Hey Maurice,
Good question. It’s a combination of both. Watch your opponents body positioning and bat angle during contact and then track the ball as it comes towards you. The more you practice this you will start to do this subconsciously and look at everything as a whole. It’s similar to learning to drive.. the experienced driver pays attention to everything ahead of him and can react to obstacles while still being aware of everything else. The beginner driver easily makes mistakes because he is focusing on one thing at a time. The more you practice, the more you will begin to watch your opponent as a whole and read the game quickly.
To develop this you can do exercises with your opponent where they block anywhere on the table to you, or vice versa they topspin anywhere and you have to block back. These exercises force you to read your opponent as to be able to do these exercises efficiently you need to be fully aware of what your opponent is doing. Let us know how you find this.
Thanks Maurice,
Dan
