Full text of "Racquets, tennis, and squash" RACQUETS, TENNIS, AND SQUASH RACQUETS, TENNIS, AND SQUASH EUSTACE MILES, M.A., FORMERLY SCHOLAR OF KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE AUTHOR OF 'muscle, BRAIN AND DIET,' ETC. AMATEUR RACQl'ET CHAMPION OF THE WORLD AT SINGLES AND OF ENGLAND AT DOUBLES, AMATEUR TENNIS CHAMPION OF THE WORLD, HOLDER OF THE GOLD PRIZE, AMATEUR SQUASH-TENNIS CHAMPION OF AMERICA (I900). ILLUSTRATED WITH ^4 PHOTOGRAPHS AND i6 DIAGRAMS NEW YORK D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 1903 yuhU'ih^^l Javuar,!, 1903 C-V This Book is Dedicated TO QTh^ Uiglit ^ononrabk Sir (gbtuarb (©rcn, Cart., ill. p. 430C83 CONTENTS PAGE PREFACE ...... XVii PART I— HINT5 ON TRAINING :hap. INTRODUCTORY NOTE .... 2 I. AIR AND BREATHING ... 6 II. FOOD AND FEEDING . . . . 9 III. PREPARATORY AND SUPPLEMENTARY EXERCISES 14 IV. HEAT, WATER, MASSAGE . . .24 V. REST, WORK ; AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTES . 26 PART II —RACQUETS, TENNIS, AND SQUASH PRELIMINARY NOTE . . . .34 VI. IDEAL CONDITIONS FOR A GAME . . 35 VII. MERITS OF THE THREE GAMES . . • S^ VIII. FEATURES COMMON TO THE THREE GAMES . 47 IX. THE STROKES AND THE ALPHABET OF PLAY . 52 X MOVEMENTS AND POSITIONS BEFORE STROKES 63 XI. MOVEMENTS DURING STROKES . . . 70 XII. MOVEMENTS AND POSITIONS AFTER STROKES 74 CONTENTS CHAP. XIII. PRACTICE WITH APPARATUS PRACTICE AGAINST A WALL AND IN A SQUASH- COURT ..... HINTS ON MATCH-PLAY GENERAL HINTS AND WARNINGS . XVII. THE COMMONEST FAULTS AND FALLACIES XVIII. RACQUETS AND TENNIS CONTRASTED XIV. XV. XVI. PAGB 76 84 92 98 109 21 PART III.— RACQUETS XIX. MERITS OF RACQUETS XX. THE COURT AND IMPLEMENTS . XXI. PLAY AND THE RULES OF PLAY XXII. HANDICAPS XXIII. THE GRIP AND THE STROKES XXIV. SERVICE XXV. PRACTICE OUTSIDE THE COURT XXVI. PRACTICE INSIDE THE COURT . XXVII. DOUBLES .... 129 140 165 170 177 PART IV.— TENNIS XXVIII. MERITS OF TENNIS .... 183 XXIX. THE COURT AND IMPLEMENTS AND PLAY . 1 87 XXX. A SAMPLE GAME TO ILLUSTRATE THE PLAY . 203 XXXL RULES AND ETIQUETTE . . . 2o6 XXXII. HANDICAPS . . . . .2x6 XXXIII. THE GRIP AND THE STROKES . . 222 XXXIV. SERVICE ..... 236 XXXV. PRACTICE OUTSIDE THE COURT . . 247 CONTENTS XI CHAP. XXXVI. PRACTICE INSIDE THE COURT XXXVII. FOUR-HANDED GAMES XXXVIII. HINTS FOR PLAY AND MATCH-PLAY PAGE 261 PART v.— HISTORICAL AND PERSONAL XIX. BALL-GAMES IN GENERAL XL. TENNIS XLI. RACQUETS XLH. TENNIS-PLAYERS IN ENGLAND AND AMERICA XLIII. RACQUET- PLAYERS IN ENGLAND AND AMERICA 267 270 280 283 295 PART VI.— SUGGESTIVE XLIV. HANDICAPS AND SCORING XLV. COURTS AND IMPLEMENTS XLVI. CLUBS AND EVENING PLAY XLVII. HINTS TO MARKERS AND TEACHERS XLVIII. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF PRACTICE 303 307 314 319 322 PELOTA : A CONTRAST 329 LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS FACING FIGURE PAGE 51. A four-handed game .... Frontispiece I, 2. Body-swing. Two positions ..... 18 3, 4, 5. Wrist-exercise. Three positions .... 19 da, t)b. Thumb-exercise. Two positions .... 20 7. A waiting position ....... 21 8. The handle — before a grip of the racquet ... 64 9, 10. Moore ready for forehand and backhand strokes . 65 II, 12. Backhand stroke, with apparatus. Two positions . 78 13, 14. Forehand stroke, with apparatus. Two positions . 79 15. Moore, in a squash-court, serving forehand . . 86 16. Sketch for a squash-court 91 17. Wrong position ........ 87 18. Various balls 138 19. The grip (not unlike Latham's) 139 20, 21. The forehand stroke, Crosby. Two positions . . 156 22. The forehand stroke (incomplete apparatus) . . 157 23. Moore, waiting for forehand service .... 158 24. Self-protection . . . . . . . .159 25. Backhand stroke by Crosby ..... 160 26. During backhand stroke, with incomplete appa- ratus 161 27. Moore, waiting for service in backhand court . . 162 28. Half-volley drop-stroke, by Moore .... 163 29. Crosby, before a forehand service .... 171 30. Crosby, before a backhand service .... 171 xiii xiv LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS FACING FIGURE PAGE 31, 32. Wrist-exercise for racquets. Two positions . . 172 33. Waiting for a back-wall stroke 188 34. Tennis ball 189 35. A tennis grip . . , 222 36. A "correct" backhand stroke 223 37. A cut-stop-stroke, forehanded ..... 226 38. A "correct" forehand stroke ..... 227 39. Jim Harradine ready for volley off penthouse . . 228 40. Practice of volley off penthouse (first position) . . 229 41. Practice of volley off penthouse (second position) . 232 42. Latham returning a boasted force .... 233 43. Jim Harradine serving 238 44. Side-wall service, with apparatus (first position). . 239 45. Side-wall service, with apparatus (second position) . 240 46. Finish of side-wall service 241 47. The finish of a " Punch " Fair's service . . . 242 48. Charles Saunders serving 243 49, 50. An overhead service (two positions) .... 244 52. Various racquets and balls for squash . . 245 53. Latham v. Standing, for world's championship, in New York 298 54. A four-handed game in America — England v. Amer- ica 299 DIAGRAMS 1. A GOOD POSITION OF THE FEET BEFORE A FOREHAND STROKE . . . . . . '54 2. A GOOD POSITION OF THE FEET BEFORE A BACKHAND STROKE ....... 54 3. HOW TO MOVE THE FEET FROM THE WAITING POSITION INTO THE FOREHAND POSITION . . , -57 4. HOW TO MOVE THE FEET FROM THE WAITING POSITION INTO THE BACKHAND POSITION ... 58 5. A CONVENIENT DISTANCE OF THE BALL FROM THE FEET . 65 6. HOW TO MOVE TOWARDS A BALL AFTER THE FOREHAND POSITION OF THE FEET HAS BEEN FORMED . , 66 7. HOW TO MOVE TOWARDS A BALL AFTER THE BACKHAND POSITION OF THE FEET HAS BEEN FORMED . . 67 8. ROUGH IDEA OF THE RISK INCURRED BY THE WRIST-FLICK ALONE ....... 72 9. FRONT-WALL OF A SQUASH-TENNIS COURT . . • §5 10. PLAN OF A SQUASH-TENNIS COURT ... 88 11. GROUND-PLAN OF A RACQUET COURT: FRONT-WALL . 136 12. PLAN OF THE RIGHT-HAND SIDE-WALL . . . I90 13. PLAN OF THE LEFT-HAND SIDE- WALL . . .193 14. GROUND-PLAN OF A TENNIS COURT . . . I97 15. THE SECOND BOUNCE OF THE BALL: " CHASE 2" . . 199 16. THE ANGLES MADE BY A BOASTED BALL . . , 233 PREFACE Conscientious teachers of elementary things are a mystery or even an abomination to the genius, who does not realise that his own exquisite skill must possess not only the outward and visible signs, that inimitable blending of dignity, power, and gracefulness, but also certain imitable foundations, even if these latter parts of his play be (as foundations love to be) least appar- ently important. To the genius it seems mere waste of time to analyse a complex whole — to him the stroke is a single " organism " — into many simple parts, and to explain the why and the whereby ; the function of each part, and the way of manufacturing each part by accurate and attentive effort. To the genius it seems sufficient that the clock is a clock and can be wound up with one small key. Why take the works to pieces? Why spoil a beautifully harmonious unity by describing its mechanism — its spring and wheel, its pendulum and escapement ? Why ? Because we want to find out and to be able to alter the parts which compel the clock to keep poor time and to work altogether badly. Otherwise we might for ever gaze at the skilful and unskilful players side by side, and continue in vain to urge the latter to rise to the standard of the former. Such an analysis of parts I have just been obliged to xviii PREFACE make, in January 1902, at the age of thirty-three — an age assumed to be near the end of a Racquet career — in order to re-model the mechanism of my own stroke at that game ! That is a strange confession. But what else was I to do? Was I to go on with an unsatis- factory stroke because it seemed expensive to pull down the old stroke and lay, brick by brick, foundations for a better building? Is it imagined that such carefulness is morbid ? Or will the result be a jerky, mechanical, artificial stroke? Yes, at first. But not after months of practice. By that time the new stroke will have become part of me, ingrained in the very fibres of my muscles, registered in the very cells of my cerebro-spinal system. Its mechanism will be the task no longer of my conscious mind but of that infinitely useful under- self, the sub-conscious mind, which walks for us, runs for us, talks for us, writes for us, lives most of our life for us, and eventually, so we might guess, dies for us. How shall I be criticised for this ? Shall I be blamed for turning a " sport " into a serious occupation ? That depends upon what a " sport " is. A " sport " is to me one of those parts of character-making that bring best enjoyment — that is by itself not a nothing — , most health, best intellectual calmness together with promptitude and adaptability, most fineness of three senses (sight, hearing, and touch), and best social and international intercourse. In view of its effects, a " sport " is to me as well worth careful planning and construction as — what shall we say? — a house, a book, a dinner, anything over which we grudge no painstaking trouble. A " sport " is not, any more than these things are, an end in itself It is a means to an end. What is the end of it and of these things? Character-making, happiness, health, repose, sense-development, friendly relations and reactions. PREFACE xix Hence my careful analysis and practice justifies itself. And, besides, I want to reach my own due standard, I want to improve, I want to win. I shall not enjoy the game any the less, nor think of the mechanism any the more, because I shall have once laboured with effort. To as many others as agree with me on the merits (or on some of the merits) of these two games, similar efforts — sensible training, practice of exercises with or without the Bali-Game Apparatus, study and imitation of positions in photographs (taken from behind for this very purpose) — these and other helps will appear abundantly worth while. It is only to the few who regard games as mere muscle-developers or as mere frivolities that no such care can appeal. Let these critics either be total abstainers from the games, or else continue to play them carelessly. For every one Racquets and Tennis should serve as gardens to be cultivated in proportion to the amount and value of the fruits and flowers expected from them. " Use determines all things." Why should I be ashamed if to me the use of Racquets and Tennis is manifoldly great ? The headings of the main Parts in this volume will give the reader some idea as to the method of treat- ment. After the general hints on training for Racquets and Tennis and Squash, there follows a section de- voted to the elements and features which these three games have in common, and to the ways in which the foundation-positions and foundation-movements of all three may be most easily built up by average players or by players who are below the average. Part III deals with Racquets; Part IV with Tennis. Part V deals with the history and the chief exponents of the two games. Last of all, in Part VI, there are XX PREFACE offered various suggestions as to how the games might be altered with a view to increased cheapness and popu- larity — which they too sadly need — ; together with a few hints to Markers and teachers. Racquets and Tennis are treated here in their alpha- betical order, in the order in which they should be learnt — and given up. The simpler game should come before the more complex, the more active brisk game before the game that is in some respects gentler and in others perhaps a greater strain. The book has several further new features. In the first place, it treats modern Racquets and Tennis and Squash together up to a certain point, after which they must be considered separately. Common to both these games are such features as the following : — the position of the body and feet before and during and after strokes; the swing of ordinary strokes ; the advisability of hitting usually only a little above the line — this feature is shared by Lawn Tennis — ; the necessity of Squash as a preparation; the advantage of other preparation and practice outside the Court, so that the player may not fail to do himself justice in the Court, and may not give up his game in self-disgust, or go out of training ; the necessity for cheapening the games ; the need of opportunities for evening play by artificial light ; the want of a better and more frequent use of the many possible Handicaps (as by left-handed play, by smaller implements, by the docking-off of Volleys, etc.); and the demand for more serviceable methods in learning and in teaching. Even when the two greater games are treated separ- ately, they are treated as being far less different in nature than most authorities maintain. For example. Racquets is characterised by the hard and straight drive ; but Tennis also has its hard and straight drive, both when PREFACE xxi one is playing for an Opening, and when one is playing, as Pettitt teaches his pupils to play in Boston, for the length of the Court and the " Nick." Tennis, on the other hand, is characterised by the heavy Cut ; but Racquets also has its heavy Cut in the Service. I have seen a whole game of Racquets in which there was practically nothing else but Cut. The Server served so well — with so grievous a Cut — that his opponent never returned the ball at all ! The main