Reviews - Le jeu intérieur du tennis: comment changer son mental pour atteindre l'excellence

I wanted to read this book in order to get out of my head and improve my tennis game. I was surprised at how much it applied to things outside tennis (namely life in general).

The Inner Game should be more popular, as the concept of the Self 1 and Self 2 makes so much sense. The author describes the constant friction between the two selves in a simple, easy to understand way. The only complex part is actually learning to tune into one’s Self 2.

In a nutshell, the premise of the book is that the majority of tennis instructors give too much verbal instruction, which puts more pressure and reliance on Self 1 to perform. But if we can pay more attention to how the shot feels and what it looks like, we will train our Self 2 how to perform. And we should trust it to do so, as it can do more than we know without ever giving it words.

I noted several tennis tips to put into practice:

Step in closer for the return, as it will lessen the reaction time thereby increasing likelihood of reacting with self 2 (with the added benefit of intimidating your opponent) — tried this and it worked!
Watch the seams of the ball — tried this while serving and it helped
*Observation without judgment [Related, David Kessler quote: “Judgment demands punishment, either of yourself or others”]
(insert remaining notes here)

The only issue I had with the book was some of the author’s comments were a bit dated—e.g. referencing the “attractive bubbly housewife” rather than just stating she was a woman.

That aside, this book is a succinct explanation that is worth a reread from time to time.

jl2001's review against another edition

4.0

Really cool look at some things I never considered before. Got a little off the rails at times but it's really good.

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