The Inner Game Comes Full Circle

BTCA News & Views December 2003

There is a positive side to the fact that twenty-five years have elapsed since the Inner Game approach was suggested to the tennis establishment and was sidelined by the inertia of traditional teaching methods. It has matured like a vintage wine. It has picked up the subtle flavours of experience in other fields of endeavour: golf, skiing, music and business.

Now it seems as if its success in these different areas has built up a momentum so strong that its return is inevitable. Whether we as coaches choose to take on board these observably time proven methods of coaching to empower pupils with higher levels of self esteem, awareness and responsibility is up to each one of us to decide. But at least now after twenty-five years the door is finally open.

The Inner Game Principles

Tim Gallwey’s coaching explorations in the 1970’s resulted in a model of performance that can be summed up by the simple formula ‘Performance equals Potential minus Interference’. Tim noticed that interference is largely brought about by an internal dialogue between what he referred to as ‘Self 1’ and ‘Self 2’. ‘Self 1’ is the internal voice that gives commands and makes judgements which are invariably over-critical and lead to anxiety, tension, frustration, fear, anger and lack of self-belief. ‘Self 2’ is the one being talked to - the one that holds the innate ability to learn, intuitive and subconscious capacity, and the inherent potential with which we were born.

From this understanding came a framework and methodology for reducing interference and improving performance based on:

• Raising awareness in an objective and non-judgemental way
• Increasing trust in our natural learning ability and intuitive capabilities
• Creating choice and thus ownership of learning for the student

Effective coaching questions were found to be an essential tool to focus the player’s attention on the area chosen for change. The resulting increase in awareness was often curative by itself without the need for any technical input from the coach. Tim was amazed at the ease with which these technical changes occurred. In his own words, ‘At first, it seemed like magic. Then I realised it was natural magic – the way learning was supposed to be. As coach, my first responsibility was to maintain a non-judgemental focus, provide appropriate opportunity for natural learning, and stay out of the way. Secondarily, my job was to help the student maintain focus while trusting in Self 2’s capacity to learn directly from experience.’

The Tutor Group

It’s been two years since Sir John Whitmore presented the Inner Game to the BTCA Conference. Since then a tutor group has been formed from two initial three-day courses with Sir John and Caroline Harris and subsequent follow up sessions, including a meeting with Tim Gallwey himself in July 2003.

Some of the tutor group have been involved with the Inner Game for many years. Others were inspired by Sir John’s presentation and wanted to start experimenting with the concepts and get involved at a deeper level. All are on a steep learning curve. For understanding the subtleties of mental process in the learning environment and being able to work effectively with that understanding is a journey that seems to be as limitless as human potential itself.

Experiences

Tutor Course Leader Caroline Harris remembers the period in her coaching career before her first week long introduction course to the Inner Game: ‘I began to question the effectiveness and my enjoyment of standing at the net shouting instructions. Some days it worked. Mostly it left me feeling uncomfortable with being “the expert” because I sensed that I was not; I did not always make a difference.’ For Caroline, having the skills to create a more experiential learning environment changed everything. She went on to coach tennis full time for another fifteen years before taking the Inner Game into business coaching.

The assistant Inner Game Tutors have shared Caroline’s experience of positive change. Ben Jackson says: ‘Coaching has become more exciting and my enthusiasm for my work has increased massively.’ Andy Knibbs admits to coaching that had been bordering on becoming ‘routinely boring’ being transformed to ‘immensely satisfying and exciting.’ Mike Wisner says: ‘I discovered the Inner Game when I was about twenty after I had played out my final years as a full time player. It answered so many questions for me about my game and how I might have approached it differently.’ Mike now enjoys a sense of ‘freedom and adventure’ in his coaching.

Rob Sheath remembers how it felt to be on the receiving end of awareness raising questions: ‘I was learning how to hit a topspin backhand which until it was presented to me in an Inner Game way had felt like I needed to be a contortionist to succeed. Through having my awareness raised of the feelings in my body when I attempted the shot, I went into this magical trance like place and all of a sudden realised that, without knowing it, I had just hit several topspin backhands that felt smooth, relaxed, effortless and went into the court.’

How many of us can think of a player they know who progresses to a certain extent in a lesson, but soon comes back with the same problems again? Ben Jackson’s pupil always wanted more power and more topspin. The pattern was broken when Ben asked her to do some shadow strokes whilst he raised her body awareness. ‘She came up with her own words to describe the actions. Now owning the techniques, she put them into practice and observed their effectiveness.’ Ben recalls how pleased she was with the results and how she said that what he had told her had really helped and that now she really understood. ‘But what did I tell you? Who came up with the answers?’ he asked. ‘I suppose I did,’ she said. Ben heard no more from her about those issues for the rest of the season, but she tells him that now she is enjoying her game more than ever.

In the April 2003 edition of Peak Performance, Sir John Whitmore wrote: ‘When we learn through discovery, we feel totally responsible for our own learning. We feel that we did it ourselves, and that builds our self-belief and self-confidence. If I could give one gift to a practitioner of any sport it would be self-belief which, as the engine of success, is a bigger driver than technical ability and physical fitness combined.’

For my own part, if I had to pick the benefit of Inner Game coaching that has had the greatest impact on me, it would be in this area. A junior player came to me for his first individual lesson over a year ago with extremely low self-esteem. He was excessively self-critical despite being naturally talented. Simply by giving him choice over what to learn, taking criticism out of the equation and letting him know that I trusted in his ability, his confidence and self-belief began to grow. Now he is as positive in match and practice situations as he was despairing. I have witnessed the same effects in adult beginners who more often than not come to tennis with distorted beliefs about their potential and excessively critical internal dialogue. It is a joy to play a part in these life-changing transformations.

