As the title mention, should our eyes be glued on the shuttle everything we hit it? I myself found it hard to glue my eyes on the shuttle up to the point of contact. E.g. for over heads or smashes I will look at the shuttle up to the point that I estimate I can hit it only, then my eyes will be looking straight again. I'm not sure if this is the reason why most of my hits tends to lack in accuracy.
As soon as I have hit my shot, I immediately look back right at my opponent to see and guess what his move/shot will be...
Yes, your overhead shot quality is going to suffer if you are not looking at the shuttle when you hit it. It's also useful to be aware of what your opponents are doing, but not at the expense of hitting low-quality shots. In some situations it's easier to watch your opponents than others -- for example, sometimes at the net you can see the shuttle and your opponent at the same time. There are also situations when it's detrimental to watch the shuttle right onto the racket, as you will be changing your perspective too rapidly. This often happens with smash defence and some interceptions. So in general, watch the shuttle onto the racket. But not always. Experiment to see what works.
Human vision has been designed so as to give us at least 180 degree vision which means that as we fix our gaze upon the shuttlecock, we are able to take in what is happening in our peripheral vision and it is this ability that allows us to position ourselves correctly in anticipation of our opponent's counter shot as we hit our own across the net, be it a smash or a hairpin.
I have been play with someone that really deceptive. I can guest if he will do high up or drop. Its like my 1sec is his 5sec. Every time he about to hit, he like stop his swing near the impact point, see what would where am i or what i do & then hit it with his short swing. Tried his tech, but i guest my wrist is not as strong as him. But still to hold up a swing & see the opponent would ruin my accuracy.
Ideally you would like to get a catch on where the opponent is while the shuttle is coming to you. But you want to do that when the shuttle is half way there. Once you have the information looking at the shuttle is important to avoid misshit. My go to eye movement would be : - eyes to opponent as he hits the shuttle - eyes on the shuttle until midway to assess trajectory - quick glance at opponent - eyes on shuttle until you hit it Of course as Gollum said you won't have the time to do step 3 when playing fast.
