Learning - The usual way vs The Inner Game way

(from The Inner Game of Tennis)

THE USUAL WAY OF LEARNING

STEP 1 Criticize or Judge Past Behavior

Examples: I’m hitting my forehand rotten again today. … Dammit, why do I keep missing those easy setups? … I’m not doing anything the coach told me to do in my last lesson. You were great rallying, now you’re playing worse than your grandmother … \(%#¢*#¢\)!

(The above is usually delivered in a punitive, belittling tone.)

STEP 2 Tell Yourself to Change, Instructing with Word

Commands Repeatedly

Examples: Keep your racket low, keep your racket low, keep your racket low. Hit the ball in front of you, in front, in front… No, dammit, further! Don’t flick your wrist, keep it stiff. … You stupid bum, you did it again … Toss the ball good and high this time, then reach up, remember to snap your wrist, and don’t change grips in midserve. Hit this one into the crosscourt corner.

STEP 3 Try Hard; Make Yourself Do It Right

In this step, Self 1, having told Self 2 what to do, tries to control the action. Unnecessary body and facial muscles are used. There is a tightness which prevents maximum fluidity of stroke and precision of movement. Self 2 is not trusted.

STEP 4 Critical Judgment About Results Leading to a Self 1

Vicious Cycle

When one has tried hard to perform an action “right,” it is difficult not to become either frustrated at failure or anxious about success. Both emotions are distracting to one’s focus, and prevent full experiencing of what happens. Negative judgment of the results of one’s efforts tends to make one try even harder; positive evaluation tends to make one try to force oneself into the same pattern on the next shot. Both positive and negative thinking inhibit spontaneity.

THE INNER GAME WAY OF LEARNING

STEP 1 Observe Existing Behavior Nonjudgmentally

Examples: The last three of my backhands landed long, by about two feet. My racket seems to be hesitating, instead of following through all the way. Maybe I should observe the level of my back-swing … It’s well above my waist… There, that shot got hit with more pace, yet it stayed in.

(The above is delivered in an interested, somewhat detached tone.)

STEP 2 Picture Desired Outcome

No commands are used. Self 2 is asked to perform in the desired way to achieve the desired results. Self 2 is shown by use of visual image and felt action any element of stroke desired. If you wish the ball to go to the crosscourt corner, you simply imagine the necessary path of the ball to the target. Do not try to correct for past errors.

STEP 3 Let It Happen! Trust Self 2

Having requested your body to perform a certain action, give it the freedom to do it. The body is trusted, without the conscious control of mind. The serve seems to serve itself. Effort is initiated by Self 2, but there is no trying by Self 1. Letting it happen doesn’t mean going limp; it means letting Self 2 use only the muscles necessary for the job. Nothing is forced. Continue the process. Be willing to allow Self 2 to make changes within changes, until a natural groove is formed.

STEP 4 Nonjudgmental, Calm Observation of the Results Leading to Continuing Observation and Learning

Though the player knows his goal, he is not emotionally involved in achieving it and is therefore able to watch the results calmly and experience the process. By so doing, concentration is best achieved, as is learning at its highest rate of speed; making new changes is only necessary when results do not conform to the image given. Otherwise only continuing observation of the behavior undergoing change is necessary. Watch it change; don’t do the changing.

The process is an incredibly simple one. The important thing is to experience it. Don’t intellectualize it. See what it feels like to ask yourself to do something and let it happen without any conscious trying. For most people it is a surprising experience, and the results speak for themselves.

This method of learning can be practiced in most endeavors on or off the court. The more you let yourself perform free of control on the tennis court, the more confidence you tend to gain in the beautiful mechanism that is the human body. The more you trust it, the more capable it seems to become.

WATCH OUT FOR THE RETURN OF SELF 1

But there is one pitfall I should mention. I have noticed that after being thrilled by the improvements they are able to make in their tennis game by letting it happen, students often revert the next day to trying as hard as usual. What is surprising is that though they are playing much worse tennis, they don’t seem to mind. At first this puzzled me. Why would one go back to letting Self 1 control the show if the results were so clearly less effective? I had to search myself for the answer. I realized that there was a distinctly different kind of satisfaction gained in the two methods of hitting the ball. When you try hard to hit the ball correctly, and it goes well, you get a certain kind of ego satisfaction. You feel that you are in control, that you are master of the situation. But when you simply allow the serve to serve itself, it doesn’t seem as if you deserve the credit. It doesn’t feel as if it were you who hit the ball. You tend to feel good about the ability of your body, and possibly even amazed by the results, but the credit and sense of personal accomplishment are replaced by another kind of satisfaction. If a person is out on the court mainly to satisfy the desires and doubts of ego, it is likely that in spite of the lesser results, he will choose to let Self 1 play the major role.

GIVE SELF 2 THE CREDIT

When a player experiences what it means to “let go” and allows Self 2 to play the game, not only do his shots tend to gain accuracy and power, but he feels an exhilarating sense of relaxation even during rapid movements. In an attempt to repeat this quality of performance, the player often allows Self 1 to creep back on the scene with a remark such as, “Now I’ve got the secret to this game; all I have to do is make myself relax.” But of course the instant I try to make myself relax, true relaxation vanishes, and in its place is a strange phenomenon called “trying to relax.” Relaxation happens only when allowed, not as a result of “trying” or “making.”

Self 1 should not be expected to give up its control all at once; it begins to find its proper role only as one progresses in the art of relaxed concentration.