Tennis Improvement Memo 580. When you look in the same direction, the relationship functions

Doubles net players are taught, "Don't look back." However, pros look back normally. The problem is not whether you look back or not. Whether you are looking in the same direction. Watch the ball. See the same world as your partner. When you can do that, whether in doubles, as a couple, or as a family, the relationship begins to "function."

▶ "Don't look back" is not even followed by pros

The common advice, "Doubles net players should not look back and should always keep their eyes on the opponent," is not followed at all at the tour level.

https://x.com/i/status/2017011146604367914

They weren't looking back because they thought they would get hit.

Because they were looking back, they were able to react to the ball that was about to hit them.

Trying to follow general instruction and keep looking forward without turning back is the "eye-skipping" problem of shifting your gaze ahead to where the ball is flying.

Ignoring the current ball.

Worrying about the future result is because you want to feel at ease quickly.

In other words, it is a manifestation of a psychology anxious about the present.

It is a person who sacrifices the present for the sake of the future.

It is the "moving too early/too fast problem".

▶ Keep the ball in your field of vision at all times

Concentrating on the ball naturally means that even if it has flown behind you to your partner, the backcourt player, you look back to see it.

Then, just as you would dodge an object falling toward your head, you can move as you feel, which leads to the reaction seen in the video (related article: "What does it mean to play as you feel?").

It is dangerous to ignore the ball that has gone behind you and keep looking forward, as if to say "I'm not the one hitting it".

Because the hit ball will suddenly jump into your field of vision the next moment, it becomes difficult to focus your eyes (even if it is yellow-green).

▶ The pairs that win are not the ones that "get along," but the ones that "function"

Let's reconsider doubles pairs.

For a pair, it is not necessary to get along or have good chemistry.

The close-knit Bryan brothers were strong, but the proverb also says that siblings are the beginning of strangers.

To put it dryly, for each other, it is enough if it 'functions'.

Personality compatibility has nothing to do with it.

Even in a first-time partnership, they sometimes win the championship.

▶ No need to draw lines, first try to take everything yourself

In fact, it sometimes works out well because you don't know each other very well.

As proof, look at mixed doubles matches played by married couples or partners who know each other well.

"That's your ball!"

"Your positioning is bad!" and other such egregious territorial violations (oh my).

In doubles, there is no such thing as "your ball".

There is also no need to draw lines for vertical or horizontal division of positions.

Basically, the image is to "take everything yourself."

You leave it to your partner only as a result of not being able to reach it.

Otherwise, it tends to become a situation where "I can't get my hands on the ball" and "my partner can't catch up".

That hits the nail on the head, doesn't it?

▶ Whether you are a married couple or rivals, it is important to look in the same direction

Even if it's okay for a couple who just started dating, married couples don't need to stare at each other's faces.

It is important to be looking in the "same direction".

In tennis, if both people are always looking at the same ball, that pair will do well.

This is because each person functions as a thoughtful partner.

The same applies to a "rivalry" that functions by trying to elevate each other rather than trying to kick each other down.

“Is Kurumi Nara your rival, Doi-san?”Misaki Doi's answer to this question is helpful.

▶When you look in the same direction, a relationship begins to grow

What does it mean to welcome a dog into your family?

The article says that for the sake of that child, the whole family looks in the same direction.

“I will prepare the food.”

“I will change the litter.”

“I will go for a walk.”

“We will sleep together.”

Becoming close means, in that way, causing trouble for each other and having trouble caused for you.

Causing trouble certainly imposes a burden, but because you gradually come to think of it as "mutual," you become close.

And so, while the relationship is "functioning," affection also sprouts.

This is because a relationship is not something that exists ready-made, but something you "grow" from zero.

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