The Inner Game of Tennis

Circa 1990, I read The Inner Game of Tennis by Timothy Gallwey. I was playing my best 2.5 tennis at the time, so I bought the book, which was first published in 1974, and because it had become both a business bestseller and a self-help classic.

Gallwey’s central idea was that every game—and, in fact, every business endeavor—has two dimensions: an Outer Game and an Inner Game.

The Outer Game is what we do. It is our performance on the tennis court, in the boardroom, or in everyday life. The Inner Game is the conversation taking place inside our heads. It includes self-doubt, fear, overthinking, and anything else that distracts us from the task at hand.

By 1990, six years into building Mercer Capital, I had begun to recognize how often my own Inner Game was holding me back. Were we good enough? Could we really handle larger assignments? Other firms had been around longer and had more people…

Recognizing that inner voice helped me develop it and move beyond it. Over time, Mercer Capital began pursuing larger opportunities and more specialized niches that matched our abilities. The Inner Game of Tennis helped me see that success often depends less on external obstacles than on the barriers we create ourselves.

Pickleball Therapy: The Book

Fast forward to March 2026. Carol and I traveled to Largo, Florida, where I attended a Pickleball Super Camp led by Tony Roig of Better Pickleball.  The folks at Better Pickleball also publish the Better Pickleball Blog, which provides bite-sized insights into many aspects of the pickleball journey.  In addition, Tony is host of the Pickleball Therapy Podcast, which just published its 298th episode.  I enjoy listening to this podcast while I am walking towards my 10,000 or so steps per day.

I have been a subscriber to Better Pickleball for a couple of years and was attracted by its emphasis on three pillars of improvement: Mind, Strategy, and Athletics.  The pillar that interested me most was Mind.

At age 78, there is probably some room for athletic improvement, but not nearly as much as there was at age 40. Strategy can certainly improve. But I have learned that strategy is difficult to execute if the mind is not engaged.

At the end of camp, I purchased Tony’s book, Pickleball Therapy: The Book.

Like The Inner Game of Tennis, while the title reflects pickleball, Tony’s book is really a book that uses sports to teach lessons about pickleball – and life.

Tony explains how thousands of years of evolution shaped the way we think. Our ancestors lived in a dangerous world. Survival depended on recognizing threats and reacting quickly to them.

As a result, we inherited a strong negativity bias. A rustle in the grass might not have been a tiger, but assuming it was improved the odds of survival. Those who underestimated danger often did not survive long enough to pass along their genes.

We descend from the survivors.

That negativity bias served our ancestors well. It can be much less helpful during a pickleball game—or in everyday life.

Tony builds on Gallwey’s concepts by describing three selves:

• Self 1, the Speaker Self, is the voice in our heads.
• Self 2, the Doer Self, is the part of us that actually performs.
• Self 3, the Survivor Self, is our inherited instinctive response system, quick to react to perceived threats.

When Self 1 and Self 3 combine forces, they can become formidable opponents. Negative self-talk, frustration, and overreaction can undermine performance both on and off the court.

The Conversations We Have With Ourselves

I am grateful to Tony for reminding me of a book I read more than 35 years ago.

The Inner Game of Tennis helped me deal with the self-doubt of a younger man. Pickleball Therapy has helped me recognize that the Inner Game does not disappear with age. It simply changes its vocabulary.

When I was younger, Self 1 asked questions like:

“Are you good enough?”

“Can you really do that?”

Today, Self 1 asks different questions:

“Is the trip worth the trouble?”

“Do you really want the hassle?”

“Maybe another time.”

The questions sound different, but the effect can be the same. Left unchecked, Self 1 can slowly shrink our worlds.

I have already seen benefits from Tony’s book.

On the pickleball court, I have nearly eliminated the words “I’m sorry” from my vocabulary. Mistakes happen. The next point matters more than the last one. The sooner we let go of a mistake, the sooner we can make the next point count.  My focus now is on encouragement, learning, and enjoying the game.  And implementing some of the lessons from Super Camp and Better Pickleball.

But the larger benefit has occurred away from the court.

For some time, Carol and I had planned to attend the wedding of a nephew in Greenville, North Carolina. Part of me wondered whether another trip was really necessary given recent travels to Peru, Sedona, and upcoming family time in Clearwater Beach.

Then I recognized that voice.

Instead of listening to it, I booked the trip.

Because Delta flies to Raleigh rather than Greenville, I called my best friend from childhood, who lives there. Although we have spoken occasionally over the years, our paths have crossed only a handful of times since college. He is now a retired university professor and docent at the North Carolina Museum of History. He has volunteered to give us a personal tour and a period to catch up before we continue on to Greenville.

We will also spend time with a cousin whom I have seen far too little over the years.

Had I listened to Self 1, none of that would have happened.

The older I get, the more convinced I become that one of the great challenges of aging is not physical. It is mental. It is learning to recognize negative self-talk before it talks us out of experiences, relationships, opportunities, and memories.

A pickleball game lasts fifteen or thirty minutes, maybe. The game of life lasts much longer.

The Inner Game of Tennis taught me that lesson 35 years ago. Pickleball Therapy reminded me that I still need the inner game today.

The inner game never ends.

As always, be well, and age gratefully,

Chris