Does the inner game work?
May 20, 2022
“There is always an inner game being played in your mind, no matter what outer game you are playing. How aware you are of this game can make the difference between success and failure in the outer game.”
Tim Gallwey, Creator of The Inner Game
Background
The ‘Inner Game of Tennis’ by Timothy Gallwey was published in 1974 with over two million sold. Top coaches from several sports and business still use and refer to it today. It is about the mental game of sports and why athletes perform better under certain conditions. The Inner Game, whilst written for both athletes and coaches, attracted a broad spectrum of people who take part in sports, whether they are professional athletes or people who play a sport in their backyard with their family, to business leaders.
The Inner Game is not just for golfers, tennis players, or swimmers; it is for anyone who wants to get into their “zone” and perform at their best.
When Tim was growing up, he was not a great athlete. He struggled on the soccer field or the tennis court. Timothy persevered with tennis, played golf as a teenager, but he did not enjoy it as much as his talented friends. In college, Timothy had progressed to a good level and was captain of the Harvard tennis team, but once again, struggled to find the consistency of performance he craved on the court.
After college, he turned his hand to tennis coaching and realised that less teaching and more showing and asking questions about feel was more effective than constant telling. His own athletic abilities improved as he observed himself more than told himself what to do. He had a degree in psychology and thus began the seeds to plan the inner game.
The essence of the inner game
The essence of the inner game is to be disciplined enough to stay in the present and focus as much as possible on the job at hand. This is often easier said than done! Timothy Galway’s “The Inner Game” explains that we perform at our best when we are in the – tapped into our sub-conscious, basically performing out of our minds without conscious thought. We have all experienced this, and this book and many others offer some wonderful tools to help us attain this instinctive state. The aim is to perform in this state regularly and under pressure.
The key to sustained success is the discipline to control excess emotion by remaining in the present and focusing as much as possible on the job at hand. Gallwey’s book and many others offer some wonderful tools to help us attain this instinctive state. The aim is to perform in this state regularly and under pressure.
Although great champions can achieve this often, even they struggle to stay in the zone consistently. Top performers drop in and out of the zone but cleverly use time between points, changeovers or ‘timeouts’ to breathe, meditate, relax, attempt to think clearly, and regain some perspective. They are always looking for positive ways to work their way back into the zone.
When you fall out of the zone
So how do we address the problem of how to perform under pressure when we have fallen out of the zone state, when our mind has become active, and we are consciously aware of the inner conversation?
When you’re out of the zone, it means your mind can no longer focus or concentrate. This can happen for several reasons, but it’s most commonly because of stress and anxiety. When you’re stressed, your body releases a hormone called cortisol, which is a natural response to help you stay alert and awake. However, when you’re constantly stressed, your cortisol levels can stay elevated for longer than normal, which can impair your ability to focus.
Locker Room Power
A section of my book, Locker Room Power, is about how to manage your mind when you are out of the zone and contends that this is the magic of winning. Champions do this better than others and that is why they win more. Everyone is brilliant in the zone! How good are you ‘out of the zone?’
If you struggle to stay in the zone, try to take or use a break from whatever it is you’re doing, create a space to relax and rethink. In Locker Room Power, I examine tools to help you calm down, relax and regain focus.
No contest will be put on hold for us so we can re-establish the zone. In fact, opponents will sense the loss of focus and pile on the pressure if they are able.
When we fall out of this instinctive state, we still need to bring something to the table to help us perform. I believe that the reason we lose this focus is that the ego becomes involved and allows negative influences or voices to invade our thoughts. At this point, we need to bring positive ego traits to the battle to drown out the negative thoughts, rather than simply hoping to return to the zone.
Positive ego traits include:
• Aggression
• Anger (short burst) to kick-start energy
• Positive statements (fist pump, positive noise on big shots and strong positive talk)
• Energised body language
• Conscious delivery of main weapons
• No reaction at all, but legs are energised, and play is aggressive.
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The environment that you practise in is very influential in creating self-control and resilience. Daily disciplines calm the mind to where it becomes abnormal to feel sorry for yourself, to have moods, or to express frequent emotion. Engineer constant thoughts and reminders that winning is normal, that raising standards is normal. Remember that win or lose, no one can match, however important, is big enough to deter you from your chosen path. Learn and move on. This attitude, if consistently applied, is very helpful when players find themselves in stressful situations. The ability to cope with adversity calmly without feeling sorry for ourselves is a habit built in practice.
Quick points
- Remain in the present and focus as much as possible on the job at hand.
- Learn to function effectively when you have fallen out of the zone.
- Use positive ego traits to keep your level of play high when the mind is trying to over-think.
- The training environment should encourage the ideas that winning, raising standards, learning, and moving on from setbacks become your normal reactions.
Conclusion
In order to be successful being aware and having a strong understanding of the inner game that plays out in your mind, learning to focus on the process, not the outcome, you must mentally prepare yourself for difficult situations and have the confidence that you can handle whatever comes your way.
Written by David Sammel