|
Eyeballing
When the loser of a recent US Open match was asked
to explain an uncharacteristic streak of errors, she responded, "I
wasn't watching the ball." If her explanation is taken literally, it
seems as silly as saying " I was holding the wrong end of the
racket" or "I was trying to hit the ball between my legs." The term
"watch the ball" has become a cliché. Despite its vague and
frequently inaccurate use, the term may be part of our racquetball
vocabulary for some time to come.
So "Watch the ball" is useful as a metaphor but not as a command
to be taken literally. If someone advises you to "watch your step,"
it is unlikely that you will watch each and every one of your
footsteps. "Watch your step" is a metaphor for exercising reasonable
caution; "watch the ball" is a metaphor for using the eyes
effectively.
In order to use your eyes effectively, you must see things
clearly; in order to see things clearly, you must keep your head
relatively stable in relation to the horizontal plane of the court.
Vision provides information about the direction, speed, arc, and
rotations of an approaching ball. If your head is bouncing up and
down and turning from side to side, this visual information becomes
distorted.
For a simple illustration of how visual acuity relates to head
stability, notice the amount of effort required to read the words on
this page. Now shake your head around as you read the next sentence.
This is an example of a decrease in visual acuity due to the
movement of your head. All right, stop shaking your head and
remember to keep your head stable so you can use your eyes
effectively on each rally.
Home I
About Us l
Search
Velocity Racquetball ®
|
