How To Watch The Ball Part 1: The Process

How about if you have poor eyesight?

What garbage, you never told your audience how to do it, abd you are teaching pro -joke

the worst misses - the point was in hand and we weren't focussing on the right thing at the right time .... life lesson :) thank you.

One of the issues I continually face is that I position myself too close to the ball - as if I were about to catch it rather than strike it with my racket. This, of course, leads to ineffective striking of the ball as I compensate racket angles to keep the ball in the court. What do you suggest for drills or otherwise to help me position my body at a distance from the oncoming ball so that it is in my hitting zone?

what's the relationship or timing sequence between keeping your eye on the ball through the swing, seeing where you want to put the ball, and then delivering the shot to that area? recently I've had it in mind where i'm (and I don't know if it's right) seeing the area i want to hit to right before the ball comes, then watching the hell out of the ball as i make the swing, and trusting that my hand-eye coordination will hit the ball to the area I had been looking at.

can u make a video about anticipation?

I find that the less time I have to prepare, the more difficult it is to keep my head down through the stroke.

i need to know how to change forehand grip to backhand grip fast

Hey Ian! Where is the link to the blog article? Im interested in reading it! Thanks!

Wow.  This was extremely enlightening.  Getting an early jump on the ball will greatly increase my speed on the court.  Keeping my head and eyes on the ball will require a lot of self discipline.

I'd add not staying down (or perhaps not even starting low enough) to the sloppy mistakes people make.

i think I am indeed dumb, i've watched the episode twice yet I still don't get it.

Hello Ian, I have a problem with concentration, especially on the return of serve...
A lot of things are going in my head(songs, food,...) really a lot of diffrent things.
What should I think at those moments and how to fix it?
Thanks :)

how important is the footwork while playing forehand and how do I do it?

do club level players think a 135" head is going to make them better players? Federer plays with a 95" racquet and does okay

how can 1 be Eastern if number 3 is Eastern

Yeah, I've been guilty of not watching the ball properly. As soon as I watch the ball I hit some great shots.

Do you recomend a six.one 90 raquect for beginers?

when do we exactly see the player decide where should our ball go ?

you teach like joel osteen pal

This video could have been condensed to about 30 seconds.... blah blah blah

I just use my eyes. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, though, so I'll check out your video :)

Great job! Tension problems are often overlooked by all of us.

Hi can you do a video to show up how to quickly switch forehand to a backhand (one handed) during the play ? I always take chop over one handed return and I am not sure whether it's because of lack of confidence or lack of technique. Appreciate your feedback.

Literally

Watch the ball.... 1. Open eyes... 2. Concentrate! Easy really.

10/30/2018All you coaches, and TV commentators say "watch the ball."  But, nobody says "keep your mind on the ball."  You can watch something, but not see it.  If you watch the ball, but have your mind on something else, e.g., your opponent, or perhaps a date with your spouse, you will not see the ball and you will misshit the ball.  Otherwise, I agree with the other commentators, you talk too much.

Recognition skills are critical for both recreational and competitive players. Interesting information on peripheral vision.

Amazingly clear concept. Thanks¡

I have watched kids quit tennis because no one taught them this number 1 rule. If they don't get this, they can not build a confident consistent game. Thanks, I can now prove to my grand daughter I am not nagging her for nothing.. lol

I'd love to hear your opinion of something I have noticed that goes somewhat against the idea that hitting in the middle of the racquet is ideal. I began to notice that many pros, including Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, often contact the ball below center, which causes their racquet to close on contact. I have wondered if this is one component that allows them to generate topspin even when not hitting particularly low to high.

As a coach myself, I find it very challenging to switch from my “coaching vision” to my “playing vision.”

Great video, I have been asking instructors about over several years, what to do with what I call the in between time, in order slow down the game. Though Ian how does this work for doubles when one must be concerned with the net player?

There may be some useful information here but the presenter loses the viewer by taking far too much time to get to the key components of the lesson… The introductory remarks need to be simplified and rehearsed- too much talk- and much too fast... Presenter sounds like he had 3 cups of coffee before the videographer rolled tape- he really needs to get to the point with less preamble- the delivery sounds rushed when it should be measured and succinct. Nearly 4 minutes into his presentation, he still has yet to get to any concrete procedure- and then, superfluous digression.

The closer you can track the ball to the point of impact the better you will be able to coordinate your stroke. You can train your extra ocular muscles and neck muscles with specific exercises to help you track better and improve hand-eye coordination.

Excellent tip that I always keep forgetting. I started tennis at 28 and I am now 42 , but, I still did not master this technic. I picked up Federer style of tennis ( single handed backhand and serves ) as I used to watch his video clips. I drill my serves aiming at tennis can as target and whenever I watch the ball I most likely hit the can. I stun many of my tennis buddies when I put the ace down the T. The earlier age one masters this technic the greater the tennis player one will turn out to be. I subscribed. Thank you.

Hi Ian , Thanks for your video. Do you have a video(s) to improve my hand-eye coordination?

I am a pickleball player, but I think this is a helpful video—especially since the majority of shots that I hit are volleys at the net.

Excellent vid.

Great video, I lose focus too often!

A very important topic, often forgotten by players! Working on focus alone can improve many other areas of the game..

usefull. Often I tent to look at the opponent...

Ian, sup bro?

This video sings to me! I have attempted for years to overcome whipping my head up to look at my opponent or where I'm going to hit the ball. It's been a great struggle and I have watched countless videos, tried so many techniques including bounce-hit. Unfortunately the problem persists. I'm a Florida, average 4.0 player but absolutely must overcome this gargantuan impediment in my game in order to improve.

So I watched this video yesterday. I was down 0-5 in a set this morning and tried something unusual. It worked and I won the next 7 games.

What did I do? I simply watched the ball around the court...even while not in play. Whether it was laying on the court going into a pocket or coming out of a pocket, on my toss on his toss it didn't matter I followed the ball. Instead of checking out what was happening on other courts, for example, I had a singular focus on the ball. Somehow this just worked for me. Go figure.

This video was terrible. It didn't spend one second on how to watch thew ball.

Thank you Ian🙌

very informative video thank you

In other words "eyes on the ball"

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