---
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title: "Random House Trade The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance"
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# Random House Trade The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance

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Random House Trade The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance : Gallwey, W. Timothy, Carroll, Pete: desertcart.ae: Books

Review: E' veramente disdicevole che nessuna casa editrice si sia preoccupata di tradurre in italiano e pubblicare questo best seller mondiale, fatto di poche pagine e denso di concetti semplici e chiari. Il titolo legato al tennis è fuorviante sul suo contenuto, che invece si può intuire dal sotto titolo "La classica guida al lato mentale della massima performance". Buono dunque per qualsiasi sport. L'autore, prima giocatore di tennis e poi insegnante, nel lontano 1974 ha elaborato una spiegazione sui motivi che ci frenano nel processo di apprendimento e miglioramento di uno sport e del tennis in particolare; e sull'approccio, o filosofia, da adottare per raggiungere i massimi risultati che il nostro fisico ed il nostro talento ci consentono. Il percorso parte dalla consapevolezza che l'attività fisica è realizzata dal nostro corpo in maniera quasi automatica ed istintiva, tramite un processo di apprendimento basato sull'esperienza di cui non siamo pienamente consapevoli. La nostra mente tende ad inserirsi in questo processo in vari modi ma prevalentemente attraverso l'elaborazione di un giudizio sulla nostra performance ed il conseguente tentativo di correggere l'errore o di ripetere il movimento vincente. Lo sforzo cosciente si sovrappone al movimento istintivo, lo domina e ne deprime le potenzialità senza risultare altrettanto efficace. Il secondo passo dunque è di silenziare la mente e consentire al nostro corpo di adattarsi da solo ai movimenti richiesti. In breve si scoprirà che i risultati arrivano da soli, senza il nostro intenso e consapevole sforzo per ottenerli. Il picco viene raggiunto con l'ultimo passo, la capacità di raggiungere quello stato di concentrazione durante un match che ci consente di ottenere la massima performance senza uno sforzo apparente. Il libro ha anche un paio di capitoli su come migliorare i propri colpi e la tecnica nel tennis, interessanti per i praticanti, e si conclude con una bella ed intelligente digressione su come affrontare ed interpretare l'evento competitivo ed agonistico, da tenere sempre in mente. Il tutto disponibile purtroppo solo in inglese. Ma non c'è da spaventarsi, il vocabolario utilizzato è veramente elementare, i concetti assolutamente accessibili. Sarebbe un vero peccato non fare un piccolo sforzo per assimilare la saggezza di queste cento e poco più pagine, che cambieranno definitivamente il modo di migliorarsi nella pratica dello sport preferito. Per un tennista, dall'amatore al pro, è una lettura fondamentale e direi culturalmente obbligata.
Review: Does it matter how and what we think about while we are playing tennis ? Yes, it matters so much that it affects our tennis performance significantly and could even affect our mental well being. W. Timothy Gallwey obviously understands both tennis and psychology very well and has written an excellent book that very clearly explains why it matters how we think about our tennis performance. As a long time tennis player I enjoyed reading the book and learned very much from it. I am eager to start applying Gallwey's advice as soon as possible. If you often scold yourself everytime you make a " mistake " and / or you are trying too hard but not quite achieving the performance you aim in tennis then you can not afford to not read this book. I read it twice and I recommend that everybody read it again and again every few months. Many tennis instructors do not know the psychological aspect of the game that is so well explained in the book. Their ignorance is obvious from the incessant verbal instructions they give their students. The harmful and correct ways of thinking explained in the book are not limited to tennis ; they can be applied to our self talk about anything and to any interaction between humans such as parenting, marriage, social, work and other relationships. The types of scolding comments and even positive instructions and praise we make to ourselves either silently or aloud when we are playing tennis are self defeating ; they re- enforce the performance that we label unsatisfactory. Then the negative comments we make to ourselves about our tennis performance become self fulfilling prophecies.Timothy Gallwey demonstrates that it is no use to replace negative self talk with positive self talk neither. Because positive thinking is actually negative thinking in disguise ; it communicates the demand for good performance and is therefore manipulative. Thus positive self talk and manipulative self praise also have an unfavorable effect on our tennis performance although not as much as negative self talk. Any instructions we give ourselves such as : " tilt the face of the racket a little more " or " I hit it very well this time " also interfere with the natural method of learning which is much more effective. We have the potential to learn naturally which is possible only when we let go, that is when we shut up and stop criticizing or praising our performance, stop giving instructions to ourselves and stop trying too hard to correct our mistakes. So what is the correct and effective method of improvement in tennis ? It is visualization in our mind of the desired strokes and consistent practice on the court. This practice must be without interference from the disruptive way of thinking and self talk. Gallwey does not propose that we do not pay attention to our tennis strokes. On the contrary, he says we must feel and be aware of our strokes without judgement i.e. without labelling our strokes as bad or good. If you think you are making mistakes eg : the ball keeps on getting caught in the net when you hit it, instead of saying to yourself things such as : " You loser ! you couldn't hit even one ball over the net ! " just observe how you play non - judgementally and visualize in your mind's eye the ball clearing the net and landing inside your opponent's court and continue to play. Do this consistently without giving yourself verbal instructions about how to hit the ball ( aloud or silent ), be patient and observe the eventual correction in your strokes. He says that each human being has two selves ; Self 1 who continually makes judgements about the performance of Self 2 and scolds or praises it. In the meantime Self 2 is trying to play tennis under nagging and much less often praising from Self 1.Self 