This is possibly the most profound book I’ve read in 2016. (At the time of writing, we've got only two months left; maybe I’ll read something else … but unlikely).
I have experience with Judo, and this competitive experience is what colours my reading of the book. A couple of friends who have read this summary are divided - the ones who have had experience with competitive sport think it is great; the friends who haven't don't.
So caveat emptor. It appears that this is profound only if you've had some experience with a competitive sport.
Sport has psychology. Athletes can seize up and fail at the heat of the moment. Every game is composed of two parts, an inner game and an outer game. This book believes that mastery and satisfaction of playing any game must focus also on the relatively neglected skills of the inner game. Players of the inner game value the art of relaxed concentration, discovers a true form of self confidence, and learns the secret of winning is in not trying too hard. (This gets explained later).
When overcoming hangups, the inner game player is able to unlock the will to win that does is not discouraged by losing.
The Inner Game also concerns itself with a natural way of learning, one that we already know.
The book is (it says) about unlocking the human potential, via the medium of tennis.
A few hints that there is a mental side of tennis. Gallwey notices that more instructions get in the way of the beginner learning when teaching tennis. There also exists this phenomenon of ‘playing in the zone’ - playing way over ones head, without full awareness. One is unable to describe the experience, but while in that zone, one is able to do things one did not believe could be done.
There is a self that constantly talks by to ourselves. This is the self that says things like ‘you fool, why did you hit it so hard?’ and ‘watch your backhand’. Gallwey introduces ‘Self 1’ the teller, and ’Self 2’ the doer.
In a typical relationship, self 1 gives an instruction to self 2, and as they try to execute it, one notices tight lines around the mouth and eyes, muscles that show that self 1 are pushing hard but have nothing to do with the actual muscles needed to complete the move.
‘Trying hard’ is a questionable virtue. Sometimes we feel like we cannot do what we want to do. But there is a difference between ‘trying hard’, the energy of Self 1, and ‘effort’ the energy of Self 2 in doing the necessary work.
Distracting Self 1 is the goal. We can do this in 3 ways:
In periods of peak performance, Self 1 is not present at all. Being in the zone requires no thought, everything happens, and people say things like “he was one with the experience”, “effortless”, “he was in the groove”.
It is clear that ‘getting it together’ means quieting Self 1 so that the mind is still. The mind is still when it is totally here and now in perfect oneness with the action and the actor.
The first step is observing nonjudgmentally. If a stroke happens, it happens. You observed in a detached state. No good or bad values, no judging of self or feeling pleased. Once judgment is given, Self 1 is engaged for further analysis. This will not do, as it will then get in the way.
If errors happen, just see the errors as they are, without adding anything to them. Analogy to a rose trying to grow. When it first grows we do not criticise it for being small. When it buds we do not criticise it for being underdeveloped. Similarly errors are part of the process of learning tennis.
The first step is to see the strokes as they are. This is not trivial, most people do not do this. Gallwey tells the story of a businessman who is unable despite repeated lessons to correct his backswing. Gallwey shows the man the backswing in the reflection of a window, and for the first time the man truly sees what it means to take his racket lower, and is able to correct.
The next element of seeing what is to know at all times where the ball is and where one’s racket is at all times. Observe carefully and experience where your racket is at all times. Simply improving one’s sense of these two elements without engaging in judgment should be able to evoke the same learning process that babies use to learn to walk.
As an aside, Gallwey notes that positive thinking isn’t useful. Praise is just the flip side of criticism; it engages Self 1. Both are used to manipulate behaviour. Rather, acknowledgements are the goal.
In the last chapter a comment is made: what if without judgments one doesn’t have the will or motivation to improve?
Who or what is self 2? Self 2 is the body, which is wise. One can learn to trust the physical intelligence that one has in Self 2.
Analogy to a baby learning how to walk. The mother does not scold the baby for being clumsy. The baby does not judge itself. Self 2 is allowed to learn to walk and be coordinated.
In tennis, one needs to allow the body to hit the ball. If the body does not know how to hit the ball, one can let the body learn how to hit the ball. Teenagers are able to dance by simply watching their peers dance. They don’t think about it too much, they simply allow their bodies to copy.
This means we need to learn a new way of communicating with Self 2. Self 1 needs to trust Self 2. Gallwey introduces 3 methods of communication.
Where does technique come from? People discover it. By trial and error they figure out what works. Then they try and communicate it with words. But words are a bad way of communicating a lived experience.
How to best use technical instruction? You should see it as a hint, a guide to help you on your way to discover the stroke. When asked to keep wrist firm on the backhand, for instance, you should interpret it as a guide to figure out how firm your wrist should be for your own body.
Gallwey notes with some interest that grips, footwork and strokes have changed from the dogma of his day. This is because people experimented with what works. They use experiential learning.
How to watch the pros - let yourself watch whatever you find most interesting. Self 2 should be able to pick up elements with which it can use. Use what is watched as a guide to how it feels.