value of the book will be its attempt to enable ordinary persons to teach themselves cheaply at odd moments, so that they may get over the apprentice- ship and may learn to play easily and without the worst faults, by a course of brief exercises which seem to me far better for the general health of the muscles and nerves and brain than are all the ordinary strain-movements with apparatus — those movements which seem especi- ally devised to hinder speed, prompt agility, and versatility. Surely some such exercises as those which appear in this book should be taught throughout England and America. Surely every boy should be able to use his body-swing and his body-weight ; to move briskly, and at will, this part or these parts of the right side, and that part or those parts of the left side, without upsetting his balance ; and to start alertly in this direction or in that. Surely, also, this bodily training has something intel- lectual and moral corresponding to it and aided by it. We, more especially in England, do need rapidity and quick adaptation ; and we need the physical as well as the mental education which shall tend to this result. Many may be surprised that so much care is devoted to the veriest rudiments of play. The conviction that this care must be essential is based on the idea that xxH PREFACE games which can be played in the heart of some of our chief cities in England and America are worth mastering, and so claim as their due a proper apprenticeship in the ABC of skill, especially if that ABC is, in itself, an apprenticeship for other games also, and, in no small degree, for health, social life, character-building, and self-expression ; and if at least one of the games can be continued into the late years which are just the time when most of us will have money wherewith to play it, and leisure and a gap in life to be filled in by a hobby. With this object in view — namely, to set forth the preparation for good play — I have mapped out clearly from the beginning the lines along which I improved my own play. There was a time at which one of the leading amateur Racquet experts said my style was so hopeless that I should never improve at all. Nearly all the writers on Games and Athletics are born experts ; they have indeed improved their play, but they have not con- structed their foundations consciously and with effort. Thus I believe that Peter Latham and Mr. Percy Ashworth at Racquets and Tennis, Brown and the Foster family at Racquets, Mr. Heathcote and Mr. Lyttelton at Tennis, have always played in excellent style. I had to build up my own play brick by brick ; to learn most of it long after I was twenty-five, when I had bad habits of style already implanted in me. Of course my way of learning is only one out of many possible ways, and it demands a certain amount of time and concentration ; but this time does not now seem to me to have been wasted. In spite of a busy life, I cannot regret having given so much care to the practice of any single exercise. And this way is just worth a trial by others who want to begin or to progress. All criticisms of the method will be welcome. It does not PREFACE xxiii represent merely my own ideas ; for it contains parts of the theory or practice of various authorities. Among many professionals, I may mention Crosby, Fairs, Fennell, Harradine, Ted Johnson, Kirton, George Lambert, Latham, Bob Moore, Pettitt, Saunders, Smale, Standing, and Alfred Tompkins ; and, among amateurs, Messrs. W. A. Briscoe, E. F. Benson, Sir Edward Grey, the Hon. Alfred Lyttelton, Messrs. H. S. Mahony, Julian Marshall, and G. E. A. Ross. All have contributed more or less to the advice which I offer here, though some of the contributions have been made by actions and concrete examples rather than by words and abstract principles. If a new work on Racquets and Tennis ought to apologise for its existence, let it set forth as its first plea that it offers hope of great improvement to any one who cares to spend a few minutes, at intervals during the day, in careful and patient practice of a few simple and healthy exercises which seem to form the very foundation- stones of style and of success. Since practically every player of these two games has decided that they are worth playing, and that therefore they are worth playing well or better, and that therefore (in the case of average human beings) they demand an intelligent system of preparation no less imperatively than do piano-playing or singing, it follows that the exercises, in so far as they are what they claim to be, justify the existence of the book. I have devoted considerable space to the founda- tion-positions and foundation-movements, from the con- viction that, until these are assured, the recommendation of graceful pose and elaborate finish will be out of place. A great part of the book cannot appeal to the expert player who plays correctly and in good style by an unconscious and natural instinct. Instead of saying xxiv PREFACE simply and solely how a player who already has a good style can improve it, I have preferred to analyse " style," and to show how a bad player may build up a better style. I possess this almost unique advantage, for teaching purposes, that I laboured out my own style, part by part, with conscious effort ; and that I do not forget any part of the process. The reader will perhaps feel more confidence in the advice offered in this book if he remembers that it is chiefly by following it myself that I have improved my own game very considerably within the last few years. A little piece of personal experience may encourage those who despair of progress. When I began to play Racquets, I used to play up as hard as I could, but still my stroke was atrocious. Every one said, " He'll never be a Racquet-player." And, for all the good I was likely to get from actual games, I never should have been one. I used to hold my racket in the wrong way, and to stand in the wrong way, and to hit in the wrong way : great keen- ness, much play, and constant reminders that my style was atrocious, did little to help me. Then I had one or two short lessons from a great teacher — Smale, the veteran open-Court champion, who (alas !) has just retired from his post as the Racquet- coach at Wellington College. What he advised was a complete change. (Smale's later advice has enabled me to free my limbs very considerably.) All my muscles had been accustomed to work together in a certain way, and I had to undo the effects of years of bad practice. At first, then, my game went back. Soon, however, with the help of a friend, I devised some exercises which could be practised in an ordinary room. The exercises, which I have tried to amend from PREFACE XXV time to time, I now offer in this book. The diagrams are simple ; the photographs, to help imitation, are taken from behind and not from in front. I wish here to thank most heartily Mr. Crowder, Mr. F. H. Hewitt, and others, for permission to produce their very excellent work. That mine are the best possible exercises I cannot for one moment claim. I only claim that they are those which I myself should use if I were to start my play afresh. Their precise merits — and be it remembered that they merely claim to be deserving of a fair trial by all except genius-players — must be judged by each individual reader for himself. But at least they have altered my own style not to positive gracefulness, but from and out of positive disgracefulness — so that its former depth of ugliness and clumsiness cannot be believed or pictured by people who see me play now. And they have also helped to raise my standard of play more than either my teachers or myself (except in lovely dreams — who does not know them ? — ) had thought to be possible. Most of those who have tried the exer- cises have enjoyed a like progress. Besides the first plea, that the exercises may be useful to many beginners and others, without much expenditure of money or time or energy, there is a second plea, namely, that they are to a great extent shared by Racquets, Tennis, and Squash — a game of growing popularity among Anglo-Saxons on both sides of the water — , and also, to a smaller extent, by Lawn Tennis and Fives and other forms of Athletics. It is an obvious truth needing no reasoned proof that a basis will be the more valuable in proportion to the number of good things of which it is the basis or may be used as the basis. If some of the exercises will be a help, let xxvi PREFACE us say, for Fives, Boxing, Cricket, Golf, and Ping- Pong, as well as for Racquets and Tennis and Squash, to say nothing of physical health and so of general health, then they are, by themselves, a sufficient exjcuse for this publication. Indeed, it were almost a sufficient excuse in itself that they are common to Racquets and Tennis alone. The third plea is implied in the last clause. I have treated Racquets and Tennis as a single game up to a certain point. It used to be maintained that the two games were utterly different ; that to import Racquet methods into Tennis was sheer desecration. George Lambert and Peter Latham have done much to disprove this view, which includes the time-worn fallacy that, in the typical Tennis-stroke off the floor, the head of the racket should be above the level of the wrist. The ordinary Forehand and Backhand stroke of Latham and *' Punch " Fairs and most players violates this theory. And I prefer to advise the ordinary player to imitate these experts rather than to essay the exceedingly difficult (though exceedingly graceful) stroke of Charles Saunders and Mr. Alfred Lyttelton. Last of all, the issue of a new book is timely at this special crisis. The modern games of Tennis and Racquets — partly because of the true Courts, tight rackets, and true balls — differ from the ancient games ; and the future must rest with the modern games, if only because there are competitions to be won ! Besides this, the games are enjoying a great " boom " in America, where magnificent new Courts are being built and will be built in ever-increasing numbers — for the games suit the rich American city-dwellers — , and where the standard of play is rising, and the keenness of play is increasing, and Squash, the ill-named game, is by its growing PREFACE xx\'il popularity paving a way which must inevitably lead upwards to its two superiors. In England, also, Tennis — but alas ! not Racquets — has recently shown a decided revival. The two games need a book to explain the way in which they may be learnt and played to-day, and to justify that way as the best, not in all respects (there is much to be urged fairly against it), but in most respects, at any rate for the busy workers in crowded towns. For the modern games. Squash is an almost indis- pensable preparation. By giving, at a small cost of time or money, abundance of hard and brisk and simple yet exciting exercise for all times of life, of the year, and even of the day — if we have good artificial light — ; by habituating the player to correct positions and move- ments of the body and its various parts ; by accustoming him to start and move quickly, to recover balance quickly, to use the Side-walls and Back-walls, some- times to volley and half-volley, and sometimes to cut the ball, and always to judge the ball, it forces itself with irresistible arguments upon him whose ambition is to excel. Nor can such a player afford to neglect the clearest yet most neglected principles of health and training. Large muscles are here of little value. To have a clear eye, quick to obser\-e and then send reports to the brain, to have a keen brain, apt to receive reports and then send messages to this or the other limb or controlling nerve-centre, to have prompt and rapid yet powerful and enduring muscles, capable of being directed in- dependently or in various groups, to be patient and hopeful even after the frown of fate seems to have settled into a fixed wrinkle — all this and much more besides is not merely a matter of practice. It postu- xxviii PREFACE lates either a splendid constitution that may for years defy ill-treatment, or else a careful attention to general laws and individual bye-laws with regard to morals and minds, nerves and muscles, organs and limbs ; with regard to food and air, water and heat, sleep and rest, associates and associations. Such matters belong especially to Racquets and Tennis, since so many of the players of these games are among the hardest brain- workers in England and America. The mental as well as the physical helps to health cannot be passed over as unimportant. Speaking from my own experience, I find them near the very roots of successful and pleasant work and play. It may be objected that few people will attend even to general instructions about health and training, or about preparation. If this is so, the instructor is largely to blame. Somehow he has said wrong things, or has expressed right things badly. I must run the risk of having comparatively few readers who will put my practice and theory to the test of their own personal experience, and who will be content to wait for a few days or weeks until the fruits begin to appear. If some players find the hints useful, if some, who have been given up (or who have given themselves