I rad Inner Skiing about 6-7 years ago, and it changed my skiing life. Most everything written about skiing (and other sports, as far as I can tell) is about technique, tricks, how-to's and so on. Inner Skiing is about being a skier - about the fundamental relationship we have to the snow, the mountain, the skis and ourselves.

Discovering who I am as a skier (and what my fears, my doubts, my anxieties look like) have exploded this sport for me. This book works on the emotional, intellectual and physical levels - I use the discovery tools on myself, and with my students, and get incredible results.

Even if you don't ski, this book is great - I've used some of his approaches in many areas of my life. They're fun, they're doable, and they help me focus on what's really there, not what I imagine. And beyond that, they open up incredible opportunities to play, explore and have a great time on the slopes or off.

The earlier edition of the book poo-pood technique - I don't agree with that, and my sense is the book took a bit of a hit for that. There's things to learn about skiing, and taking lessons from a great instructor will make a huge difference whether it's your first day or you've been at it for decades. Nonetheless, I recommend this as book #1 for anyone who wants to ski, or who wants something more from their skiing. ANd for the instructors out there - read it!

Physical weakness has plagued me for over three years. This book is giving me the confidence to trust my body all over again. Due to agoraphobia I have become weak. After starting this book I am now giving my body the credit it deserves. He suggests dealing with doubt,worry,and fear.

Take a good slow look at this book. If it helps, let me know. Steve

I have been reading this book for about twenty years(first publication was November 1977); it was the first of two Inner Game books which, although differing in details, both transformed my attitude to and my performance in the sports I love. I was fortunate to have been given it by a patient who was an Inner Game instructor (or rather, facilitator). If Inner Skiing has only now (1997) become widely available, thanks to the Internet, a generation of British skiers has lost out; for years it has been available only in the USA and to members of Inner Game workshops. With examples from life and from Inner Skiing workshops which are encouraging, inspiring, and often emotionally touching, the book helps skiers of all standards to confront their fears and to tap into the mind's and the body's unconscious store of knowledge and skills; the fears of "flying", falling, speed, injury, failure, and the fear of looking stupid; the knowledge locked into Gallwey's Self 2, a Self which, he teaches us, is ours too. Where his Self 1 is trying, tense, unsure, scared and controlling, Self 2 is free, relaxed, effortless, powerful, and instinctive. Gallwey and his co-author Bob Kriegel, a more experienced skier than he and a psychologist, equip their readers with simple but highly effective keys to Self 2, enabling us increasingly to find in skiing the exhilaration of the breakthrough run, and unlocking the confidence without which the sport can be an exercise in anxiety. Most of us in the UK only get to ski once a year. I reread Inner Skiing annually as an essential pre-ski exercise, and if I don't read every word I never fail to take a dose of inspiration from the paragraph in the last chapter which begins "Inside us all is a mountain with no top and no bottom. The skiing there is perfect. The snow is made of pure peace and there is not a trace of Self 1 interference.................Skiing this inner mountain has the power to satisfy the human longing to know oneself and the reason for which one was born." You may guess from this that Timothy Gallwey's is the inner game of life, with applications far beyond the realms of sport, as his other writing attests. Dr. Basil Lee, London, England.

I have never read any of Gallwey's earlier books, such as the famed "The Inner Game of Tennis", and after reading this latest book in the series I can guarantee that I never will read any of the others.

I bought this book primarily because I have a business interest in coaching, and most coaching books that I have read made some reference, however fleeting, to Gallwey's work.

Surely, I thought, the guy must have something pretty fundamental to say about the art of coaching. And surely the latest book must have the most up-to-date synthesis of the author's ideas.
Well, if it does, then I am at a total loss to understand what all the fuss is about.

If this book is anything to go by, the whole "inner game" thing amounts to no more than three or four pretty basic ideas:

1. Self 1 and Self 2. According to Gallwey, Self 2 is your "natural" self, who would do brilliantly in life but for being constantly tripped up by Self 1 - your conscious, judgemental, less able self. According to Gallwey we need to put Self 1 to one side and trust in Self 2.

