Tennis Exercises Help “Keep Your Eye On The Ball” - Part 2
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Filed Under Tennis Conditioning, Tennis Exercises
Below are the top 3 broad categories of reasons for missing a shot (i.e. losing the point)
- 80% are from taking your eye off the ball before contact
- 15% are from bad footwork
- 5% are from bad stroke mechanics or bad bounces
The eye is a small camera. If you’ve ever tried to take an action shot with a camera, the result is one of two things. You either get a blurred moving object and a clear background or you get a clear moving object and a blurred background. Obviously, the clear moving object with the blurred background is the photo you probably wanted. Both photos suggest an element of speed when the shot was taken. In the case of the blurred object and the clear background, the camera eye was focused on the background and not on the object. In the second case, which produced the photo you were looking for, the camera eye was properly focused on the moving object itself. Although the human eye is more complex than a camera lens, it delivers a similar result. Your eyes can give you both effects but they will never give you both a clear background and a clear moving object at the same time once that object reaches a point about 10 feet from the eye. The eye simply cannot adjust itself fast enough to keep up with the speed of the ball. To hit the tennis ball cleanly you need to focus solely on the ball as it approaches you. Concentrate on it right up until the moment of impact with your racquet and you stand a very good chance of getting it back over the net and winning the point because of an error by your opponent.
Now back to the graph and what it means to your tennis game….
Point A is the player making the shot and point B is the player receiving the shot. If the player at point B keeps his or her eye on the ball throughout its full flight, they have a five times greater chance of making a good return than if they were to take their eye off the ball at point 4 (which is 4/5th’s of the way to player B). That is very important to understand. Most players can successfully keep their eye on the ball right up until point 4, but tend to start concentrating on their return shot between point 4 and point 5.
There is a strong natural tendency to look up at where you want your shot to go at the exact moment you should be focusing only on the ball. This exact same situation happens often in the game of golf. Golfers, even very accomplished golfers, will very often lift their head to watch how good their shot was (or is going to be) just before they actually make contact with the ball.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> (direction of ball movement)
A 1 2 3 4 5 B
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Likewise, the earlier you start focusing on your upcoming shot’s destination (points 3, 2 and 1) the more likely your return shot will be unsuccessful. Sometimes tennis is a game of just fractions of a second. Good shots happen towards point 5 on the graph. Bad shots happen towards point 1 on the graph. Fatigue plays a very large role in how well you are able to concentrate on the upcoming shot.
It has been proven that more unforced errors occur towards the end of the match when both players are getting fatigued. It stands to reason then, that the player in better physical condition stands the better chance of making fewer errors and therefore winning more points. Exercise, conditioning and endurance are key factors in the top players’ arsenals.
All of us have probably played several matches where for whatever reason, our tennis conditioning is far less than it should be. In the Spring, for example when most people who typically put their rackets away for the winter come out to start playing again, are not in very good shape. People who play year-round always have the advantage over the spring, summer, fall players.
So what’s the lesson here? Well, having a structured tennis training regime that includes tennis specific exercises and conditioning drills and that is performed year round provides a decided advantage. Huffing and puffing and trying to catch your breath between shots has a large impact on your ability to concentrate and make a successful return shot.
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