The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance Paperback – May 27, 1997 by W. Timothy Gallwey (Author), Zach Kleiman (Preface), Pete Carroll (Foreword) (Random House Trade Paperbacks)

I've played tennis for over 35 years, had lesson after lesson, went to tennis camps and clinics and still there was something missing in my game that I could not get in touch with, until The Inner Game of Tennis came along.

Simply put, Timothy Gallwey writes that we should trust of bodies to do what they already know how to do, without all the judgement, self-coaching and self-criticism that so many players, myself included do. I used to puzzle over why my a certain stroke was so effortlessly effective one day and then just plain terrible in the next. My body would feel a lack of confidence, for example, a kind of forehand or volley or serve anxiety. The problem was that I never fully truly trusted my body to do what it already knew how to do. And once I did, my game changed.

I now play relaxed and confident, whether my opponent is better than me or not. And when errors occur, I notice them and let go, something I never used to do before.

Many thanks to Mr. Gallwey for giving me my a new and most powerful tool for tennis and beyond!!