The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance

The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance
by W. Timothy Gallwey

The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance
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Book Summary Information

Author: W. Timothy Gallwey
Foreword: Pete Carroll
Preface: Zach Kleiman
Edition: Paperback
Published: 1997-05-27
ISBN: 0679778314
Number of pages: 160
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks

Book Reviews of The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance

Book Review: My Tennis Bible
Summary: 5 Stars

I have been a student of the Inner Game of Tennis for over 30 years now and Tim Gallwey's book is still the best book ever written describing how the mind and body work so that we can play at our very best. Tim has completely changed not only my playing but my entire tennis life and as a result, I have written my own book called Tennis: Play the Mental Game which will teach you the practical applications to playing the inner game. I recommend to all my book owners and students that they read Tim's book. There are many other so called sports psychologists out there that try to say the same things Tim is saying but they just don't succeed. Tim's book is and will be a classic for as long as people play tennis. David Ranney, www.maxtennis.com.

Summary of The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance

A phenomenon when first published in 1972, the Inner Game was a real revelation. Instead of serving up technique, it concentrated on the fact that, as Gallwey wrote, "Every game is composed of two parts, an outer game and an inner game." The former is played against opponents, and is filled with lots of contradictory advice; the latter is played not against, but within the mind of the player, and its principal obstacles are self-doubt and anxiety. Gallwey's revolutionary thinking, built on a foundation of Zen thinking and humanistic psychology, was really a primer on how to get out of your own way to let your best game emerge. It was sports psychology before the two words were pressed against each other and codified into an accepted discipline.

The new edition of this remarkable work--Billie Jean King called the original her tennis bible--refines Gallwey's theories on concentration, gamesmanship, breaking bad habits, learning to trust yourself on the court, and awareness. "No matter what a person's complaint when he has a lesson with me, I have found the most beneficial first step," he stressed, "is to encourage him to see and feel what he is doing--that is, to increase his awareness of what actually is."

There are aspects of psychobabble and mysticism to be found here, sure, but Gallwey instructs as much by anecdote as anything else, and time has ultimately proved him a guru. What seemed radical in the early '70s is now accepted ammunition for the canon; the right mental approach is every bit as important as a good backhand. The Inner Game of Tennis still does much to keep that idea in play. --Jeff Silverman


The Inner Game of Tennis is a revolutionary program for overcoming the self-doubt, nervousness, and lapses of concentration that can keep a player from winning. Now available in a revised paperback edition, this classic bestseller can change the way the game of tennis is played.

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