How To Track The Ball Properly in Tennis 🎾
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- čas přidán 12. 06. 2024
- How To Track The Ball Properly in Tennis 🎾
Is the dominant eye theory ruining your tennis? If you start using certain stances only because you want your "dominant eye" to track the ball better, then you're slowing down your progress and limiting your options on court.
Instead of relying on one eye to do the bulk of the work, why not improve your ball tracking skills with both eyes so they can work as a unit to help you track the ball like an eagle stalks its prey?
In tennis, no skill is more important than that of tracking the tennis ball, yet so few players actually work on their ball tracking skills and master the art of truly watching the ball.
That's why we've created our Eye of the Tiger tennis course, which is all about helping you improve your ball tracking skills and making both eyes stronger. Get full details here - www.top-tennis-training.com/e...
Video Timeline:
00:00 - Why watching the ball is the MOST important aspect of tennis
02:18 - Eye movements when tracking the ball in tennis
03:39 - Dominant eye theory in tennis
06:19 - Playing tennis with one eye
08:20 - Eye of the Tiger tennis course
09:00 - Three eye training drills
#tennis #toptennistraining #watchtheball - Sport
Get the Eye of the Tiger - www.top-tennis-training.com/eye-of-the-tiger-access/
I'm fighting Macular Degeneration which is affecting my tennis - particularly the tracking of the ball. Will you be reopening this course or is there a way to get it? Thanks...
Got it...
From a scientific point of view knowing your dominant eye is gonna help you doing all the things you said... it's not bullshit it's complementary.
Thanks for the video Simon
If you know you’re right eye dominant, how does that help your tennis?
@@TopTennisTrainingOfficial The dominant eye, associated with the preferred side of shoulder rotation, will determine how easy or difficult it is to visualize the ball or the impact with the ball. I have a better precision while hitting the ball by turning slightly my head
So on one side you coil properly and on the other side you stay more front on? Seems like you could improve your vision with the non dominant eye which would allow full rotation on either side. That’s my point of this lesson. Limiting players with nonsense theories to look like a genius
@@TopTennisTrainingOfficial I'm not against what you're saying... it's much more difficult to work on your non dominant eye than on a head movement in my opinion. It's like working on hitting two forehands.
But still I totally understand your point of view
Separate each eye and work on them individually and the head will turn more naturally as you’ll improve vision in both. It’s not rocket science, it’s using both eyes to their full potential. You wouldn’t hop everywhere on one leg if you could run using two legs
Always love your content and guides. Great video!
I really needed this! My in person coach has me working on keeping my head facing the opposite side of court at all times, and it’s actually giving me neck pain!
What’s their reasoning behind that?
@@TopTennisTrainingOfficial cross eye dominance (left eye)…coach says that if let my head rotate with the unit turn on my 2hbh I’ll lose track of the ball right before contact. He never put tracking in the terms you have though, using a blend of smooth and stochastic. I believe your method makes the most sense and will also alleviate the neck and shoulder pain the quiet eye is causing me! Oh, and one other thing I am working on at this very moment with the ball machine is emulating how your top hand is very much on top of your other hand in the takeback. My hands tend to get a bit too diagonal or even towards horizontal. Your form feels really technically/structurally sounds and repeatable.
Thanks, Simon. I'll have a look at this more in depth later. What I'm struggling with right now is finding the confidence to track the ball right up to contact point and leaving my head there for a brief moment before looking back towards the ball's trajectory.
If you work on each eye individually (as I demonstrated here) then the head will turn more as both eyes will be fixated on tracking the ball properly
Agree with you 100% Simon. This theory will mess up a lot of people's game. For example, when I watched you know who's video, he indicated that left eye dominant righties should hit the one handed backhand in an open stance. Total nonesense.
But I do, and I like it.
Some pros use it on wider balls, Thiem does, Sampras did. on occasions, but that was because of court positioning and the fact it requires fewer recovery steps to get back into position, not an eye tracking factor. Major difference.
