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General Discussion / Unconscionable Errors (Doofus Syndrome)
« on: May 31, 2019, 08:33:57 am »
Whoa! I think ... I hope ... I have found the fix for one the most pernicious and embarrassing tennis bugs out there: the tendency we all have to make random, inexplicable, improbable errors. I am talking about dumping the sitter into the net, whiffing the forehand (with feet to spare), thwacking the volley over the back fence, shanking the serve, lofting the drop shot, and feeding the net man a juicy six-foot lob he can use to massacre your doubles partner. To be an unconscionable error the shot has to be a complete gimme and you must miss it spectacularly.
The solution is both trivial and nearly impossible: it is tracking the ball - from your opponent's sweet spot to yours. It is predicting exactly where, in spacetime, your racket face will encounter the ball beginning the instant the ball leaves their racket and updating that estimate every few milliseconds right up to the moment of contact (MOC). It is beginning to prepare for the MOC before the report of your opponent's strike reaches your ear. It is NOT, I repeat, NOT passively 'watching the ball', which is what most players do most of the time and even the great ones do occasionally. If you can will yourself to track the ball, the results are amazing: better footwork, fewer miss-hits, fewer errors, better handling of bad bounces, more solid contact, more spin, more pace, more fun! The hard part is remembering to do it every time. Tracking can improve with practice and training but I don't believe it is ever automatic - the slightest distraction, either external or internal, and 'poof', it is gone.
Anyway look for a major revision of the Unconscionable Errors (Doofus Syndrome) section of the site and try it out for yourself. Let me know what you experience!
The solution is both trivial and nearly impossible: it is tracking the ball - from your opponent's sweet spot to yours. It is predicting exactly where, in spacetime, your racket face will encounter the ball beginning the instant the ball leaves their racket and updating that estimate every few milliseconds right up to the moment of contact (MOC). It is beginning to prepare for the MOC before the report of your opponent's strike reaches your ear. It is NOT, I repeat, NOT passively 'watching the ball', which is what most players do most of the time and even the great ones do occasionally. If you can will yourself to track the ball, the results are amazing: better footwork, fewer miss-hits, fewer errors, better handling of bad bounces, more solid contact, more spin, more pace, more fun! The hard part is remembering to do it every time. Tracking can improve with practice and training but I don't believe it is ever automatic - the slightest distraction, either external or internal, and 'poof', it is gone.
Anyway look for a major revision of the Unconscionable Errors (Doofus Syndrome) section of the site and try it out for yourself. Let me know what you experience!