2. The whole Self 1 / Self 2 business is summed up in the "equation":

P (performance) = p (potential - Self 2) - i (interference - Self 1)

3. After stringing this painfully simple notion out for nearly three-quarters of the book, we get to STOP:

Step back
Think
Organise your thoughts, and
Proceed

This, too, is pretty basic, but it is perfectly true that we often let ourselves get so wound up by events that we really need to go through some simple routine such as this to get everything back in perspective. And if 25 pages seems rather a lot to explain such a simple idea, at least's a lot less than the 137 pages devoted to "P=p-i"!

4. The last idea, which Gallway calls "thinking like a CEO", belongs in the same category as "discussing chakra's in the boardroom". The author apparently wants us (the CEOs) to believe that we each metaphorically divide ourself (hereinafter known as "the corporation")into "shares" which we then trade off with our spouse, our children, our parents. our teachers and just about anyone else that wanders through our lives.

Most of us, if I understand the metaphor correctly, have traded our entire corporation away and therefore can have no control over our life until we've re-acquired a substantial part of those shares. Indeed, there's even a sample "CEO Exercise Worksheet" for you to fill in with details like "What is your Mission Statement?", "What is your primary Product?" and ...

No, this is too ridiculous for words. Let's move on.

About the only useful material in the book is in Chapter 9 - Coaching. Although it's a comparatively long chapter (37 pages), and whilst some of the ideas therein are pretty dodgy, it does at least raise various topics that are worth thinking about for anyone engaged in coaching or self-coaching.

My problem, then, is why bother with a book of 226 pages (main text), just to get a few intellectual nudges in the last quarter of the book?
And I can't think of a single good reason.

Far better, in my estimation to go for John Whitmore's "Coaching for Performance", recently re-released in a new edition.

Whitmore's own work as a coach and trainer of coaches is supposedly based on Gallwey's original ideas. But a comparison of these two books suggests that the pupil has long since overtaken the "master".

Got the book yesterday and read it cover-to-cover in one sitting!

The book is a pleasure to read and at the same time it manages to challenge some of my most engrained ideas and concepts about "work".

The last chapter is a gem. Tim Gallwey asks poignant questions, one after the other, relentlessly. Putting the book down left me with so many excellent questions that I did not have the insight (or the courage) to ask myself on my own. The answer to these questions is a life's work.

The first step in finding answers is to ask the right questions. Tim Gallwey does just that, asking the "Whys?" in a courageous, dignified and inspirational way. Highly recommended for people that want to know more about themselves and are open to a different insight to the meaning of Work, Life and Enjoyment.

I highly recommend Gallwey's "Inner Game of Work" to every manager and executive. It's so refreshing to read a business or management book with real substance. So many books published in the last 20 years introduce or exploit a new buzzword, have 2 pages of interesting content, and then go on for another 200 pages of filler. As a result, I've become reluctant to read business and management books published recently.Gallwey's book goes beyond buzzwords. The author introduces groundbreaking management theory. He also provides some very practical action steps to implement the new theory.In my company as in many, we are trying to transition to a team approach throughout the organization. Over the next few years Gallwey's book and his ideas will be an extremely valuable resource in our efforts. "Inner Game of Work" is a gem. I would not be at all surprised if it becomes the best-selling business book of the year.

There's a lot to like about this book, including the specific techniques used to get past mental obstacles, so musicians can play better and enjoy their playing more. I also enjoyed the encouraging tone it takes with the reader. The authors give you the sense that anyone can make music.

The personal stories that illustrate the book's strategies help you connect more deeply with the material. You may even get a chuckle or two from some of these.

What I get from the book is that we all have inner resources that we've hidden from ourselves, and that we can learn to tap these resources with a bit of work and AWARENESS.

This book could actually help in lots of areas besides making music. If you like motivational books, such as those by Tony Robbins, or books on NLP, this book might actually seem tame in comparison, but still relevant.

This book is a miracle for me. You might have heard of a book called the Inner Game of Tennis. In this book, the author reveals how he vastly improved his tennis skills through the revelation that he was actually playing 2 games: 1) The outer game, i.e. his skills and physical abilities and 2) The inner game, i.e. his mastery over his own psychological and emotional states while practicing and playing.

Well, these principles are not limited to the game of tennis, but wholly applicable to any challenge in life, from playing music to forming good relationships to whatever. Along comes a musician who recognizes this, teams up with the original author and writes a miraculous book for the musicians of the world. I doubt if there are many musicians who could not benefit from the information in this book.

