Playing Tennis – Reaction Time
Let’s talk about how reaction time influences the three basics.
The three basics are: 1) racket back, 2) rotate your body to a sideways position to the incoming tennis ball, and 3) make contact (racket to ball) to the side and front of your body.
Let’s take an example of hitting a ball against a back board. I am a beginner. I take the racket back, turn sideways to the backboard, then drop the ball a rackets length away from my body and off to the side of my front foot. As the ball bounces up off the court and reaches waist level, I swing my racket forward across my body making contact in an upward and forward motion (low to high) finishing with racket over my shoulder. If all has been done correctly technically, the ball should go straight to the backboard and bounce off it back to the same side of my body ready to be struck again in the same manner. However, I realize, too late, my racket isn’t back for the repetetive hit and, trying quickly to get it back in time, the ball is past me before I can swing. I have not done what I thought I was ready to do. That is not using my reaction time correctly. What I should have done is, as the ball makes contact with the backboard, I begin taking the racket back in anticipation of the ball coming back to my ‘hitting zone’. When it arrives my preparation (reaction time) will allow me to be ready for a second, third contact(hopefully many more).
Take each basic in order: 1)racket back, 2)side position to the ball and 3) contact to the front and side of your body position. You can not do all three at once. There has to be a progression. It doesn’t work as efficiently if you run to the ball, then take your racket back. It works much better in the prior sequence. The more you practice and watch the pros, it is almost as if all three are working simultaneously, but there is still a start and end sequence. They have just done it so much, it seems effortless and you don’t notice until you mentally break it down.
The reaction time in preparation for making contact with the ball directly influences two important functions: 1) the earlier you prepare, the more control you have over your chosen shot and 2) the earlier you achieve a good hitting position on the incoming ball, the more choices you have in your shot selection.
Reaction time is how long does it take to prepare to the trajectory of the incoming ball. Another part of this has to do with your reaction to the stimulus of the ball coming off the opponents racket. This affects your preparation timing – my next blog.
In the mean time spend some time analyzing your timing sequence in preparation for ball contact using these three basics as a guideline.
