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Feb
23
The Mental Game Ch. 1
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For a couple of years now I’ve been hearing about a book that deals with the mental aspects of competition—a book about tennis—yep, tennis. I actually hate tennis, but I bought the book last year for educational purposes and curiosity; I lent it out to someone and have never seen it again. It must have been good. So three days ago I decided to buy another copy and it arrived last night. The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance.
I’m going to blog about it for my own edification and analysis. I think I’ll do it by chapter and since I’ve already read chapter one (which is exactly six pages long) I think I’ll explore that one now. I would recommend you buy one too and we can learn about it together.
Ch. 1: Reflections on the Mental Side of Tennis
Okay, so Gallwey (the author) is this tennis pro who wrote a book about the mental game of tennis in 1974 (I was 5). Now at 40, I’m reading it—I like it so far. One of the things he talks about is over explaining things when people teach. Instead of analyzing every aspect of a movement and technique, Gallwey suggests we show–show more than tell.
He says,
“I was beginning to learn what all good pros and students of tennis must learn: that images are better than words, showing better than telling, too much instruction worse than none…”
I know this to be true. Sometimes words get in the way of my own learning. Here’s an example: I always watch video instructionals on BJJ techniques—hundreds of hours, whether I’ve seen the technique a million times; it doesn’t matter. I’ve recently started watching them without the sound. I’ve been watching the movement without the “distraction” of the verbal instruction. In my head I put it together in steps (i.e. step 1, then step 2). Sometimes, the verbal instruction takes me away from what I should be seeing.
I’ll explain it another way; when I’m teaching, I take my students through the technique step by step with a short explanation. I’ll say something like, “Okay, step one, grab the collar. Two, grab the sleeve.” If someone is not watching carefully they will just grab the collar, they might not go fingers inside and grab deep like I’m showing them. So tonight in class I’m going to try an experiment. I’m only going to count the steps and then demonstrate. No verbal instruction. I want to see if students can learn the move with no verbal instruction other than counting—counting and images.
Well, I tried showing more than talking in class and it worked. I didn’t talk anyone through any of the technique–I did count steps, but that was it and guess what? People got it. They did they technique correctly–it was pretty cool.
I must admit I felt like a mime a little bit, but it seemed to work just fine. I’ll have to continue with it and see how it goes.
[...] that nights class with minimal talk, I was interested. Here is his post on the experiment: The Mental Game Ch1. That night it was very different. He did a step my step instruction on each technique [...]