the inner game

I haven’t played tennis enough number of times to say I am even a beginner but picked up this book – “Inner game of Tennis” by Timothy Gallwey, since it kept coming up. It is a short book, but useful to add to the mental models. Core idea is that there is a “thinking” self (Self 1) and a “doing” self (Self 2) – when the thinking self tries to constantly instruct the doing self, we tend to produce substandard outcomes. When we are able to suppress the thinking and do unconsciously, then we produce a “flow” that feels like someone is “playing out of their mind” – there is no mind then. It is that the Self 1 is the one that doubts, fears, analyzes, criticizes constantly and that interferes with the action which Self 2 is supposed to perform. Elite players have figured out a way to focus on the present, on the next point, next serve, next ball and stopped worrying about the last mistake or the next set.

I think it contrasts with “Thinking Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman – that talked about two modes of thinking – System 1 which is instinctive / gut thinking and System 2 which is slow, deliberate and analytical thinking. With time the experience and lessons learned by the System 2 transfers as muscle memory used by System 1 to produce quick unconscious thinking and actions. I think here it maybe reversed – if we let System 2 (Self 1) interfere with the System 1 (Self 2), it cannot perform optimally.

It doesn’t say practice is not important. It says visualize the outcome, suspend judgment, perform the action, observe the actions and learn from what is happening. Over time, the learnings become muscle memory and then we should trust that.

How does it matter outside sports? I think we worry constantly, about the past and future. Focusing on the current to give it all of our attention, enjoying that process, going into “flow” state while doing, objectively analyzing what happened (than whether it was good or bad)  – it keeps building the intuition over time.  

One other useful mental model from this was – why do we seek tougher challenges all the time. It allows us to test our limits and helps us to discover more about what we are capable of doing, more of self discovery and growth. We hit new peaks this way.

I always felt the best in a game may have figured out truths which may all be philosophically similar – like someone saying that at his peak, Sachin may have been seeing the ball more clearly or Messi playing with abandon without any worry in the world was probably the only way he could have dribbled past five defenders on his way to the goal. It maybe that they conquered the inner game, quietened the “monkey mind” and figured out how to just “flow”.

Bonus video - Messi is a Dog ● Never Dives. It is 11 years old video. It perfectly explains this idea – how someone appears hypnotized or in a trance while playing, totally focused on the ball, not worried about anything else.

Few quotes from the book -

1. It’s not about winning or losing, but making the maximum effort every time because that is where the true value lies. Ultimate winner in the end stops caring about the outcomes and plays all out.
2. Images are better than words, showing better than telling, too much instruction worse than none, and trying too hard produces negative results.
3. Getting it together mentally involves internal skills – a) learning how to get the clearest possible picture of your desired outcomes b) learning how to trust Self 2 to perform at its best and learn from both successes and failures c) learning to see “nonjudgmentally” – to see what is happening rather than merely noticing how well or bad it is happening.
4. It is almost impossible to feel or see anything well if you are thinking about how you should be moving.
5. Until subdued, Self 1 is capable of producing fears, doubts and delusions wherever you are and whatever you are doing.
6. Focus of attention in the present moment is at the heart of doing anything well. Focus means not dwelling on the past, either on mistakes or glories; it means not caught up in the future, either its fears or its dreams, that my full attention is taken from the present. The ability to focus the mind is the ability to not let it run away with you. It does not mean not to think – but to be the one who directs your own thinking.