The Inner Game of Tennis

By W. Timothy Gallwey

What does Tennis have to do with Stuttering?

1.   Reflections on the Mental Side of (Tennis)___________. Gallwey talks about the player who is ≥playing out of his mind.≤ He further discusses that athletes in this state rarely think about their strokes, serve, etcä.they are in a state of ≥mindlessness≤.

 

2.   There are two selves inside every tennis playerä.1) the ≥I≤ self gives oneself instructions and the 2) the ≥2≤ self tends to react automatically. Getting it together mentally in tennis involves several internal skills:

A.  Learning to program yourself internally with images rather than words

B.   Learning to TRUST yourself

C.   Learning to see ≥non-judgmentally≤- that is what is happening rather than how good or bad it is!

D.  All of these skills are subsidiary to the master skill: CONCENTRATION

 

3.   Learn to Quiet the Mind

 

A.  Letting Go of Judgments

B.   Discovering the Process

C.   Seeing, Feeling, & Awareness of What Is

D.  What about Positive Thinking?

 

4.   Getting it Together: Letting it Happen

 

A.  Put aside your thoughts of yourself: Trust Thyself

B.   Program the Self #2πs computer for FORM & for RESULTS

C.   Experiment with ROLE PLAYING

 

5.   Changing Habits

 

A.  Make Changes One Step at a Time

B.   Observe Behavior; Ask yourself to change; Program the Behavior; Let it Happen; Non-judgmentally; & Observe

C.   CONCENTRATION: Watch the Behavior; Listen to the Behavior; & Feel the Behavior

6.   QUIET YOUR MIND! LET IT HAPPEN! DISCOVER!