When language fails
A picture worth a thousand words is a boring picture. No words can describe a truly worthwhile picture. That’s one of the many ideas explored in the life-changing book “The Inner Game of Tennis” (Amazon).
A verbal explanation can only
represent an idea of how to perform a stroke—it is distinct from the precise concept and, more often than not, falls short of elucidating the subtlety and complexity of a stroke.
It’s crucial to form a mental image of a good stroke and be mindful of what the body feels like when you execute it. Learning tennis this way is far more effective than memorizing a step-by-step verbal list of actions and seeking to reproduce it every stroke.
The author, W. Timothy Gallwey, must have stumbled on universal principles, for he also wrote about
The Inner Game of Golf,
Music,
Work,
Skiing, and
Stress.