Thanks for the support Matt
🙏 Thank you! 👏💯 Agree
Many thanks 🙏
great !!!! I did the first drill for myself month ago...Even played sets against a beginner with only my weaker eye...thanks...
Thanks Simon
As always my friend, my pleasure
Hi Simon, thank you for your videos which were very helpful when learning the basic strokes!
My takeaway from the dominant eye theory is that my head has to be in such a position that my dominant eye can see the ball in the split second as it bounces and I swing my racquet to meet it.
Since you're ambidextrous, if you wanted to disprove this theory, you just need to demonstrate that you can hit with either hand, in any stance, with both eyes open but the head turned to the same degree to track the ball.
The video shows an example of closing one eye. But closing one eye, forces the other eye to automaticly take over the function of both eyes, atleast as best as it can (dominant eye function for overall view, secondary eye function for depth).The problem/situation is only there when both eyes are open.
That’s exactly why you want to strengthen both eyes independently. When the player strengthens both eyes, their tracking improves drastically. Instead of relying on one eye and reducing your options on court
Hi Simon, from a viewer from Vietnam.
This is a pretty good video about dominant eyes, and I’m glad you brought this to explain.
But I have a near-sighted left eye, and my right eye is 10/10. I don’t use glasses for a long time, and I use right eye all the time, and the strokes are still pretty good. Sometimes I struggle when I try to hit a smash. How would you comment about this situation?
As always, your videos are really good to everybody wanting to fix their techniques, including me.
Regards,
Huy.
Hi Huy,
Do you do eye exercises off court?
There are many ways to improve vision in your eyes using simple eye exercises, even a 10% improvement would help you on court
When I was a very bad player (now I am just bad), I fell for M’s videos on the subject. And yes: if you don’t track the ball (at all) you’ll miss. But it’s kind of obvious. Imagine you really are blind in one eye. If you keep going for the ball with your eye looking in the wrong direction you’re going to miss. But still that doesn’t mean you won’t be able learn to hit in all possible stances if you learn to track adequately.
I am eager to try your drills, especially the third one. And I would like to try the second one tweaking it to call out “long” or “short” because that’s where I am challenged the most: sometimes almost frontal trajectories fool me a bit, and I found myself a little frozen on the baseline when I should make a few step backwards instead.
Many thanks for the vid. The conversation going on on the subject via the comments is very interesting.
I'm open to the theory behind the video title but it would be nice if it was backed up with something a little more substantial/scientific. Maybe data of pro's eye dominance, preferred stances, where unforced errors occur?
Something like 18% of the population has no dominant eye. But it's very hard to imagine that, just like with a dominant hand, it's a disadvantage to play to your strengths (dominance). Sure there are exceptions (Nadal switching to lefty as a kid), but if it's more efficient for a player, I don't see a fundamental problem with that.
I could put a different title but I’d probably be sued so I chose this one 😂
@@TopTennisTrainingOfficialDo it! nothing like some good old internet drama to get those clicks!
😂
😂 Be careful you don't get sued over "The Eye of the Tiger" course, because of the song! 😂
People look too much to the side to hit, they often seem to not take into consideration their own reaction time when deciding where they should focus to make contact.
Moreover, with respect to eye dominance, I don’t believe I’ve had it adequately explained why a person cannot just turn their head a bit to bring their so called dominant eye more in line with the ball.
Great video ad always Simon.
👍👍
And by turning the head, both eyes can focus on the ball 👍
Instead of relying on the eye closer to contact
Thank you, finally someone called the bs the way it is.
Great video Simon. I’ve made several videos on this already. The coach in question is ruining people’s games.
The amount of conversations i have with players that come to me believing issues with their game are caused by eye dominance is crazy.
