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Author: W. Timothy GallweyTitle: The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak PerformanceFormat: Audiobook, Unabridged (MP3)Amazon Page: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679778314Amazon.com ReviewA phenomenon when first published in 1972, the Inner Game was a real revelation. Instead of serving up technique, it concentrated on the fact that, as Gallwey wrote, “Every game is composed of two parts, an outer game and an inner game.” The former is played against opponents, and is filled with lots of contradictory advice; the latter is played not against, but within the mind of the player, and its principal obstacles are self-doubt and anxiety. Gallwey’s revolutionary thinking, built on a foundation of Zen thinking and humanistic psychology, was really a primer on how to get out of your own way to let your best game emerge. It was sports psychology before the two words were pressed against each other and codified into an accepted discipline.The new edition of this remarkable work–Billie Jean King called the original her tennis bible–refines Gallwey’s theories on concentration, gamesmanship, breaking bad habits, learning to trust yourself on the court, and awareness. “No matter what a person’s complaint when he has a lesson with me, I have found the most beneficial first step,” he stressed, “is to encourage him to see and feel what he is doing–that is, to increase his awareness of what actually is.”There are aspects of psychobabble and mysticism to be found here, sure, but Gallwey instructs as much by anecdote as anything else, and time has ultimately proved him a guru. What seemed radical in the early ’70s is now accepted ammunition for the canon; the right mental approach is every bit as important as a good backhand. The Inner Game of Tennis still does much to keep that idea in play. –Jeff SilvermanFrom the Inside FlapThe Inner Game of Tennis is a revolutionary program for overcoming the self-doubt, nervousness, and lapses of concentration that can keep a player from winning. Now available in a revised paperback edition, this classic bestseller can change the way the game of tennis is played.About the AuthorEver since Timothy Gallwey missed a heartbreakingly easy volley on match point in the National Junior Tennis Championship at the age of fifteen, he has been fascinated with the problem of how human beings interfere with their own ability to achieve and learn. His search for practical ways to overcome the mental obstacles that prevent maximum performance led to the basic discoveries first described in this, his bestselling classic. –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.