---
product_id: 246300
title: "The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance"
price: "160 Lei"
currency: RON
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.ro/products/246300-the-inner-game-of-tennis-the-classic-guide-to-mental
store_origin: RO
region: Romania
---

# Top-ranked tennis coaching guide 122 pages of expert mental coaching Focus on psychology & peak performance The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance

**Price:** 160 Lei
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## Summary

> 🎯 Elevate your game from the inside out — because winning starts in your mind.

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- **What is this?** The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance
- **How much does it cost?** 160 Lei with free shipping
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## Key Features

- • **Timeless Wisdom in 122 Pages:** Concise, powerful strategies that fit your busy lifestyle—read, apply, and win.
- • **Join a Community of 9,600+ Readers:** Trusted by thousands who refuse to let mental blocks hold them back.
- • **Master Your Mind, Master Your Game:** Unlock the mental edge that separates champions from amateurs.
- • **Beyond Tennis: Life-Changing Mindset:** Transform your self-talk and relationships on and off the court.
- • **Proven Psychology for Peak Performance:** Leverage insights from a #1 bestseller in Sports Psychology to elevate your play.

## Overview

The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey is a groundbreaking paperback that explores the mental side of peak tennis performance. With 122 pages of expert insights, this revised classic teaches players how to silence self-criticism, harness visualization, and develop natural learning habits. Ranked #1 in Tennis Coaching and Sports Psychology, it’s a must-read for athletes and professionals seeking to improve focus, reduce stress, and unlock their full potential both on the court and in life.

## Description

The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance [W. Timothy Gallwey, Zach Kleiman, Pete Carroll] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance

Review: This book is a must read for every amateur and professional tennis player and tennis teacher - Does it matter how and what we think about while we are playing tennis ? Yes, it matters so much that it affects our tennis performance significantly and could even affect our mental well being. W. Timothy Gallwey obviously understands both tennis and psychology very well and has written an excellent book that very clearly explains why it matters how we think about our tennis performance. As a long time tennis player I enjoyed reading the book and learned very much from it. I am eager to start applying Gallwey's advice as soon as possible. If you often scold yourself everytime you make a " mistake " and / or you are trying too hard but not quite achieving the performance you aim in tennis then you can not afford to not read this book. I read it twice and I recommend that everybody read it again and again every few months. Many tennis instructors do not know the psychological aspect of the game that is so well explained in the book. Their ignorance is obvious from the incessant verbal instructions they give their students. The harmful and correct ways of thinking explained in the book are not limited to tennis ; they can be applied to our self talk about anything and to any interaction between humans such as parenting, marriage, social, work and other relationships. The types of scolding comments and even positive instructions and praise we make to ourselves either silently or aloud when we are playing tennis are self defeating ; they re- enforce the performance that we label unsatisfactory. Then the negative comments we make to ourselves about our tennis performance become self fulfilling prophecies.Timothy Gallwey demonstrates that it is no use to replace negative self talk with positive self talk neither. Because positive thinking is actually negative thinking in disguise ; it communicates the demand for good performance and is therefore manipulative. Thus positive self talk and manipulative self praise also have an unfavorable effect on our tennis performance although not as much as negative self talk. Any instructions we give ourselves such as : " tilt the face of the racket a little more " or " I hit it very well this time " also interfere with the natural method of learning which is much more effective. We have the potential to learn naturally which is possible only when we let go, that is when we shut up and stop criticizing or praising our performance, stop giving instructions to ourselves and stop trying too hard to correct our mistakes. So what is the correct and effective method of improvement in tennis ? It is visualization in our mind of the desired strokes and consistent practice on the court. This practice must be without interference from the disruptive way of thinking and self talk. Gallwey does not propose that we do not pay attention to our tennis strokes. On the contrary, he says we must feel and be aware of our strokes without judgement i.e. without labelling our strokes as bad or good. If you think you are making mistakes eg : the ball keeps on getting caught in the net when you hit it, instead of saying to yourself things such as : " You loser ! you couldn't hit even one ball over the net ! " just observe how you play non - judgementally and visualize in your mind's eye the ball clearing the net and landing inside your opponent's court and continue to play. Do this consistently without giving yourself verbal instructions about how to hit the ball ( aloud or silent ), be patient and observe the eventual correction in your strokes. He says that each human being has two selves ; Self 1 who continually makes judgements about the performance of Self 2 and scolds or praises it. In the meantime Self 2 is trying to play tennis under nagging and much less often praising from Self 1.Self 2 has the natural ability to learn and improve, like a toddler learns to walk naturally without any lessons nor comments from parents about how to walk. But Self 2 can not learn naturally nor effectively as long as Self 1 judges and comments negatively or positively about Self 2's tennis performance and rolls out instructions to it. What we need to do is to silence Self 1 , visualize in our mind the desired strokes, continue practicing on the court and trust our body and mind's natural ability to learn. The power of visualization in the mind with open or closed eyes ( with open eyes when you are playing of course ) of the desired performance to improve it in sports and other aspects of life is mentioned in many other psychology books too. As I mentioned above this principle is valid whatever we are learning and in our communication with other humans not just in tennis. In fact Gallwey says that Self 1 could be a critical parent and self 2 his / her child. Achieving these will involve unlearning the bad habit of self judgement whether it is negative or positive. Gallwey says that if we fight the bad habit it will get stronger. Instead of fighting the existing bad habit, develop the new habit to replace it. In fact don't even see the bad habit as a habit. Like a toddler who promotes from crawling to walking does not see crawling as a bad habit to get rid of but rather as a stage in development. I observe that in many cases in addition to the disruption from their Self 1s many children taking tennis lessons also have to cope with additional negative comments sometimes even insults, yelling and unproductive praises from their tennis teachers, in front of their parents who bring them to the tennis lessons. The parents think that the tennis teachers are doing the right thing when they scold and yell at their children everytime they make a mistake. The result ; the mistakes get worse instead of being corrected. I have observed the same destructive attitude in swimming, basketball, gymnastics and classrom teachers at schools. It is a pity that most parents, teachers and bosses at the workplace do not know the psychology in this book titled " The inner game of tennis ". Certainly there are tennis and other sports teachers, parents, bosses who are effective communicators but unfortunately they constitute the minority ; most teachers, parents and bosses are of the Self 1 type even if they have no bad intentions. Some of them are aware of the inefficacy of their methods and wish they could replace them with better methods but they can not help it. These teachers, parents bosses their students, children and employees would benefit greatly if the teachers, parents and bosses read and applied this book. In the book the author also gives a detailed action plan about how you can become more aware of your various tennis strokes without thinking about them in the wrong way. Just observe various parts of your strokes non - judgementally, become aware of them, by feeling and hearing them as they are without labelling them as good or bad. If you decide there is a need for improvement visualize your desired correct strokes as you may have observed from competent players. Avoid Self 1 from giving instructions to Self 2 and let it happen. He also gives examples of how dogmas regarding the correct way of hitting various types of strokes have changed overtime ; tennis teachers were scolding their students about some " mistakes " until tennis pros challenged the dogmas and started playing like the long time believed mistakes. Only then did the non - traditional strokes become generally accepted. Another very important issue the author talks about is the wrong and correct reasons for playing tennis ; if you play tennis because you like the game, want to be healthy and fit, want to make friends and at the same time you want to win from time to time etc. you are on the right track. But if the only reason you play tennis is to win, beat everyone else, prove to yourself and to everybody how great you are then you are playing tennis for the wrong reasons. Tennis is a very good stress reliever when played for the correct reasons. But it becomes a source of stress if played with such selfish motives. There is nothing wrong with wanting to win but if you are playing tennis only to prove your supremacy over other tennis players it is very likely that your motive is to compensate for low self esteem even if you are unaware of this.You may have low self esteem regarding your failures in other aspects of your life ; your social, work, marriage, parenting relationships or other feelings of inferiority. I know tennis players who play very well, but are very unpopular and annoying because they always brag about their tennis and are unhappy about other aspects of their lives. It is OK to want to win and improve in tennis provided that our self esteem does not depend solely on our tennis performance and we do not belittle other tennis players. If currently, knowingly or unknowingly we are relying only on tennis to bail us out of our low self esteem due to other problems in our lives, it makes sense to deal with our low self esteem by reading and applying a good self help book on the subject such as " The six pillars of self - esteem " written by a psychologist named Nathaniel Branden. If reading and applying that book is not sufficient to improve our self esteem we should seek professional help. Let's play tennis for the correct reasons, not to liberate us from our low self esteem. Like any tennis player I am also pleased with myself when I win after a good game of tennis but I personally do not have the negative, the positive self talk nor the " I must be the greatest in tennis otherwise I am no good " attitude to the extent described in the book. Still, I found some mental and attitude corrections I need to make about my own tennis. I also realized that I am frocing my 10 year old son too much in tennis. I will ease the pressure on him. It would be nice if he won in the tournaments but not at the expense of his happiness. To summarize I highly recommend that you read " The Inner Game of Tennis " by W. Timothy Gallwey.
Review: Great for mental game! - This is such a good book for anyone that participates in any kind of sports - not just tennis. It has really good insights into the mental game and is applicable to other sports. It’s a must read for training and improving your mental game! I play pool competitively and this is the book I hear recommended the most!