up) as "hope- less duffers," can improve their play by following out these principles (adapted to their own special conditions), I shall not have made a mistake in offering them. To be perfectly frank, I am convinced that nine out of every ten so-called " duffers " need just such a help as this — a means by which they can teach themselves the elements of common strokes with the smallest expenditure of money, time, trouble, and disappointment. Knowing how much I improved my own game by this con- scious effort, I cannot regard any " duffer " as past hope PREFACE xxix or beyond the benefits of carefulness and attention concentrated on the Alphabet of success. Eustace Miles. Kings College, Catnbridge. I MUST thank the pubh'shers (Messrs. Macmillan and Bowes, of Cambridge) for their kind permission to reproduce the following, from ' Lapsus Calami,' by Jim Stephen (J. K. S.). It appeared first in the ' Cambridge Review,' in 1891. To see good Tennis ! What diviner joy Can fill our leisure, or our minds employ? Not Sylvia's self is more supremely fair Than balls that hurtle through the conscious air. Not Stella's form instinct with truer grace Than Lambert's racket poised to win the Chase. Not Chloe's harp more native to the ear Than the tense strings which smite the flying sphere. When Lambert boasts the superhuman Force, Or splits the echoing Grille without remorse : When Harradine, as graceful as of yore. Wins " Belter-tkan-a-yard" upon the floor ; When Alfred's ringing cheer proclaims success, Or Saunders volleys in resistlessness ; When Heathcote's Service makes the Dedans ring With just applause, and own its honoured king ; When Pettitt's prowess all our zeal awoke Till high Olympus shuddered at the stroke ; Or when, receiving ^'¦Thirty and ihe floor" The novice serves a dozen Faults or more ; Or some plump don, perspiring and profane, Assails the roof, and breaks the exalted pane ; When " Va?ifage, five games all, the Door'" is called, And Europe pauses, breathless and appalled, Till lo ! the ball by cunning hand caressed Finds in the Winning Gallery a nest ; These are the moments, this the bliss supreme, Which make the artist's joy, the poet's dream. Let Cricketers await the tardy sun. Break one another's shins and call it fun ; Let Scotia's Golfers through the afifrighted land With crooked knee and glaring eyeball stand ; Let Football rowdies show their straining thews, And tell their triumphs to the mud-stained Muse ; Let india-rubber pellets dance on grass. Where female arts the ruder sex surpass ; Let other people play at other things ; The King of Games is still the Game of Kings, Part I HINTS ON TRAINING INTRODUCTORY NOTE ON TRAINING In order to enjoy a game of Racquets or Tennis, we need not only the ideal conditions (to be mentioned in Chapter VI) : we need not only a good Court, good light, good balls, good rackets, and a good Marker ; not only an opponent who is energetic, and on equal terms with us either naturally or by means of a Handicap; not only some good luck ; but also good temper and good physical condition, so that we may be able to do ourselves justice. For to play below one's standard is a cause of discomfort rather than of pleasure. But how can we arrive at this good condition amidst all the disadvantages of business and social life? The ideal is to be perfectly healthy even in these circum- stances. The ideal is, also, not so much to give up forcibly and to abstain by effort, as to get rid of the want or even the craving for those things which we know to be bad for training. In training, as elsewhere, prevention is better than cure, and permanent cure is better than temporary cure. But temporary cure is more popular than prevention. Here it is my aim to suggest a few helps which may be used either for prevention or for cure. The helps shall all be simple : details about electricity and other matters cannot be treated here. They are dealt with elsewhere. We must confine ourselves in this short space rather to INTRODUCTORY NOTE ON TRAINING 3 those most feasible avenues to health and training which all or nearly all men can easily use in a somewhat busy and physically inactive life. Is training worth while ? I remember meeting an American millionaire who had time to be ill — one would be afraid to say how many weeks in every year and hours in nearly every other week — , but who said that he was too busy to take exercise. This is an exaggerated case ; but myriads have been too busy to spend a quarter of an hour a day, which would amount to less than four days in a year, in saving time which might amount to many weeks every year. If in life we aim to do either everything or almost everything through our bodies ; if through them we move and act, speak, write, think, remember, feel, see, hear : then, for all purposes of life, proper training is worth while, so long as it be regarded as a means towards an end. Here, of course, we must chiefly consider the value of training for Racquets and Tennis. The value of training for Racquets and Tennis will depend largely on the answer to the question : Is it worth while to play Racquets and Tennis well, or, rather, to improve at Racquets and Tennis? We shall deal with the value of these games, in special Chapters. For the present let us be content to say : Yes, it is abundantly worth while, from all points of view — physical, aesthetic, intellectual, moral, social, economical, prospective. But how shall we train? There are certain general rules which will be worked out more fully in a special volume which Mr. E. F. Benson and I are preparing for the Imperial Athletic Library. And among these rules the following is pre-eminent, that the things which are done most frequently should be practised most carefully. 4 INTRODUCTORY NOTE ON TRAINING We should practise most carefully a correct, full, slow breathing through the nose, and a thorough mastication of the food. Practice of exercises should not be continued for long periods of time together ; it is better to use the odd moments which otherwise one would waste. Easy conditions should be chosen, and a large, free, well- ventilated room is of importance. The increase should be gradual — the increase in the number of exercises, the pace, the endurance, the promptitude and the rapid control, and the power of adaptation. But correctness must come first and foremost ; and therefore there must be at the start, for most of us, slow- ness and carefulness and concentration of mind. A complex exercise must be split up into many parts, and each part must be made half-automatic by itself before the different parts be combined. Last of all, a certain amount of strength may be added by strain and resistance ; but it is a grand mistake to set strength and strain first and foremost. This is against the order of natural development. That word "development" is responsible for many mistakes. All sorts of so-called trainers offer to " develop " muscles ; but it matters little whether the muscles be very large or not. The question is not. How large are our muscles ? What weight can we lift with our muscles.-' but. What can our muscles do for us .-• If they can only look large and lift a great load, they are of very little service in ordinary life, and probably do considerable harm to the nervous system. What I say will have been founded chiefly on personal experience : for I believe that this must form the basis of any sound system of health. I do not mean INTRODUCTORY NOTE ON TRAINING 5 that what suits one person will necessarily suit every other person — far from it : but at any rate it may be worth an individual trial. I have found that what I recommend here as worth an individual trial has made a great difference to my own enjoyment of Racquets and Tennis, and to my standard of play, and to my powers of endurance, and also to my capabilities of brain-work after exercise : and it seems reasonable to conclude that some others may derive some benefit from similar practices. At any rate I have been very much struck with the readiness of most people to test these methods, and also with the success which has resulted where they have been tested : I have been scarcely less struck with the utter ignorance that prevails almost throughout England and America as to anything like a " Science " of Health and Training. Such a " Science " can never be final for all individuals alike. But a careful study of various one- sided systems has enabled me to see already much general truth that they hold in common, a little special truth that each holds as its own, and in the future a vast mass of both general and special truth, when the subject shall have ceased to be left to uneducated empirics and cranks and shall be regarded as worthy of the whole-souled investigation of technically trained and certificated specialists. CHAPTER I AIR AND BREATHING Not only is a good " wind " essential to success and pleasure at these two active games, but breathing is also the commonest act in our everyday lives. I never had a lesson in breathing before I was already over thirty years of age. Till then I used to breathe chiefly through the mouth, and used to employ chiefly the lower part of my apparatus, namely the abdominal. Now I breathe through the nose, and use not only the abdominal, but also the middle and upper chest-breathing. There are many ways of breathing, but I think I may safely assume here that the lowest has already been developed : this is a common Anglo-Saxon symptom. We may therefore proceed to the development of the middle and upper parts. Here is one of many exer- cises. It should be added to others. Keep the spine straight; that is to say, let it incline slightly forwards, but not to either side. Raise the chest and shoulders, either before or during a deep upward and expanding breath through the nose. During this breath the head may be slightly lifted ; or, rather, it should naturally throw itself back, as when one first scents the fresh sea-breeze on a sunny day. Now hold in this breath for a little ; then gently let it out, or allow CH. I] AIR AND BREATHING 7 it to ooze out, to squeeze itself out, as an india-rubber bladder empties itself of air. ' While you are sending the breath out slowly, you can let the shoulders go down ; though a valuable exercise (with a different effect) is to keep the shoulders still up. But anyhow you may relax the arms (which should hang by your side), feel them as heavy leaden things, right down to the finger-tips. The head will naturally sink forwards and downwards. The value of correct breathing is inestimable, so long as the air be pure. For the oxygen tends towards clean- liness and vigour of blood ; deep breathing tends towards endurance and, together with muscular relaxing, towards calmness and self-control — qualities indispensable to the playing of Racquets and Tennis, in which it may be fatal to lose one's head. Other physical exercises which might accompany the breathing inwards and outwards will be found in ' The Training of the Body.' But they are not so important as the above simple rule of lifting the shoulders before or during the inward breath, and relaxing the limbs during the outward breath, for the sake of economy. For the purposes of self-restraint, it is necessary to breathe in slowly ; then to hold in the breath ; then to breathe out slowly ; and then, as it were, to hold out the breath. The Hindus practise various breathing-exercises sedu- lously from their very earliest years. They are the most reposeful of people — probably far too reposeful. The three different parts of the apparatus should be developed separately, at intervals during the day. The abdominal breathing is quite easy ; the middle breath- ing is fairly easy ; the upper is, for many of us, the hardest. But we can breathe more thoroughly with each part independently, if we put our hands upon that part and feel it moving upwards and outwards. 