Mindful Shooting - The Inner Game of Tennis Approach

In my senior season we lost a game because of missed free throws. I shot 1-3 from the line, and when I missed the front end of a 1 and 1 with a few minutes remaining I was furious with myself. 

In response to our poor shooting, Coach told us to shoot 100 free throws each day for the next 10 days, and to report our scores to the coaches when we finished. 

Pissed off that I’d contributed to our collapse, I took the 100 free throws very seriously, treating each shot as if it were a big free throw at the end of a game. I focused intently, and felt deep frustration each time I missed. On the first few days my score fluctuated between 75 and 85 out of 100. On the fourth day I strolled into the gym after finishing an important math test that had been weighing on my mind for more than a week. Relieved that the test had gone well, I had a carefree bounce in my step. 

Because of my good mood I didn’t treat every free throw with life or death intensity that day. As our graduate assistant Kyle rebounded for me, we joked around together and spoke about random topics. Without even trying, I absentmindedly made my first 10 free throws, then my first 20, then 30, then 40. After making my 40th in a row, I was tempted to stop joking with Kyle and switch back to my usual intensity, but then decided to keep the experiment going. I finally missed my 57th free throw. Instead of getting frustrated, I kept joking around as I shot.

After hitting 97 of 100 shots I was confused. The outcome contradicted my philosophy on shooting and skill development - that focused attention and precision were of paramount importance. Was everything I’d learned about meditation and bringing mindfulness to the court a mistake? The next day I didn’t joke around, but I adopted a light and joyful attitude.  I simply watched myself shoot free throws, letting things happen. I made 98 of 100 and decided to bring my new attitude into all of my training. The result was that for the rest of the season I shot better than I ever had in my life.

After reading Tim Gallwey’s The Inner Game of Tennis, I’ve come to understand what happened. Gallwey draws a useful distinction between Self 1 and self 2. Self 1 is the ego mind -  our expectations, judgments, worries, fears and pride. Self two, he argues, is the part of us that is intrinsically wise and skilled - the quiet confidence that rests beneath Self 1. 

Before my change in attitude, my precise focus was wrapped in a blanket of self- judgment and fear of making a mistake. Self 1 was trying to coerce the ball into the basket, and when I missed, I criticized myself for missing. “You were a better free throw shooter in 7th grade,” I often reminded myself. When joking around with Kyle, my fears and expectations disappeared, and the part of myself (Self 2) that had been able to make free throws in 7th grade took over. 

Many of us try to pretend that our practice free throws are like free throws late in a game. We artificially add pressure by imagining negative consequences for missing, thinking that will prepare us for games. It might be useful to occasionally try to create pressure free throws, but we don’t want to feel tense during all of our practice reps. What we want is to feel relaxed and confident during games.

So how can we do this? The trick is to develop a pure confidence through non-judgmental awareness. Players must learn to trust themselves (Self 2), without applying rigid expectations. Gallwey writes:

“What does ‘Trust thyself’ mean on the tennis court? It doesn’t mean positive thinking - for example, expecting that you are going to hit an ace on every serve. Trusting your body in tennis means letting your body hit the ball. The key word is let. You trust in the competence of your body and its brain, and you let it swing the racket. Self 1 stays out of it. But though this is very simple, it does not mean that it is easy.”

The same is true of free throws, or jump shots. In your next shooting workout, experiment with the following:

As you move through your workout, pay close attention to your physical sensations. Feel the ball in your hands when you catch it, and notice what your release feels like. Feel your balance on the floor as you rise up into your shot. As you pay attention to these sensations, relax the part of your mind that wants to judge what you notice as being either good or bad. Allow your body to make any tweaks or changes on its own.

Notice the result of the shots clearly, and without judgement. Rather than feeling bad about misses and good about makes, make an objective mental note after each shot. Some examples:

“Missed short”

“Made it and hit left rim”

“Missed long and it felt flat”

“Swish”

These practices allow you to quiet the ego mind of self judgement and self pride. It’s more difficult than it sounds, and it takes practice and time. As you shoot you’ll feel your old habits arise. The important thing is not to make this a new way to judge and criticize yourself. Instead of berating yourself, pay attention to what you feel - frustration, self doubt, pride - and then refocus your attention on the next rep - how your feet feel on the floor, how the ball feels, and the result of the shot.

By doing this, you’re not only practicing your jump shot, you’re also learning to trust yourself, and practicing the skill of clear, non-judgemental awareness, a skill that can translate to everything you do.