13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The book that puts theory into practice, January 25, 2006
This review is from: Inner Tennis: Playing the Game (Hardcover)
Gallwey expands his concepts and approaches to the inner game. He manages to explain his ideas even more clearly and identifies many more inner obstacles. But his approach is the same - cooperation of Self1 and Self2, letting go and trusting your body and applying the principle of non-judgment.
He goes deeper into the natural learning mechanism and uses many examples from his coaching that shows us exactly how the lesson went and what his questions and advice to the player were.
The best parts of this book are the drills. Their goal is to quiet our mind and allow our potential to come through unhindered. And quieting the mind goes even deeper in this book. He calls it Progressing in the Art of Relaxed Concentration and it has four stages: paying attention, interested attention, absorbed attention and finally »being wholly there« or union.
What he describes is actually a pathway to »the zone« which is a more common term among coaches and athletes for this special state of mind.
The parts on natural learning and body awareness can help the beginner and the advanced player to quickly realize - become aware - of his shortcomings and correct his technique. Which usually corrects itself by the way...
The book ends with two very intriguing chapters which go deep into human psyche - self-image and the will to win. The self image part is quite possibly a real eye opener if you haven't read any books on similar subjects. It makes you realize all the limitations that we put on ourselves because of our self image.
There are many books about tennis technique and tactics. There are also many books that deal with the mental approach to tennis but this approach is limited to off court or in between points or games. Timothy Gallwey's work fills the gap with one of the most challenging aspects of tennis - what do with our mind during the ball exchange. It shows us how to achieve a mental state that will allow us to play at our best regardless of our level.
This reading is a must for anyone who feels that his mind is not yet his best ally in the tennis mind game.
Tomaz Mencinger
http://www.tennismindgame.com
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
All That I Needed, November 20, 2001
This review is from: Inner Tennis: Playing the Game (Hardcover)
I just wanted to share the incredible feeling that just a little patience managed to get me after reading this book. Mr. Gallwey has managed to put into words how one feels and thinks when involved in sport (any sport not just tennis). I first read this book 18 years ago, and my snooker game (billiards) improved immensely. For anyone wanting to master their sport, and find out what "being in the zone" is all about, this is a MUST read!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not as good as the Inner Game of Tennis, August 16, 2010
This review is from: Inner Tennis: Playing the Game (Hardcover)
The content of this book turns itself to addressing the application of the ideas expressed in "The Inner Game of Tennis" by the same author. The first book is excellent - the best bit about it is that the basic idea is good and the book doesn't take 400 pages to explain it. The second book has some extensions to the first but not enough to warrant a whole new book. You are left with the idea that the author is scratching around for material to fill up the number of pages the publisher asked for.
IMHO buy the first book for sure. Books are cheap so, if you're looking to implement the ideas, this book will still pay back the investment but skim read it.
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