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The other day a friend was over and we got to talking about what each of us was reading
lately. He's big into racket sports and had picked up the book, The Inner Game of
Tennis by Tim Gallway. Since I'm always looking for different ways to teach the
mental game of baseball to my athletes I
welcomed his discussion of how Gallway goes about explaining the conflict between thinking too
much and just simply doing (relying on training an muscle memory) in any sport. Let me
give you an example.
 Picture yourself standing on the tee box at your favorite golf
course, or at the free throw line in a baseball game. Most of us have experienced one of
those scenarios before. What happens when you begin to think about the mechanics of the
next step involved in your action? Your inner voice may sound something like, "Ok, this
time you just need to work on bringing the club head through the ball on a straight
plane. Oh, and dont forget to follow through after contact!". At the freethrow
line you may hear, "Remember, this is a big shot. You're down by one and you need to
sink this shot to give your team a chance. If you miss this shot, coach will certainly
be furious and you'll probably run more at practice Tuesday." Most of us have
experienced something similar in these situations. Usually when this type of inner voice
clutter gets too loud or too frequent we struggle with our performance. We shank the
ball or miss the free throw.
Gallway points out that it's interesting to think about the conversations that take place in our
minds on a daily basis. In any conversation there is one party doing the talking and one
party doing the listening. This implies that you have two selves conversing ideas and
thoughts in your mind while you are trying to perform a task. He calls these Self 1 and Self
2. Self 1 in is charge of telling (mechanics, directions, commands) and Self 2 is in charge
of doing (muscle memory). Great athletes are those who can silence Self 1 during performances
and rely on Self 2 (muscle memory) to take over.
Here's how it works. Imagine that Self 1 and Self 2 are actual people for a moment. In
baseball, Self 1 would be talking to Self 2 saying, "Remember, you need to get a proper weight
shift to create power on this next pitch! And you do know last time up to bat this guy blew
the ball right past you because you weren't ready! But, you can't forget about his
curveball, it's nasty and you probably can't hit it!" Self 2 all the while is trying to focus on
the job of hitting the baseball with Self 1 screaming commands in his ear. It would be tough
to concentrate and over time, the confidence of Self 2 would only diminish if he could not perform
under the pressure Self 1 was creating. Of course, this would only increase the amount of
commands and directives Self 1 would issue to Self 2 in the attempt to get him to fix
things.
I think you get the point. So now the question is, how do you shut up Self 1 when you are
trying to focus on performing a highly precise task of hitting a baseball consistently?
In order to keep Self 1 quiet you need to learn how to keep him occupied. Below I provide one
good way to do this. But, just like working on your hitting mechanics, developing the mental
game of baseball takes repetition and practice.
Breath. Yes, I know you all do this. However if you can focus on listening
to your breathing you will keep Self 1 quiet. This will simply allow Self 2 to
do his job without interference because Self 1 will be occupied with demanding focus on listening
to your breathing. When your body and muscles are relaxed, your breath is slow and
rhythmic. When you are tense or distracted you tend to have more of a quick breathing
pattern. By listening to your breathing you will also allow your body to relax and become in
synchronization with your breathing. Controlled breathing is a great way to allow Self 2 to
perform to the best of his ability.
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