Absolutely. I never discuss another persons coaching methodology until it starts impacting on players in my circle. When people spend a lot of money to be taught to avoid a neutral stance forehand because of some nonsense theory, it angers me. Cowboy to the highest degree
Hi Simon,
I'm indeed thrilled that you brought up the topic of the so-called dominant eye theory in tennis in this great VDO. The theory, as presented by the famous French coach whom you didn’t name, was fundamentally flawed right from the start, beginning with his definition of what a dominant eye entails. He mistakenly assumed that a dominant eye can simultaneously focus on near, intermediate, and distant objects.
In reality, eye dominance simply refers to one eye having a slightly stronger influence on visual perception than the other. It means that when both eyes are used to observe an object, the brain tends to favor the input from the dominant eye. However, this dominance does not grant the dominant eye the ability to simultaneously focus on various distances. Instead, it primarily affects visual perception and the brain's preference for processing visual information.
Your advice in this lesson, as always, was exceptional and invaluable. Hopefully, it will prevent others from being misled by coaches who, despite their expertise in tennis, hold scientifically inaccurate views on eye dominance and its impact on tennis strokes.
Roy.
Many thanks for the support Roy 🙏
All the best
Simon
Hi Simon,
first, thanks a lot for all the work and the videos on this channel. I am a big fan 🙂
In this video, I think that there may be a misunderstanding in the definition of the dominant eye. To me, it is not a stronger eye (and the other one being weaker as a consequence) but it determines an ocular preference, and thus some movement / positioning preferences. The dominant eye influences our vision when both eyes are working together. Thus, I don't think that you can train the "weaker one" alone to make it stronger.
Maybe the underlying question here is not so much to stop teaching some stances depending on the eye dominance of students, but more to understand and to accept their preferences and singularities as well as to make them aware of their weaknesses and strengths?
I am not telling that you should stop teaching all 3 stances, because the more tools a player has, the better he / she will become. But as a student, it can be very difficult to "squeeze" in a patterns sold as the "golden standard" by your trainer... I am a right handed person with a left eye dominance, and it feels much more natural and "user-friendly" to me to hit a forehand with a (semi-)open stance, while I like to hit my 2-hand backhand in a close stance. Nevertheless, I am also able to hit a forehand in close stance, although this is not my preferred option, and I will do so only in specific situations, e. g. when I have a lot of time to move towards the ball, if the ball comes quite straight at me, etc.
Today, I know that my perception on the court differs a bit from right-eye dominant players, that it leads to technical preferences, and that not all tips & tricks are suitable / appropriate to me.
Thank you for the feedback, I do have a favour to ask though.
Please try out the single eye training for a few weeks on a regular basis, don’t overdo it, 5-10 minutes in total with each eye will start the improvements. Then see what happens with the ball tracking and how you feel in the various stances and let me know what happens in a few weeks time 🙏
I'm not a great tennis player so thanks for this video. Just one less thing I have to worry about..
Good luck with the improvements, let me know how you get on
I wish more courts had walls/backboards to hit. Luckily I live near several but in other areas you might not be so lucky@@TopTennisTrainingOfficial
I think dominant eye theory is making the case for open vs closed stance more specifically when on the stretch, moving sideways to the ball. I think we can all agree that it's possible to hit a cross court or down the line forehand on the run with an open stance or a closed stance forehand. Dominant eye theory would simply dictate which stance is likely to feel more comfortable and be more effective in that specific situation. I've never really heard anybody say you shouldn't step in to a short ball or shouldn't hit open stance when backing up to a ball.
Nobody would argue that it’s more efficient to use an open stance on wider balls or use a neutral stance or shorter balls if it was presented that way. But, that’s not the information going around.
@@TopTennisTrainingOfficial interesting. I'm assuming this is on response to a certain high profile coach popularizing this idea. I've watched his videos and I didn't take it like it was absolute that you always hit open or always hit closed. I took it more as, "if you're in a position to choose one or the other, pick the one that is most comfortable to how you naturally want to strike the ball." But then again, I'm a moderately high level player and I've coached for many years so I understand a lot that the average person wouldn't.
