Many tennis students are diligent about practicing stroke technique. We are disciplined about hitting the gym. But there is one major gap in our physical training: our eyes and visual skills.
Arguably your visual skills are as important as any others skills as you strive to become a top-flight competitive tennis player. We are not just talking about the clarity of your vision when focusing on a still object. We are talking about a range of different visual skills, including your ability to track a fast-moving object and your ability to keep your focus as your head and body are in motion. These, and several other visual skills, are distinct and need to be practiced separately.
I recommend working through each of the exercises below, in succession. Ideally you will practice these skills one-three times a week. If you spend good part of your day focused on a screen, you can use this series of exercises to get your eyes warmed up before playing.
If you have limited time and don’t want to commit to all of these exercises, I recommend just doing the first one on the list, which involves keeping your head still and moving (and focusing) your eyes between two targets that are far apart, and at different heights. If you consider your main challenge in tennis, which is to keep your head relatively still and track an object that is move in a pretty wide arc.
This visual workout routine was strongly inspired by Richard Brice (aka “The Tennis Hacker”). We recommend following him to do deeper exploration in this area of visual and brain training. https://www.tennishacker.net/
To successfully do the exercises below we recommend that you use a pair of chopsticks. Put a piece of tape at the end of each chopstick and write a letter or number so you have something concrete to focus on.
| Head Still; Eyes Move Back and Forth Between a High and Low Target. | Hold a chopstick at arm’s length, high in front of you. Hold another chopstick low down, to your side. Keep your head still and move your eyes from one letter to the other. Make sure you can clearly focus on each letter. You will likely find your range of movement is limited at first and the side chopstick will need to be close. See if you can expand your range over time. |
| Convergence | Hold a chopstick at arm’s length. Focus on the number while you bring the chopstick in toward bridge of nose, until you start seeing double. Challenge yourself to get the object as close to your eyes as possible before the number splits. |
| Near and Far | Stand about 30-100 feet away from a fixed object on a wall. The number placard on the rear fence of a tennis court is ideal for this exercise. Then hold a chopstick at arms length and position the number directly in front of the distant object on the wall. Continually shift your focus between the near and far objects. |
| Head Still; Eyes Move, Continuously Tracking Moving Target | Hold your head still. Take a chopstick in your hand and position it as far to the right while it is still in your field of vision. Smoothly move the chopstick until it is directly in front of your face and then back out to the right. Allow your eyes to track the number on the chopstick while you keep your head still and move your eyes with the movement of the chopstick. Repeat this exercise up, down, right, left, and on the diagonals. |
| Head Moves; Eyes Focus on Alternating Wide Targets | Position your two chopsticks as far apart as possible. Move your head rapidly between your two chopsticks and refocus your eyes as quickly as possible. Repeat this exercise on the horizontal, vertical, and diagonal planes. |
| Head Moves. Eyes Stay Focused on Center Target | Extend your arm directly in front of you and keep the chopstick still. Move your head from side to side while keep your focus on the chopstick, which remains still. Repeat this exercise up, down, right, and left. |
| Head and Target Move Together | Chopstick and head move together. As you move the chopstick back and forth. Keep your head moving with the chopstick. Repeat this exercise up, down, right, left, and on the diagonals. |