BIRDSFeathered Friends

I’ve coached nearly 20 seasons of high school tennis. I’ve been to many clinics, watched many videos, and had conversations with many coaches. Most would agree that, “keeping your eye on the ball, keeping your head down, and keeping your head still” is good advice. I believe I’ve discovered an unique way to break this down to the basic level as it relates to the contact point.

What I have been drilling into my players relentlessly is: “Keep your eye on where the ball was.” Just for a moment, of course, after you make contact. Federer has been held up as the best example of this by people far more knowledgeable about tennis than me. And if you watch him (or better yet) view still photos of him, he is no doubt the master at this.

What kind of drills can be used to reinforce this? Gallwey’s bonce / hit would probably be the best. I have adapted this to one / two. Say one “one” the bounce as the ball comes to you and “two” at the same time you contact the ball. The theory is that if you are saying “two” as you are hitting the ball your eyes are on the ball as close to contact point as humanly possible, and you will probably “keep your eye on where the ball was” for as long as it takes you to say “two”, which is probably long enough. High school athletes may view the one / two method as more age appropriate.

I’ll then encourage players to say this under their breath every time they hit a tennis ball. And when they miss an easy ball, I’ll ask: “Were you saying one / two under your breath or in your mind’s eye?”

Look at it this way on the serve. When a player hits the ball into the net, I’ll ask: “Did you see it hit the net?”

They will almost always answer, “Yes.”

“Well, you didn’t keep your eye on where the ball was long enough,” I’ll reply.

After this kind of feedback, all I’ve have to say eventually, “Tell me what you did wrong.” And they will.

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