8 HINTS ON TRAINING [pt. i Too many deep breaths should not at first be taken in succession, lest giddiness ensue. The best times for practice are the early morning and the late night, in a bedroom, where the windows are to be open both top and bottom. But breathing-exercises are quite feasible at any odd moment during the daytime, especially when one is waiting and apt to be impatient. The deep full breath should become habitual and automatic, and an integral part of one's very character. As it becomes so, one ceases to be flustered and worried, as players so often are before important Matches. If we watch them care- fully, we see that they are breathing quickly with a shallow surface-breath. If they could only breathe deeply and slowly, they would soon become quite calm. Many Matches are lost through sheer nervousness. It is a good plan to take a few extra-deep breaths when one first goes out into the air at the beginning of a walk. Every morning without fail there should be deep breathing, and also every night, and also just before and just after meals. The whole body should be made to breathe while it has its air-and-light-bath. During this bath one could take exercise or one could do work. Benjamin Franklin used to do work : most people, however, prefer to take exercise. But the morning and the evening air-baths, and an occasional midday air-bath in a light-coloured and well-ventilated room, are of the greatest importance. The above notes on breathing will give an idea of some of the present habits of the writer ; he is, however, quite prepared to alter these habits and to substitute better methods. He recommends them as the best he knows at present. CHAPTER II FOOD AND FEEDING If the air is bad, it may be well to take in as little as possible ; and the same will apply to food. But the problem arises : What food is bad ? It is almost entirely a matter for individuals, though some general rules have been laid down elsewhere. And the problem of what is good is also a matter for individuals, though here also general rules have been laid down ; and nearly twenty dietaries have been suggested for the choice of experimenters, so that, if one fails, another may perhaps succeed. As yet there is no such thing as an ideal dietary for every one. Those who say that there is, have failed to understand the constitution of human bodies. But, though there be no universal law as to the one best food for all alike, yet there seems to be one general, if not universal law, as to the way in which we should eat our food. We cannot say exactly what we are to eat, but we can say exactly how we are to eat — and that is, slowly. One authority allows his food to swallow itself; he simply chews it so long as he can taste it, and the food disappears by degrees. Whatever is left, he puts out. Gladstone used to chew his mouthfuls about thirty times. If one counts the bites for an 9 10 HINTS ON TRAINING [pt. i ordinary mouthful, the number does not prove so large as it sounds ; and of course different numbers of jaw- movements will suit different foods and different individuals. Starchy foods need most saliva, and therefore most mastication. What shall we eat ? Here we can only suggest a sample or two for a single meal as being worth a trial. For a single meal, especially lunch, one does not mind a trial experiment : the result of failure is not so disastrous. 1. Plasmon, in the form of whipped cream or biscuit or blanc-mange, can be eaten with fruit. If two ounces of Plasmon be taken, then theoretically one has a complete meal ; and cyclists are able to do a great deal of work on such a meal. 2. As an alternative, one might try Hovis or Ber- maline or Graham bread, toasted if possible, together with cheese and salad, with which there should be oil and lemon (rather than vinegar). This, again, is theoretically a complete meal. 3. Another meal would be nuts, either carefully chewed, or else first passed through a nut-mill, or in the form of some nut-product, together with vegetables either steamed or cooked in a Duplex Boilerette for the sake of the juices, which are usually thrown away by English cooks, but are invaluable for the human body. The alkaline juices do much to counteract the acidities of modern life. These are three simple meals ; but besides these there is an enormous variety. These three are my own favourites. Less strict than these (according to Dr. Haig) would be : — 4. Raw eggs and milk mixed together. Cyclists find this most useful. CH. ii] FOOD AND FEEDING II 5. A dish of a very pleasant flavour is the following, for which I am indebted to a lady-writer in ' Health and Strength.' Lentils, to be soaked, in a saucepan, for about six hours; then boiled in very little water (which after- wards does for stock) till they are quite tender. This will mean about twenty minutes. Now take another sauce- pan, and in it put a piece of butter the size of a walnut, and three slices of eschalots, Saut6 these, with the lid of the saucepan on, for another twenty minutes, or till they smell cooked. Then put in the lentils, which shall have been drained in a cullender ; stir in one dessertspoon- ful of Plasmon ; stir again till the contents bubble. Add salt, and a very little pepper, if you take condi- ments, and a teaspoonful of lemon-juice, and serve. Our aim should be to eat enough but not too much of the right kinds of foods. Viewed in the light of this' ideal, our methods of feeding in England are extraordinarily unscientific : while " Science " has calculated by elaborate experi- ments that an average person, eating at an average pace, needs about 4 ounces or 4I ounces of " Proteid " a day, the family or Club meal-provider blissfully ignores the theory and provides sometimes as many as 8 ounces and sometimes as few as 2. If people are eating either twice as much or half as much as they ought to eat, can we wonder at bad results ? There is not any need to describe the ordinary meal ; or the ordinary (far less unscientific) training-meal ; for every one knows it, with its dry bread or toast, its moderate allowance of drink, its plain meat, and perhaps plain pudding. I have preferred to suggest to readers one or two meals which they do not know so well, and 12 HINTS ON TRAINING [PT. I which they may find useful. But of course everything has to be judged by its results upon the individual. The above dietaries seem, however, to be easily digested by most people, and pleasant also to most people. There can be little doubt that, for those who live on the mixed diet, flesh-food is stimulating in its immediate effect. Therefore for such people a meal containing flesh-food, if it be easily digested, may produce great vigour and energy, even if this feeling may tend to pass off somewhat quickly. Suddenly to change the diet just before an important match might be a serious mistake. The usual fillip might be sadly missed. If any one wishes to make a change of diet, it is best to make it during Sunday, or during the holidays, rather than when anything important is at stake ; and it may be better to begin gradually than to rush into any ex- treme form of fleshless foods, though hundreds have tried this extreme form at once without any disadvantage. Having considered how to eat, and what to eat, and having referred the reader to ' Muscle, Brain, and Diet ' for details, we may now consider when to eat. It is generally assumed that the best plan for the Anglo-Saxon is a heavy breakfast, a fairly heavy lunch, perhaps an afternoon tea, and a very heavy dinner. Individuals differ, and therefore again a change is worth trying, in case one may be an individual whom the orthodox plan does not suit. And, once more, a Sunday or a holiday will be the best time for an experiment. Breakfast is a meal with regard to which a change is most likely to be useful. Dr. Dewey, in America, insists that every one shall give up breakfast absolutely or almost absolutely. For this sudden giving up of a meal there is no vital necessity. Instead of the heavy CH. II] FOOD AND FEEDING 13 breakfast there may be taken, for example, Plasmon cocoa, or weak China tea, or weak coffee, or hot water, either with Hovis toast and butter, or with fruit : banana, orange, grapes, or apple may be best. Hundreds find this fruit-breakfast plan admirable. If it can be taken without cocoa or tea or coffee, or hot water, so much the better. With regard to drink, it is a safe rule to avoid stimulants as much as is feasible. With stimulants I have made many experiments, and especially with tea ; and my conclusion is that in perfect training one does not need tea, but that, if one is already exhausted and yet feels that he must play the game out, it may be better to take tea or some other acid. Meanwhile, however, one must try to find out how to get rid of the desire for stimulants. Do not give them up completely just before an important match, but give them up when nothing of vital moment is at hand. In order to get rid of the desire, a useful plan is to cut off a meal or two absolutely, to take an air-bath and light-bath with brisk exercise and muscular relax- ing, and to give the system a tonic by means of cold water pourings, followed by rubbings. I have had numbers of letters from those who have tried this triple plan of fasting, air-and-light-baths with exercise and relaxing, and water-treatments ; and they say that the desire for stimulants has very soon disappeared. As a rule, little or nothing should be drunk during a meal, and what is drunk should be drunk slowly rather than fast. As to the temperature, cool water is probably the best drink for health, if we do not take our drink in the form of the soft water which is found in fruits and properly cooked vegetables. CHAPTER III PREPARATORY AND SUPPLEMENTARY EXERCISES I. PREPARATORY EXERCISES Although we shall deal with the question more fully in a later Chapter, it may be as well to state here that preparatory exercises cannot be a waste of time provided that Racquets and Tennis themselves are not a v/aste of time. We hear many learned theorists, with three-quarters of their muscles (and nerves) unexercised and atrophied, storm against the attention given to games. But, if games are to be played at all, they may as well be played in the least incorrect way. And, if they are not to be played at all, or merely to be played for the sake of exercise, in either case we had better learn as early as possible how to use these muscles in some occupation or other. They were not given us to be sacrificed on the altar of information-cramming. And it seems to me that, granted we had better learn how to use them, we may use them in the following ways with as much advantage as in other ways. If, incidentally, these ways shall help to raise our standard and therefore to give us more interest and more enjoy- ment in athletics, what harm ? Surely a quarter of an hour a day is not a morbid space of time to devote 14 CH. Ill] EXERCISES 15 to physical development and grace and activity and health. These special exercises are only a few out of many. They are not play, they are not strokes : they are the component parts which go to make up strokes. They have to be combined in strokes before they can be of much service. The correct stroke is a correct (and correctly timed) harmonising of many correct parts. Unless each part be correct per se, the whole will fail to be correct. As we use our muscles outside the Court, so we shall tend to use them inside the Court also. " As without, so within." The habits formed in preparation-time will be carried on into the time of action. It is only the genius-player who will not need to prepare by means of any such arts. He has his mechanism already automatic. And even the veriest duffer will gradually cease to need such conscious preparation ; if only he gives enough attention at the start, he will soon be able to hand over the direction of the movements to his sub-conscious servant, the inner mind. Out of the list I should select, for preference, the large-muscle movements. The larger muscles give more reliable strokes than the smaller muscles, as I have shown in ' The Training of the Body.' The immediate effects may not be altogether satis- factory. One of the first signs of progress may be a backward-movement — a breaking-up of the old growths that the new plant may receive all the nourishment. It seems to me that it is better to get through our preparation outside the Court, so that when we come into the Court we may play and no longer toil. Besides this, if we practise part-by-part we may be able l6 HINTS ON TRAINING [PT. i to teach others, and to detect and correct what is amiss in ourselves. The conductor of an orchestra (Richter is a good example) can best detect which particular instrument is out of tune or out of time if he can play each instrument himself Having gone through his apprenticeship, then the player may dare to be original. But to go through the apprenticeship first will save much money and time and disappointment. It must not be concluded that, by practice of the system recommended here, all hope of developing a new and original Service or whatever it may be, individual to the player, is lost. Even in the most sedulous imita- tion of certain strokes admittedly the invention of certain players, the personal equation will find room to assert itself; and the conscientious analyser of his and other men's games has as good a chance as the unrecking genius of creating a stroke or method so uniquely his own that it must bear his name. The careful student will have this advantage that, when he does it, he will know what he is doing, and why, and how. And he will be able to tell others, and to talk intelligently and intelligibly about his play and theirs. Of all systems of practice for Racquets and Tennis, probably the average " Physical Culture " exercises are the worst ; for they tend to produce slowness and muscle-bound over-developed arms and chest, and utterly inadequate legs. The Macdonald Smith system is certainly among the best. His system may be called the Fast Full Movement System. It aims at giving independent control of each part of the body and of any required combinations of parts. It acts as a nerve-tonic, and demands very little CH. Ill] EXERCISES 17 exertion, so that after it the person feels fresher than before it. Each movement is carried out briskly and promptly, and as far as it will go in both directions. This system I have adapted and amended. Besides the Fast Full Movements, there should be Fast Partial (or Arrested) Movements. Stand upright, and put your right hand against the front of your left shoulder. Now swing it round briskly with a snap as far as it will go, till it stands out like a sign-post to your right, in a line with your two shoulders. Now bring it back again as far as it will go to its place on the left shoulder. This is a Macdonald Smith Fast Full Movement exercise. To this I should add the Fast Partial (or Arrested) Movement. Starting in the same position, let the arm fly out briskly a quarter of the way, and stop there ; and then come back again briskly to the left shoulder. Then let it come out half the way, so that it points straight in front of you, then back briskly ; then the whole way, then back briskly; then back once more. Starting from the right side of you, in the sign-post position, let it move a quarter of the way towards the left, then back ; then half-way, then back ; then three- quarters of the way, then back ; then the whole way, then back. By this means we acquire the power of a partial stroke or partial movement. We do not always wish to run from terminus to terminus. Throughout life we need the power of stopping suddenly at any given point, and of starting suddenly from any given point. To this system of Fast Full and Fast Partial (Arrested) Movements, we must certainly add the system of mus- cular relaxing, so that those muscles of the body which are not being used shall be quiet, and shall not waste energy by motion or by tension. This is for the sake not only of gracefulness but also of economy. 