Some of the content being provided online by certain coaches is not only damaging to tennis as a whole, but damaging players that I’m now working with in person which is why I’ve had enough of the nonsense. I’ve had a woman recently been trained to stop using the neutral stance forehand on shorter balls because her “right eye is dominant” and she was told it was blocking her vision when she used that stance. What a pile of horseshit
@@TopTennisTrainingOfficial Yeah, sounds like that coach watched a celebrity coach and doesn't actually understand the game. I think there's probably a lot of misinterpretation going on, but there's a responsibility on coaches to mitigate that confusion when they have a large platform and are posting videos for all to see.
What string tension do you use
18-20kg depending on the season
Totally agree. Mr Hair (or was that Mr Extra Tight Shorts) is charismatic, but some of his material is just a big PR stunt!
🤣
Simon, u don't have an issue as u r ambidextrous!👍
For the rest of us, we have to train our non-dominant hand or eye to play good tennis if we listened to some coach! 🤣
🤣 all I ask if people to experiment with the drills and see the results 🙏
Roger Federer, Fernando Verdasco or Carlos Alcaraz will always do something like this because they hit with a straight hand and also try to hit as far away from each other as possible...
They must look this way, because when the arm is straight, the racket covers the ball, and there is no other option than to look at the string of the racket, and precisely at the moment of contact with the ball.
Simply having a straight arm with the racket and the desire to reach the ball as far away from the body as possible causes us to cover the ball (the higher the ball, the more we cover it)
However, when hitting shots with a bent arm, you don't have to look at the ball as much, it's easier to access...
So there is no dominant eye for looking at the back of the racket etc., a straight hand forces you to look at the ball...
Look at photos of Verdasco Alcaraz or Federer, and they are all doing the same thing...
This is a natural process, not the magic of looking, the player must look like this when playing with a straight hand, and with the right hand, most of the time the dominant right eye has closer to look at the ball, and left arm the same
It’s more about tracking the ball up to the contact and off the contact, not so much the actual contact point which is typically 0.2-0.4 seconds
Maybe we all should wear an eye patch over our non-dominant eye when we play a tennis match and eliminate our non-dominant eye from the equation completely!! It could also double as an intimidation tactic, since we will look like a Pirate!! ARRRGH
If your opponent isn't intimidated, it could psych them out, and they might become overly confident, going for shots they normally wouldn't, thinking they will win easy against a one-eyed player!!
Maybe if we say walaaaa when we hit forehands we’ll play tennis like joker Joe 🤣
But i dont think any coaches advice to change the stand to take advantage of dominant eye instead it is only advised to maintain head towards the net while playing forehand
There are literally lessons online with that exact thing
Can you elaborate please on what lessons you're talking about? I don't quite understand fully what the original poster is talking about.
There are lessons online of students being told to stop using certain stances due to eye dominance. Stances that are commonly used by pros.
I appreciate how I’m depth you try to go in this video but the length of this video and info could be cut down by half. As an experienced player viewing this I feel like if I was new to tennis trying to learning this would be difficult and too much information. I get your intention and I appreciate your work. Just a thought
Thanks for watching
😮
You need two eyes to determine depth perception. Period.
Thanks for watching
A rather expensive coach said ‘Federer keeps his head down on the forehand because he’s left eye dominant’…but hang on, he also keeps his head down on the backhand🤣🤷♂️did he debunk his whole theory😂
Ohhh lala
Dominent eye theory is science,I tested it & it's true. I am RH, right eye dominant & can hit 1HBH effortlessly but struggle on forehead with semi open or closed stance. Having said this, I fully agree with you that budding players should not be constrained by this theory. I don't think any touring pro cares to follow or even know this theory.In tennis nobody can hit perfectly every single shot,it's usually one or two shots that decide the point & for which any best players do not need to hit perfectly on sweet spot. The only shot that's same,repetitive and for which knowing dominant eye and tossing accordingly does help is serve.
And have you trained your weaker eye appropriately and still can’t use those stances?
