The Inner Game of Tennis
The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallweyby W. Timothy Gallwey
Ranked 3 of 9 psychology books by recommenders
People recommend it for changing how readers think about their own minds, and some reread it every so often. Commenters also cite it as background for discussions of effort and thinking.
People recommend it for changing how readers think about their own minds, and some reread it every so often. Commenters also cite it as background for discussions of effort and thinking.
4 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 4
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 4 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Often referenced in HN discussions
“this post kind of makes a lot more sense if you've read The Inner Game of Tennis”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “The appropriate amount of effort is zero” “The Inner Game of Tennis has entered the chat”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “The appropriate amount of effort is zero” Shaped how readers think about minds
“It had a big influence on how I think about my own mind.”
Comment from 16 Oct 2026 in “How to make System 1 LLMs show System 2 competencies?” Reread every once in a while
“Its one of the book i read every once in a while”
Comment from 16 Oct 2026 in “How to make System 1 LLMs show System 2 competencies?”
Other psychology books people recommend
The four most recommended other psychology books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Courage to Be Dislikedby Ichiro Kishimi | 7 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | — |
| Influenceby Robert Cialdini | 7 | 1 | 88% | 5 | — | — |
| The Inner Game of Tennisby W. Timothy GallweyThis page | 4 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| The Happiness Hypothesisby Jonathan Haidt | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Stumbling on Happinessby Daniel Gilbert | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 4 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It had a big influence on how I think about my own mind.”
“Its one of the book i read every once in a while”
“this post kind of makes a lot more sense if you've read The Inner Game of Tennis”
“The Inner Game of Tennis has entered the chat”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.