How many times after missing a shot have you admonished yourself to watch the ball? Believe it or not, watching the ball is one of the biggest myths in our sport. You physically cannot watch the ball, at least not at contact, because when the ball is about four feet from the point of impact the human eye ceases to be able to focus on it and all you really see is a blur. Instead, your brain has figured out where the ball should be based on past experiences. In essence, you’ve learned to track the ball.
Here’s a powerful drill that will really help you enhance your ball-tracking skills. Play mini-tennis—that’s when you hit softly and keep the ball inside the service boxes—and try to keep two balls in play simultaneously. At first, allow the ball to bounce on either side of the net. Once you master this skill, do the same drill volley to volley. When you get good at that, the next progression is for one player to volley and the other to hit ground strokes (continue to play mini-tennis). Trust me, it’s not easy, but you will be forced to focus on tracking when you have to keep both balls in play with a partner. And this challenging drill will have you tracking the ball like a pro before you know it.