The Soccer Field

A lot of people talk about inner game and outer game as if they are separate entities but the two are connected. Imagine a soccer field where one goal represents inner game and the other goal represents outer game. Your game will make the most progress when the soccer ball is kicked back and forth from one goal to the other. Having the ball kicked around in the mid-field won’t do anything. Instead you must score goals in the inner game as well as the outer game. The two feed off each other and are synergistic.

The same analogy of the soccer field can be used to understand the relationship between material and outer game. Material is at one end and the sets you’ve done are another. The best way to get better is to kick the soccer ball back and forth between the two. If you’re only scoring goals in material then you’re not going to get anywhere. Likewise if you only score goals by going out and socializing you will improve your social skills but will have less of an understanding of the theory behind what you’re doing. Instead you must kick the soccer ball in the outer game goal and then have your team drive it back to the material goal. If you happen to score 5 straight goals in material you must counter that by scoring five straight goals in the outer game. Basically what I’m trying to say her is that you don’t want one team to blow out the other. You don’t want to become the Patriots! We want some balance, or a tie between the teams.

Ideally we want a high scoring tie but in the long run its best to lighten up on the material and focus on being in the field. When people first find the community they consume everything they can get their hands on. The ratio of material/sets is high in the introductory phase to the community. The next phase is growth and this is when the ratio of material to sets should be about even. This is where people will make the most strides in their game. Finally people reach the point where most of their time is spent in-field and relatively little time is spent consuming material. Eventually the vast majority of material becomes highly redundant but new gems can still be found by creative PUAs.