Sometimes we want to break out of old habits. First step is not to judge yourself for a habit. Habits exist for a specific reason. It is hard to break the habit if we do not have an alternative that accomplishes the same reason (e.g. rolling of racket when hitting forehand to keep ball in court).
Groove theory of habit - this is basically muscle memory. Doing it repeatedly creates a groove in one’s mind.
Making a change step by step:
What out for the return of Self 1. Students sometime let Self 1 return because it doesn’t feel like one should take credit for letting something happen. They crave control. This is eventually self defeating; instead one should trust Self 2 and take credit for what it can do as well.
The best of way of quieting the mind is to focus it, not telling it to shut up.
As the mind is kept in the present, it becomes calm. Focus means keeping the mind in the here and now.
Tricks to calm the mind: watch the ball. Be interested in how the pattern spins. Follow the rhythm, the bounce hit count of the movement of the ball.
Listen to the ball - if there is a nice crack, tell your body to do whatever is necessary to reproduce that crack.
Feeling - increase awareness of which part of the racket is hit by the ball, and how you move it and shift it in space at every moment.
The theory of concentration is like a beam of light in a forest. It can be diffuse, or concentrated to highlight more in its path. Concentration can be narrow or broad. On the court, watching the ball is narrow, feeling the racket and using sound is broad.
With effort, time can be made slower when you concentrate. Gallwey has found that being focused and relax means he can respond faster. Without thought.
Being in the zone is a gift. It’s a gift you can court. You court it by making an effort to focus and an effort to give up self 1 control. (I wonder if this applies to programming! If there is a self underneath my conscious thought that knows what to do or from which my visceral reactions of taste to code comes from).
During a match, in between points, focus on breathing. Still the mind on the act and rhythm and feeling of breathing.
Most of our suffering, Gallwey observes, is actually when we let our mind run in the past or the future, to dwell on what might be or why something had to happen in the past.
There are many games people play on the court (and in various activities). Many play because they have internalised performance is a measure of worth. Gallwey talks about the types of games:
Main game 1: Good-o
To achieve excellence. Related to Compete-o (I am better than you) and Image-o (I look good doing this)
Main game 2: Friends-o
To make or keep friends. Related to Status-o (Keeping up with the joneses in the country club), Togetherness-o (Play with friends to maintain a friendship, don’t play too well), Husband-o-Wife-o (husband plays and wife plays to be part of his life).
Main game 3: Health-o-Fun-o
Mental or physical health or pleasure. Either doctor tells the player to, or play for fun, or play to learn and improve.
Gallwey thinks the subgames of Good-o arise from our societal judgment that we are valued based on what we do. Even the kids who rebel against the system of judgment internalise and accept the system of judgment (as something to rebel against).
Gallwey found a purpose for competition over the course of his life: from a youth of playing a game of perfect-o, he now wants to win the inner game, and remove the inner obstacles that have plagued him for most of his life.
Gallwey struggled to define a reason for competition, far from being tied up with the implications of good-o (which imply that winning is places you as better than the other person, and worth looking down on). **I find this profound - and a pretty effect, from playing competitive Judo.**
Instead: winning is overcoming an obstacle to reach a goal. The value in winning is only as great as the value of the goal reached.
When seen this way, being competitive is not a bad thing. True competition is true cooperation. You are helping your opponent achieve more than he could on his own. This is true because it is tennis; it is a game that demands an opponent. But this is clearer in games like surfing, where one competes against oneself, chasing ever larger waves.
This chapter is worth rereading in its entirety.
The player of the inner game goes from learning focus to improve his tennis, goes to using tennis to improve his focus.
Until subdued, self 1 is capable of producing fears, doubts and delusions wherever you are and whatever you are doing. Focus in tennis is fundamentally no different from the focus needed to perform any task or even to enjoy a symphony; learning to let go of the habit of judging yourself on the basis of your backhand is no different from forgetting the habit of judging your child or boss; and learning to welcome obstacles in competition automatically increases one’s ability to find advantage in all the difficulties one meets in the course of one’s life.
Finding stability - self 1 thinking is great at producing stress. How to ‘manage stress’? The problem with it is that you think it’s inevitable. You believe that there has to be stress for you to manage. Gallwey notices that Self 1 thrives when fought. An alternative approach is to just build stability, by trusting and supporting Self 2, knowing that the stronger it gets the harder it is to throw you off balance.
Gallwey argues that trusting in Self 2 off the tennis court is trusting in one’s true self. Self 1 is noisy and is affected by wants and desires externally imposed.
Freedom from stress does not necessarily mean giving up on anything, but rather being able to let go of anything, when necessary, and knowing that one will be alright. Gallwey thinks we are better off when we are reliant on inner resources for stability.
The other way one can promote stability, the core message of the Inner Game is: focus. Focus of attention in the present moment is the heart of the book. It is the only way to play good tennis, and it applies to life as well.
Focus means not dwelling on the past (mistake or glories) or the future (fears or dreams), but just to be in the present. The ability to focus the mind is to be the one who directs your own thinking.
This is probably what people mean when they say playing sports, done well, can teach one about life.