4 i8 HINTS ON TRAINING [pt. i Especially valuable as preparatory exercises for Racquets and Tennis and Squash are the following. 1 . Foot- iHovemen is. The Macdonald Smith Foot-Exercises are invaluable for rapidity and readiness. But there is no space to describe these fully in this present volume. We must be content to suggest one or two movements that do not belong to his list. Stand with the body inclined slightly forwards, the feet about 12 to 18 inches apart, the toes turning slightly outwards. Now shift your weight and start first in one direction, then in another. Be prepared, as it were, to throw your body in this direction, or in that, without losing your balance. The feet may then move so as to get ready for a Forehand position or a Backhand position. A Diagram of the steps will be found in Chapters IX and X. We shall see below that the best players, when they are running to take a ball, do not run in the ordinary way, but first get into position, and then run. Peter Latham is the clearest example. Directly he sees to which side a ball is coming, he immediately gets into position and faces sideways ; then he runs to the ball, still facing sideways. Therefore it is essential that a player should practise running not only with his body facing straight forwards, but also with his body facing sideways. And in the two sideways positions. Fore- hand and Backhand, he should be able to move forward or backwards or to the right or to the left, without delay and without loss of the invaluable poise. 2. The Body-swing is essential to success in Racquets and Tennis and Squash. The feet and head and eyes should be kept as still as possible. Meanwhile the body should swing, first round to the right, and then round to fc m V CH. Ill] EXERCISES 19 the left — very much as though one were playing Golf, except that there should be the equally powerful and vigorous swing in both directions. This is almost the foundation of a successful stroke of the ordinary kind for the ordinary player. It should not be practised too quickly nor too violently nor too fully at first. After practising it, one finds that one will be able to move more quickly and more completely day by day. The Illustrations (I and II) will show the two positions. 3. Most people will find it hard to keep their head still while they are moving their trunk thus ; and there- fore it is important to practise neck-exercises. Stand upright and face forwards. Now move the head slowly round to the right, then slowly round to the left. Do not strain at first, but increase the distance gradually day by day. The head may also be moved in other directions, e. g. up and down.,. 4. Eye-exercises are almost unknown in physical train- ing. But how indispensable they are for most games and athletics. We can hold our heads still and look, with our eyes alone, first from side to side, then up and down, then from upper right corner to lower right corner, then from upper right corner to lower left corner, and so on. 5. Observation-practice must be classed under prepara- tory exercises. Notice some object, say a picture on a wall or a handle on a door ; now shut your eyes and try to reproduce it in imagination ; then open your eyes again, and correct your mental copy ; then shut your eyes again, and again try to reproduce the original correctly. This exercise can be easily repeated in trains and rooms. With regard to this important branch of training, I wrote in another book as follows: — 20 HINTS ON TRAINING [pt. i "We seldom regard the eye as being worked by muscles, and yet of course it is. And we can exercise the eye in many ways. Later on we shall see the value of a correct picture of the Court in one's mind's eye, even while one's ' body's eye ' is fixed on the ball. Besides this practice in the registry of sights, it is possible to treat the eyeball as a kind of hand. Let it move (at first slowly, then with increasingly fast and full movements in both directions) from side to side and back again. . . . How strange these movements seem at first. And yet why should one always move the whole head in order to see something, as if one were just an average animal ? " 6. For the shoulder, with which we should be able to add a great deal of power to the stroke, the next move- ment should be tried with a jerk. Imagine that you want to strike with your shoulder something which is in the air a few inches in front of it. Then draw the shoulder sharply back again, as far as it will go. 7. A good quick movement for the arm as a whole has already been described. The arm was, in this exercise, on a level with the shoulders. It should be moved also on a lower level, and on a higher level. And another swinging exercise for the arms, when the arms go not across but up and down, is also admirable. Here, again, the arms should move in at least four directions, the right arm coming up as high as it will go in front of the left shoulder, and then back again as far and as high as it will go ; then high up in front of the right shoulder, then back again ; then high up still more to the right ; then high up in a line with the shoulders. The Arrested Movements should be added. 8. The forearm should be exercised. Bend the arm briskly at the elbow, bringing the hand up towards the right shoulder. Then let it move briskly down again, as if one were trying to hit a fly. Other Fast Full Move- ments are good here. There are five or six of the ^ Fig. 7. — A Waiting Position. (See page 64.) CH. Ill] EXERCISES 21 simpler kind. To these should again be added the Arrested Movements. 9. A useful zvrist-exercise has been suggested in ' The Game of Squash.' A Photograph of the exercise is given here (III, IV, and V). This, with the other movements, should be fast and full in both directions, i.e. from III to V, and from V to III, though the fast and partial movements (e.g. from III to IV and back, and from IV to V and back) should not be neglected. For the special Racquet-stroke which Latham uses, I must refer to a later Chapter. 10. A thumb-movement is represented in Illustrations Via and VI/3. It is also useful for Lawn Tennis Backhand strokes (as Burke and Mr. R. F. Doherty do them), as well as for Ping-Pong. All the exercises — except the neck-exercise — should be done with a snap, but not to excess at first ; the increase should be gradual. While one is practising, one should have good air, good light, and little or no clothing. The other muscles should be relaxed when they are not wanted, but should be exercised afterwards. After one has practised, one should wash and rub the body. The exercises should be tried one at a time, rather than all in succession. Each should be repeated by itself, until it shall have become easy and nearly auto- matic. To do a few of these movements often, may be better than to do many of them at a long stretch. But individuals differ in their ways of learning. The list should be enlarged and emended by each reader for himself. Thus some readers may add to it the use of the skipping-rope, others the whipping of the peg-top, which Latham recommends. 22 HINTS ON TRAINING [pt. I 2. SUPPLEMENTARY EXERCISES No game will exercise all the muscles of the body thoroughly ; and, though Racquets and Tennis may exercise many, they also leave some parts undeveloped. These should be developed by the Fast Full Movements, and by the Fast Partial (Arrested) Movements. In addition to this brisk motion, there should be practice in relaxing the whole of the body, part by part. Miss A. P. Call in America, and Mrs. William Archer in England, are the chief exponents of this system of repose and extension. It cannot be described adequately here. It is, however, essential to correct play that the parts which are not being used should not be held rigidly strained. It is not enough merely to keep them still ; they should as a general rule be kept relaxed and limp. Extension, especially of the extremities, should be a part of the physical education of every one. Delsarte was the chief exponent of the importance of extension. The left side should be exercised as well as the right. In England we leave it almost altogether in the back- ground. There is no need to be absolutely ambidextrous ; in fact, the right and the left sides seem to have some- what different functions (as we have explained in ' The Training of the Body'). But the left side should be able to move itself almost as well as the right. The prepara- tory exercises suggested in this Chapter should be applied to the left side as well as to the right ; and the two sides should be moved independently. A great fault of nearly every system of " Physical Culture " is that the two sides are moved together. He who has practised them separately can soon learn afterwards to CH. Ill] EXERCISES 23' practise them together. He who has always practised them together will find it very hard afterwards to practise them separately. Handicap games should occasionally be played left-handed. It is needless to say that Boxing, Fencing, and " Bartitsu " are among the very best supplementary exercises for Tennis and Racquets, though they also might be classed among preparatory exercises. More especially supplementary are continuous running, of which one has very little in these games ; and move- ments of strength and strain, such as one gets in Rowing and Gymnastics. But we cannot too often insist that movements of strength or strain, obstacle-movements, movements to which there is much resistance, should not be tried by any one until he shall first have acquired correctness and ease and rapidity and promptitude in the movements themselves, and independent control of the two sides of the body. Till then, " Sandowism " is a grand mistake, whatever may be its value afterwards. Mere " development " and size is not enough per se. ' " Use determines all things." Muscles should be prompt to obey, prompt to move quickly, prompt to combine quickly, skilled to work economically, expressive of grace, capable of endurance. After all these qualities are ours it will be time enough for weight-lifting and for heavy dumb-bells. CHAPTER IV HEAT, WATER, MASSAGE It is a hopeful sign that the Turkish Bath is coming into common use in England, especially in the form of the Bath-Cabinet, which is far better than the larger form of Turkish Bath ; since with it the head can breathe cool and fresh air. The finest form of Turkish Bath is that in which the heat is given by electric lights ; they meanwhile play upon the body and give it a light-bath. But this form of bath is somewhat expensive. The general rules for water-treatment are as follows: — 1. One should be either hot or warm before one uses cool or cold water. One can become hot or warm by exercise or by massage or by friction, or by hot or warm water or air. 2. One should wet oneself with warm water before one applies soap. 3. One should take cool or cold water after hot or warm water, except after very hot water such as the Japanese sometimes use at midday, as a tonic-bath to close the pores of the skin. Many American players prefer this very hot bath after Racquets or Tennis or Squash. They never catch cold as the result of it. 4. The cool or cold water need not be given to the 24 CH. IV] HEAT, WATER, MASSAGE 25 body all at once. One can have a partial cool or cold washing, as one can have a partial air-bath. 5. After the bath, there should be rubbings of the whole body with a not too rough towel ; and during and after the bath there should be singing. People do not sing nearly often enough, — at least not nearly often enough for their own health and pleasure. Besides the rubbings after the bath, every one should learn a few of the principles of massage. Massage may be done either with the hands or with a glove or with a soft towel. Only one form of it need be suggested here as a sample. This may be massage by pressure or by pinching. Starting at the part of the body which is just above the right leg, move upward to below the right ribs, then across the body to below the ribs on the other side ; then down again as far as the left leg. This is good massage for the colon, and will help to cure con- stipation. Other forms of it should be learnt from Turkish Bath attendants. It is partly owing to massage and rubbing, as well as to general practice of a most scientific kind, that the American track-athletes excel us in Athletic Sports. CHAPTER V REST, WORK; AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTES REST Rest and sleep are vital to health. During rest and sleep there should of course be good air. The spine should be kept straight laterally, and the muscles should be relaxed. They can best be relaxed as one breathes outwards after a deep and full breath inwards through the nose. To repeat the comparison already suggested, one should feel as if each part of one's body in turn were an air-balloon losing its air gradually. The feet should be kept warm. There is a prejudice against hot-water bottles and other means of warming the extremities ; but anything is better than sleepless- ness. There is a word to be said in favour of comfortable night-socks. Why should there be anything unmanly in such things if they give one a good night's rest. Sleep- lessness is very far from manliness ! For alternate hot and cold foot-baths, slow chewing of simple foods (say apples, bananas, or rice), and other feasible cures for insomnia, I must refer to a special Chapter in ' Avenues to Health ' (Sonnenschein, and E. P. Dutton, New York). 