Tennis - Watching the ball

WATCHING THE BALL

(from The Inner Game of Tennis)

Watching the ball means to focus your attention on the sight of it. I have found that the most effective way to deepen concentration through sight is to focus on something subtle, not easily perceived. It’s easy to see the ball, but not so easy to notice the exact pattern made by its seams as it spins. The practice of watching the seams produces interesting results. After a short time the player discovers that he is seeing the ball much better than when he was just “watching” it. When looking for the pattern made by the seams one naturally watches the ball all the way to one’s racket and begins to focus his attention on it earlier than before. The ball should be watched from the time it leaves the opponent’s racket to the time it hits yours. (Sometimes the ball even begins to appear bigger or to be moving slower. These are natural results of true focus.)

But seeing the ball better is only a partial benefit of focusing on its seams. Because the pattern made by the spinning ball is so subtle, it tends to engross the mind more completely. The mind is so absorbed in watching the pattern that it forgets to try too hard. To the extent that the mind is preoccupied with the seams, it tends not to interfere with the natural movements of the body. Furthermore, the seams are always here and now, and if the mind is on them it is kept from wandering to the past or future. The practice of this exercise will enable the tennis player to achieve deeper and deeper states of concentration.

Most players who practice seam-watching as a discipline find it helpful almost immediately, but after a while they often discover their minds wandering again. The mind has difficulty focusing on a single object for an extended period of time. Let’s face it: as interesting as a tennis ball may be for some, it is not going to easily capture the restless mind, so habituated to distractions of every kind.

Bounce-Hit

So the question arises as to how to maintain focus for extended periods of time. The best way is to allow yourself to get interested in the ball. How do you do this? By not thinking you already know all about it, no matter how many thousands of balls you have seen in your life. Not assuming you already know is a powerful principle of focus.

One thing you don’t know about the ball is exactly when it is going to bounce and when it is going to hit either your racket or your opponent’s. Perhaps the most simple and effective means of focus I found was a very simple exercise I called “Bounce-Hit.”

The instructions I gave students were very simple. “Say the word bounce out loud the instant you see the ball hit the court and the word hit the instant the ball makes contact with the racket—either racket.” Saying the words out loud gave both me and the student the chance to hear whether the words were simultaneous with the events of bounce and hit. As the student said “bounce … hit … bounce … hit … bounce … hit … bounce …,” not only would it keep his eyes focused on four very key positions of the ball during each exchange, but the hearing of the rhythm and cadence of the bouncing and hitting of the ball seemed to hold the attention for longer periods of time.

The results were the same as with any effective focus. The exercise would give the player better feedback from the ball and, at the same time, help clear his mind of distractions. It’s hard to be saying “bounce-hit” and at the same time overinstructing yourself, trying too hard or worrying about the score.

I found that beginners would learn effective footwork and beginning-level strokes and often be able to carry on quite long exchanges from the baseline within fifteen or twenty minutes without even thinking about it, while Self 1 was kept busy tracking the bounces and hits. Surprisingly I also found that many advanced players had more difficulty with the exercise, because they had more going on in their minds that they thought was necessary to good execution. When they would try the experiment of letting go of their controlling thoughts and just focus on the bounce and hit, they were usually very surprised and sometimes a little embarrassed about how well Self 2 performed without the usual kinds of Self 1 thought processes that they had felt were contributing so much to their game.

One of the easiest ways to maintain interest in the ball is to not look at it as a stationary object, but as an object in motion. Watching its seams helps focus your attention on the object itself, but it is just as important to increase your awareness of the flight of each ball as it moves toward you, and then again as it leaves your racket. My favorite focus of attention during a point is on the particular trajectories of each shot, both mine and my opponent’s. I notice the height of the ball as it passes over the net, its apparent speed and with utmost care the angle at which it rises after bouncing. I also observe whether the ball is rising, falling or at its apex in the instant before the racket makes contact. I give the same careful attention to the trajectory of my own shot. Soon I become more and more aware of the rhythm of the alternating shots of each point, and am able to increase my sense of anticipation. It is this rhythm, both seen and heard, which holds fascination for my mind and enables it to focus for longer periods of time without becoming distracted.

Focus is not achieved by staring hard at something. It is not trying to force focus, nor does it mean thinking hard about something. Natural focus occurs when the mind is interested. When this occurs, the mind is drawn irresistibly toward the object (or subject) of interest. It is effortless and relaxed, not tense and overly controlled. When watching the tennis ball, allow yourself to fall into focus. If your eyes are squinting or straining, you are trying too hard. If you find yourself chastising yourself for losing focus, then you may be overcontrolling. Let the ball attract your mind, and both it and your muscles will stay appropriately relaxed.