Shouldn't you at least take a peek at your opponent, maybe out of corner of your eye? No: “You are not trying to hit him. You strive to miss him. Therefore, since you must watch what you strive to hit and not follow what you only wish to miss, keep your eye on ball, and let your opponent take care of himself.”

Tilden provided a chart in The Art of Lawn Tennis, a very simple one, but one that I hope you will commit to memory. It looked something like this:

A—1—2—3—4—B

Imagine a ball passing from point A to point B, with you as receiving player at B. According to Tilden, it can be taken as a scientific fact that if you keep your eye on ball throughout its flight, your chance of making a good return is five times as great as it would be if you took your eye off ball at point 4 (4/5ths of a second of its flight). Furthermore, your chance is ten times as great as it would be if your removed your eye from ball at point 3 (3/5ths of a second of its flight).

Tilden wrote: “The average player follows ball to 4, and then he takes a last look at his opponent to see where he is, and by so doing increases his chance of error five times. ... Remembering 85 percent errors in tennis, I again ask you if it is worth while to take risk?”

Keeping your eye on ball is a good practice not just because you make fewer errors, but also because it strengthens other parts of your game through developing habit of concentration. As Tilden humorously explained, “It tends to hold [your] attention so outside occurrences will not distract. Movements in gallery are not seen, and stray dogs, that seem to particularly enjoy sleeping in middle of a tennis court during a hard match, are not seen on their way to their sleeping quarters.”

So there you have it – one-fifth of a second that can make all difference in your tennis game. It can truly be magic moment for you, IF you cultivate discipline to keep your eye on ball not just occasionally or even most of time, but during every single shot.

P.S: Bill Tilden's The Art of Lawn Tennis is in public domain, which means you can find it and read it online for free. I highly recommend that you do so. Although his references to events and personalities are of course dated, his playing advice is timeless.

Jerry introduced me to Frank and explained problem I was having with a fly rod. Frank said, "Come here and show me what you know about casting." So I dropped a couple of reasonable overhand casts out onto Creek. Frank looked at me, "You know enough about basic casting, what do you do with fly when it is in water?" "Frank, if I knew what H--- to do with fly in water, I would be catching fish!", I said.

"Come on and watch what I do." said Frank. Frank shook out a little line and let it drift downstream. Then he flipped a "Tension" cast back upstream. On 3rd drift, Frank hooked a nice bow right along bank. He looked at me and said, "Now you do it!" I tried to imitate Frank but no fish.

Finally Frank asked me what I had been fishing. "Eggs on bottom." I replied. "Fishing eggs on bottom is same as fishing nymphs on bottom", said Frank. "You make a little J in line just at water line and watch it as you bounce nymph on bottom. If J twitches left or right or hesitates, raise rod tip to set hook. And don't rip rod tip up. Remember that hook is only a quarter inch or less long to bend. A gentle tipup is all that is needed." Then Frank proceeded to demonstrate with two more fish.

I watched Frank and tried to imitate him with some success. As I remember I caught and released about 6 trout that Saturday. For me that was best I had ever done with a fly rod. Frank and I fished together for some 5 years before loosing touch with each other.

But I will never forget gift of a lifetime fly fishing enjoyment you gave me Frank. You were a good teacher and fine friend to wade waters with.

Whatever big river you are fishing in Heaven, I hope fish are huge and you are having a ball.

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,

Marshall, Editor

has been a fly fishing and fly tying

enthusiast for over 30 years.

http://www.fly-fishing-colorado.com/