Peter Farthing
December 2003

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	The Inner Game Comes Full Circle BTCA News & Views December 2003 There is a positive side to the fact that twenty-five years have elapsed since the Inner Game approach was suggested to the tennis establishment and was sidelined by the inertia of traditional teaching methods. It has matured like a vintage wine. It has picked up the subtle flavours of experience in other fields of endeavour: golf, skiing, music and business. Now it seems as if its success in these different areas has built up a momentum so strong that its return is inevitable. Whether we as coaches choose to take on board these observably time proven methods of coaching to empower pupils with higher levels of self esteem, awareness and responsibility is up to each one of us to decide. But at least now after twenty-five years the door is finally open. The Inner Game Principles Tim Gallwey’s coaching explorations in the 1970’s resulted in a model of performance that can be summed up by the simple formula ‘Performance equals Potential minus Interference’. Tim noticed that interference is largely brought about by an internal dialogue between what he referred to as ‘Self 1’ and ‘Self 2’. ‘Self 1’ is the internal voice that gives commands and makes judgements which are invariably over-critical and lead to anxiety, tension, frustration, fear, anger and lack of self-belief. ‘Self 2’ is the one being talked to - the one that holds the innate ability to learn, intuitive and subconscious capacity, and the inherent potential with which we were born. From this understanding came a framework and methodology for reducing interference and improving performance based on: • Raising awareness in an objective and non-judgemental way • Increasing trust in our natural learning ability and intuitive capabilities • Creating choice and thus ownership of learning for the student Effective coaching questions were found to be an essential tool to focus the player’s attention on the area chosen for change. The resulting increase in awareness was often curative by itself without the need for any technical input from the coach. Tim was amazed at the ease with which these technical changes occurred. In his own words, ‘At first, it seemed like magic. Then I realised it was natural magic – the way learning was supposed to be. As coach, my first responsibility was to maintain a non-judgemental focus, provide appropriate opportunity for natural learning, and stay out of the way. Secondarily, my job was to help the student maintain focus while trusting in Self 2’s capacity to learn directly from experience.’ The Tutor Group It’s been two years since Sir John Whitmore presented the Inner Game to the BTCA Conference. Since then a tutor group has been formed from two initial three-day courses with Sir John and Caroline Harris and subsequent follow up sessions, including a meeting with Tim Gallwey himself in July 2003. Some of the tutor group have been involved with the Inner Game for many years. Others were inspired by Sir John’s presentation and wanted to start experimenting with the concepts and get involved at a deeper level. All are on a steep learning curve. For understanding the subtleties of mental process in the learning environment and being able to work effectively with that understanding is a journey that seems to be as limitless as human potential itself. Experiences Tutor Course Leader Caroline Harris remembers the period in her coaching career before her first week long introduction course to the Inner Game: ‘I began to question the effectiveness and my enjoyment of standing at the net shouting instructions. Some days it worked. Mostly it left me feeling uncomfortable with being “the expert” because I sensed that I was not; I did not always make a difference.’ For Caroline, having the skills to create a more experiential learning environment changed everything. She went on to coach tennis full time for another fifteen years before taking the Inner Game into business coaching. The assistant Inner Game Tutors have shared Caroline’s experience of positive change. Ben Jackson says: ‘Coaching has become more exciting and my enthusiasm for my work has increased massively.’ Andy Knibbs admits to coaching that had been bordering on becoming ‘routinely boring’ being transformed to ‘immensely satisfying and exciting.’ Mike Wisner says: ‘I discovered the Inner Game when I was about twenty after I had played out my final years as a full time player. It answered so many questions for me about my game and how I might have approached it differently.’ Mike now enjoys a sense of ‘freedom and adventure’ in his coaching. Rob Sheath remembers how it felt to be on the receiving end of awareness raising questions: ‘I was learning how to hit a topspin backhand which until it was presented to me in an Inner Game way had felt like I needed to be a contortionist to succeed. Through having my awareness raised of the feelings in my body when I attempted the shot, I went into this magical trance like place and all of a sudden realised that, without knowing it, I had just hit several topspin backhands that felt smooth, relaxed, effortless and went into the court.’ How many of us can think of a player they know who progresses to a certain extent in a lesson, but soon comes back with the same problems again? Ben Jackson’s pupil always wanted more power and more topspin. The pattern was broken when Ben asked her to do some shadow strokes whilst he raised her body awareness. ‘She came up with her own words to describe the actions. Now owning the techniques, she put them into practice and observed their effectiveness.’ Ben recalls how pleased she was with the results and how she said that what he had told her had really helped and that now she really understood. ‘But what did I tell you? Who came up with the answers?’ he asked. ‘I suppose I did,’ she said. Ben heard no more from her about those issues for the rest of the season, but she tells him that now she is enjoying her game more than ever. In the April 2003 edition of Peak Performance, Sir John Whitmore wrote: ‘When we learn through discovery, we feel totally responsible for our own learning. We feel that we did it ourselves, and that builds our self-belief and self-confidence. If I could give one gift to a practitioner of any sport it would be self-belief which, as the engine of success, is a bigger driver than technical ability and physical fitness combined.’ For my own part, if I had to pick the benefit of Inner Game coaching that has had the greatest impact on me, it would be in this area. A junior player came to me for his first individual lesson over a year ago with extremely low self-esteem. He was excessively self-critical despite being naturally talented. Simply by giving him choice over what to learn, taking criticism out of the equation and letting him know that I trusted in his ability, his confidence and self-belief began to grow. Now he is as positive in match and practice situations as he was despairing. I have witnessed the same effects in adult beginners who more often than not come to tennis with distorted beliefs about their potential and excessively critical internal dialogue. It is a joy to play a part in these life-changing transformations. Peter Farthing December 2003 Top
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