If you watch something moving fast, providing you do not lose sight of it, you can track it. It is when you take your eye off the ball, because of your bad body positioning that you cannot track the ball.

When you can move around the court and always follow the ball, your speed and reaction time will increase dramatically.

Back to top

Hamburglar is correct, there is no way you can track a ball at 100mph while on court.

Of course it is easy off court watching a match, your line of vision means you hardly have to move your head and your eyes. On court you have to follow the ball from the back to the front, there is no way your eyes and head can move that quick.

Back to top

hamburglar - so you do not get the continuous flow of the rally/ball.  That is a pity.

Very hard to track something when you see it/don't see it/chase/stop/look/realise/start again and it sure would make for a jerky game. 

When you sit as a spectator/marker or referee watching play  you can track the rally without interruption so what is the difference from standing on the court, provided you are watching the play from a direct angle?

Back to top

Back to top

This is not going to happen overnight as the more experienced you get the more cues you will pick up.

Safety eyewear would also be worthwhile.

Back to top

rippa, I had a chance to try the tips you generously provided and they worked well. the "wide eyes" thought worked for me in particular.

Back to top

paul - it sounds as though you are looking at the ball out of the corner of your eyes, maybe because you are afraid of being hit.  What to do:

• Watch the ball so you can see it clearly and in perspective
• Have wider eyes (take in the opponent's movement, shaping, ball positioning, ball bounce, proximity to the walls) as you watch the ball, and narrow eyes as the opponent shapes to strike the ball.
• Move your body position out of the way so you are not afraid to watch the ball.  This way you will take off a lot faster too.
• Never take your eye off the ball, and keep flexing your movement/footwork depending on the speed and flight path of the ball, ie before the striker actually hits it.
• As the ball moves you move to take advantage of the positioning.

There are a lot of clues there if you can just pick up on them, eg angle, height, speed, backswing, ball positioning in relation to the body, nearness to the ball, etc.

Back to top