I want to disagree with your article on where our eyes should be at contact! ;-)
The big issue on this topic is really where the ball is in relationship to the body at contact. I think you will agree you can't see contact on most backhands as the ball is shielded due to the paddle position, yet backhands are probably the most consistent shots we make because the ball is in front of us versus to our side like forehands.
Also If a player is relooping off the bounce on the forehand they are probably also shielding the ball with their blade so again telling a person to see contact might be impossible. Some forehand flips to the middle also shield contact.
Sean's Advice for Players
Here is what I tell my students. You should always have your eyes on the ball through out the rally. At the same time you should be aware of where your opponent is at all times. Track the ball with your eyes and not your neck. Make sure you have a solid backswing, contact and follow through on all shots. Try to hit the ball in the center of the racket.Note by Greg: Despite our minor differences of opinion about turning the neck, the advice above is solid gold from someone who knows his stuff. Disregard it at your peril!
In relation to seeing 100% contact, I don't think it is as critical as a good follow through since many shots are shielded and you will never fully see contact on those anyway.
I am very careful what words I use as they create a visual for the player. In essence, I purposefully just leave it out telling players to actually see contact with both eyes.
Refocus on Your Opponent
Many players even at the higher level forget to refocus on the opponent after the shot is complete. It seems to me the best watch the ball just as long as needed and then refocus on the path as it is leaving their racket. This transition should be seamless and not 100% ball then 100% opponent but 2-3 inches before contact you know you will hit the ball and watching all the way doesn't add any value.That should be the time to make your final decision on where you are going to hit the ball to and double check where the opponent is in case they have moved. That is if you believe that the top players actually can hit to multiple locations from any one shot. If you see the image of Waldner or Smirnov on the www.donic.de website I think you will see they are not seeing contact as the risk of losing the path of the ball. On the other hand, I think that Baum is hitting the ball late and thus his neck and eyes are focusing more on the ball.
Maybe a better way of saying it is if you are late in your stroke you may want to track the ball more to your paddle. If you are early (ball in front of body) it is probably impossible in some instances to even see the contact. In the Persson photo on the Donic site you will see his shoulders have turned which means the shot wasn't late and you can see that his eyes are already focused on the ball in front of his body.
Use your Eyes, Not Your Neck
When I tell my students to watch the ball all the way to contact they will regularly error and use their neck which doesn't have the strength to move at contact speed. Maybe some of your students will just use their eyes to track the ball when you mention to watch contact, but I know most Americans will track it with their neck and this is why I am extremely careful not to even bring it up. We had 2 solid Olympic players on the US Team that tracked with their neck and it really hurt them in their ball placement of their shots.The point I am trying to make is I don't see any problem with someone not seeing actual contact. The Pro's probably do this more often then not. There is nothing wrong with not seeing contact when the ball is in front of as you would have to wait and hit it late to peek over the paddle anyway. And I really get nervous when some one often hits the ball late and then has no clue where the opponent is since they use their neck muscles to track the ball.
I don't think we are really in much disagreement as I want the players to focus more on their opponent at contact as they are improving as that will help them decide where to hit their shot.
A similar situation occurs when people ask if they should use wrist on their shots. I tell them not to think about it but to keep their wrist relaxed. This will allow for a solid wrist snap during the stroke instead of an abbreviated stroke with too much wrist. Words do have tremendous meaning for new players.
Beginners vs Advanced Players
One final thought. As beginners it is critical we make solid contact and focus on the ball as long as possible. I often say beginners will keep 90% of their attention on what is happening on their side of the net. As we improve we begin to shift that percentage to 50%-50%. At the highest level the attention is about 90% to 10% on watching what is happening on the other side of the net as our strokes and movements are grooved and we know what we will do thanks to countless hours of practice. I try to get players to get to the 50-50% relationship as fast as possible knowing it is a requirement to then going 90-10%.I am guessing when I started driving a car my focus was on the steering wheel a little more than it is now as I tend to pan further in front of me and less to the sides. I think the analogy although a little tortured is a little like pong.
I thank you for doing an article on the topic as clearly there is more than one way to skin a cat and top players often do watch full contact. I just think it is more due to body /ball position than conscious thought of not wanting to miss the puck!
The site is really rocking and I encourage all forum readers to take a break every now and then to click on the plethora of outstanding articles that Greg has written!!!