Let Go
"Every game is composed of two
parts, an outer game and an inner game."
-Timothy Gallwey, The Inner Game of Tennis
By Kim Shanley
To The TennisONE Community
A month ago I wrote "Joy
of Hitting," about my struggle to "get out of my own
way." Many of you empathized with that struggle. Thanks.
Some of you even felt a little sorry for me, and in your letters,
seemed to throw your arm around my shoulder, consoling, "Don't
worry, it will get better." I wasn't after sympathy (at
least not consciously), but for the gracious solicitations, thanks.
Just a few of you became a little exasperated, telling me in
no uncertain terms, "Go get the Inner Game of Tennis,
and (in effect), stop whining."
Okay, at first I didn't want to thank those people. But guess
what, today I am. I had read The Inner Game twenty years
ago. I remember it as a cool and wise book, but as a chronic
over-achiever and over-tryer, I obviously hadn't been able to
put its principles into practice. I just finished re-reading
Gallwey's little masterpiece again, and now I am thanking all
my tough-love correspondents. What a great book!
First published in 1974, The Inner Game of Tennis is
one of the most popular books on tennis ever written. And for
good reason. There is a treasure trove of insight and wisdom
in the book. Today, I'll just focus on one story Gallwey recounts
about a Zen master who asked a group of Westerners what they
thought was the most important word in the language. Some said,
"love," others tried out "truth" or "faith."
No, said the Zen master, it's the word "let." (For
those of extreme religious edginess, please read on: I'm not
advocating all major religions be replaced by Zen Buddhism.)
Gallwey goes on to explain that "let" means let
it happen, trust your self and trust the universe. The opposite
of this is trying to too hard and getting in your own way. On
the tennis court, it means playing with a lot of "oughts"
in your head, afraid of missing a shot or losing a match. From
there, Self #1 as Gallwey describes the ego, starts thinking,
"Gee, wait till the guys at the club learn I lost to so-and-so.
And from there, the ego says, "Yeah, and I've not been performing
at work very well either." And from there, "Maybe
I'll be fired, my wife will divorce me, I'll be out on the street
and become one of the homeless."
The irony is if Self #1 (ego) puts so much pressure on Self
#2 (your unconscious self and body) that when Self #2 chokes
that serve in the tie-breaker, Self #1 has the audacity to berate
Self #2: "You stupid idiot! Loser!" Wow, there's
justice. Who put the pressure on whom?
The remedy to this tragic-comedic dialogue between the selves
is for the ego to get off the body's back. To let go of the ego's
attachment to results, winning, status, and self-esteem. To
trust the body isn't the idiot loser the ego thinks it is. How
true, I was thinking, as I was reading this again. But then
I thought, "So how come I haven't been able to implement
this principle very well in all these years?"
And there's the rub, isn't it. Most of us have a gut feeling
we're trying too hard, and instinctively, we know it's losing
us matches (as well as affecting us off the court). So we tell
ourselves not to try so hard. But unless you've truly dropped
your attachment to winning and the esteem you think it brings,
this becomes a circular argument. Because if you win the argument
with your ego--and now you've vowed through sheer will-power
you won't try so hard, well, what is that but the ego sneaking
through the back door of your mind, saying, "Hey, look at
me now!-I'm going to be non-attached and therefore win more matches.
Maybe my rating will even go up!"
After reading The Inner Game again after all this time,
I still find Gallwey's practical methodology for "letting
go" elusive. In the middle chapters, Gallwey has some interesting
tips on concentration, visualization, and non-judgmental analysis.
All good stuff, which deserves more attention at a later date.
But after closing the book, I had that same feeling of being
a bit lost on how to achieve all the ideals of non-attachment
that lead to the joy of hitting (and the joy of being). Ah,
but before I elicit more letters of sympathy, let me say I have
been making some progress on the Inner Game (more on how later).
Is tennis 90 percent mental, as many claim? I realize, not
everyone agrees--including some on the TennisONE staff. They
don't care how much joy of being someone has inside their heart
and soul if they don't know how to hit a forehand correctly,
these people are going to lose a lot of matches and quickly run
low on joy. So what's your view, 90-10 mental to physical?
50-50? Okay, I won't cop out: I say about 60-40, mental to physical.
Unless it's set-point, and then it's 99.9 percent mental.
To be honest, I thought Gallwey had gone the way of Elvis,
a legend but dead. But lo and behold, Gallwey lives. He has
written five "Inner" books, with the latest being The
Inner Game of Work, published in 2000 (which I'm reading
next). We have such a large population of avid tennis players
out there, I wonder if anyone has seen Gallwey lecture in the
past few years? I would love to hear about your experience and
your thoughts on Gallwey 29 years after The Inner Game was first
published. By the way, The Inner Game is out of print,
but if you want to pick up a dirt-cheap copy (mine cost about
$2.00), go to the greatest used book store online: www.powells.com.
Thanks very much for all the emails responding to my first
idea for building a new, powerful brand for tennis,
"Restore the Green World." I'll circle back to discuss this subject
again and respond to some of the suggestions from that dialogue.
But as always, I would love to hear your views on the subjects
raised in this newsletter. Please click
here to send your email directly to me.
Kim Shanley
President, TennisONE
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July
15, 2003