26 CH. v] REST, WORK, MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 27 WORK Racquets and Tennis are not ends in themselves. At the best they are partial preparations for life. If we are content to have only a preparation for life, and no life itself, then we are making a serious mistake. The value of these games is in what they enable us to do in other spheres. Besides this, brain-work is necessary to health. The body cannot be healthy unless the brain have its regular exercise. Here, again, as in food, the individual problem comes in. There are many ways of working. I myself, at one time, used to work at my best late at night. Then I used to work at my best during the morning, in bed. Now I can work fairly well at almost any time. But a certain amount of interesting work is to be insisted upon if these games are to have anything like their full value. It is a good plan to do some work in connection with these games themselves, especially with the theory of them : the theory of positions, movements, and tactics. Very little has been written about them yet, and they are well worth studying for many reasons. The imagination should be exercised. One should picture to oneself the best players at their best strokes ; and not a little improvement will be found to result from the imagination of oneself as doing certain strokes. To imagine an action is really to perform this action in a mild way. And training suggests a large number of problems which are worth working at : What exercises are best for certain purposes, and especially for certain strokes ? What diet is best for ordinary life, if we cannot get our regular exercise ? On such matters we can reason, and 28 HINTS ON TRAINING [PT. i later on we can put our theories to the test of personal experience. Some brain-work there must be. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES Fatness. — Fatness, beyond a certain degree, is a positive disadvantage ; for it means the clogging of the system, and extra weight for the muscles to carry. Beyond what is needed to supply the body with warmth and energy, it is a cause of strain. There are three kinds of excessive bulk, which are not altogether disconnected one with another. The first is due to acid fermentation. In such cases, it is easy to avoid the causes, which may be sugar, potatoes, or other starchy foods like cabbage-stalks, oatmeal, and so on, according to the individual's power of digestion. The second kind is caused by fat itself, by the excess of starchy or oily foods. Of course a certain amount of fat is necessary to the system ; but it seems to be a safe plan for most people to add no more to their store when they already have an excessive store. By degrees the fuel burns itself out. They can live especially on a pure Proteid, like Plasmon, and on chemical " Salts," which can be had from fruit. Fruit will give enough fibre and water, and these may help to cure constipatio;i. The third kind of fatty appearance and feeling is from water. Here, also, we can easily avoid the cause ; we can cease to drink, especially at meals, till our weight be right again ; or we can sip what we drink ; or we can take very acid drinks, which quench the thirst better, and are thus needed in smaller quantities. Staleness. — A usual remedy for staleness is champagne and a large dinner. This remedy is, to say the least of CH. V] REST, WORK, MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 29 it, expensive ; nor is it always reliable. The absolute reverse of it may be preferable in many instances : namely, to drop meals altogether, if there be no Match in the immediate future ; and, in lieu of the meals, to take water, especially hot water ; or else to change the diet, or the air, or the scene, or the exercise itself. Instead of exercise one may take an extra dose of muscular relaxing. But the ideal is not to get stale at all, to avoid over- training, and especially to avoid such mischiefs as constipation. Constipation. — If I seem to lay undue stress on this question of constipation, it is because it has been said that nine-tenths of the English people are constipated. In seeking a remedy, we must try to get at the primary causes, even though in individual examples the causes might be quite different. The following are suggested as possible remedies in ordinary cases. Avoid meats and flesh-foods in general ; and avoid certain starchy foods also, especially the white starchy foods — white bread, potatoes, etc. Instead of these, take Graham or wholemeal bread, if it suits you, and such fruits as are the most aperient for you. These may be apples, or prunes, or figs, or raisins. Try special exercises, such as the body-swing (Chapter III), and others which are mentioned in 'Avenues to Health.' The massage of the colon is useful (Chapter III), as well as other forms of massage also. Hot water may be drunk in the early morning ; and the hot or warm hip-bath may prove valuable. Cold water pourings down the spine may also be effective. The enema has its function ; but it is not a thing to 30 HINTS ON TRAINING [pt. i be depended upon. What has been said about drugs will apply to this remedy. If it remove the constipa- tion, so that after a time it becomes unnecessary, then it is good ; and, even if it remove the constipation and still remain a necessity, it may still be better than constipation itself, and better than most drugs. But the ideal is to have something which will first effect its end, and then cease to be necessary at all. One needs some- thing to enable nature to work by itself What the best cure will be in any individual case we cannot possibly say. It may be a dose of castor oil, or something else. But all are agreed that constipation is one of the greatest evils of the age, and must be removed. Nervousness and the '¦^Needle!' — Nervousness is a grand error in training. It means a loss of muscular as well as of mental energy ; and the best cure for it is usually found to be deep breathing (which we have mentioned above), followed by muscular relaxing during the out- ward breath. Some persons find " Self-suggestion " of value. This is held to be most effective late at night, just before sleep. It is not to be confused with hypnotism. It is rather an extension of that principle by which we suggest to our- selves that we shall wake early next morning. Instead of saying, "I will get up at six o'clock to-morrow," we may say, " I will be calm." Others may prefer other interesting occupations and hobbies. But anything is better than nervousness, because it achieves absolutely no useful purpose. It shows itself in an anxious and tense expression of face, and in physical weakness and trembling. Whatever will remove these physical signs will also go far towards removing the CH. V] REST, WORK, MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 31 anxiety and nervousness themselves. A special book will be devoted to this important subject ; for we cannot be reminded too often that nervous anxiety is an absolute curse. It does no one any good ; and it is often the most practical form of blasphemy, implying that we fear there is none who has the power to set things right. Part II RACQUETS, TENNIS, AND SQUASH PRELIMINARY NOTE Racquets and Tennis are generally treated separately. Here they are treated together up to a certain point. Most of that which is suggested up to this point, namely up to the end of Part II, will apply also to Squash- Racqi'ets and Squash-Tennis ; much of it will apply to Fives and Lawn Tennis, and not a little to Cricket, Hockey, and even Golf. It is most important to gain the right position of each part of the body, and to get the habit of having moved into this right position, before one attempts to hit the ball hard or with a severe cut ; or indeed before one attempts to hit the ball at all. It is most important to make the foundation complete and firm before one attempts to build, and certainly before one attempts to work within the building. The foundation of the Golf and Cricket stroke, as of the Racquet, Tennis, and Squash stroke, is the right position of the body and especially of the feet. It is no simple matter, this right position, for it also involves many different parts of the body, some of which, owing to our want of physical training, are singularly rebellious. The average beginner may compare his various muscles to pigs in clover. He can keep a few of them in order ; but, while he is attending to these few, he loses control of the rest. Even when he has made the two correct positions for the ordinary Forehand and Backhand strokes quite easy and natural, even then it is not easy for him to pass rapidly into either of them from the waiting and alert position, and to pass rapidly into the waiting and alert position from either of them. Therefore, let us take the foundation and the scaffolding common to Tennis and Racquets and Squash, in this part of the book ; and then let us consider this foundation and scaffolding as having been built up before we come to treat Racquets and Tennis separately. By this means, to change the comparison, the learner will have killed three or four birds with one stone. For example, he who can run sideways — a difficult art— at Racquets and Tennis, can run sideways at Cricket, Hockey, and, as he occasionally should do, at Football. He will find it less unnatural to stand sideways at Golf. He will also gain some sort of foundation for Boxing, Fencing, and other forms of exercise. He will not have had his originality hampered. On the contrary, he will have acquired the means by which he can now more safely and freely express his originality. 34 CHAPTER VI IDEAL CONDITIONS FOR A GAME Before beginning the practical side of this part of the work, let a few words be offered as to what seem to be the ideal conditions for a game of Racquets, Tennis, or Squash. First of all, the game should last the right time : I consider an hour to be too short, at any rate for an ordin- ary game of Tennis, or for a Four at Racquets. The average time for a good hard struggle I should put down at one and a half hours. For a game of Squash, three- quarters of an hour may be enough. Within the Court, the floor and the walls (and the Tennis Penthouse etc.) should be uniform and free from " tricks " : they should be fairly fast, though it is possible for a Court to be too fast ; and fastness sometimes means an unpleasant or even a dangerous slipperiness. But any- how the floor and the walls should be equally fast : many Courts err grievously in this respect. They are not uniform. The proportions should be as near to the average as possible : I should take as Courts of model proportions the two Match-courts at Queen's Club. There are Courts in which I prefer to play, but I think the proportions here are decidedly fair for every one. 35 36 RACQUETS, TENNIS, AND SQUASH [pt. ii The light must be good. This does not mean, as some seem to think, that the light should be good in parts (like the nervous curate's egg at the Bishop's breakfast), nor does it mean that the light should be satisfactory to those who are constantly playing in the Court (especially the Markers). There should be no glare from the roof or the sides, no bright reflec- tion from' the floor, and no large beams to obscure the light. On the other hand, a gloomy Court is objection- able to many players. I cannot but think that most Tennis-Courts are far inferior to Racquet-Courts in their light. There should be good balls, not greyish badly-sewn polygons with loose skins, such as one unfortunately sees at times in a Tennis-Court. It is in the outward make of the ball that the French excel us ; as to other and no less important qualities, I shall not speak yet, but it would help somewhat towards the ideal conditions if we had a uniform ball throughout the world. Racquet balls should be of good shape and well-sewn with superior thread. The racket should be well-weighted, well-strung, and with a comfortable handle: it has seemed to me that much remains yet to be done to make the handle of the Tennis-racket more comfortable. An enterprising Firm might give some attention to this and try some experiments. One requires a good Marker — not only accurate, but also quick and cheerful and interested. The opponent should be energetic, and the game should be so even that both have to play up their hardest: this can be arranged for by the various Handicaps to be suggested later. The opponent should not be too slow, nor too serious and gloomy ; he should also not be un- CH. VI] IDEAL CONDITIONS FOR A GAME 37 willing to applaud your good strokes and to condole with you on your bad luck ! The pet strokes on which you pride yourself are to come off fairly frequently, and, generally, you are to be in good form and in a good temper, the latter usually resulting from the former. A good hot bath afterwards, followed by cool or cold water in some form, and then by a little exercise — this completes the ideal. Some would add a whisky-and- soda and a smoke. 