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!
----------------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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