Question 1586: It's true that when I hit a nice shot, I don't know how I did it

▶ A mistake is a "shock." You feel anxious because you think it will continue

A mistake is a "shock" to anyone.

That fear that "Will this continue from now on?" or "Will I repeat this again?" becomes especially dominant during a game.

However, just like stubbing your little toe on the corner of a pillar, as long as it is a "shock," it will definitely fade away (I will explain later why this is not just a consolation, but based on quantum mechanics).

At that moment, no matter how regrettable it may be.

Everything is impermanent.

The fear that "it might continue from now on" plunges us tennis players into an indescribable anxiety.

If there were a guarantee that the mistake would end with just that one time, we wouldn't have to be afraid, though.

▶ "Impermanence" makes mistakes no longer scary!

When you hear "everything is impermanent," you might have an image of it being fleeting or lonely, but it is actually a "super bright keyword" that eliminates worries.

In other words, it is the essence of happiness (Related article: "Happiness is 'not having'").

Because no emotion can be permanently saved.

It was Andre Agassi who said that even after winning Wimbledon, "the feeling of happiness doesn't last long".

That said, sad emotions are much the same.

They are destined not to last anyway.

"Impermanence," discovered over 2,500 years ago, can now be proven by quantum mechanics, which discovered that both matter and energy are shifting at the subatomic level. *Note 1

In other words, "impermanence" is not a consolation or a comfort, but "science."

*Note 1:
Emotions and the like are also made of subatomic particles called photons, and their state is said to be impermanent, constantly fluctuating like waves.

▶ You can hit because you "don't know" how to hit

As you say, when you hit an amazing shot, you don't know how you hit it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScKohNh-1E8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScKohNh-1E8
↑ Federer who doesn't know

That is, as I mentioned last time, because your consciousness was directed outward, not inward.

Yet, conventional tennis instruction tries to make you understand how to hit, which is why it didn't work.

▶ Even if you don't know how to hit, you have the 'conviction that it will go in!'

Even though you don't know how to hit an amazing ball (and you can hit it precisely because you don't know!), trying to understand it is counterproductive.

Even for Roger Federer, if he were to consciously think, 'I'm snapping my wrist for this backhand shot...', he wouldn't be able to hit it either.

That doesn't mean it's just a fluke.

Because even if you don't know the mechanics, if your image is precise and accurate, you can hit with the 'conviction that it will go in!' (Related article: 'The Reason Tennis Becomes 'Scary'').

The root of that is what you mentioned, 'the premonition of being corrected'.

▶ The irony of technical instruction being praised as noble the more detailed it is

Let's concede for a moment and assume you somehow understood it (laughs).

'It's true, I stepped in with my right foot, that's why I hit a nice shot!'

But in more detail, what about the direction of your toes, the angle of your body opening, the height of your take-back, the way your shoulder blades were closed at that moment? Your stance? Your pelvis?

These are points that are often pointed out.

It just so happens that you noticed the 'right foot', but the more you try to examine the others in detail, the more 'you don't know'.

In other words, you understood it because it was vague.

To put it another way, you really 'don't know' the details.

Yet, the more detailed the teaching content is—such as how to position your non-dominant hand, how to build a wall, whether to keep your index finger up or fold it—the more people say 'It's easy to understand!' and it is even praised as being somewhat noble.

▶ The 'helplessness' forced upon us by form instruction

Are we so incompetent that we can't even hold a ball to toss it unless we are taught how?

Are we really that helpless?

Because we are forced to feel helpless, our self-esteem is unknowingly crushed.

Even though the body does it automatically, the mind acts like a 'self-appointed coach,' giving instructions to the body from a position of superiority.

If you don't call that blasphemy, what would you call it? (Related article: 'The reason to watch the ball, bonus: 'To keep people from saying this and that'').

▶ That enlightenment is a 'mirage'

'Why?' 'How?' 'I don't know...'

There are many tennis players who are lost on the court like that.

The reason they twist their faces into a demonic expression is because they are too serious (thinking too much).

In the first place, there was never any need to understand!

Conversely, if you think you understand how to hit, such as 'I've had an epiphany with the XX hitting method!', that is just a fleeting mirage.... *Note 2

▶ Things go well when you are 'casual' about how you hit

When you are lost, what becomes your support is the 'Dharma'.

Instead of wandering around in the dark, groping blindly, you rely on the torch of 'Dharma as a lamp' to precisely find the contact point.

Be careful, as self-consciousness—being aware of yourself, your hitting method, or your form—acts as a 'blindfold' that prevents you from seeing the outside.

Once you can adjust, just focus on the ball and play around with your hitting method casually.

This order is important.

▶ Regarding *Note 2: 'No-look' is more of an awakening of ability than a hitting method

By the way, this 'no-look' is a hitting method if you want to call it one, and if you were able to do it (because your self-esteem is high), then that in itself is an epiphany.

That said, if I were to express it in my own way, it is not so much a hitting method, but rather an awakening of ability guided by a perspective (related article "Imagery, Concentration, and the Aha! Experience"). It is not so much that you

"do" no-look, but rather that it "happens" when you focus on the ball.

It is closer to "Being" rather than "Doing".

However, if you know nothing about no-look, ordinary people will just use an "ordinary perspective," so there is no way to challenge it, so I think it is fine to start with the understanding of "doing".

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