Are you on the ball?

Idiom: to be on the ball
Means: to be familiar with something, up to date, in control

Use: to refer to people and their level of knowledge and capacity to react to situations

Circumstances: To indicate that someone knows a lot about a subject

Note: This expression is often a compliment and implies that someone is intelligent and efficient. Often used with ‘really’.

Some examples:

Don’t worry, John’s really on the ball. He’ll sort out the problems very quickly.

Maria’s not really on the ball. She keeps on making too many silly mistakes.

Your turn:

Think about some people you know:

(name of person) is really on the ball. He knows lots about…….
Think of another four examples.

When you say someone is on the ball, you can explain what they know about or how quickly they will act.

‘On the ball’ is actually a sports expression, from football I believe. If someone is on the ball in a sport, they are in control.