Learning to enjoy and playing to win Tennis – And the Game of Life 

An article by Shoaib Ahmed. Shoiab is a President at Tally Solutions. He is a successful entrepreneur, great friend and most of all a wonderful human being. You can reach him with your comments and thoughts at niluahmed@yahoo.com

Tennis has been a passion with me for a long time now, I was initiated to playing the game at a local club, and was in a position to learn the basics of the game fairly quickly. 

Initially, the regular players would be extremely hesitant to play with a ‘Fresher’. My determination to play the game brought a lot of intensity and passion to the tennis court, my game improved, thanks to the effort. However I realized that I was getting tired and also was getting irritated with myself. Instead of playing the game and enjoying myself, I was playing to prove my capability and ensure that I was accepted.  

I was fortunate that at this stage, one of the ‘Senior Players’ spotted my plight, and gifted me a copy  of Inner Tennis: Playing the Game – The reading of which not only changed my game! But also my life. 

The book deals with two key aspects of human psyche - self-image and the will to win. I learnt that there is an opponent inside ones head – more formidable than the one across the net, which prevents an individual or a team from reaching their full potential.  

When one’s mind is disturbed by anxiety, self doubt and concern about ones image, and consequently is overfilled with instructions and thoughts about past and future; it prohibits the full expression of one’s potential. This is true for returning a tennis ball, making a speech, writing an exam or taking a business decision. 

I now become a lot more aware of myself while playing the game, and realized that I was tightening my body and playing awkwardly, especially during a ‘set’, however while rallying before the game – my action was smooth – and body a lot more relaxed. 

In order to overcome my anxiety, I practiced the “Bounce-hit’ drill, which I learnt from Inner Tennis; The ‘bounce-hit’ exercise is a device for keeping the mind calm so the body can hit the ball. Gallaway has explained how a novice learnt to play Tennis within 25 minutes, without any technical instructions; In fact she serves an entire game against him with out a double fault during the exercise.  

This drill helped me to concentrate on seeing and feeling the ball and responding to it, instead of looking and trying to hit it. 

I experienced a major shift in my game; I was in control of my strokes now and was able to keep the ball in play for a much longer time – And Yes I was now accepted by the other Tennis players! 

However at this stage, I was still not able to win and would invariably lose my set after playing well. 

‘Inner Tennis’ – helped me realize that I need to focus on one goal – ‘Play to Win’ – And not get distracted by secondary goals like – ‘Playing to keep fit’ or ‘Playing to get accepted’ etc… 

Playing tennis has now become an addiction for me. I use the following principles of my learning to play better tennis and in my work life too,  

1. Increase awareness of my current situation – my responsibility, my strengths, my weakness
2. Increase awareness of where I want to go – my goals and dreams
3. Let go of internal interferences – self doubt, fears, anxieties
4. Give up unnecessary objectives!
5. Seek active inspiration from successful people, with similar commitment
6. Practice skill development frequently, and with awareness

As a leader, it has helped me to become aware and sensitive about my team’s capability, help them overcome self doubts and build confidence.  

With God’s grace I have been extremely successful in all my endeavors  and strongly recommend the above principles for success.

Shoaib Ahmed

An article by Shoaib Ahmed. Shoiab is a President at Tally Solutions. He is a successful entrepreneur, great friend and most of all a wonderful human being. You can reach him with your comments and thoughts at niluahmed@yahoo.com