The Inner Game: Towards More Effective Teaching

Sean Brawley

In the last Inner Game article, we looked at the Culture of Coaching and its dependence primarily on giving technical instructions arising out of a model best described as the "medical" model or "fix what's wrong" model. We also looked deeper at some of the inherent weaknesses and limitations of that approach. (Click Here.)

In this article we'll look at what has been called a "guided discovery" approach where the coach leads the player and gives instructions to their focus or awareness and asks questions about what they are noticing. Research has shown that this is a better, more effective way of facilitating change in both beginners and advanced players.

But this way is challenging for the coach to learn, because it requires them to suspend the habit of telling the player what to do and be comfortable with not knowing exactly how the player will answer.

As Tim Gallway put it: "For the teacher or coach, the question has to be how to give instructions in such a way as to help the natural learning process of the student and not interfere with it."

A Better Way to Learn

Below are some important principles to understand first that will help you make better sense of why helping players become more focused and aware is so effective.

The first important point for the coach to understand is that we all have a natural ability to learn. We can see the evidence of this in children, but because of the way we are taught, parented, and schooled, over time it tends to get covered up and atrophy to a large extent.

Second, research has shown that the foundation of this natural ability to learn (and perform} optimally is the inner skill of directing one's focus of attention. There is much we can attend to in any given moment so where and how we direct our focus determines the information our brain lets in for us to perceive and use. This system is called the Reticular Activating System and acts like a guardian at the gate.

So where and how we pay attention is crucial. When we put our attention on a variable critical for learning and performance in tennis such as reading the ball, footwork and balance, solid contact and a clear target, our brains receive high quality, highly relevant information that optimizes learning, change and ultimately performance.

Third, all movement is in the service of our intention. The dictionary definition of intention is "focus and purpose." Clarifying a player's intention can have an impact on their movement. Changing a player's intention will change their movement. For example, when a player has a clear commitment to finish their stroke in a particular way or a clear intended target on the other side of the court and they know why this is important, then their movement will align with their intention.

And finally, it is important to realize that our natural ability to focus and learn effortlessly can be hijacked when we don't feel safe in our bodies. Feeling comfortable, relaxed and safe allows us to access our parasympathetic/social engagement system so that when we choose to mobilize for action, we are fully engaged and able to experience curiosity, flow, exploration, discovery, and play, rather than the fight-flight response we all know so well.

There are numerous potential threats a player may perceive internally and externally which will show up typically as fear of making a mistake, fear of losing or winning, fear of loss of status or ranking, or fear of being embarrassed. All players are different. As coaches, we need to meet our players where they are and be acutely aware if fear is interfering with the learning process.

Different Ways of Working with a Player's Attention

If a player comes with a problem that they would like to correct or if there is something new they would like to learn such as a topspin serve, there are several innovative ways of helping them learn that don't involve giving technical instructions. The following generally works for all levels from pro to beginner.

Non Judgmental Awareness

I received a call from Patrick Kuehnen, who was then the captain of the German Davis Cup team. Philip Kohlschreiber was due to start his first match in two hours and was having a terrible warm-up, uncharacteristically mis-hitting numerous shots. What should he tell him?

I suggested that he ask Philip to pay attention and feel (not see) where each ball was hitting on his racket. Did it feel like the center or off-center? The problem was corrected within minutes as Philip became more aware of what he was actually doing.

Clear Intended Target

A player came saying they had a problem with their forehand volley. I set up a target in the middle of the court and asked him to tell me how far away each of his volleys landed relative to the target. Asking him to notice the distance and tell me increases their awareness of the result and provides important feedback for their natural learning. Change usually happens within a few minutes.

Another player came with a problem with his forehand volley. I saw that he was chopping down as they hit the ball. The racket head ended around their knee at the finish. I first asked them to notice where they were finishing the stroke.

Once he became aware of where they were finishing, I showed him where I'd like them to finish as a goal. To short circuit their fear and judgment, I also told him that it was okay to finish the old way or the new way. What was most important was that he was able to tell me.

This freed him up from trying to do it the "right way" and instead evoked his curiosity. Once his finish improved and became more consistent, I had him do it the old way on purpose and then the new way.

Going back and forth seems to help a player embody the new stroke more effectively. It also enables him to notice what they are doing off the teaching court. and to self-correct. In other words, he learns how to be their own coach.

