The Role Of Your Eyes In Tennis

Tracking and ball recognition. I would say they are two different things. Ball tracking is your ability to track the ball as it's coming to you. On the other hand, ball recognition is your ability to read the incoming ball. For example, being able to read underspin, topspin, or the penetration of the incoming ball early is going to be of great advantage.

Unfortunately, they don't go hand in hand. Your biomechanics are going to be counter-intuitive to your ability to track the ball. So let me explain to you why that is the case. If I'm standing on the baseline and tracking the ball that's coming at me, naturally, the most comfortable way to track the ball is going to be open, with my head positioned towards the incoming ball. Nevertheless, today I don't want to discuss ball recognition. I want to discuss ball tracking. More specifically, I want to discuss how ball tracking is correlated to your biomechanics.

Turning And Coiling

When I see a ball coming to my forehand, I'm going to make a turn, and now my head needs to turn over my shoulder in order to track the ball. The same is true for all your backhands, whether we're talking about a one-handed backhand, two-handed backhand, or a one-handed backhand slice. Your head is going to be positioned over your shoulder while you're tracking the ball.

Why do you want to turn in this way? Well, you're going to miss out on the most important element of all groundstrokes, which is torso rotation. If you don't turn and play the ball like this, you're going to be causing great harm to your tennis development. Later, you're going to have an impossible time advancing at the recreational levels and have an impossible time to play tennis at the higher levels.

On the forehand, you do need to turn, and you're going to be tracking the ball with your chin over your shoulder. Now, the ball is going to be coming at you. You might still be setting up the shot, and as you initiate your stroke, now you're going to continue to track the ball, which is going to be coming closer to your right side if you happen to be right-handed. And the position of your head is going to become more comfortable.

Keeping Your Head Still

As the ball gets closer to you, you obviously don't have to look at it quite the same anymore. It's going to get more comfortable to track the ball properly. On the forehand, you have to understand that this is a stroke that has a contact point that's unique. All players at the high level, without any exception, will make contact in front. In other words, the dominant shoulder will be at least at the level of the non-dominant shoulder, but in most cases, it will be ahead.

Now, you ask yourself, why would that be the case? Novak Djokovic, for example, who's breaking all the records in the tennis world, doesn't keep his head at the ball. His head is forward when he makes contact with the forehand. How can that be possible? Well, you have to understand the context of the fastest part of the forehand, which takes place in sheer milliseconds. Players are hitting the forehand 70 to 100 miles an hour. Hence, it is absolutely impossible to see the ball. This is a stylistic element of the forehand. It's not wrong by any means. Roger Federer, Carlos Alcaraz, keep their head down when contact is established. But the vast majority of players at the elite level have their head forward when contact is established on the forehand.

The reason why most players have their head pointing forward at the moment of contact is that the forehand contact point is different from any other shot in tennis. It is hit way out front. So, it's actually counter-intuitive to keep your head down. Again, it is not wrong by any means.

Backhand Tracking

On the backhand side, the contact is completely different. Whether we're talking about a slice backhand, a one-handed backhand, or a two-handed backhand, our chest is going to be towards the side fence. The two-handed backhand has a little bit more torso rotation than the one-handed slice and the regular one-handed backhand. But still, the chest is more towards the side fence. And you're going to see all high-level players keep their head down when they make contact with the ball.

In more detail, you're going to make a turn as big as possible. Intend to put your chin over your shoulder. This turn is crucial so you can get as much torso rotation as possible into the contact. And as you're rotating, your head is going to be tracking the ball. Then, when the ball gets closer to you, this tracking is going to be more comfortable because you are rotating. Once you make contact, naturally, the head is going to be in a straight position because the body is still turned towards the side.

Classic Shots

With the volleys, we don't have to worry about rotation. The volley is a deflective shot. The chest is going to be positioned slightly sideways, ideally. And because of the side base position of the chest, it's going to be natural to keep the head positioned towards the string bed at the moment of contact, both with the forehand and for the backhand volley.

How about the serve? Here, we don't have to worry about ball tracking so much because when you toss the ball to yourself, the ball is flying up at a very low speed. So, the ball is extremely easy to track. Now, how about the contact point? Here's where things get very interesting. Just like the forehand, the backhand, the contact is over milliseconds. And remember, the serve is the fastest stroke in tennis. It is absolutely impossible to see the ball touch the string bed at the moment of contact.

Take a look at the high and elite level. When we're talking about a kick serve, we know that contact is established right above the head. And players, therefore, don't look at the ball when they perform a kick serve. They will be tracking the ball as long as possible because as that racket starts approaching the ball forward, the head straightens out.

Blinded Contact

You've got to remember that contact is established in milliseconds, just like any other shot. You don't necessarily need to look at the ball when you make contact. Of course, you have to track it as long as you possibly can. But there is no way someone is capable of looking at contact with the ball anyways. Now, how about the flat and the slice serve? Here, the contact is going to be established in front of our head. So, just like the kick serve, the head will not be positioned by looking up. It will straighten out so that the weight transfer can be performed.

If you pay close attention to elite-level players and you take still images of them right when they make contact with the ball on a flat and a slice serve or even on a kick serve, you'll see that some players actually have their eyes closed. This is also true for the forehand, by the way. Some players like Dominic Thiem have their eyes closed when they make contact with the ball.

Final Thoughts

Remember that ball tracking is incredibly important. Without ball tracking, you will not be able to play tennis. However, do not jeopardize the fundamental biomechanical elements on your groundstrokes, which is your loading position. You take a look at any player that's good at tennis, what you're going to observe is exactly what I discussed today. All players do it the same.

You will not find the player not turn on their forehand or on their backhand, except when they're in emergency situations without any time. But in 99% of the cases, players are loading their body because the torso rotation is a fundamental element of the groundstrokes that you need to learn and utilize if you want to advance in the game of tennis.