How to keep your eyes on the ball and the opponent at the same time?

[Golden Retriever]

Keeping your eyes on the ball is the golden rule in tennis. However I find myself keeping my eyes on the ball too much, so much that I don't know where my opponent is until after I hit the ball. So how to keep the eyes on the ball and still know where the opponent is?

 

[golden chicken]

so, what you're saying is that you concentrate so hard on seeing the ball that you lose peripheral vision of your opponent before you hit the ball, and you aren't sure where to aim the shot, so you hit it and you look up and more often than not your opponent is right there

this sort of "tunnel-vision" is, i believe, partly due to inexperience and lack of confidence in your vision. someone who's seen a lot of tennis balls can pretty accurately deduce the path of the ball and the character of the bounce within the first 1/4 of the flight off the opponent's racket. that basically means that your brain has the instinctive ability to figure out where the ball's going almost instantly, but because we think we sometimes take too long to process. we stand there and watch the ball until it crosses the net, then we have to rush.

just react to the ball. it's not imperative to narrow your focus on it until just before it bounces. use your peripheral vision to keep an eye on your opponent, then naturally you'll lose sight of him as you focus on the hitting zone and execute your shot.

you can practice this by "juggling" -- have someone feed you a bucket of balls so that as you hit one, the next is already on its way. there should be around a 2 second delay between balls. this means that you'll have to process the flight path of the second ball as you are striking the first.

 

[Mahboob Khan]

so, what you're saying is that you concentrate so hard on seeing the ball that you lose peripheral vision of your opponent before you hit the ball, and you aren't sure where to aim the shot, so you hit it and you look up and more often than not your opponent is right there

this sort of "tunnel-vision" is, i believe, partly due to inexperience and lack of confidence in your vision. someone who's seen a lot of tennis balls can pretty accurately deduce the path of the ball and the character of the bounce within the first 1/4 of the flight off the opponent's racket. that basically means that your brain has the instinctive ability to figure out where the ball's going almost instantly, but because we think we sometimes take too long to process. we stand there and watch the ball until it crosses the net, then we have to rush.

just react to the ball. it's not imperative to narrow your focus on it until just before it bounces. use your peripheral vision to keep an eye on your opponent, then naturally you'll lose sight of him as you focus on the hitting zone and execute your shot.

you can practice this by "juggling" -- have someone feed you a bucket of balls so that as you hit one, the next is already on its way. there should be around a 2 second delay between balls. this means that you'll have to process the flight path of the second ball as you are striking the first.

Well done golden chicken! Good response. By the way stay away from Bird Flu!

 

[Golden Retriever]

so, what you're saying is that you concentrate so hard on seeing the ball that you lose peripheral vision of your opponent before you hit the ball, and you aren't sure where to aim the shot, so you hit it and you look up and more often than not your opponent is right there

this sort of "tunnel-vision" is, i believe, partly due to inexperience and lack of confidence in your vision. someone who's seen a lot of tennis balls can pretty accurately deduce the path of the ball and the character of the bounce within the first 1/4 of the flight off the opponent's racket. that basically means that your brain has the instinctive ability to figure out where the ball's going almost instantly, but because we think we sometimes take too long to process. we stand there and watch the ball until it crosses the net, then we have to rush.

just react to the ball. it's not imperative to narrow your focus on it until just before it bounces. use your peripheral vision to keep an eye on your opponent, then naturally you'll lose sight of him as you focus on the hitting zone and execute your shot.

you can practice this by "juggling" -- have someone feed you a bucket of balls so that as you hit one, the next is already on its way. there should be around a 2 second delay between balls. this means that you'll have to process the flight path of the second ball as you are striking the first.

Thanks for the reply. Actually, I lack confidence on my strokes rather than my vision, thats why I see the ball through a tunnel. Also, I cant juggle, maybe I am just not very tennis-inclined.

 

[Bungalo Bill]

so, what you're saying is that you concentrate so hard on seeing the ball that you lose peripheral vision of your opponent before you hit the ball, and you aren't sure where to aim the shot, so you hit it and you look up and more often than not your opponent is right there

this sort of "tunnel-vision" is, i believe, partly due to inexperience and lack of confidence in your vision. someone who's seen a lot of tennis balls can pretty accurately deduce the path of the ball and the character of the bounce within the first 1/4 of the flight off the opponent's racket. that basically means that your brain has the instinctive ability to figure out where the ball's going almost instantly, but because we think we sometimes take too long to process. we stand there and watch the ball until it crosses the net, then we have to rush.

just react to the ball. it's not imperative to narrow your focus on it until just before it bounces. use your peripheral vision to keep an eye on your opponent, then naturally you'll lose sight of him as you focus on the hitting zone and execute your shot.

you can practice this by "juggling" -- have someone feed you a bucket of balls so that as you hit one, the next is already on its way. there should be around a 2 second delay between balls. this means that you'll have to process the flight path of the second ball as you are striking the first.

