tennis tsixam

The author Timothy Gallwey, talks a lot of the importance to have the ability to perform with a quiet mind in the first chapters of his book “The inner game of tennis”. To be able to find what most athletes are searching for, The Zone, The flow or what ever athletes call it when they perform above their own expectations, is to have a quiet mind.

 

Many of us are talking to our selves while skiing: “Ok, it is 38, remember to bend your legs, bend your legs, bend your legs... STUPID! You didn’t bend your legs. Your mother would have done it better. You are a lousy skier!” Obviously somebody is talking to somebody.

 

The voice that is giving the instructions, your ego, TG calls Self1 and the receiver of the instructions, your body, he is calling Self2. Self1 doesn’t trust Self2 and likes to give instructions and is very fond of lecturing Self2, but Self2 don´t perform well under the pressure of Self1 and have a hard time to understand verbal instructions.

 

TG thinks that your body is extremely capable of performing without the interference of Self1. Self2 needs another way of learning. One of best ways for Self 2 to learn is to create a mental picture of what you want to accomplish rather than letting Self1 telling you what to do. If you let Self1 tell you to bend your legs Self2 will try hard to bend the legs. But as a result you will often forget something else, maybe your butt will stick out, not finishing the turn or you forget to counter and you might bend your legs but they are most likely too stiff.

 

According to TG a better way would be to first ski a few passes and really try to feel what is happening and then try to create a mental picture of your self skiing with the perfect bend, with tons of angle and the whole ski in the water. Then you ski a few passes without Self1 and just letting Self2 ski without the interference of Self1 and really try to feel the ski and your body. It is not unusual that you will see an improvement right away. If you don´t notice an improvement just try to keep on skiing with a quiet mind and the improvements will come sooner or later. TG is calling this Natural Learning.

 

In the following chapters TG is discussing ways to get rid of old habits or grooves. Every time you repeat a move you get a groove. The more you repeat, the deeper the groove. Trying to get out of a groove/old habit is much like trying to dig your self out of a ditch. He thinks that the first thing we have to do is to find an alternative to the old habit and then apply Natural Learning , and simply start a new groove to take a step forward.

 

He is also talking a lot of ways to focus and keep the concentration. Focus is according to TG is to be able to perform with a quiet Self1. In tennis most players tries to watch the ball all the time. They do that for several reasons. Obviously they have to see the ball to be able to play. But they just don´t watch the ball, they really tries to see it. They try to see the seams, see the way it is spinning, the bounce angle and they do this to keep the brain/self1 busy. Too busy to have time to interfere with self2. And as a result they might be able to play with a quiet mind.

If you have experienced a skiing session when you skied above your own expectations and can´t remember what you was thinking on, you probably have experienced The Zone.

 

This lead to another good reason for having a fixed point to look at when water skiing. It will be easier to keep your concentration in the right direction when you are focusing on the turn ball or some where else. Because you are keeping your brain busy (Self1) and it will forget to give instructions to your body (Self2). Your body has a better chance to ski relaxed and performs better when you have a quiet mind.

 

I liked the book and I think it is worth the money, for any athlete or any coach in any sport. Some of it might be hard to apply directly on waterskiing but there are a lot of golden points that will help you to think in new directions and take a step forward in waterskiing.

 

Tsixam

 

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4/25/07 8:54 am

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better book Marcus Brown Inner Skiing! Mastering the slopes through mind/body awareness

 

Timothy Gallwey and Bob Kriegel

 

First published 1977

 

Helped me finally break through. I turned Jamie B onto it some years back.

 

Check it out!

 

MB

 

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4/25/07 10:10 am

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Re: better book tsixam I thought I was ready with reading now when the skiing has started. But I have ordered that one too. When I have the time, I will write a review on it.

 

Tsixam

 

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4/26/07 10:38 am

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Re: web site help disland www.peaksports.com

 

Dr Cohn will take this to a whole new level for you

 

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Re: web site help http://www.ezboard.com/image/cscicon3.gif John Taylor Horton I only ever read The Inner Game Of Tennis but it has been a huge influence on my skiing and how I think about skiing and coaching.

 

It contains a number of concepts and lessons that can be taken individually. Each of these lessons is a departure from the average skiers mindset of beating themselves over the head with short rope.

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