Why should you improve your inner game? The book gives a great example... think of something that is easy for you to play, something you can play well every time. Now picture yourself thrust down onto the stage of Carnegie Hall in front of a packed house that expects you to play something brilliant. Do you think your nerves might get in the way of playing this simple little piece to your potential? If so, then you probably need this book. If not, you are a master already and I wonder why you are wasting your time reading this!

Remember that your skills, no matter what level, are considered part of your "outer game." These skills are particular to you, your physical limitations, your instrument, and your instrument's limitations. This book focuses on the inner game, which is universal. By universal, I mean the inner game is not even specific to music, but applies to any challenge. By using language, stories, and metaphors that are familiar to musicians, the book can help you improve your musical inner game, but there's no reason it should stop there.

The Inner Game of Music does an ingenious job of simplifying the psychology and spirituality of playing music into something practical by putting aside debatable beliefs about ego, id, subconscious, conscious, etc, and focusing simply on whether you are playing your inner game or losing it.

An example from my life... I have been studying with a master jazz guitarist for a couple of years. At times when I practice, I find myself playing a good inner game, very relaxed, playing from the heart, amazed at the notes I hear. I find that when you play a good inner game, you feel more like an observer than a participant. Well, when I sit down with my teacher, I become aware of his mastery. My own nervousness and desire to play well for him quite often cause enough interference to make me play well below my ability. Since reading this book, I have found that more often I can really relax with him, stretch out and really play to the best of my ability, often surprising us both. I find myself coming further in my limited practice time and playing better in unfamiliar situations. It is all about the inner game!

This is the most incredible book ever written on all aspects of music. This is a must read for any musician, regardless of your level. If you are at the top of your career or just starting out this book's techniques can help you in many ways. Barry Green is the master of helping people preform to their best.

If you ever get the chance visit his web site www.innergameofmusic.com or attend one of his blockbuster workshops.

I CAN"T WAIT TO READ HIS NEXT BOOK!!!!

Not a book of technique but one which transformed my attitude to playing tennis. Gallwey explains his transformation from a an ego-driven win-at all-cost player, to a yoga-player who played for the experience without desire to win, to a player who concentrates on making the effort to win. The latter concept, as opposed to being concerned about winning, was the most profound part of the book for me. It explained paradoxes I had felt in competing as purely social player, where often I had not wanted to win. The book has taught me to think less, to concentrate more, and to focus on playing in the present without harse self-judgement. Gallwey insists that he has not written a self-help book, but his philosophy is certainly applicable to wider spheres, not the least learning new sports such as, in my case, roller-blading. I'm trying to just 'let it happen". A book that needs to be kept and read over.

I first read this book in early 1989 and it changed my life .With its guidance I totally transformed the way I looked at the world and yes I started winning tennis matches also.I dip back into it every now and then and what I like about the author is that he doesn't dictate to the reader but allows us find our own solutions and thus take ownership of our own destinys.As he says himself anybody with the right amount of sincerity and determination can find their true path in life....."Men play games because God first plays a Game".

I am not a tennis player. I am a pool player and everything said in this book applies to the inner game (except chapter five.) As I read this book I thought to myself-I do that, I do this. My nine ball game has improved dramatically. I went from just finishing out of the money to placing at least third in my last eight events (which has made me about three thousand dollars.) What a great book and highly recommended for any competitive player in any non-team sport.

It is one of those books that concentrate on golf as a mind game. It is helpful in explaining why golf shots are difficult to repeat and we should not try to do so. Instead, look at every shot afresh and let the mind (called Self2)takes over. Self 1 is a critic and doubter and should be silenced if you are to improve your score.

While my score has not improved yet, I am beginning to enjoy my swings and putts better. Hopefully, I can do what the author did - play only once a week and still break 80.

Good read if techniques are getting you nowhere in your game.

"The Inner Game of Golf" has been on bookstore shelves for 20 years because it appeals to a segment of the golfing public that eschews traditional instruction. It is not a book about how to play golf; it is a book about how to learn golf. The author's approach is a straightforward application of Eastern psychology and targets the subconscious mind of the golfer as the primary player of the game. Most of the methods described in the book are directed toward quieting the conscious (verbal) mind so that the subconscious (non-verbal) mind can learn from experience.

