You'll never have a relaxed swing until you fix this! 

Thanks, glad you found the video helpful.

Great to hear you've found something that works for you. With that said, there's a reason you clicked on the video, so it's possible that improving visual capacity could benefit your further.

This might be why if you don't start playing at a young age, it's a lot more difficult to achieve a relaxed swing. I could see it in the people I played with.

Two things you can do. Instead of intensely focusing on not making mistakes, focus on footwork and keeping your head still during the swing. Your feet need to start moving the minute your opponent strikes the ball, starting with the split step as you already know, then never stops until you are in position to take your swing, then you think of keeping your head still through the swing. You will still make errors but if you can do these two things most of the time, the errors will be less. Eventually, you get into this habit and the errors become less and less. But tennis is a game of errors so you should never expect an error free game. The mental prep is to immediately forget the last error and switch attention to the next point as fast as you can. This is why he's telling you to practice moving your eyes but not your head, so that you can keep your head still during your swing. If you take a peek to the other side by slightly moving your head up while you swing, that will alter your arm position by just a bit but enough to send the ball to the net.

@@tomsd8656. this is superb advice, thank you

@tomsd8656 Yes there are lots of things you can do to prepare mentally to help you relax. I've got a s few videos that talk about it. But it's really important to address the underlying problem. Consciously, you are worried about missing the shot, but subconsciously, your brain is more concerned with survival. Not seeing optimally as you charge around the court, is scary for your "survival" brain. By improving your visual capacity it will help to control your emotions without additional effort because it lowers overall stress.

It's definitely a contributing factor. Wen players start at a young age, their visual system gets hundreds of thousands of repetitions, which the brain then adapts to. Sadly kids also spend massive amount of time on their phones. Normally more time than they spend playing tennis.

Maybe they won't need glasses after doing these exercises?

It's fascinating isn't it. This is why so many players hold their breath when they play.

@@TennisHacker your reminded to breathe, with longer exhalation is so important!

Normally when people have big differences side to side it’s more related to coordination than vision. Rotating through shots requires whole body coordination and there is normally an imbalance side to side.

The forehand is more complex than the backhand, and requires different timing. I notice I tense when I'm late with the swing, so think about being ready with plenty of time, then you can swing at the ball with leisure. You'll probably need to practice separate forehand timing and backhand timing, then practice switching between the two. Who said tennis was easy? Lol

Yep!

People respond differently to training. Doing them every day works well for some people, so that's a good starting point.

It's a common problem.

Do you stare at the ball until you hit it?

Yes, work on the drills from the video! As your eye movements improve, you'll be able to hit the ball more consistently. Which will then let you feel more confident. This will create a positive cycle.

​absolutely not. I think my mind goes blank so that my eyes are open but not seeing.

@@NikosNtounas Why is it so important to stare at the ball until contact? I wonder if my theory is correct: the brain is making countless calculations on the court, and knowing exactly where the ball is 1) improves those calculations by using a more accurate input, and 2) improves the precision of future calculations by relating results to more accurate information on ball location.

What I'm trying to explain in the video is that that the visual system creates an underlying subconscious threat". Consciously players perceive the stress of the match and the point, but that's only a small portion of the information that the brain has to deal with. I highly recommend giving the exercises a try for a period of time and see if it helps. Rather than dismissing something that could potentially help.

Thank you for correcting me. It couldn’t possibly that there are things you don’t understand 😂