Tennis Technology and Training Tuesday
I am living in fear that at some point in the near future the management at my new tennis club will wake up to the fact that giving me 24×7 access to indoor courts and unlimited ball machine usage is a bad idea. Until then, I will continue to haunt the facility in the wee hours of the morning working on my technique and consistency. This brings us to the topic of Billie Jean King’s Eye Coach.
But first… one more true confession. When the Fiend at Court site was launched on New Year’s Day in 2020, I estimated that it would take approximately six months to completely work through the ITF Rules of Tennis. One idea for when that source of easy daily prompts was exhausted, was to potentially work materials I colloquially refer to as “The Gospel according to Billie Jean King.” To be honest, that concept is not completely off the table. Billie Jean King… is the mother of modern of tennis.
Consequently, when Billie Jean King endorses a piece of training equipment, I am predisposed to give it a try. My new club has an Eye Coach ever-present court side and I have been using it in my solo training sessions. I have found that it is exceedingly good at grooving a consistent balanced contact point. The fact that it can be used off court is a distinct bonus.
Before my recent experience with the Eye Coach, I would have characterized the device as yet another topspin swing path trainer. In fact, it is certainly effective for that purpose. I had severely underestimated the benefits of the Eye Coach for contact point training. In fact, that is the principle reason why I think people should use the device.
The Eye Coach is not cheap. It is much sturdier than other devices previously reviewed by this site. In fact, you can take aggressive swings at it without fear that it will topple over and break. That durability comes with a increase in weight and a reduction in portability. Despite the fact that a “convenient carrying case” is available, the Eye Coach is unlikely to be removed from a primary location of use.
According to the product website, the purchase of each new Eye Coach comes with a complementary virtual training session. Since I am using a facility owned device, I cannot comment on the efficacy of that training. However I can attest that the I wealth of official YouTube videos illustrating various ways the Eye Coach can be used are a great resource. I believe that I have achieved a comprehensive awareness of how to use it from that source.
The bottom line is that a balanced and consistent contact point is essential to playing tennis well. Billie Jean King’s Eye Coach delivers on the promise of training that consistency.
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