2 has the natural ability to learn and improve, like a toddler learns to walk naturally without any lessons nor comments from parents about how to walk. But Self 2 can not learn naturally nor effectively as long as Self 1 judges and comments negatively or positively about Self 2's tennis performance and rolls out instructions to it. What we need to do is to silence Self 1 , visualize in our mind the desired strokes, continue practicing on the court and trust our body and mind's natural ability to learn. The power of visualization in the mind with open or closed eyes ( with open eyes when you are playing of course ) of the desired performance to improve it in sports and other aspects of life is mentioned in many other psychology books too. As I mentioned above this principle is valid whatever we are learning and in our communication with other humans not just in tennis. In fact Gallwey says that Self 1 could be a critical parent and self 2 his / her child. Achieving these will involve unlearning the bad habit of self judgement whether it is negative or positive. Gallwey says that if we fight the bad habit it will get stronger. Instead of fighting the existing bad habit, develop the new habit to replace it. In fact don't even see the bad habit as a habit. Like a toddler who promotes from crawling to walking does not see crawling as a bad habit to get rid of but rather as a stage in development. I observe that in many cases in addition to the disruption from their Self 1s many children taking tennis lessons also have to cope with additional negative comments sometimes even insults, yelling and unproductive praises from their tennis teachers, in front of their parents who bring them to the tennis lessons. The parents think that the tennis teachers are doing the right thing when they scold and yell at their children everytime they make a mistake. The result ; the mistakes get worse instead of being corrected. I have observed the same destructive attitude in swimming, basketball, gymnastics and classrom teachers at schools. It is a pity that most parents, teachers and bosses at the workplace do not know the psychology in this book titled " The inner game of tennis ". Certainly there are tennis and other sports teachers, parents, bosses who are effective communicators but unfortunately they constitute the minority ; most teachers, parents and bosses are of the Self 1 type even if they have no bad intentions. Some of them are aware of the inefficacy of their methods and wish they could replace them with better methods but they can not help it. These teachers, parents bosses their students, children and employees would benefit greatly if the teachers, parents and bosses read and applied this book. In the book the author also gives a detailed action plan about how you can become more aware of your various tennis strokes without thinking about them in the wrong way. Just observe various parts of your strokes non - judgementally, become aware of them, by feeling and hearing them as they are without labelling them as good or bad. If you decide there is a need for improvement visualize your desired correct strokes as you may have observed from competent players. Avoid Self 1 from giving instructions to Self 2 and let it happen. He also gives examples of how dogmas regarding the correct way of hitting various types of strokes have changed overtime ; tennis teachers were scolding their students about some " mistakes " until tennis pros challenged the dogmas and started playing like the long time believed mistakes. Only then did the non - traditional strokes become generally accepted. Another very important issue the author talks about is the wrong and correct reasons for playing tennis ; if you play tennis because you like the game, want to be healthy and fit, want to make friends and at the same time you want to win from time to time etc. you are on the right track. But if the only reason you play tennis is to win, beat everyone else, prove to yourself and to everybody how great you are then you are playing tennis for the wrong reasons. Tennis is a very good stress reliever when played for the correct reasons. But it becomes a source of stress if played with such selfish motives. There is nothing wrong with wanting to win but if you are playing tennis only to prove your supremacy over other tennis players it is very likely that your motive is to compensate for low self esteem even if you are unaware of this.You may have low self esteem regarding your failures in other aspects of your life ; your social, work, marriage, parenting relationships or other feelings of inferiority. I know tennis players who play very well, but are very unpopular and annoying because they always brag about their tennis and are unhappy about other aspects of their lives. It is OK to want to win and improve in tennis provided that our self esteem does not depend solely on our tennis performance and we do not belittle other tennis players. If currently, knowingly or unknowingly we are relying only on tennis to bail us out of our low self esteem due to other problems in our lives, it makes sense to deal with our low self esteem by reading and applying a good self help book on the subject such as " The six pillars of self - esteem " written by a psychologist named Nathaniel Branden. If reading and applying that book is not sufficient to improve our self esteem we should seek professional help. Let's play tennis for the correct reasons, not to liberate us from our low self esteem. Like any tennis player I am also pleased with myself when I win after a good game of tennis but I personally do not have the negative, the positive self talk nor the " I must be the greatest in tennis otherwise I am no good " attitude to the extent described in the book. Still, I found some mental and attitude corrections I need to make about my own tennis. I also realized that I am frocing my 10 year old son too much in tennis. I will ease the pressure on him. It would be nice if he won in the tournaments but not at the expense of his happiness. To summarize I highly recommend that you read " The Inner Game of Tennis " by W. Timothy Gallwey.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #58,802 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #1 in Racket Sports #2 in Racket Sports Coaching #3 in Sports Psychology |
| Customer reviews | 4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars (4,165) |
| Dimensions  | 13.16 x 1.24 x 20.27 cm |
| Edition  | Revised ed. |
| ISBN-10  | 0679778314 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0679778318 |
| Item weight  | 159 g |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 192 pages |
| Publication date  | 27 May 1997 |
| Publisher  | Random House Trade Paperbacks |