Here's an example. In the traditional approach to playing the game, the golfer watches the flight of the ball after contact and deduces from it how he must have swung. From that information he makes mechanical corrections that are applied to the next swing. In the Inner Game approach, the golfer does not watch, but feels the flight of the ball after contact. From this feedback the subconscious mind automatically makes corrections that are applied to subsequent shots. For me, the former approach has always led to frustration. Driving range corrections always fall apart after 3 holes on the course, and mechanical analyses lead to doubt. But with the Inner Game approach, my swing gets stronger thru the round, and I hit with greater and greater confidence as the round progresses. It is often a confident feeling that I carry with me for many hours after leaving the course. In that respect, a round of golf early in the morning is, like meditation, a conditioner for the daily activities that follow.

This updated version of "The Inner Game of Golf" is a substantial revision of the original, and owners of the 1981 edition may well want to consider buying the update. While several sections remain untouched, there is fresh material inserted throughout as well as a couple of completely new chapters. But the most significant revision is one of tone. Gone is the enthusiastic arrogance of the original which aggressively promoted the Inner Game approach as superior to traditional teaching methods. Indeed, the 1981 version flatly stated that Inner Game techniques should not be used in conjunction with traditional methods. While this tone may have helped elevate the book to its cult status, it ultimately turned off the serious golfing community to the point where the author's name is rarely mentioned by traditional golf instructors. In the revision, the author changes direction completely and now says that the inner game approach should be merged with traditional instruction to create a new, synthesized approach to learning. He even offers a few techniques for achieving such a synthesis.

But, what hasn't changed is the author's central thesis that it is the golfer's understanding of why he plays the game that leads to both success with the sport and contentment as a result of it. The reader who understands and accepts this fundamental concept will find himself transformed in a way he would never have predicted from a mere golf book.

For many years, people I play with have complained about my handicap. Yet I seldom play more than a stroke or two above or below my handicap. Yet during a round I will hit many fine shots seldom seen by someone with my handicap (a high one). Clearly, I must know what to do, but cannot do it consistently. People shake their heads at that explanation, and predict that my handicap will soon fall -- which it doesn't.

Having just read Mr. Gallwey's excellent book, The Inner Game of Work, I could immediately sense that he was on to something with regard to his concept of paying attention to critical features of your activities as a way to learn how to improve rapidly. That's a point that we stress in The Irresistible Growth Enterprise and The 2,000 Percent Solution.

As an example of this point, I had stopped taking lessons over the last year-and-a-half, and my tee shots and fairway woods greatly improved. The main thing I noticed is that I began to rely on myself to figure out what I was doing wrong, rather than waiting to have my pro show me. As a result, I figured out a lot of long-term faults never unearthed in the lessons and corrected them.

I was very excited to find a number of other drills I could use in this fine book to locate other faults and correct them. Just thinking about the drills allowed me to locate four faults that I had not been aware of before. I can hardly wait to see how I hit the ball tomorrow!

One of the places where my game started to get better was when I noticed that if I played with no focus on winning or score I played much better. Mr. Gallwey provides several tools for extending that psychology that I intend to use as well.

Some people had taught me other ways to keep score: How many putts, how many fairways and greens in regulation, quota points, and square shots. Mr. Gallwey's book adds learning and enjoyment scores as well. I think those will add a lot to my game, as well. It helps to be given permission to think about something other than the gross score.

Mr. Gallwey unerringly describes every harmful mental process I use to hit poor shots, deny myself fun and learning, and to make myself miserable. Even if my golf doesn't get any better (and I would be surprised if that happened), this book will add a lot to my enjoyment of golf and life.

If you don't already understand the key elements of the swing, it may be that this book will not help you as much. If you are a long-term golfer who has taken a lot of lessons, watches good players, and wants to get more out of your game, this book is a great use of your time and money.

I also recommend Dave Pelz's new book, Dave Pelz's Putting Bible. Mr. Pelz does a great job of combining physical, technique and mental processes to help your putting. I realized from The Inner Game of Golf that some of what I learned from Pelz's short game school that works for me relies on tools that Mr. Gallwey speaks about in this book. That gave me more confidence to try out Mr. Gallwey's suggestions.

Hit 'em all like you'd like to!

Donald Mitchell

Coauthor of The Irresistible Growth Enterprise (available in August 2000) and The 2,000 Percent Solution

(donmitch@fastforward400.com)

I just wanted to share the incredible feeling that just a little patience managed to get me after reading this book. Mr. Gallwey has managed to put into words how one feels and thinks when involved in sport (any sport not just tennis). I first read this book 18 years ago, and my snooker game (billiards) improved immensely. For anyone wanting to master their sport, and find out what "being in the zone" is all about, this is a MUST read!

