Alcaraz tests a novel method to recover his right wrist

Carlos Alcaraz continues to make strides in his recovery, although his return to the circuit will have to wait. During one of his recent sessions, shared by him on his Instagram account, the Murcian was seen hitting the ball with a small cone placed over his right eye, a striking image that sparked curiosity about the actual purpose of the exercise.

It is not a protection related to his wrist injury nor a sign of an eye problem. The object is part of a specific exercise that temporarily modifies the visual information received by the player. The purpose is to increase the demand of a task that is already automated and force the brain to seek other references to read the trajectory of the ball, adjust the body's position, and coordinate the hit.

Carlos Alcaraz adds visual stimuli to his recovery

Alcaraz has been away from competition for several months due to the injury he sustained to his right wrist last spring. After an initial more conservative phase, the Spaniard has gradually increased his workload until returning to practice on the court and progressively regaining intensity.

Recent sessions have shown that he is already able to move, accelerate, and hit more normally. However, he and his team have chosen not to rush his comeback. His absence in Cincinnati confirms that the priority is not just to be able to hit the ball, but to recover the capacity to compete for several hours without limitations or the risk of relapse.

It is within this process that the visual exercise comes into play. The cone used by Alcaraz is a lightweight, soft piece with small holes. Its function is not to completely block vision, as would happen with an opaque patch, but to partially reduce the input from one of the eyes.

This way, the training introduces a difficulty that does not exist under normal conditions. The ball continues to arrive at high speed, but the player receives different visual information and must reorganize his response.

What he seeks by partially covering his right eye

In tennis, seeing the ball involves more than just locating it. The player needs to interpret its speed, height, depth, direction, and spin within a minimal timeframe. Based on that data, the nervous system calculates where the body should be positioned, when to start preparation, and at what point to execute the impact.

By partially covering the right eye, Alcaraz reduces some of his usual references. This may force him to rely more on his left eye and pay more attention to other mechanisms related to balance, body orientation, and spatial perception.

The exercise also raises the demand on the coordination between vision and movement. With a less comfortable image, the tennis player must fine-tune his adjustment steps, maintain the correct distance from the ball, and prepare the hit without relying too much on his automatism.

That does not necessarily mean that the training will transform his vision or produce an immediate improvement in reflexes. The most interesting effect lies in the added difficulty. Alcaraz practices an action he is familiar with under more complex conditions so that, when he regains his usual vision, the execution feels more natural again.

The goal is not to teach Alcaraz to play with only one eye. What is aimed is to subject his perceptual system to a different situation and see how he adapts his technique, positioning, and response to the ball.

En estos últimos días hemos podido ver a Carlos Alcaraz, probando un método de entrenamiento absolutamente novedoso.

En él se le ha podido ver entrenando con un cono en su ojo derecho.

¿Qué posible beneficio puede tener esto?

Os cuento 🧵 pic.twitter.com/E6Krkx1QaV

— José Morón (@jmgmoron) August 6, 2026

Carlos Alcaraz is a homogeneous right-handed player

The choice of the right eye becomes particularly interesting when analyzing the laterality profile of Carlos Alcaraz. The Murcian hits with his right hand and has the right eye as his dominant reference, so he can be considered a "homogeneous right-handed tennis player" from the oculo-manual perspective.

Ocular dominance does not mean that the other eye hardly participates. Both work together to build the image, calculate distances, and track moving objects. However, one of them usually takes a more prominent role when the brain needs to establish a precise spatial reference.

In a homogeneous right-handed player, the executing arm and the directing eye are on the same side. In a crossed right-handed player, on the other hand, the racket is handled with the right, but the dominant eye is the left.

This distinction was extensively developed by Paul Dorochenko, a physiotherapist, osteopath, and sports preparation specialist who worked with players like Sergi Bruguera, Carlos Moyà, Félix Mantilla, and Roger Federer.

The theory of Paul Dorochenko applied to Alcaraz

According to Dorochenko's approach, laterality influences how each tennis player perceives the ball and organizes their strokes. It does not solely determine technical quality but can explain certain natural preferences and some of the compensations that arise during movement.

Dorochenko argued that homogeneous right-handed players often feel especially comfortable on the backhand. When positioning themselves to hit from that side, the right eye can be in a favorable position to track the ball and control the space leading up to the point of contact.

On the forehand, the situation is different. The dominant eye and the executing arm are on the same side, while the trunk rotation and shoulder position may modify the visual perception of the ball for a moment. Therefore, the left arm, the orientation of the head, and maintaining an appropriate distance become very important.

Applied to Alcaraz's case, training with the right eye partially covered can serve to temporarily reduce his reliance on his primary visual reference. The Spaniard must reconstruct the stroke with different information, better utilize the non-dominant eye, and rely on body positioning to find the ball. Considering his recent right wrist injury, working on the non-dominant eye could help him in the future with the technical movement that could have led to this injury.

Aiding, not a total explanation of his technique

Laterality does not allow us to conclude that all homogeneous players have a great backhand or struggle with their forehand. Novak Djokovic has been used as one of the most recognizable examples of a homogeneous right-hander, as have Stan Wawrinka, Richard Gasquet, and Sergi Bruguera. All of them developed an extraordinary backhand, although with very different techniques and styles.

Alcaraz, moreover, possesses a particularly explosive forehand. His homogeneous profile does not prevent him from generating acceleration, power, and variety from that side. The theory serves to study how he finds the point of impact or what references he uses during preparation, but it does not replace the analysis of his technique, coordination, and athletic ability.

The cone should not be interpreted as a solution to a specific flaw. It is just another tool within an individualized preparation. By altering his usual perception for a few minutes, the team aims for Carlos Alcaraz to fine-tune the relationship between vision, foot placements, and the racket, and that this may lead to better technique when hitting his forehand so that his body also assists in the movement and not just his wrist has to do the most work.

The recovery of the wrist will continue to dictate the timeline of his return. In the meantime, exercises like this allow for working on less visible aspects of performance. Anything helps so that Carlos can not only continue his recovery from his right wrist but also avoid future problems that may arise again.
 

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Alcaraz prueba un método novedoso para recuperar su muñeca derecha