Watching the ball at contact was on the top of my list of areas for improvement today. During our mini tennis warmup, I focused on watching the ball closely, and for the entire session it paid off. We had long rallies where my usual dumping the ball in the net was not a factor.

02-27-23 head still - YouTube

The intent of watching the ball at contact is to ensure hits occur in the sweet spot of the racquet. Coach Tomaz (Mencinger), my virtual coach, explained the forces working against holding the head still. These include:

1. A desire to watch your opponent. Sometimes you will look up to see the location of your opponent.
2. A desire to look at your target. Sometimes you will look up while focusing on your target.
3. The tendency to naturally move your head along with the shoulder rotation of the forehand or 2-handed backhand.

The latter is perhaps the most challenging, as it is an acquired skill of learning to keep your head still while the body is rotating. This can be accomplished through a series of shadow swings or by using the Eye Coach. Tomaz concluded his video (button below) by explaining that keeping your head still at contact is a skill acquired only over a long time, such as a summer, and not in one or two hitting sessions. I realized that my performance today was only the eye-opener and that mastery of watching the ball at contact was one more skill to hone.