I have never read any of Gallwey's earlier books, such as the famed "The Inner Game of Tennis", and after reading this latest book in the series I can guarantee that I never will read any of the others.

I bought this book primarily because I have a business interest in coaching, and most books that I read made some reference, however fleeting, to Gallwey's work.

Surely, I thought, the guy must have something pretty fundamental to say about the art of coaching. And surely the latest book must have the most up-to-date synthesis of the author's ideas.
Well, if it does, then I am at a total loss to understand what all the fuss is about.

If this book is anything to go by, the whole "inner game" thing amounts to no more than three or four pretty basic ideas:

1. Self 1 and Self 2. According to Gallwey, Self 2 is your "natural" self, who would do brilliantly in life but for being constantly tripped up by Self 1 - your conscious, judgemental, less able self. According to Gallwey we need to put Self 1 to one side and trust in Self 2.

2. The whole Self 1 / Self 2 business is summed up in the "equation":

P (performance) = p (potential - Self 2) - i (interference - Self 1)

3. After stringing this painfully simple notion out for nearly three-quarters of the book, we get to STOP:

Step back
Think
Organise your thoughts, and
Proceed

This, too, is pretty basic, but it is perfectly true that we often let ourselves get so wound up by events that we really need to go through some simple routine such as this to get everything back in perspective. And if 25 pages seems rather a lot to explain such a simple idea, at least's a lot less than the 137 pages devoted to "P=p-i"!

4. The last idea, which Gallway calls "thinking like a CEO", belongs in the same category as "discussing chakra's in the boardroom". The author apparently wants us (the CEOs) to believe that we each metaphorically divide ourself (hereinafter known as "the corporation")into "shares" which we then trade off with our spouse, our children, our parents. our teachers and just about anyone else that wanders through our lives.

Most of us, if I understand the metaphor correctly, have traded our entire corporation away and therefore can have no control over our life until we've re-acquired a substantial part of those shares. Indeed, there's even a sample "CEO Exercise Worksheet" for you to fill in with details like "What is your Mission Statement?", "What is your primary Product?" and ...

No, this is too ridiculous for words. Let's move on.

About the only useful material in the book is in Chapter 9 - Coaching. Although it's a comparatively long chapter (37 pages), and whilst some of the ideas therein are pretty dodgy, it does at least raise various topics that are worth thinking about for anyone engaged in coaching or self-coaching.

My problem, then, is why bother with a book of 226 pages (main text), just to get a few intellectual nudges in the last quarter of the book?
And I can't think of a single good reason.

Far better, in my estimation to go for John Whitmore's "Coaching for Performance", recently re-released in a new edition.

Whitmore's own work as a coach and trainer of coaches is supposedly based on Gallwey's original ideas. But a comparison of these two books suggests that the pupil has long since overtaken the "master".

This is a descent book including a lot of good advice on how to improve your performance and success within a business and corporate environment. The advice flows naturally from the author's foundation established with his first book 'The Inner Game of Tennis.' However, the themes and methods are not too repetitive. The book reads very well and easily.

Is your job boring or stressful? The author shows you how to overcome the obstacles and make it challenging and managable. By making your job into a game, you can let yourself enjoy your job more. Does that sound refreshing or what?

If you have had a bad manager... or if you want to be a good one... this book will encouage you toward motivating yourself and others in a way that will actually work.

The book's genius is in its observation about human beings, their work, and their motivational patterns. Through paying closer attention to the internal state of the worker and to the details of the job, the author brings the work into sharper focus. He advocates that workers also choose to notice details about their jobs; in this greater level of awareness, they can make better choices about the work... and can get past layers of defensiveness or fear in order to do better (more enjoyable!) work.

Not every chapter will speak to you, and not every concept will be just what you need. But I would bet money that somewhere in this book you will find a gem of insight into yourself or others you work with... and if you follow that insight, it will be worth the price of the book.

This book helped me sort out the logic behind my "good days" and "bad days" so I could make more of my days good. I sometimes struggle with being content with my job, and this book is giving me tools to use to enjoy my job more!

PS - I'm not the only one who thought this book was worthwhile. Go to the other edition of the book for more reviews.