The Inner Game of Tennis (Deep Book)

I wanted to read The Inner Game of Tennis so I could better understand how to give my all while playing the drums. Little did I know, I would be learning more about the complex nature of the human mind and the relationship between the conscious and unconscious. This book lays the groundwork for a better grasp of the game of life, and it does so while talking a lot about tennis.

The primary focus of this book is understanding the relationship between Self 1 and Self 2. Self 1 is aware and analytical of the world and represents the conscious side of your mind. It tries its best to remain in control of your body and take command of yourself. Self 2 is your physical body and subconscious. Whatever Self 1 needs it to do, 2 tries to obey. Think of it as a horse jockey(1) and his race horse (2). 

The book emphasizes that the default connection between the “Selves" is Self 1’s distrust over Self 2; in order to reach peak performance, you must foster a symbiotic relationship built on trust for both Self 1 and 2. The book explains how to hone these bonds between the selves by intentionally practicing in a plethora of ways and focusing on three times you will need to understand the selves the most: learning, teaching, and performing.

The book proposes that while learning, especially on a difficult topic where frustration could be involved, Self 1 needs to be relaxed and interfere minimally with Self 2’s execution. For example, if you are just learning how to shoot a rifle, you need a steady hand. If you notice that you are swaying and have missed the past three shots, the natural response is to scold your body. Then, your muscles tense, and Self 1 is so hyper-focused on 2 that 2 is having a meltdown, and you're less steady than before. When the frustration of failure occurs, the book challenges the reader to have Self 1 take a step back and relieve Self 2. Self 1 needs Self 2 to try its best and learn from its mistakes. 

Then, the book explains how providing fewer instructions and more examples has greater benefits when teaching. Giving too much information to a pupil makes Self 1 feel overwhelmed and more inclined to take complete control over Self 2, generally resulting in failure. However, if the teacher merely gives a stronger example and emphasizes key points, less is thrown on Self 1’s plate, and the learner has a clear image of what the end goal is.

All of your learning and studying culminates in a moment: the big game, the gig, the test. Practicing trust between the selves comes to pay off when your thoughts and actions must happen simultaneously with each other. In an instant, Self 1 must command and Self 2 must do without question or doubt. The hope and goal of putting The Inner Game of Tennis into practice is being able, in the heat of the moment, to do your best without a second thought of your limitations.

 My mentor and I talked on multiple occasions about what we believe is the main takeaway of the book and how it relates to drumming. While explaining the “Selves” the author uses, as he puts it, “the medium of tennis” to put his theories into context. Though I am unsure whether it was the author’s intention to make one big analogy, my mentor and I discussed how the book could help me become a better drummer. 

A strong bond between the Selves is near-perfect synchronicity with actions and thoughts, and being in any position, you can’t stop and think. Self 1 needs to be able to trust Self 2 to get the job done while not breathing down 2’s back. Being more aware of 1 and 2 has made me more intentional about letting my body do the work and just letting the muscle memory do its job.

Overall, I was surprised by how fruitful I found this book to be. I better understand the mental side of peak performance, which was my hope to take away from the book, and I had great conversations with my mentor about how “The Inner Game of Tennis” could be applied to the drums. Now that I am aware of the presence of Self 1 and 2, I have gotten less frustrated at making simple mistakes. This book was a great learning experience and opened my eyes to how to improve my drumming and take my mental game to the next level.