Watching ball hit paddle
Strokes
Jeremiah Sbarra Asked 14 years ago
How critical is it to actually see the ball hit the paddle on every stroke?
Alois Rosario Answered 14 years ago
Hi Jeremiah,
It is really helpful to be able to watch the ball all the way to the bat. This is something that you can work on during your practice time. Even when you are doing your forehand warm up, you can have this as your focus.
The better you can watch the ball the better it will be for your game.
If you have even seen a super slo-mo of Roger Federer play a forehand you will see how well he watches the ball all the way to the racket.
At first when you try to do this you will start to feel a bit disoriented. Don't worry, perdevere with it and after a lot of practice you will start to feel more comfortable.
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Anticipation
How is it that a player can always seem to get back those extremely fast topspins? Is it their incredible anticipation? The key to good anticipation actually lies in tracking the ball well. When you watch the ball closely your peripheral vision will pick up your opponents movements and with lots of practice those signs will help you anticipate what your opponent is going to do. This happens naturally with lots of experience. So it it your job to ensure that you are tracking the ball really carefully.
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Ji-Soo Woo Posted 14 years ago
interesting...I'll have a go at watching the ball hit the paddle on every stroke.
I did watch a slo-mo video of Federer hitting the ball and it was fascinating how his head was so still and he eyes just focused on the area of contact the whole time and never looking up to see where he was hitting the ball to. Do world class table tennis players also look at the ball hit the racquet every time? I don't remember specifically but my general impression from watching youtube videos was that they didn't.