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #747 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #1 in Tennis Coaching #1 in Sports Psychology (Books) #21 in Success Self-Help |
| Customer Reviews | 4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars (9,751) |
| Dimensions  | 5.18 x 0.49 x 7.98 inches |
| Edition  | Subsequent |
| ISBN-10  | 0679778314 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0679778318 |
| Item Weight  | 5.6 ounces |
| Language  | English |
| Part of series  | The Inner Game |
| Print length  | 122 pages |
| Publication date  | May 27, 1997 |
| Publisher  | Random House Trade Paperbacks |

## Images

![The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71+1CgqvXSL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This book is a must read for every amateur and professional tennis player and tennis teacher
*by R***N on April 21, 2008*

Does it matter how and what we think about while we are playing tennis ? Yes, it matters so much that it affects our tennis performance significantly and could even affect our mental well being. W. Timothy Gallwey obviously understands both tennis and psychology very well and has written an excellent book that very clearly explains why it matters how we think about our tennis performance. As a long time tennis player I enjoyed reading the book and learned very much from it. I am eager to start applying Gallwey's advice as soon as possible. If you often scold yourself everytime you make a " mistake " and / or you are trying too hard but not quite achieving the performance you aim in tennis then you can not afford to not read this book. I read it twice and I recommend that everybody read it again and again every few months. Many tennis instructors do not know the psychological aspect of the game that is so well explained in the book. Their ignorance is obvious from the incessant verbal instructions they give their students. The harmful and correct ways of thinking explained in the book are not limited to tennis ; they can be applied to our self talk about anything and to any interaction between humans such as parenting, marriage, social, work and other relationships. The types of scolding comments and even positive instructions and praise we make to ourselves either silently or aloud when we are playing tennis are self defeating ; they re- enforce the performance that we label unsatisfactory. Then the negative comments we make to ourselves about our tennis performance become self fulfilling prophecies.Timothy Gallwey demonstrates that it is no use to replace negative self talk with positive self talk neither. Because positive thinking is actually negative thinking in disguise ; it communicates the demand for good performance and is therefore manipulative. Thus positive self talk and manipulative self praise also have an unfavorable effect on our tennis performance although not as much as negative self talk. Any instructions we give ourselves such as : " tilt the face of the racket a little more " or " I hit it very well this time " also interfere with the natural method of learning which is much more effective. We have the potential to learn naturally which is possible only when we let go, that is when we shut up and stop criticizing or praising our performance, stop giving instructions to ourselves and stop trying too hard to correct our mistakes. So what is the correct and effective method of improvement in tennis ? It is visualization in our mind of the desired strokes and consistent practice on the court. This practice must be without interference from the disruptive way of thinking and self talk. Gallwey does not propose that we do not pay attention to our tennis strokes. On the contrary, he says we must feel and be aware of our strokes without judgement i.e. without labelling our strokes as bad or good. If you think you are making mistakes eg : the ball keeps on getting caught in the net when you hit it, instead of saying to yourself things such as : " You loser ! you couldn't hit even one ball over the net ! " just observe how you play non - judgementally and visualize in your mind's eye the ball clearing the net and landing inside your opponent's court and continue to play. Do this consistently without giving yourself verbal instructions about how to hit the ball ( aloud or silent ), be patient and observe the eventual correction in your strokes. He says that each human being has two selves ; Self 1 who continually makes judgements about the performance of Self 2 and scolds or praises it. In the meantime Self 2 is trying to play tennis under nagging and much less often praising from Self 1.Self 2 has the natural ability to learn and improve, like a toddler learns to walk naturally without any lessons nor comments from parents about how to walk. But Self 2 can not learn naturally nor effectively as long as Self 1 judges and comments negatively or positively about Self 2's tennis performance and rolls out instructions to it. What we need to do is to silence Self 1 , visualize in our mind the desired strokes, continue practicing on the court and trust our body and mind's natural ability to learn. The power of visualization in the mind with open or closed eyes ( with open eyes when you are playing of course ) of the desired performance to improve it in sports and other aspects of life is mentioned in many other psychology books too. As I mentioned above this principle is valid whatever we are learning and in our communication with other humans not just in tennis. In fact Gallwey says that Self 1 could be a critical parent and self 2 his / her child. Achieving these will involve unlearning the bad habit of self judgement whether it is negative or positive. Gallwey says that if we fight the bad habit it will get stronger. Instead of fighting the existing bad habit, develop the new habit to replace it. In fact don't even see the bad habit as a habit. Like a toddler who promotes from crawling to walking does not see crawling as a bad habit to get rid of but rather as a stage in development. I observe that in many cases in addition to the disruption from their Self 1s many children taking tennis lessons also have to cope with additional negative comments sometimes even insults, yelling and unproductive praises from their tennis teachers, in front of their parents who bring them to the tennis lessons. The parents think that the tennis teachers are doing the right thing when they scold and yell at their children everytime they make a mistake. The result ; the mistakes get worse instead of being corrected. I have observed the same destructive attitude in swimming, basketball, gymnastics and classrom teachers at schools. It is a pity that most parents, teachers and bosses at the workplace do not know the psychology in this book titled " The inner game of tennis ". Certainly there are tennis and other sports teachers, parents, bosses who are effective communicators but unfortunately they constitute the minority ; most teachers, parents and bosses are of the Self 1 type even if they have no bad intentions. Some of them are aware of the inefficacy of their methods and wish they could replace them with better methods but they can not help it. These teachers, parents bosses their students, children and employees would benefit greatly if the teachers, parents and bosses read and applied this book. In the book the author also gives a detailed action plan about how you can become more aware of your various tennis strokes without thinking about them in the wrong way. Just observe various parts of your strokes non - judgementally, become aware of them, by feeling and hearing them as they are without labelling them as good or bad. If you decide there is a need for improvement visualize your desired correct strokes as you may have observed from competent players. Avoid Self 1 from giving instructions to Self 2 and let it happen. He also gives examples of how dogmas regarding the correct way of hitting various types of strokes have changed overtime ; tennis teachers were scolding their students about some " mistakes " until tennis pros challenged the dogmas and started playing like the long time believed mistakes. Only then did the non - traditional strokes become generally accepted. Another very important issue the author talks about is the wrong and correct reasons for playing tennis ; if you play tennis because you like the game, want to be healthy and fit, want to make friends and at the same time you want to win from time to time etc. you are on the right track. But if the only reason you play tennis is to win, beat everyone else, prove to yourself and to everybody how great you are then you are playing tennis for the wrong reasons. Tennis is a very good stress reliever when played for the correct reasons. But it becomes a source of stress if played with such selfish motives. There is nothing wrong with wanting to win but if you are playing tennis only to prove your supremacy over other tennis players it is very likely that your motive is to compensate for low self esteem even if you are unaware of this.You may have low self esteem regarding your failures in other aspects of your life ; your social, work, marriage, parenting relationships or other feelings of inferiority. I know tennis players who play very well, but are very unpopular and annoying because they always brag about their tennis and are unhappy about other aspects of their lives. It is OK to want to win and improve in tennis provided that our self esteem does not depend solely on our tennis performance and we do not belittle other tennis players. If currently, knowingly or unknowingly we are relying only on tennis to bail us out of our low self esteem due to other problems in our lives, it makes sense to deal with our low self esteem by reading and applying a good self help book on the subject such as " The six pillars of self - esteem " written by a psychologist named Nathaniel Branden. If reading and applying that book is not sufficient to improve our self esteem we should seek professional help. Let's play tennis for the correct reasons, not to liberate us from our low self esteem. Like any tennis player I am also pleased with myself when I win after a good game of tennis but I personally do not have the negative, the positive self talk nor the " I must be the greatest in tennis otherwise I am no good " attitude to the extent described in the book. Still, I found some mental and attitude corrections I need to make about my own tennis. I also realized that I am frocing my 10 year old son too much in tennis. I will ease the pressure on him. It would be nice if he won in the tournaments but not at the expense of his happiness. To summarize I highly recommend that you read " The Inner Game of Tennis " by W. Timothy Gallwey.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great for mental game!
*by C***N on December 14, 2025*

