I have been playing tennis for 57 years and have been teaching tennis for the past 47 years on and off (mostly on!). However, it is only in the past month that I have finally understood what eye-hand coordination really means.
Obviously, I am not the brightest bulb in the chandelier. In fact, 30 years ago I was told by a young, very advanced junior player that he could not see the ball when he made contact, but instead of exploring his experience, I chose to basically ignore it.
Fast forward 30 years and I finally get it!
It is logical to think that in order to hit the ball, one would need to watch the ball all the way to contact. How could it possibly be otherwise? And yet, I am suggesting that, not is it only not necessary to see the ball at contact, but it is impossible to do so and any attempt to do that will end badly.
This is yet another example of logic and Life simply not being aligned. Logic is what ‘should’ happen and Life is what does happen and in all things that really matter, the two are simply not the same. So, theories are created about Life and Living by ‘experts’ which are logical, but they are untrue and simply don’t work in the real world.
We desperately want control and logical theories give us comfort and the illusion of control; it is an easy trap to fall into. However, real control only comes by dropping logic and all that is known and instead by observing what actually is, with absolutely no bias or desire for consistency.
Science informs us that the human eye, even with 20-20 vision, cannot see the ball on the racket at contact. And yet, every time a player mishits the ball, he or she is convinced that the cure for this is ‘watching’ the ball even more intently until it touches the racket. This is true for all levels from beginners to pro players.
The fact that the Universe, in its infinite wisdom, does not allow us to see the ball hit the racket means that some kind of bridge is required for that to happen.
What is that bridge?
That bridge seems to be trust. It seems to me that we can only see the ball up to about 2 feet or so in front of us and after that it is impossible to follow it clearly any further. The amazing thing is that we don’t need to follow the ball any further than that because at that point all we need to do is just commit to our swing and confidently execute. ‘Miraculously, when we do that, the ball makes perfect contact with the racket. It is simply a happening!
There seems to exist some mysterious connection between the eyes and the hands that cannot be explained, but it is there to be experienced by anyone who wishes to explore, I know because I have, myself, experienced it.
Trust is especially difficult for all those players who want control. Control leads to wanting to be ‘sure’ and since we cannot ever see contact, there will always be an inherent doubt as to whether we will hit the ball or not. The desire for control accentuates this doubt and will invariably lead to a series of symptoms: late contact; deacceleration of the racket; or a jerky movement around contact in an attempt to control the ball.
Conversely, if you drop all efforts to see the ball go all the way to the strings and instead, just move into the ball and boldly throw the racket at the ball, in a loose and relaxed manner, it is amazing how good your contact will be!
Does this make any sense? Absolutely not! Is it logical? No way?
But is it true? The only one way to find that out is for you to go out on the court and try it for yourself!
Happy hitting!