matttruss 's review for:

The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance by Zach Kleinman, W. Timothy Gallwey, Pete Carroll

4.0

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This book is about much more than tennis, you could easily replace "tennis" with just about any activity. I tended to apply much of what I was reading to martial arts. It's mostly about quieting that inner voice that calls yourself "stupid" or "awful" when you are learning something or trying to apply a learned skill. That's the inner game, is pushing down that voice in your head and just letting your body do what it knows how to do. Adopt a child-like approach to learning. For example, no one tells a child how to walk, they simply discover it's a better way to get around and do it. One of my favorite sections was on breaking bad habits, don't think of it as breaking a bad habit, just think of it as creating a new habit. There is also a very interesting section on competition that will make you reconsider what competition really is. I loved that part of the book. I only intended to read the first chapter of this book since someone told me that's all you really needed to get the idea, but I'm glad I read the whole thing, it was a nice deep dive on your inner self, how we learn and the spirit of competition.