This is such a good book for anyone that participates in any kind of sports - not just tennis. It has really good insights into the mental game and is applicable to other sports. It’s a must read for training and improving your mental game! I play pool competitively and this is the book I hear recommended the most!

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Solid Book
*by S***I on May 28, 2014*

The Inner Game of Tennis From a mental aspect, tennis is arguably the toughest sport. You're all alone out there. In team sports there are teammates/coaches, boxing there are corner-coaches, golf there are caddies, and so on. But in tennis, there are not coaches to tell one what to do, or teammates to encourage one another. When a person is all alone, they tend to think. And sometimes, overthink. The book, "The Inner Game of Tennis" focuses on taking out overthinking. It breaks down a player’s thoughts process as a match goes on. For example, the book states, "First the mind judges the event, then groups events, then identifies with the combined event and finally judges itself." By using this step-by-step breakdown of events, it gives the reader a better explanation of not only what to do, but also how to do it. Additionally, the main chunk of the book splits the body into two parts: Self-1 and Self-2. Self-1 is the mind that thinks the entire match and makes too many mistakes. Self-2 is the subconscious mind, in which one does not think but simply plays. The whole goal of the book is to unlock Self-2, while getting rid of Self-1. If I had to rate this book, I would give it four of five stars. The book is an informational powerhouse for those who are looking to improve their game. For me, the best part about this book is that it is not made specifically for recreational players. As I hope to play tennis in college one day, “The Inner Game of Tennis” helped me so much in how I approach the game. It has done wonders for my overall tennis, whether it’s fixing my forehand or not choking on a big point in the match.

## Frequently Bought Together

- The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance
- Winning Ugly: Mental Warfare in Tennis--Lessons from a Master
- Essential Tennis

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