Inner game of tennis - Concentration

1. Focus on the seams - but don't stare hard

2. Say bounce-hit

3. Focus on the sound of the ball during serve or your strokes

4. Notice the trajectory/angle as the ball bounces/height of the ball over the net

5. How to focus in between points - focus on breathing - mind wanders but gently bring it back to breathing

6. You can slow down time by focusing well

7. Why compete at all?

8. 

Inner game of tennis

It is a painful process to fight one's way out of deep mental grooves. It's like digging yourself out of a trench. But there is a natural and more childlike method. A child doesn't dig his way out of his old grooves; he simply starts new ones! The groove may be there, but you're not in it unless you put yourself there. If you think you are controlled by a bad habit, then you will feel you have to try to break it. A child doesn't have to break the habit of crawling, because he doesn't think he has a habit. He simply leaves it as he finds walking an easier way to get around.

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In short, there is no need to fight old habits. Start new ones. It is the resisting of an old habit that puts you in that trench.

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Inner game of tennis - Chapter 2 -

Chapter 2:

THE THESIS OF THE LAST CHAPTER WAS THAT THE FIRST STEP IN bringing a greater harmony between ego-mind and body—that is, between Self 1 and Self 2—was to let go of self-judgment. Only when Self 1 stops sitting in judgment over Self 2 and its actions can he become aware of who and what Self 2 is and appreciate the processes by which it works.

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Make yourself serve vs Let yourself serve

Rather than consciously controlling your serve, visualize the path the ball should take and the way your racket should move to hit a particular spot with your serve.

Then while serving just focus on the seams of the ball and let your Self-2 do the work for you.

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Asking for form

Ask your Self-2(body) to imitate a particular movement of making a forehand. Give it an image which it should try to emulate. Swing your racket a few times to enact that movement.

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Similarly Asking for results - where the ball should land then close your eyes to visualize the trajectory.

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Inner game of tennis - Chapter 2 - Asking for qualities

Asking for qualities

Most players hypnotize themselves into acting the roles of much worse players than they actually are, but interesting results can often be achieved by doing a little role-playing of a different kind.

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You should look as if you are hitting every ball exactly where you want to. Really get into the role, hit as hard as you like and ignore where the ball is actually going. 

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There is an important distinction between this kind of role-playing and what is normally called positive thinking. In the latter, you are telling yourself that you are as good as Steffi Graf or Michael Chang, while in the former you are not trying to convince yourself that you are any better than you believe you are. You are quite consciously playing a role, but in the process, you may become more aware of the range of your true capabilities.

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After they have played tennis for a year or so, most people fall into a particular pattern of play from which they seldom depart. Some adopt a defensive style; they spare no effort to retrieve every ball, lob often, hit deep into the opponent's court and seldom hit the ball hard or go for a winner. The defensive player waits for his opponent to make an error and wears him down by degrees with endless patience. Some Italian clay-court players used to be the prototype for this style.

The opposite of this is the offensive style. In its extreme form the ball is hit for a winner every time. Every serve is designed to be an ace, every return of serve a clean passing shot, while volleys and overheads are all aimed to land within one or two inches of the lines.

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A third common pattern is what might be called the "formal" style of play. Players in this category don't care so much where their ball goes as long as they look good stroking it. They would rather be seen using flawless form than winning the match.

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In contrast, there is the competitive style of the player who will do anything to win. He runs hard and hits hard or soft, depending on what seems to bother his opponent most, exploiting his every weakness, mental and physical.

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Having outlined these basic styles to a group of players, I often suggest that as an experiment they adopt the style that seems most unlike the one they have previously adopted. I also suggest that they act the role of a good player, no matter what style they have chosen. Besides being a lot of fun, this kind of role-playing can greatly increase a player's range. 

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The Inner Game of Tennis - Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

So before hitting the next set of balls, I asked Joan, "This time I want you to focus your mind on the seams of the ball. Don't think about making contact. In fact, don't try to hit the ball at all. Just let your racket contact the ball where it wants to, and we'll see what happens." Joan looked more relaxed, and proceeded to hit nine out of ten balls dead center!

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When this happens on the tennis court, we are focused without trying to concentrate. We feel spontaneous and alert. We have an inner assurance that we can do what needs to be done, without having to "try hard." We simply know the action will come, and when it does, we don't feel like taking credit; rather, we feel fortunate, "graced." As Suzuki says, we become "childlike."
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Perfectly, thoughtlessly executed action, and afterward, no self-congratulations, just the reward inherent in his action: the bird in the mouth.

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The first skill to learn is the art of letting go the human inclination to judge ourselves and our performance as either good or bad. Letting go of the judging process is a basic key to the Inner Game; its meaning will emerge as you read the remainder of this chapter.

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Mr. A frowns, says something demeaning about himself, and calls the serve "terrible." Seeing the same stroke, Mr. B. judges it as "good" and smiles. The umpire neither frowns nor smiles; he simply calls the ball as he sees it.

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What I mean by judgment is the act of assigning a negative or positive value to an event.

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Well, it is the initial act of judgment which provokes a thinking process. First the player's mind judges one of his shots as bad or good. If he judges it as bad, he begins thinking about what was wrong with it. Then he tells himself how to correct it. Then he tries hard, giving himself instructions as he does so. Finally he evaluates again. Obviously the mind is anything but still and the body is tight with trying. If the shot is evaluated as good, Self 1 starts wondering how he hit such a good shot; then it tries to get his body to repeat the process by giving self-instructions, trying hard and so on. Both mental processes end in further evaluation, which perpetuates the process of thinking and self-conscious performance.

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As a result, what usually happens is that these self-judgments become self-fulfilling prophecies. 

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letting go of judgments does not mean ignoring errors. It simply means seeing events as they are and not adding anything to them. Nonjudgmental awareness might observe that during a certain match you hit 50 percent of your first serves into the net. It doesn't ignore the fact. It may accurately describe your serve on that day as erratic and seek to discover the causes. Judgment begins when the serve is labeled "bad" and causes interference with one's playing when a reaction of anger, frustration or discouragement follows.

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But judgmental labels usually lead to emotional reactions and then to tightness, trying too hard, self-condemnation, etc. 

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Similarly, the errors we make can be seen as an important part of the developing process. In its process of developing, our tennis game gains a great deal from errors. Even slumps are part of the process. They are not "bad" events, but they seem to endure endlessly as

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The first step is to see your strokes as they are. They must be perceived clearly. This can be done only when personal judgment is absent. 

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"If the pro is pleased with one kind of performance, he will be displeased by the opposite. If he likes me for doing well, he will dislike me for not doing well." 

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Three men in a car are driving down a city street early one morning. For the sake of analogy, suppose that each man represents a different kind of tennis player. 

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In the game of tennis there are two important things to know. The first is where the ball is. The second is where the racket head is.

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THE FIRST INNER SKILL to be developed in the Inner Game is that of nonjudgmental awareness. 

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Acknowledgment of one's own or another's strengths, efforts, accomplishments, etc., can facilitate natural learning, whereas judgments interfere. What is the difference? Acknowledgment of and respect for one's capabilities support trust in Self 2. Self 1's judgments, on the other hand, attempt to manipulate and undermine that trust.

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