## Images

![Random House Trade The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71+1CgqvXSL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review
*by M***I on 2 October 2013*

E' veramente disdicevole che nessuna casa editrice si sia preoccupata di tradurre in italiano e pubblicare questo best seller mondiale, fatto di poche pagine e denso di concetti semplici e chiari. Il titolo legato al tennis è fuorviante sul suo contenuto, che invece si può intuire dal sotto titolo "La classica guida al lato mentale della massima performance". Buono dunque per qualsiasi sport. L'autore, prima giocatore di tennis e poi insegnante, nel lontano 1974 ha elaborato una spiegazione sui motivi che ci frenano nel processo di apprendimento e miglioramento di uno sport e del tennis in particolare; e sull'approccio, o filosofia, da adottare per raggiungere i massimi risultati che il nostro fisico ed il nostro talento ci consentono. Il percorso parte dalla consapevolezza che l'attività fisica è realizzata dal nostro corpo in maniera quasi automatica ed istintiva, tramite un processo di apprendimento basato sull'esperienza di cui non siamo pienamente consapevoli. La nostra mente tende ad inserirsi in questo processo in vari modi ma prevalentemente attraverso l'elaborazione di un giudizio sulla nostra performance ed il conseguente tentativo di correggere l'errore o di ripetere il movimento vincente. Lo sforzo cosciente si sovrappone al movimento istintivo, lo domina e ne deprime le potenzialità senza risultare altrettanto efficace. Il secondo passo dunque è di silenziare la mente e consentire al nostro corpo di adattarsi da solo ai movimenti richiesti. In breve si scoprirà che i risultati arrivano da soli, senza il nostro intenso e consapevole sforzo per ottenerli. Il picco viene raggiunto con l'ultimo passo, la capacità di raggiungere quello stato di concentrazione durante un match che ci consente di ottenere la massima performance senza uno sforzo apparente. Il libro ha anche un paio di capitoli su come migliorare i propri colpi e la tecnica nel tennis, interessanti per i praticanti, e si conclude con una bella ed intelligente digressione su come affrontare ed interpretare l'evento competitivo ed agonistico, da tenere sempre in mente. Il tutto disponibile purtroppo solo in inglese. Ma non c'è da spaventarsi, il vocabolario utilizzato è veramente elementare, i concetti assolutamente accessibili. Sarebbe un vero peccato non fare un piccolo sforzo per assimilare la saggezza di queste cento e poco più pagine, che cambieranno definitivamente il modo di migliorarsi nella pratica dello sport preferito. Per un tennista, dall'amatore al pro, è una lettura fondamentale e direi culturalmente obbligata.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review
*by R***N on 21 April 2008*

