Train your eyes like you train your body and see the ball better.

Good vision is important not just for tennis but for everything that you do in life. Just like the muscles in the body, the small muscles in the eyes would benefit from some training. There are special clinics for vision therapy for athletes and obviously, they are great. (If you are in Los Angeles, you can try sport vision therapy at Dr. Gary Polan’s office in Pacific Palisades). But if you cannot do a vision therapy under the doctor’s supervision, you still can do some home exercises for your eyes, and it will be beneficial for you and your tennis game as well.

The eye exercises will strengthen the eye muscles and will teach them how to relax as well. If you practice daily just a little bit, you can see results in a couple of months. You can help yourself with the most common eye conditions, such as near- and farsightedness, presbyopia (aging eye that needs reading glasses), astigmatism, lazy eye and poor night vision. You may not completely reverse your condition, but you can improve it, or prevent from getting worse--and stronger eyes will for sure help you in your tennis game.

Focus Close and Far

Put your thumb (or a tennis ball) 8 inches in front of your eyes and focus on it for two seconds. Then move your eyes on another tennis ball 20 feet away and focus on it for two seconds. Keep moving your eyes from close to far for two minutes, or 30 eye movements.

Zoom on the Ball

Hold a tennis ball (or you can use your thumb if you prefer) close to your nose and focus on it fully. Start slowly moving the tennis ball away from your nose while focusing on it all the time. When your arm is completely stretched out, reverse the direction and bring the ball to your nose again. Repeat 20 times or until your eyes get tired.

Follow the Ball

Hold a tennis ball in your hand and stretch your arm in front of you. Start moving it in slow circular movements. Keep your head still and follow the ball with your eyes only. Keep your focus both on the ball and the background. To add variety, change the shape of the ball movement – move in straight lines, waves or zigzag movements.

Write the Numbers

Keep your head still and imagine that you are writing big numbers with your eyes on the wall in front of you. Make sure that you write the biggest numbers possible. You can also write an alphabet, and whole words.

Beads on a String

Put three colored beads on a six foot long string. Tennis balls would be fun, but probably too big. Attach one end of the string to something at the eye height, and hold the other end at your nose. Look at the furthest bead and focus on it. You should see two strings coming out of the bead, forming an upside down “V”. Next, move your eyes on the middle bead and the strings should form an “X”. Last, move your eyes to the closest bead, and your eyes should see an “X” again. If they don’t, your brain is suppressing information from the weaker eye. Keep practicing to look at the bead and force your brain to see both strings forming an “X”. Move from bead to bead, or randomly choose the beads, which will increase the difficulty.

Keep training your eyes regularly and see what difference it will make in seeing the ball on the tennis court, and hopefully your daily activities will be easier too.

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For more info: ex Ms Natural Olympia Suzanna McGee is an experienced athletic trainer, competitive tennis player and a freelance writer. She lives in Venice Beach, CA and online at www.sixftlion.com and www.TennisFitnessLove.com