Home ::
Improve Your Tennis in One-Fifth of a Second
Improve Your Tennis in One-Fifth of A Second! *
by Steve Smith
How would you like to start playing vastly better tennis ... today?
There's a particular “magic” moment in tennis—one that lasts a
mere fifth of a second. If you have (or can develop) the discipline to
fully exploit that moment, you may astonish yourself and your opponents
with your new-found scoring ability.
The moment I'm talking about is the last 1/5th of a second
before your racquet strikes the ball. The discipline I'm referring to
is that of keeping your eye entirely on the ball for that
super-critical moment.
We've all been told many times that we should keep our eye on
the ball in tennis. But how many of us really know what that means? How
many of us really practice it?
Keeping your eye on the ball doesn't mean watching it until it
is a split second from hitting your racket, and then glancing away to
look at your opponent. It means watching it until it has hit your
strings and begun its rebound.
This is not a new secret. Bill Tilden, perhaps the greatest
player who ever lived, wrote about it more than 80 years ago and tried
to drive its importance into the heads of his readers. Early on in his
classic book, The Art of Lawn Tennis, he cited statistics “to show
you how vital it is that the eye must be kept on the ball UNTIL THE
MOMENT OF STRIKING IT” (his emphasis).
“About 85 per cent of points in tennis are errors, and the
remainder earned points. As the standard of play rises the percentage
of errors drops until, in the average high-class tournament match, 60
per cent are errors and 40 per cent aces. ... Fully 80 percent of all
errors are caused by taking the eye from the ball in the last one-fifth
of a second of its flight.”
Wow. Sobering statistics, to be sure. But exciting ones, too,
because what Tilden is telling us is that it's within our power, right
now, to eliminate the majority of our errors! And reducing the errors
we make is the surest way to starve our opponent of points and extend
his opportunity to give up points to us.
Tilden was a great tennis observer as well as a player. He
studied and wrote about all of the top players of his day, and observed
and advised many a tennis beginner. We can trust him when he says that
the greatest fault commited by novices (and by many more experienced
players) is trying to watch too much besides the ball.
Tilden compared the human eye to a camera, noting that neither
is capable of clearly focusing on a moving object and its background at
the same time. “Now the tennis ball is your moving object while the
court, gallery, net, and your opponent constitute your background.”
Therefore, ignore the background and rather “concentrate solely on
focusing the eye firmly on the ball, and watching it until the moment
of impact with your racquet face.”
Shouldn't you at least take a peek at your opponent, maybe out
of the corner of your eye? No: “You are not trying to hit him. You
strive to miss him. Therefore, since you must watch what you strive to
hit and not follow what you only wish to miss, keep your eye on the
ball, and let your opponent take care of himself.”
Tilden provided a chart in he Art of Lawn Tennis, a very
simple one, but one that I hope you will commit to memory. It looked
something like this:
A—1—2—3—4—B
Imagine a ball passing from point A to point B, with you as the
receiving player at B. According to Tilden, it can be taken as a
scientific fact that if you keep your eye on the ball throughout its
flight, your chance of making a good return is five times as great as
it would be if you took your eye off the ball at point 4 (4/5ths of a
second of its flight). Furthermore, your chance is ten times as great
as it would be if your removed your eye from the ball at point 3
(3/5ths of a second of its flight).
Tilden wrote: “The average player follows the ball to 4, and
then he takes a last look at his opponent to see where he is, and by so
doing increases his chance of error five times. ... Remembering the 85
percent errors in tennis, I again ask you if it is worth while to take
the risk?”
Keeping your eye on the ball is a good practice not just
because you make fewer errors, but also because it strengthens the
other parts of your game through developing the habit of concentration.
As Tilden humorously explained, “It tends to hold [your] attention so
outside occurrences will not distract. Movements in the gallery are not
seen, and stray dogs, that seem to particularly enjoy sleeping in the
middle of a tennis court during a hard match, are not seen on their way
to their sleeping quarters.”
So there you have it – one-fifth of a second that can make all
the difference in your tennis game. It can truly be the magic moment
for you, IF you cultivate the discipline to keep your eye on the ball
not just occasionally or even most of the time, but during every single
shot.
P.S: Bill Tilden's The Art of Lawn Tennis is in the public
domain, which means you can find it and read it online for free. I
highly recommend that you do so. Although his references to events and
personalities are of course dated, his playing advice is timeless.
About The Author
© Copyright 2004 by Steve Smith. Steve Smith is a writer who
lives near Chapel Hill, North Carolina. His Web site, Tops 4 Tennis (http://www.tops4tennis.com),
includes the complete text of The Art of Lawn Tennis by Bill Tilden,
plus other articles and links for tennis players and fans.
|
* Webmasters and ezine publishers: You are granted permission to use this article on your own web site or in your own newsletter, subject to the following provisions. You may edit the text of the main article body to meet your needs (such as shortening for length), provided you do not alter its general meaning. You must include, unaltered, the copyright notice and author bio as given in the gray box above, including the URL to this Web site. You do not need to hyperlink the URL--but it would be nice!
Paragon Sports
One of the best choices for tennis rackets online, on sale, and with free shipping. Also, they have the revolutionary Liquidmetal
rackets.
Tennis Magazine
World's most popular tennis publication. Each issue features exclusive step-by-step instruction from pros to help you improve your serve, smooth out your backhand, and learn to play the percentages. Subscribe online for the best price.
Amazon.com Tennis Shop
Not just for book lovers anymore, Amazon now offers a great selection of tennis rackets as well as other game accessories and attire.
Zappos.com - Best for Tennis Shoes
Zappos is the Web's most popular shoe store. Their selection of men's, women's and children's brand-name athletic shoes will astound you.