Yes, very good! Classic case of not utilizing peripheral vision and the minds eye.

There is a thread I did somewhere in here that talks about FOCAL VISION AND PERIPHERAL VISION. Focal vision is the one that can be thrown off through our senses, emotions, mental state, and nervous system.

 

[Marius_Hancu]

check in the Sticky
my posting
Watching the ball

 

[Geezer Guy]

Thanks for the reply. Actually, I lack confidence on my strokes rather than my vision, thats why I see the ball through a tunnel. Also, I cant juggle, maybe I am just not very tennis-inclined.

Well, if you lack confidence in your strokes, why did you ask about your vision? Also, the "juggling" that Gold Chick talks about is not juggling - it's just hitting several ball quickly that are fed to you. Geepers! Ok, sorry, just had to get that out of my system.

To answer your FIRST question, (and contrary to what the others said), I'd say you NEED to concentrate on the ball primarily, and watch your opponents position with your peripheral vision. The ball is small and moving quickly, and you need to hit it - it deserves your focus. Your opponent is big and (relatively) slow - and you DON'T have to hit him - he does NOT deserve your focus. You can usually see your opponent with your peripheral vision. If you can't, don't worry about it - just hit your shot. If you happen to hit it at him, no big deal. Just concentrate on the ball and give it a rip!

To answer your SECOND question, nothing builds confidence in a stroke like good mechanics and LOTS of repition. Build good mechanics by working with a pro, or getting advice from either the internet or some good books. Then, hit the court and groove those strokes so you can hit them over and over. You can work with a wall, a ball machine, or a practice partner. You need good strokes, and you need to have CONFIDENCE in your strokes.

 

[Golden Retriever]

Well, if you lack confidence in your strokes, why did you ask about your vision? Also, the "juggling" that Gold Chick talks about is not juggling - it's just hitting several ball quickly that are fed to you. Geepers! Ok, sorry, just had to get that out of my system.

To answer your FIRST question, (and contrary to what the others said), I'd say you NEED to concentrate on the ball primarily, and watch your opponents position with your peripheral vision. The ball is small and moving quickly, and you need to hit it - it deserves your focus. Your opponent is big and (relatively) slow - and you DON'T have to hit him - he does NOT deserve your focus. You can usually see your opponent with your peripheral vision. If you can't, don't worry about it - just hit your shot. If you happen to hit it at him, no big deal. Just concentrate on the ball and give it a rip!

To answer your SECOND question, nothing builds confidence in a stroke like good mechanics and LOTS of repition. Build good mechanics by working with a pro, or getting advice from either the internet or some good books. Then, hit the court and groove those strokes so you can hit them over and over. You can work with a wall, a ball machine, or a practice partner. You need good strokes, and you need to have CONFIDENCE in your strokes.

To answer your question: I lack confidence in my stroke so I have to see the ball more closely with 100% concentration. Therefore my lack of confidence in my stroke also affects my vision.

 

[golden chicken]

like i said before, it takes practice to get your mind to relax so you can react to the ball without having to devote 100% attention to it until the last few momtents i.e. just before the bounce until after you've made contact.

you DO need to pay attention to the ball, don't get me wrong. 85%-ish sounds about right to me. and geezer guy is right in a way too. it really doesn't matter where your opponent is so much that you have to devote conscious thought and attention to him/her until after you've struck the ball.

so practice. try real juggling. try the tennis juggling i suggested. if you can't get out to the courts because of the season, try having someone toss a couple balls at you for you to catch and put in a basket, but have them do it so there's two balls in the air at the same time, one after the other.

and have confidence. i'm sure you hit out well in practice, right? well remember it's just a game! what difference is playing with the score from playing without? not much in the grand scheme of things. it's just a game! have fun!

 

[Bungalo Bill]

To answer your question: I lack confidence in my stroke so I have to see the ball more closely with 100% concentration. Therefore my lack of confidence in my stroke also affects my vision.

The ball travels from one side of the court to the other side of the court in about one second. A lot of club players will react to the ball when it is about to bounce on their side of the court or a little sooner. This is too late.

I usually advice players to engage their mind to gather information about reading their opponents response as soon as they have completed their own followthrough. This does not mean the only thing you look at is the ball traveling over the net to the other side. That is very difficult to do! What I mean by "reading" is gathering clues both subconsciouly and consciously.

You will narrow your focus as the ball comes towards you (until you are legally blind) but by then you will have already moved and will have intiated your shoulder turn and grip change. As the ball, bounces, look intently at the bounce. A lot of players do not focus on the bounce.

Many players have one visual side that is a weaker. This side does not read the depth and the speed of the incoming ball as well as the other side.

If you think you have this issue, there are eye exercises you can perform. I would recommend seeing an Optometrist that performs vision therapy for a thorough eye exam. Not the type of exam that just finds out you are 20/20. But an eye exam that identifies how your eyes take in information as well.