‘watch the ball’ sounds simple enough but it is an important, difficult, and very complicated process.
Let’s break it down:
1st You must start watching the ball while it is still in the hand of the server 78 feet away. Zoom in on the ball and pick out where it’s tossed. The toss tells you what spin is coming- to the side for a slice, straight up for a flat serve, or over their head for a kick.
2nd You see contact. Contact tells you where and how fast the ball will travel. Right now you will know where the ball will be when you must hit it at your contact point.
3rd As the ball flies through the air it is time to track the ball. You will see the ball spining in mid air. You will see it curve and then bounce. You must see the ball out of the center of your eyes at this point and continue to do so as the ball comes to your forehand or backhand. You must turn your head to see your sweet spot strike the ball at the contact. Roger is exemplary at this.
4th As the ball flies away from you, your head should stay down, pointing at the vacated contact point. Again, Fed does this better than anyone.
5th You continue to see the ball travel towards its target but this time out of your periphrial vision. During this stage you should be judging where your shot went.
6th Once you’ve finished your swing, look up and zoom in on the ball once again. You should start to also see where your opponent’s sweetspot is in relation to the ball through contact then once again you see your opponent’s contact.
Repeat steps three through six until the point is over.
zoom in on the ball
read contact
watch the spin
turn your head to see contact
watch the ball with your periphrial vision
pick up the ball again
watch as your opponent hits it
or in other words, just ‘watch the ball’