And we talked about Tennis, since I was suffering from some neck pain related to my competitive tennis play.

And in a eureka moment, he said, “And there’s that guy who wrote that book about tennis.”

My eyes lit up. “Timothy Gallwey.”"That might be it.”"You mean The Inner Game of Tennis, by Timothy Gallway?”

“That sounds right.”Holy Cow! He had hit me square in the heart. Not only had The Inner Game of Tennis formed a HUGE part of my youth, and my understanding of tennis as an exploration of self, but more recently I had gotten in touch with Timothy Gallwey, in order to support the publication of his new book, The Inner Game of Stress.

“YES!” I said. “The concepts of the Inner Game have been part of my life for a long time. I think they’ve guided me more often than I know. I mean, I learned them when I was about 14 or 15.”"Well, there you go.”"I was trying to learn about tennis, and this “self 1″ and “self 2″ concept was a bit over the top. BUT… It worked.”"That’;s what I’m saying. I think you have your training. And it’s something you’ve been working at passionately for years.”"Yeah, since I was about 10.”"And you still love it.”So we talked about tennis and Timothy Gallway for a bit and I said something about the tennis racquet being sort of like a sword. And the game being fairly analogous to a duel. And in telling him about my game, I was describing my serve as a powerful weapon.

“The first cut,” he said.In principle, the serve is a single motion and attack, when executed effectively puts the opponent on the defensive. In my game it is my single strongest weapon. Nothing gives me more confidence than to have my opponents complement my serve at the end of a match. At the completion of a doubles match, hearing “We just couldn’t get a handle on your serve tonight,” is truly the highest complement one can receive in tennis. In addition to the WIN, that is.

I’ll go fish out my Gallwey book. And both my friend and I made a point to go seek out the new book The Inner Game of Stress.

Now I think I’d better go hit some tennis balls before the weekend rain starts again.

via The First Cut: Applying The Way of the Sword to Life and Tennis | uber.la.

via Golf Hypnosis Leads to Success Over The Inner Game of Golf | Alain Silberstein watches.

Timothy Gallwey in is book “Inner Game of Tennis” described the war. He identified the “Self 1″, the logical, judgemental, mathematical, verbal, competitive, time orientation LEFT BRAIN hemisphere that constantly battles against the “Self 2″, the creative, spontaneous, intuitive, emotional, orientation in space, and in charge of life support RIGHT BRAIN hemisphere.

via Tennis Super-learning Program Stretching Is Important Part | Healing Sports Injuries.

quote Coaching ‘is the teaching of technical skills, but it is not teaching’ quote

Gallwey then applied these principles to the corporate world in The Inner Game of Work, his precept being that there is always an inner game being played in your mind – no matter what outer game you are playing.

Coaching can take numerous forms, the most influential being transformational coaching for business leaders and executives.
What to expect from your coach – Times LIVE.

via NLP Coaching Training « Bryce Redford – The Bodymind Coach.

via Sports Psychology | Snowboarding And Sports Psychology – The Inner Game.

via “the Inner Game of Health and Fitness” Part 1 | Health and Fitness.

via Muslim Youth for Truth: “My friends made me do it.” How to deal with peer pressure and getting the courage to finally say NO..

Tim Gallwey, who wrote “The Inner Game of Tennis,” said athletes such as Henin and Clijsters who devote their lives to sports starting as youngsters often have to get away from the game to regain control of their lives.Gallwey, 72, who was captain of Harvard University's tennis team in the 1959-60 season, said such athletes have a psychological advantage when they return from retirement.

“They’ve had time to step back out of the normal disciplines and grinds of any sport,” he said in a phone interview. “They get to come back with renewed energy and self-determination. Instead of something they have to do as a pro, it’s something they want to do. I admire them, because they’re going back with eyes open.”

via Henin Makes Australian Open Final on Own Terms – NewsFlash – MassLive.com.

It all goes back to Timothy Gallwey. Before Gallwey, coaches were people who wore whistles around their necks.

Coaches helped people get better at physical tasks. That meant they mostly dealt with sweaty people, except for swim coaches who dealt mostly with chlorine-blind people.

That changed in 1974, the year Gallwey published The Inner Game of Tennis. He shifted the focus from what was happening on the outside, to what was happening in the mind of the tennis player.

The rest, as the saying goes, is history. Gallwey tells the story of the Inner Game on his web site. It’s compelling, but it won’t answer the question about whether you should hire a coach.

What’s important about the Gallwey story is that The Inner Game was the faint beginning of what is now a hot field: coaching. Now there are coaches for all kinds of things that don’t involve sweaty physical activities or even whistles.

via Three Star Leadership Blog: Leadership Development: When to hire a coach.