'Watch The Ball!'
If you're anything like me, you may have thought to yourself:
I AM WATCHING THE BALL, what else can I do...?
According to a few statistics, there's a lot you can do.... And it only takes a fraction of a second.
These few statistics to show how vital it is that the eye must be kept on the ball UNTIL THE MOMENT OF STRIKING IT.
About 85% of the points in tennis are errors, and the remaining 15% are earned points.
As the standard of play rises the percentage of errors drops until, in the average high-class tournament match, 60% are errors and 40% cracker-jack-shots.
Any average *superior* to this is **super-tennis.**
So...
Getting the ball back over the net so your opponent gets another chance to miss....
Can't be over-emphasized.
There are several causes for missing a shot:
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:
1)Either a blurred moving object and a clear background
or
2) A clear moving object and a blurred background.
Both suggest speed, but only one is a good picture of the object you attempted to photograph.
In the first case the camera eye was focused on the background and not on the object, while in the second, which produced the result desired, the camera eye was firmly focused on the moving object itself.
The human eye is exactly the same. It will give both effects, but never a clear background
and moving object *at the same time,* once that object reaches a point 10 feet from the eye. The perspective is wrong, and the eye cannot adjust itself to the distance range fast enough.
Now the tennis ball is your moving object while the net, the court, and your opponent are your background. To hit the ball cleanly you can't look at the other factors involved,
but concentrate solely on focusing firmly on the ball, and watching it *all the way until the moment of impact with your racquet.*
Science has proved that a given tennis ball passing from point A to point B with the receiving player at B, that if the player at B keeps his eye on the ball throughout its full flight, his chance of making a good return at B is five times greater than if he took his eye
off the ball at a point 4, or 4/5 of a second of its flight.
Likewise it is ten times greater at B as it is if the eye is removed from the ball at 3, or 3/5 of a second of its flight. Why increase your chances of error by five times or ten times when it is unnecessary?
A fraction of as second could mean the difference betweenslamming a winner or slugging one over the fence....
All of that is fine and dandy...
It's also been proven that when we're tired at the end of a match, fatigue hinders our ability to focus and concentrate. This is when all of the 5/10ths of a seconds add up.
How many times have you just been worn out, at the end of a match... not really focusing on the ball all the way to the moment of impact? Maybe taking your eye off the ball at point 3 or 4 on the graph... just wanting to get the ball back into play, and sometimes
failing to even get it over the net?
Well, I have more times than I care to mention, and have played tennis both in the best shape of my life and in the worst shape of my life... Maybe you have too?
... wouldn't you agree that it's a lot easier to focus on the ball all the way to the point of impact when you're not huffing and puffing for air...?
Keeping your eye on the ball and focusing is one thing...
Not being able to, is a completely different topic...
It has an INSTANT effect, and will determine whether you get the ball past your opponent or shank it over the fence..
...and if you're reading this article right now, and thinking to yourself, 'Man, you're right
I do seem to lose concentration and focus towards the end of a match... I need to get the fitness part of my game handled...'
Then you're right.
There's no better time than the present.
By Todd Scott - Tennis Fitness Expert
www.IgnitingYourGame.com