430083 CHAPTER VII MERITS OF THE THREE GAMES " The lithe htle hand ball whether it be of some softer stuffe, and vsed by the hand alone, or of some harder, and used with the rackette, whether by tennice play with an other, or against a wall alone, to exercise the bodie with both the handes, in euerie kinde of motion, that concemeth any, or all the other exercises, is gener- ally noted, to be one of the best exercises and the greatest preser- uatios of health." — RicJiard Mulcaster, Head-Master of Merchant Taylors' School (and also of St. Paul's), 1581. In order that we may understand the merits of Racquets and Tennis and Squash, we should contrast them with other games. In Cricket, for example, and in many other branches of athletics, we have the advantage of open air in the country ; but Cricket involves a great deal of waiting, and it has no system of Handicaps. Rowing scarcely exercises the two sides of the body independently ; it does not encourage prompt change of action ; it is largely an exercise of strain. Running and Track-Athletics are apt to be monotonous. Golf is expensive of time as well as of money. Racquets and Tennis, however, are not complete physical training. They should rather be considered in early life as supplementary to ordinary games and to Rowing — both supplementary and corrective. Later on, they may be preferred by a large number of people, 38 CH. vii] MERITS OF THE THREE GAMES 39 and may be taken up as a special hobby. But it would be a mistake to devote oneself to them at a time of life when Cricket, Baseball, Football, and Hockey were possible ; although, if they be rightly practised, their movements and the qualities which they encourage form valuable foundations for many other games. In spite of what is admitted in actual practice (as by those who select school-masters partly for their success in games), the fallacy still crops up from time to time in the writings and sayings of those who are not them- selves athletic, that games have at the most three main functions : the first being to increase the size of the muscles, the second to serve as a change from work, the third to encourage frivolity (or whatever they like to call it). Abroad, there is a still more serious misunder- standing. One cannot induce the average Professor in Germany to realise that there is any distinction between games and Gymnastics. He will not see the effects of games upon any other part of us except the muscles. It is, however, important that we should know the objects and aims of what we are doing. It must be granted at the start that these two games are expensive, though we may doubt whether they are much more expensive than Golf and Lawn Tennis under the best conditions. The Court itself, with its rent, the wages of the Marker and the tips to the Marker, the rackets and the balls, the baths and the flannels and the washing of the flannels, do much to account for the costliness of play. Besides this, there are comparatively few Courts ; nearly all are roofed over ; and at the most four people can join in a game. The advantages of the games would be far greater if the games were cheaper, if there were more Courts and more wisely ventilated Courts (we are better off in 40 RACQUETS, TENNIS, AND SQUASH [pt. ii England than in America), and if there were more Handicaps used ; and, last but not least, if the games were practised rightly — if the players would be content to spend far more time in the apprenticeship for play. At present, Racquets and Tennis and Squash are not nearly so valuable as they should be, and as they shall be some day. But they have enormous advantages in spite of this. In the first place, they can be played in many great cities, e.g. in London, Paris, Melbourne, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Montreal ; and they can be played in all weathers, an important consideration in England and America ; at all times of the year, the Courts being fairly cool in summer and fairly warm in winter ; and till considerably late in life. Tennis has been called the wife of the old bachelor. Besides this, it is easier to get a single opponent than to get a team for Cricket or Baseball or Football or Hockey ; and, if one has no opponent, then the Marker will play. The Markers provide and mend rackets ; and the Markers are, for the most part, quiet and interesting men, and often well-read. They stand among the very highest of all professionals. We may now proceed to consider what these games can do for us if they be properly taught and learnt. Looking at the aesthetic side, we see at once that they may develop grace. There are few more beautiful sights than the play of Mr. Alfred Lyttelton or Peter Latham. They improve the carriage, and give it the appearance of self-control and self-direction. They train the eye, the ear, and the touch. If we take the other meaning of the word " EESthetic," we cannot deny that they give intense enjoyment. Competition is the breath and soul of the Anglo Saxon. By competition in games he can get rid CH. vii] MERITS OF THE THREE GAMES 41 of his bad temper far more profitably than in any other way. The actual and positive enjoyment has its favourable effects upon the blood, and therefore upon the digestion and other functions of the body ; the enjoyment of certain strokes in particular, such as the Half-volley, and the Half-a-yard Chase, can scarcely be equalled. Thus these games supply us with a motive for healthi- ness. We do not need to be encouraged to play by offer of prizes. Racquets and Tennis and Squash are not games for pot-hunters. In themselves they are enough inducement to most of us. They encourage us to keep in fairly good condition — a desideratum in city life. When the rower has ceased to row, the runner to run, and the footballer to play Football, the Racquet and Tennis and Squash players are still in training and ready to take exercise whenever the opportunity offers. And the exercise does lead us indirectly to a change of clothing during the day, and to a wash afterwards, the washing apparatus being on the premises. In this respect Racquets and Tennis have a distinct advantage over many other forms of exercise. The bathing arrangements are generally excellent. Being played in flannels, they promote cleanliness by the sweat which they produce. The exercise need not be too violent : it may and should be exactly right both for the heart and for the lungs. Although we do not play in the open air, yet we play under high roofs, which give us free space for extending our limbs ; in rooms crowded with furniture we unconsciously cramp ourselves. We need more free space in which to move at our ease. As to the general effects of exercise, to express it in technical terms we can say that it eliminates waste- products, promotes metabolism, improves the nerves, and tends to an all-round development of the body. These 42 RACQUETS, TENNIS, AND SQUASH [pt. ii forms of sport in particular are a profit to us because they use, or should use, the powerful body-swing (which is a preventive of constipation), and because they help us to throw our shoulders back. If the Handicap were freely used, they would exercise the left side also. The left-handed game is an excellent variety: it teaches us a great deal that the right-handed game by itself may fail to teach us ; but even the right-handed game exercises most of the muscles, and much nerve. In these games we gain skill in playing and placing, and accuracy in timing the ball : we learn to be rapid and prompt, to move with alertness, which may stand us in good stead on a path or a road, or, indeed, for any occasion when presence of mind and control of body are essential. They exercise the endurance, the balance, and a certain amount of strength. Then, again, they are exercises that demand the whole attention : Racquets, chiefly because it is so fast that we have no time or desire to think of other things ; Tennis, chiefly because it is so interesting that we have no desire to think of other things. With regard to the intellectual advantages, we may mention, in the first place, that the players have included many men of greatest culture. Selecting a few at random from our own time, we have in England the Balfours, Mr. Alfred Lyttelton, Sir William Hart-Dyke, Sir Edward Grey, Lord Kinnaird, the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge, and the Provost of King's College : it would be easy to enlarge the list. The games do not produce the sleepy feeling that follows many of the more violent forms of exercise. They should improve the memory, and the power of independent thought, and the foresight — that power which we have to employ when, at Tennis, we play with a view to two or three strokes ahead. We CH. VII] MERITS OF THE THREE GAMES 43 have to adapt ourselves quickly to new conditions, to use our head, to think promptly, and promptly turn the thought into action ; for here the body carries out the idea immediately. This is rarely the case in so-called education, which to a large extent deals with words rather than with ideas which should be evolved into reali- ties. The player has to decide in a moment whether he shall volley a ball, or leave it for the Back-wall ; he has to decide and to act ; according to the success or failure of his first attempt he can be guided in his second attempt. After his stroke, he has to return to his balance and poise. This is valuable in its effect on character — this return to poise after excitement. Throughout the play, there is an opportunity for resource and originality, as Latham and Pettitt both prove. This original self- activity is not to be found in the German, in spite of his long time spent in drill. The German has no genius for single play. Yet, with this self-activity, there is a certain amount of imitation of the best models, a vast amount of obedience to law and etiquette. Not the least advantage of these games is that such qualities are developed for the most part unconsciously. Thus the player exercises his memory without thinking of his memory. He does not give too much morbid care to the game, although he might with advantage give considerably more care than he does to his preparation for it ; for he would find that the things which he prac- tises would soon become mechanical, and that then he would be able to devote his attention to tactics and head- play. And, while he is taking care, he would be disci- plining himself, and acquiring a valuable general method of self-improvement. The effects upon the character and morals are obvious. 