Permission to Miss

The starting placekicker at USC was struggling making his bread and butter 30-yard field goals. He started the season 2 for 6, so Coach Pete Carroll asked me to come in and work with him.

I asked Ryan what the problem was, and he said he kept kicking the ball to the right of the goal post. I watched him practice kicking four times and sure enough each time the ball landed to the right of the goal post.

On the next kick I asked him to kick the ball to the right of the goal post on purpose. He did his normal routine and then kicked the ball right through the middle.

He looked at me with a quizzical look and I simply asked him to kick it to the right again. It went right through the middle of the uprights. Now he started swearing! (This was one of my favorite interventions.)

Giving a player a target that is essentially a permission to miss, seems to free something up inside and relieve them of the fear of missing. This allows them to do what they already know how to do.

Distinctions and Differentiation

Bob came wanting to learn how to hit a topspin backhand. In warming up, I observed that most of his shots were indeed flat, but there were a couple here and there that had a little bit of topspin. So first I helped Bob make the distinction between flat and topspin so he could more easily recognize the results of his shots. I hit numerous balls with various spins from flat to lots of topspin and asked him to tell me if they were flat or with topspin.

This is the most basic differentiation and ensures that Bob will be successful in his observations. Once he improves his discernment, I suggest we use a scale between 0 to 5, with 5 being a shot with lots of topspin and 0 being none.

Once he is successful in differentiating more precisely, I then feed him balls to his backhand and ask him to notice and tell me the number of topspin of each of his shots.

He acts pleasantly surprised the first time he hits a topspin shot and says accurately it was a 2. Within 20 minutes, Bob implicitly learns from his own experience how to hit shots with various amounts of spin.

Joan comes to a lesson wanting to improve her serve. She doesn't know what's wrong, but says she is missing a lot. Most players lack the awareness and knowledge of what they are doing wrong, which creates frustration and doubt and is a big part of the problem.

Becoming more aware helps the player feel like they have more control and focusing attention reduces self-interference. Joan's problem is clearly her ball toss. She tosses the ball all over the place and has no consistency.

I asked her to show me several serves and to notice if the toss went to the left or to the right of her nose. I find it helpful to focus on one dimension at a time to make it easier for the player to pay attention.

In this case, even though Joan had been tossing many balls too far in front of her, focusing on left to right starts to create some consistency. So I next created a scale where straight above her head was a zero and then 1 to 3 for either left or right. As Joan began to differentiate further between the toss numbers, she settled quite consistently around 1.5 to her right. Once her toss became consistent her serve improved.

Constraints

Dan came to a lesson to also improve his serve. His toss was inconsistent, throwing off his rhythm and balance. I asked Dan to put his feet together and continue serving.

This limited or constrained Dan's service motion and movement. Within minutes, his body adapted to the constraint and began moving more efficiently, bending his knees, establishing a rhythm and his toss soon became more consistent to match his more efficient movement.

Next, I had him separate his feet and notice the difference in how it felt. I asked him to toggle back and forth with his feet together and apart until he had a better understanding and feel for what he needed to do.

Julie came for a lesson wanting to hit a topspin backhand. I first observed how she currently hit her backhand and decided to experiment. I had her come up to the service line and told her I wanted her to hit the ball into the service box on the other side of the net. I tossed the ball very low of the ground.

The first bunch of balls all went into the net. To get it over the net, she adapted by shortening her swing and opening her racket face. I asked her to swing with a full finish and soon she adapted by brushing up on the ball in order to hit it over the net and inside the other service box. The constraint of the target and the net caused her to adapt and change her stroke in different ways.

As you can see, there are many creative ways that a coach can work with a player to improve their technique and performance other than giving technical instructions. The "guided discovery" approach where the coach directs the player's non-judgmental awareness or focus and asks questions about their experience is powerful and effective. An approach that few coaches are aware of or use.

This approach generates high quality, highly relevant information that enables the player to learn from their own experience. It also provides valuable information to the coach on what the player is thinking, feeling and noticing, while they notice non-judgmentally the results of each shot. In effect, the student's "teach" the coach how to become a better coach.

In next month's article, we'll look at how to put this approach into a long-term developmental model, instead of using it for quick fixes.