Description:
Emphasis on moving only your eyes to scan your
environment without moving your entire head.
Purpose: To practice holding the head still for maximum
stroke consistency and to increase overall vision field.
Suggestions: You can simply do these drills once or twice a
day in the normal flow of your day. The drills only take one to two
minutes and in a matter of a few short weeks, you will notice an
increase in your stroke efficiency.
(A) Use either the backhand or forehand stance. Put a chair to
substitute for your opponent in centercourt to make this drill more
realistic. With knees bent, racquet in ready position, and head bent
down to look at the floor, bounce the ball, but do not hit it.
As the ball bounces, use your eyes to look at the ball’s up and down
path, and then slowly without moving your head, and using your eyes
only, quickly scan for your opponent’s position, your position relative
to the walls, and your intended target. Repeat ten times and change your
position and the chair position to stimulate real game situations.
(B)
You can practice moving your eyes without moving your entire
head at home, at work, and anywhere that you have a few spare minutes.
If you are at work and sitting at your computer, move your eyes to scan
your desk and try to see everything on your desk, like tape dispensers,
tacked up papers, calendars, flowers, notebooks, cups, and even your
co-workers moving behind and all around you. Get use to scanning and
picking up information quickly by just using your eyes and not moving
your head at all. This will increase your "Vision Field."