Does it matter how and what we think about while we are playing tennis ? Yes, it matters so much that it affects our tennis performance significantly and could even affect our mental well being. W. Timothy Gallwey obviously understands both tennis and psychology very well and has written an excellent book that very clearly explains why it matters how we think about our tennis performance. As a long time tennis player I enjoyed reading the book and learned very much from it. I am eager to start applying Gallwey's advice as soon as possible. If you often scold yourself everytime you make a " mistake " and / or you are trying too hard but not quite achieving the performance you aim in tennis then you can not afford to not read this book. I read it twice and I recommend that everybody read it again and again every few months. Many tennis instructors do not know the psychological aspect of the game that is so well explained in the book. Their ignorance is obvious from the incessant verbal instructions they give their students. The harmful and correct ways of thinking explained in the book are not limited to tennis ; they can be applied to our self talk about anything and to any interaction between humans such as parenting, marriage, social, work and other relationships. The types of scolding comments and even positive instructions and praise we make to ourselves either silently or aloud when we are playing tennis are self defeating ; they re- enforce the performance that we label unsatisfactory. Then the negative comments we make to ourselves about our tennis performance become self fulfilling prophecies.Timothy Gallwey demonstrates that it is no use to replace negative self talk with positive self talk neither. Because positive thinking is actually negative thinking in disguise ; it communicates the demand for good performance and is therefore manipulative. Thus positive self talk and manipulative self praise also have an unfavorable effect on our tennis performance although not as much as negative self talk. Any instructions we give ourselves such as : " tilt the face of the racket a little more " or " I hit it very well this time " also interfere with the natural method of learning which is much more effective. We have the potential to learn naturally which is possible only when we let go, that is when we shut up and stop criticizing or praising our performance, stop giving instructions to ourselves and stop trying too hard to correct our mistakes. So what is the correct and effective method of improvement in tennis ? It is visualization in our mind of the desired strokes and consistent practice on the court. This practice must be without interference from the disruptive way of thinking and self talk. Gallwey does not propose that we do not pay attention to our tennis strokes. On the contrary, he says we must feel and be aware of our strokes without judgement i.e. without labelling our strokes as bad or good. If you think you are making mistakes eg : the ball keeps on getting caught in the net when you hit it, instead of saying to yourself things such as : " You loser ! you couldn't hit even one ball over the net ! " just observe how you play non - judgementally and visualize in your mind's eye the ball clearing the net and landing inside your opponent's court and continue to play. Do this consistently without giving yourself verbal instructions about how to hit the ball ( aloud or silent ), be patient and observe the eventual correction in your strokes. He says that each human being has two selves ; Self 1 who continually makes judgements about the performance of Self 2 and scolds or praises it. In the meantime Self 2 is trying to play tennis under nagging and much less often praising from Self 1.Self 2 has the natural ability to learn and improve, like a toddler learns to walk naturally without any lessons nor comments from parents about how to walk. But Self 2 can not learn naturally nor effectively as long as Self 1 judges and comments negatively or positively about Self 2's tennis performance and rolls out instructions to it. What we need to do is to silence Self 1 , visualize in our mind the desired strokes, continue practicing on the court and trust our body and mind's natural ability to learn. The power of visualization in the mind with open or closed eyes ( with open eyes when you are playing of course ) of the desired performance to improve it in sports and other aspects of life is mentioned in many other psychology books too. As I mentioned above this principle is valid whatever we are learning and in our communication with other humans not just in tennis. In fact Gallwey says that Self 1 could be a critical parent and self 2 his / her child. Achieving these will involve unlearning the bad habit of self judgement whether it is negative or positive. Gallwey says that if we fight the bad habit it will get stronger. Instead of fighting the existing bad habit, develop the new habit to replace it. In fact don't even see the bad habit as a habit. Like a toddler who promotes from crawling to walking does not see crawling as a bad habit to get rid of but rather as a stage in development. I observe that in many cases in addition to the disruption from their Self 1s many children taking tennis lessons also have to cope with additional negative comments sometimes even insults, yelling and unproductive praises from their tennis teachers, in front of their parents who bring them to the tennis lessons. The parents think that the tennis teachers are doing the right thing when they scold and yell at their children everytime they make a mistake. The result ; the mistakes get worse instead of being corrected. I have observed the same destructive attitude in swimming, basketball, gymnastics and classrom teachers at schools. It is a pity that most parents, teachers and bosses at the workplace do not know the psychology in this book titled " The inner game of tennis ". Certainly there are tennis and other sports teachers, parents, bosses who are effective communicators but unfortunately they constitute the minority ; most teachers, parents and bosses are of the Self 1 type even if they have no bad intentions. Some of them are aware of the inefficacy of their methods and wish they could replace them with better methods but they can not help it. These teachers, parents bosses their students, children and employees would benefit greatly if the teachers, parents and bosses read and applied this book. In the book the author also gives a detailed action plan about how you can become more aware of your various tennis strokes without thinking about them in the wrong way. Just observe various parts of your strokes non - judgementally, become aware of them, by feeling and hearing them as they are without labelling them as good or bad. If you decide there is a need for improvement visualize your desired correct strokes as you may have observed from competent players. Avoid Self 1 from giving instructions to Self 2 and let it happen. He also gives examples of how dogmas regarding the correct way of hitting various types of strokes have changed overtime ; tennis teachers were scolding their students about some " mistakes " until tennis pros challenged the dogmas and started playing like the long time believed mistakes. Only then did the non - traditional strokes become generally accepted. Another very important issue the author talks about is the wrong and correct reasons for playing tennis ; if you play tennis because you like the game, want to be healthy and fit, want to make friends and at the same time you want to win from time to time etc. you are on the right track. But if the only reason you play tennis is to win, beat everyone else, prove to yourself and to everybody how great you are then you are playing tennis for the wrong reasons. Tennis is a very good stress reliever when played for the correct reasons. But it becomes a source of stress if played with such selfish motives. There is nothing wrong with wanting to win but if you are playing tennis only to prove your supremacy over other tennis players it is very likely that your motive is to compensate for low self esteem even if you are unaware of this.You may have low self esteem regarding your failures in other aspects of your life ; your social, work, marriage, parenting relationships or other feelings of inferiority. I know tennis players who play very well, but are very unpopular and annoying because they always brag about their tennis and are unhappy about other aspects of their lives. It is OK to want to win and improve in tennis provided that our self esteem does not depend solely on our tennis performance and we do not belittle other tennis players. If currently, knowingly or unknowingly we are relying only on tennis to bail us out of our low self esteem due to other problems in our lives, it makes sense to deal with our low self esteem by reading and applying a good self help book on the subject such as " The six pillars of self - esteem " written by a psychologist named Nathaniel Branden. If reading and applying that book is not sufficient to improve our self esteem we should seek professional help. Let's play tennis for the correct reasons, not to liberate us from our low self esteem. Like any tennis player I am also pleased with myself when I win after a good game of tennis but I personally do not have the negative, the positive self talk nor the " I must be the greatest in tennis otherwise I am no good " attitude to the extent described in the book. Still, I found some mental and attitude corrections I need to make about my own tennis. I also realized that I am frocing my 10 year old son too much in tennis. I will ease the pressure on him. It would be nice if he won in the tournaments but not at the expense of his happiness. To summarize I highly recommend that you read " The Inner Game of Tennis " by W. Timothy Gallwey.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review
*by L***E on 2 December 2017*

Excellent bouquin sur la dualité entre le corps et l'esprit (ego) dans la performance sportive, mais pas que ! Lecture donc recommandée pour tous, et pas seulement pour les tennis.wo.men (LOL). Idées : - Dans chaque match il y a deux duels, celui face à l'adversaire et celui dans la relation entre notre corps et notre esprit (inner game) - Travailler son focus et apprendre à faire confiance en son corps et en ses capacités pour être "in the zone". - On apprend mieux en regardant et en essayant de refaire qu'en écoutant les conseils. Les conseils des meilleurs et des pros doivent nous guider dans notre propre découverte expérimentale. Les meilleurs n'ont pas un jeu parfait, ils ont un jeu adapté à leurs spécificités et leurs sensations - Plus on se focalise sur quelque chose à corriger, moins on y arrive ("try too hard"). La solution : imaginer le résultat attendu et créer une nouvelle habitude plutôt que de corriger l'ancienne - Apprendre à développer le "laisser faire" et arrêter de juger sa performance (pb d'ego)

## Frequently Bought Together

- The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance
- Winning Ugly: Mental Warfare in Tennis--Lessons from a Master
- Essential Tennis

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