How many of you can watch the ball all the way to the stringbed?

[kiteboard]

Fed sees it blur out and then disappear as frame comes into frame. He has spoken on this. Chang did the same. Others have as well. Most cannot. Others telling us we cannot see a blur is just silly, and somewhat insane. Yes it blurs out, yes we see the blurring frame come into play, yet others claim we don't? Just the internet for you.

[Swissv2]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdJB4uuCecs&hd=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m7Aj5eFWaA&hd=1

A much better view of how Fed watches the ball.

[Swissv2]

Originally Posted by kiteboard

Fed sees it blur out and then disappear as frame comes into frame. He has spoken on this. Chang did the same. Others have as well. Most cannot. Others telling us we cannot see a blur is just silly, and somewhat insane. Yes it blurs out, yes we see the blurring frame come into play, yet others claim we don't? Just the internet for you.

When did Federer mention this?

[rkelley]

I don't know if I see the ball impact the stringbed or not, but I know that when I watch the ball all the way to my racquet, regardless of whether or not I see the last foot or two of travel, I always hit better than when I find my focus about at about 5-10 feet out.

I always say to myself, "Watch the ball. There's nothing happening out here that's more interesting." Sometimes I actually do it.

[LeeD]

Not me, I can watch until the ball get's over the net, then everything is decided.
For most serves, I actually don't look at the ball.
OTOH, I'm a pretty bad tennis player for my potential.

[Povl Carstensen]

To me it is more mental than technical. The hard part is to resist the urge or reflex to look up to see your result. It is almost philosophical; you have to let go of the result, and focus on the proces (to get the best result). Every time a shot is harder or more exiting, like going for a winner, it gets more difficult. Focus on the ball, not the result.
Another distraction to handle, is the urge to use too much attention on what your opponent is doing...

[Chyeaah]

Originally Posted by LeeD

Not me, I can watch until the ball get's over the net, then everything is decided.
For most serves, I actually don't look at the ball.
OTOH, I'm a pretty bad tennis player for my potential.

Watching the ball is hard work...

[Susak]

Originally Posted by aimr75

yes his head is tilted, but he definitely is not "seeing" the ball right to the string bed

Thats because its not a regular groundstroke. He is hitting a return of serve here so the ball must be traveling fast. Seeing that its going to his forehand, its likely a first serve and obviously very fast and difficult to watch all the way even for Mr. Federer (but im sure he could do it if he tried and thought about it). You will rarely see him not tracking the ball all the way to the string bed and keeping his eyes on the contact point even after the ball has been struck.

I find that watching the ball all the way to impact is very useful and produces better strokes. I see it as a "still picture", others describe it as seeing the ball slow, seeing the ball bigger, or as Agassi put it "I hit the ball when it stops". Watching the ball hit the strings on the serve is extremely helpful in my experience and for my students as well.

[Thepowerofchoice]

Revolutionary Tennis
How To Look At The Ball Like Roger Federer
http://www.revolutionarytennis.com/f...technique.html

[SystemicAnomaly]

Originally Posted by Susak

Thats because its not a regular groundstroke. He is hitting a return of serve here so the ball must be traveling fast. Seeing that its going to his forehand, its likely a first serve and obviously very fast and difficult to watch all the way even for Mr. Federer (but im sure he could do it if he tried and thought about it). You will rarely see him not tracking the ball all the way to the string bed and keeping his eyes on the contact point even after the ball has been struck.

When a high speed serve reaches the returner, it is probably going 50-65 mph. A player at the net might have to deal with balls speeds higher than this at times. For ball speeds somewhat less than 30 mph, however, its is still doubtful that Federer or anyone else can see the ball all the way into the stringbed.

I have seen a couple of high-speed videos of Roger that show his gaze at the contact point slightly before the ball gets there -- his eyes jump ahead to the contact point. That means his eyes are not really following the ball at that point. During/after contact, his eyes are still not following the ball for a while.

Originally Posted by Playnice

I find that watching the ball all the way to impact is very useful and produces better strokes. I see it as a "still picture", others describe it as seeing the ball slow, seeing the ball bigger, or as Agassi put it "I hit the ball when it stops". Watching the ball hit the strings on the serve is extremely helpful in my experience and for my students as well.

Yes, these little tricks can be very useful. Are you certain about the Agassi quote? I was under the impression that Andre stopped following the ball just before it became "invisible" -- as if he was taking a snapshot shortly before contact. If you look at pics of Andre it appear that he is looking slightly ahead of the CP. (Note: he does keep his head still for a while tho').

[Maui19]

I have been paying some attention to this since this thread was started. First of all, I hit the ball MUCH better when I watch it all the way to the racquet.

I find that I see the ball clearly all the way to the racquet. However the racquet itself is just a blur as it comes through the hitting area, so no I don't actually see it hit the strings. I believe for that to happen your eyes would need to follow the racquet as it moves forward, and that would not be good for your tennis.

[SystemicAnomaly]

^ It's an illusion. Your brain is filling in missing visual info.

[Maui19]

I see what I see.

[papa]

Well, I think most have concluded that we see only 20 - 30 frames per second. I often place quite a few balls on the court, several feet apart, to try to indicate this.

[SystemicAnomaly]

Originally Posted by Maui19

I see what I see.

Ok, you apparently possess a bionic visual system that is capable of smooth pursuit velocities much greater than 90 degrees/sec.

When returning moderately easy balls on a hitting wall, I can often see the ball all the way or nearly all the way to my contact point. But then the ball slows down when it hits the wall and again when it bounces (in addition to the air drag losses in flight). However, when returning moderately fast balls on the court, my eyes are incapable of smooth (pursuit) tracking all the way.
.

[Povl Carstensen]

The still picture, or photograph concept is good for me. "Photograph" the ball the instant before (or as?) you hit it. And that photograph should be of the ball in your strike zone
You should at least look at it until it is too late to change the stroke.

[WildVolley]

I've seen the ball hit the strings, but that is a rare. I don't know what I do differently when that happens, but I can identify the spot on the racket that the blur hit.

Mostly, I have no recollection of ever seeing the ball hit the strings and have no idea if I'm even looking at the racket at contact.

As I understand it, the eyes don't have the ability to track a ball moving at high speeds close to the body. It isn't really that the ball is invisible, which would explain why if you aren't smoothly tracking it, it is sometimes possible to see the ball impact off the racket bed, which I've definitely seen happen.

[NLBwell]

Ever try this under a strobe light?

[Power Player]

It's not about seeing the ball hit the strings, it's about keeping your head still through your stroke.