The Inner Game of Tennis

By W. Timothy Gallwey

What does Tennis have to do with Stuttering?

1. Reflections on the Mental Side of (Tennis)___________. Gallwey talks about the player who is "playing out of his mind." He further discusses that athletes in this state rarely think about their strokes, serve, etc.; they are in a state of "mindlessness".
2. There are two selves inside every tennis player .1) the "I" self gives oneself instructions and the 2) the "2" self tends to react automatically. Getting it together mentally in tennis involves several internal skills:
   1. Learning to program yourself internally with images rather than words
   2. Learning to TRUST yourself
   3. Learning to see "non-judgmentally" - that is what is happening rather than how good or bad it is!
   4. All of these skills are subsidiary to the master skill: CONCENTRATION
3. Learn to Quiet the Mind
   1. Letting Go of Judgments
   2. Discovering the Process
   3. Seeing, Feeling, & Awareness of What Is
   4. What about Positive Thinking?
4. Getting it Together: Letting it Happen
   1. Put aside your thoughts of yourself: Trust Thyself
   2. Program the Self #2's computer for FORM & for RESULTS
   3. Experiment with ROLE PLAYING
5. Changing Habits
   1. Make Changes One Step at a Time
   2. Observe Behavior; Ask yourself to change; Program the Behavior; Let it Happen; Non-judgmentally; & Observe
   3. CONCENTRATION: Watch the Behavior; Listen to the Behavior; & Feel the Behavior
6. QUIET YOUR MIND! LET IT HAPPEN! DISCOVER!