Science has many view points and there’s many saying it’s bullshit…
I think stress causes one to use a dominant eye. If stress is gone, one can use both eyes to see the court in 3d, and get a better sense of the spacing of the rally.
And when players haven’t faced faster balls on a consistent basis, the lack of time will increase their stress levels and they’ll struggle badly to track the ball properly
Mouratoglou is a marabout 😅
At first I though it was shadow underneath your chin but it’s actually your beard lol
😂
Try to look again only with your dominant eye :)
its so funny, just focus on the ball its as simple as that if you are shanking then you are just to focused, I don't think the player base understands how much focus is required to play this sport at the high levels
Thanks for watching
I’m sorry but this makes little sense from a science perspective. You did not say why the dominant eye theory is nonsense but simply argue that your students should use all stances if applicable. Theoretically sure but life isn’t perfect! For some people, it is impossible to improve vision in the non dominant eye due to varying circumstances, etc. (I know because I’m one of those people). Also even if you use a fold to cover up your dominant eye to work on the other, you do realize that your brain will automatically reverse to the old set up where your dominant eye will still do most of the work anyway when playing. Just don’t agree with the video and if you’re going to debunk a theory, you have to provide good evidence to back it up. Love your vids just not this one.
If someone has a real issue with using both eyes then that’s a totally different discussion and they will be forced to rely on one eye. But being told to avoid certain stances because you have a slightly more dominant eye is absolute nonsense and is being used to stand out from the crowd by a certain guy.
If you want to limit your options on court, no problem for me. Some people won’t get it, and that’s fine. My job is to put the information out there, and the people that use the drills will improve and understand the magic of this lesson. This is literally world class training drills in action, working on each eye individually and improving the vision on court. But, not everyone will understand that. Some are drawn to the flashing lights of horseshit covered in chocolate
I had a lazy eye as a kid and used to wear patch on good eye to improve it and it worked and my lazy eye is now the dominant one so I guess you can improve it as you describe - having said that I do struggle with closed stance SBH and had adopted open stance prior to this theory getting airtime - I struggled so much that coach advised changing to double handed but I stay with the open stance and is improving now - I am left eye dom righty
Many players struggle with a certain stance on one side. More often than not it’s a technical issue, and not an eye one. But when someone says “your stroke problem is from your eye” it makes them look like a genius to people who don’t know the nuances of the game
For most people it’s possible the train the brain to have better binocular vision. But as you said there circumstances where the brain will always revert back to using the dominant eye.
Even in those cases, it doesn’t make rational sense to alter the stance used on a tennis shot. Which is what simon is explaining here.
The type of ball you are receiving and shot your are hitting dictate the stance you hit from.
There are some many physical factors (like other visual skills, coordination, strength, flexibility) that influence someones ability to use good technique. Blaming everything on eye dominance closes the door on other opportunities for improvement.
@@TennisHacker You’re making statements but not providing any evidence to the contrary why there is no such thing as the dominant eye theory. Which is my main issue. And disagree with most people training the non dominant eye will see improvement. Those exercises are done in the early stages of eye development. A 30 something adult will likely not see any benefit from “training” at that age. But sure there are all types of factors attributable to stance, etc, but what the coach is saying and others have said in the past about adopting a particular stance may be beneficial than another..
You make absolutely no sense. Finding which is your dominant eye is the same as finding out your dominant leg. I am right-handed but left-footed. I have to adapt to be more efficient playing all sports. Knowing your dominant eye helps you adapt to be more efficient.
By closing one eye while playing, you lose depth.
We all have dominant arms, legs, and eyes. Even though we should train to improve our non dominant parts of our body, we will never be as good as our dominant parts of our body, we will alwaplay with our strengths.
Yep, limiting your options on court due to your “dominant eye” is a great way to become the best version of yourself.
Thanks but you talk too much. Show more than say.
Thanks for the feedback
He’s explained something really important in this video.
Some people seem to think this is a tennis highlights channel as opposed to a coaching one 🤣