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"too many verbal instructions, given either from outside or inside, interfere with one’s shotmaking ability. "

"If you asked a group of teaching professionals to write down all the important elements of hitting a forehand, most would find it easy to distinguish at least fifty. On the other hand, understanding the swing, and remembering its feel, is like remembering a single picture"

"A child doesn’t have to break the habit of crawling, because he doesn’t think he has a habit. He simply leaves it as he finds walking an easier way to get around. "

"At first this puzzled me. Why would one go back to letting Self 1 control the show if the results were so clearly less effective?"

"When you try hard to hit the ball correctly, and it goes well, you get a certain kind of ego satisfaction. You feel that you are in control, that you are master of the situation. But when you simply allow the serve to serve itself, it doesn’t seem as if you deserve the credit."

"In spite of the fact that I deliver my most effective performance when I permit the spontaneous Self 2 to be in control, there is still a recurring impulse to think about how I did it, make a formula out of it and bring it into Self 1’s domain where it can feel in control."

"The moment I tried to apply some “secret,” Self 1 was back in the picture again, this time under the subtle guise of “trying to let go."

"Consciousness could be called the light of lights because it is by its light that all other lights become visible"

"Self 1 likes the idea of playing in the zone. So Self 1 will try to grasp onto almost anything that promises to take you to what everyone agrees is a wonderful place. But there is one catch; the only way to get there is to leave Self 1 behind."

" as long as you let Self 1 be the one that takes you there, it will be there too and you will not be able to go into the zone. If you do, even for a moment, Self 1 will say, “Good, I got there,” and you will be out again."

"Though I hated losing, I didn’t really enjoy beating someone else; I found it slightly embarrassing"

"“Then what do you really want?” The answer was quite unexpected. What I really wanted, I realized, was to overcome the nervousness that was preventing me from playing my best and enjoying myself."

"they vehemently criticize competition." What is not usually admitted is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, then that would count. Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly this belief is the same as that of the competitor trying to prove himself

"But something was missing. I didn’t experience a desire to win, and as a result I often lacked the necessary determination" "Was there a determination to win that wasn’t an ego trip?"

"If he just wanted to be “in the now,” he could do that on a medium-size wave. Why does the surfer wait for the big wave?" "It is only against the big waves that he is required to use all his skill, all his courage and concentration to overcome"

"*Only by competing with you does he in fact cooperate! No one wants to stand around on the court waiting for the big wave" "true competition is identical with true cooperation"

"If I assume that I am making myself more worthy of respect by winning, then I must believe that by defeating someone, I am making him less worthy of respect. I can’t go up without pushing someone else down. This belief involves us in a needless sense of guilt."