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Did anyone think the NBA Finals was going past last night? Well, anyone besides Cavs fans?
The Warriors were dominant all season, thanks in part to their coach Steve Kerr. When he was healthy and on the sideline, the Warriors were a complete team. Kerr credits his coaching success to have the most stacked team in NBA history. Just kidding. He’s crediting a tennis book from 1972.
But Kerr isn’t one to buckle under stress. In fact, the coach draws on one particular text as a guide to staying relaxed when the heat is on: the 1972 book “The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance,” by Timothy Gallwey.
Kerr is a serious reader with some great book recommendations, but when he sat down with Sports Illustrated writer Chris Ballard last year, the discussion soon turned to the nonfiction book.
Gallwey’s classic text offers key lessons for instances in which the anxious brain might sabotage whatever you are trying to accomplish. The book examines the relationship between the body and mind, informed by Zen Buddhism, and seeks to help readers understand how to stop their mind from getting in the way of their bodies.
It’s essentially about the practice of mindfulness — quieting your thoughts and not judging every moment so that you can let your body do what it knows how to do.
That book is still available for purchase. It’s been updated since the first publication but it still contains the core advice for overcoming the self-doubt, nervousness, and lapses of concentration that can keep a player from winning.
It’s just $11. Grab a copy and maybe win an NBA championship. Or at least get better at other stuff.
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