Psychology
Understand that interference
within affects your inner game
The outer game is the one that
takes place outside your skin.
It is the one where you can
see and hear and it occurs in
the external arena. The inner
game, however, is the one that
happens inside you. It is about
your thoughts, your emotions,
the type of obstacles you face
and the ferocity of the struggle.
The inner game is a question
of identifying where potential
is located and the role that
interference plays throughout. It
is concerned with your internal
goals and obstacles whereas the
outer game is concerned with
external goals and obstacles.
“Both games need to be played.
While the games are different,
they relate to each other. The
goals are independent. You
could be a failure at the outer
game yet happy as a clam. You
could live in a shack yet enjoy
every minute of it,” Tim shares.
This way of thinking about your
experiences as two different
games was not an intentional
exercise on Tim’s part - it
evolved. In his early days, one
of the first few jobs he held was
as a tennis coach. He was an
educator, but between jobs, Tim
started instructing tennis.
The traditional methods of
teaching were not working
“I was a tournament player as a
kid and captain of the Harvard
University team. I had the skill
and could teach. I taught the
way I was taught which is to
tell people what they should
do and what they shouldn’t
do to get the desired results.
One afternoon, it was just one
more person with a bad habit
with their backhand. Instead
of starting with instructions,
I just threw the balls and I
was shocked when I saw the
backhand changing itself.
The voice in my head was self
critical : I missed my chance.
I should have taught him first
and then, he would have given
me the credit. If he was going to
learn without me teaching, this
was going to upset the tennis
teaching economy… and that
was really,the beginning of the
inner game,” said Tim.
A realisation began to kick
in, and questions he never
thought to ask before, started
to bubble up : What was going
on inside the head of the
student while the ball was
coming at them? What were
they thinking, feeling, wanting?
It started to become instantly
and embarrassingly obvious.
They doubted themselves.
They doubted that they could
put it all together. There was
judgement about how badly
they were doing. This was
a state of mind fostered by
traditional teaching, this was
not the state of mind of an
Olympic champion. They were
not thinking that they were
focused.
The sushi chef is working on himself
while doing his job excellently, he is
being present. He is busy slicing the fish
but it doesn’t mean that it tastes or looks
better. It is not the job that requires your
full attention, it is you that requires it.
18
February 2015