44 RACQUETS, TENNIS, AND SQUASH [pt. ii Both are games in which a considerable amount is left to the honour of the players. It is possible to cheat, and to baulk the opponent (which is a mild form of cheating). This, however, one seldom sees in play. There is rather a tendency towards "self-sacrifice." I noticed this in America no less than in England. And there is nearly always a decorous acknowledgment of a good stroke by an opponent. Among the other qualities encouraged, are pluck, coolness, and self-control. The social value is not inconsiderable. These games are the games of gentlemen. Yet in them the amateurs and the Markers have the most friendly relations — though the Americans cannot yet entirely grasp our English freedom between professionals and amateurs. And they are not only social in their effects : they are, or ought to be, national and international. It is by friendly intercourse in games that we can best learn to understand foreigners. Their language in words may be hard to tackle ; but in games there is little need for words. One can meet and make friends of Frenchmen in the Tuilleries with scarcely a word of conversation : just as one can of Americans in America with many words. One is introduced to the leading men in each city. And for a while one is cut off from the society of ladies. In fact, one is shut out from the world both of society and of business. But the black cloud may be not without a soupqon of white lining. The economical value arises partly from the social value. In the Court may be formed useful friendships and acquaintanceships. And the game should give one renewed power to work with the brain. The qualities which it encourages — the self-discipline, the power to bear defeat, the adherence to the laws of honour, the resource, the foresight, the originality, — all these should have their counterparts in commercial life. The Double CH. VII] MERITS OF THE THREE GAMES 45 Game will give one the power of combination with others, a power becoming more and more important in business every year. But the chief plea of the games is that they make for manliness, manliness which does not in any way interfere with religion, as Swedenborg showed in his exceedingly sensible and accurate description of heaven. According to his visions, " at the extreme parts of the City there are various sports of boys and young men, as running, hand-ball, tennis." Of course there are ! In conclusion, one can hardly do better than add a few testimonials of other writers as to the surpassing advantages of the play. Quotations about Tennis will be found in the Chapter on the special merits of Tennis. "While making a rush at a distant ball, the player will some- times, as Barre often did, change his mind, on account of some idea which has suddenly struck him, and omit to return the ball, though he might probably have succeeded in doing so. He deems the ball, perhaps at the last minute, too difficult of return to allow him to make a sufficiently-telling stroke from it ; or he thinks that, once on the other side of the net, he will, through his own strong attack, be able to win easily the chase, or to compensate for its loss in case he loses it. All these material considerations, as well as some moral, will be present to the mind of a really great player in the moment or just before the moment at which he strikes, and will modify his design ; but this determination or change of purpose must be made instantaneously. Here lies the great difference between Tennis and those sedentary games which require as much headwork as Tennis. " In the enumeration of the qualities required to place a man amongst the first rank of players, should be included strength com- bined with activity, great flexibility of body, force and pliancy of wrist, quickness of eye, self-possession, perseverance, temper, and judgment ; and to these should be added a mind full of resources, quick to discover the weakest part of his adversary's game, and to apply his own peculiar powers to the best advantage ; for the body and mind, at Tennis, are equally upon the stretch ; and, as the hurry of action is unfavourable to the reflective part of the game, it is the last and most difficult acquirement, to recollect, in the vehe- mence of execution, what it may be most judicious to endeavour to execute. 46 RACQUETS, TENNIS, AND SQUASH [pt. ii " Those who have it, owe its possession to a clear head, a keen eye, and the faculty of penetrating the design of their opponent, as shown by his movements and the manner in which he strikes the ball ; to the power of observation necessary to inform them how that manner in which he strikes the ball will act upon it and in- fluence its course ; and to their general experience of the game, founded on innumerable results of this kind, watched, remembered, and applied systematically." These paragraphs, from Mr. Julian Marshall's excellent ' Annals of Tennis,' will apply to Racquets as well as to Tennis, with scarcely the need for a single word to be changed. M. de Garsault, in his book called * L'Art du Paumier- raquetier, et de la Paume,' 1767 (quoted by Mr. Marshall), says : — " La Paume is the only game which can take rank in the list of Arts and Crafts, the description of which has been undertaken by the Royal Academy of Science." He goes on to remark : — " Let us no longer consider la Paume as a Game, nor as a mere pastime that is without any use to us ; an Art which, with the aid of only a few instruments, becomes a very stately exercise, by means of which youth may gain robust health, and that activity which is so necessary in the course of life. This exercise is there- fore in such estimation that edifices are built on purpose for it, as others are built for learning the Art of Riding. The King has a fine Court in each of his royal mansions at Versailles, at Fontaine- bleau, at St. Germain, and at Compi^gne. Both officers and soldiers who shall have practised it will find themselves by far superior to those who know only their ordinary exercise, or even that of the sword, for the former liberates the arms alone, and the latter directs the body in but one way ; whereas the bending, starting, and run- ning which are necessary' in this game make the body equally supple throughout, and train it (if I may say so) in every possible way.'' CHAPTER VIII FEATURES COMMON TO THE THREE GAMES It has seemed well to justify, in a short preliminary note, my novel plan of treating Racquets and Tennis and Squash together. Let us now consider how much the games have in common, and especially the two greater games. Both, as a general rule, are played in covered Courts, and therefore both can be played at any time of the year, or in any weather, and even in the heart of a city. At present both are played chiefly by the rich, A Marker plays, marks, and provides and mends the vari- ous implements of the game. Connected with the building there is often a social Club with all its usual advantages. The Courts have the Back-wall, which is both high and level, and Side-walls, which are also high and level. The Back-walls and Side-walls form a desirable and important feature in the play. Lawn Tennis of course is lacking in this respect. That is one reason why it is very hard for a Racquet or Tennis or Squash player to play Lawn Tennis well. He lets the ball pass by him as if he would be able to return it after it had struck the Back-wall ; then he remembers that the Back- wall is not provided ! 47 48 RACQUETS, TENNIS, AND SQUASH [pt. ii In both games wd have tightly-strung and expensive wooden rackets, and a hard ball made of cloth and thread and covered with a white substance. There is a certain height above which the racket must strike the ball before the ball has bounced twice, and a certain height aboye which the racket must not strike the ball. The Service in both games may be volleyed. The general aim is to hit the ball only just above the required height and out of the opponent's reach (or else too dazzlingly "within" his reach). In both games one need have only a single opponent ; though a Four-game at Racquets is common, and a Three-game is excellent, being, in the opinion of some, preferable either to the Single or to the Four. In both games there are some hard straight drives, not unlike the drives at Cricket. In Racquets these are the ordinary strokes ; in Tennis they are commonest when one is playing for the " Openings." The leading Tennis experts at Boston use the hard drive with great freedom and success. Tom Pettitt was practically the inventor of this stroke. In both games, also, there are some heavily cut or sliced strokes. This is the regular stroke for the Service at Racquets. At Tennis it is, or rather it used to be, the regular stroke for ordinary play ; but now hundreds of players are beginning to find that the risk of cutting every ball is not compensated for by the result. There is a tendency to get the ball up, somehow, with a severe cut if it be not too risky ; but with a severer cut in pro- portion as the stroke is easier. Personally, I make it a general rule in Tennis to put the hardest cut on to the easiest ball. On the most difficult ball I put next to no cut intentionally ; I am quite content to scrape it over. the net somehow. At Racquets the chief aim is pace, CH. viii] FEATURES COMMON TO THE GAMES 49 the typical stroke being a hard low drive. In this respect Racquets resembles Lawn Tennis. In both games the Volley and the Half- volley have come very much into fashion of late years. 1 hey make the game far more rapid than before ; and indeed, in late years, the play has become faster and faster, partly owing to the reliability and trueness of the Court, its floor and walls ; the racket and its tightly-strung gut ; the balls and their superior contour ; but also owing to this — that the rapid game really pays. There are re- markably few of the old school who could make head- way against the dash and rush of an active player like Latham or Pettitt. And so both games need a certain amount of training. I have heard one or two of the leading professionals say that a man has to give up his active game of Racquets before he gives up his active game of Cricket, partly owing to the modern system of boundary hits at Cricket. Though, on the other hand, it is due to the Back-wall, and to the fact that the standard of play rises with the growing experience and knowledge of the angles, that one might continue to play Racquets and Tennis long after one has given up Football and Hockey. It is perhaps the value of this experience that sets the pro- fessionals so far ahead of the amateurs. Since Sir William Hart-Dyke, no amateur has beaten a profes- sional on equal terms at either of the two games. In Billiards, as in bowling at Cricket and Baseball, the professionals are ahead. As to the scoring, in both games Handicaps are possible, so that any player can be put on level terms with any other player. But we shall see later on that the possibilities of Handicaps are not at all realised to-day ; in fact, Handicaps are almost entirely confined 50 RACQUETS, TENNIS, AND SQUASH [pt. ii to points, as at Lawn Tennis. We seldom see a Match at which one player gives the other " Half-the-Court," or " Touch-no-Side-walls," or some such excellent odds. There is not nearly enough variety. The games would be far more popular if there were. The scoring of both games is subdivided. In either game a crushing error at the beginning of the play need not be fatal : it is more like a bad hole at Golf than a stumping at Cricket. A player might get only one point while his opponent scored the whole of the first game at Racquets, or first set at Tennis, and yet might win the Match. Both games give exercise for nearly the whole of the body, including much of the left side if the strokes be properly played. A useful form of Backhander may be helped out by a very powerful movement of the left side, not perhaps to the same extent as in Cricket and Golf, but still to a far greater extent than is common with the average player to-day. Both games should exercise the intelligence. Racquets, however, tends to become dull and mechanical, to de- generate into a game of monotonous strokes just above the line and down the sides. Nearly all games are liable to become mechanical if they are not properly played ; but it seems as though, at Racquets, some of the pro- fessionals have come almost to the end of their tether. There is no necessity for this, if players will only think. Both games also, as we have seen, give exercise to the character and moral qualities. In Racquets, as in Tennis, the ABC of play must either be acquired by art, or else be present by natural instinct, if the player is to do himself justice, and to enjoy himself (which he can hardly do unless he improves CH. viii] FEATURES COMMON TO THE GAMES 51 and succeeds). Both games require an alert position before and after the strokes ; both games require the position to be ready formed before the stroke be made ; both games say to us, and especially to our feet : " Be there in time, and the hard will have become easy." This is a fundamental principle of play, and has been recog- nised as holding good in other forms of Sport by one of the greatest athletic authorities, Mr. C. B. Fry. Both before and after the strokes the foot-movements are all-essential. During the strokes the body-swing, in which the weight is thrown forwards and the stroke is carried through — with some movement of the shoulder, arm, forearm, and wrist, as the racket strikes the ball — is of vital moment. The racket must be held up both before and after the strokes. Last of all, in both games it is essential that balance should be preserved under difficulties. The beginner is apt either not to move his body enough when he makes his stroke, or else to move it enough and then to be thrown off his legs. The hurling of nearly one's whole self into any " stroke " in life is by no means unimportant. One should put one's whole vigour into it, and yet at the end of it remain self-possessed and ready for the next stroke. This is what we English, as a nation, do really need : we need not merely an effort with the whole per- sonality, but immediate readiness afterwards to repeat a similar or a different effort, and to have moved rapidly into position for that new effort. CHAPTER IX THE STROKES AND THE ALPHABET OF PLAY "How ought one to hold the racket? How ought one to stand before one makes a Backhand stroke, and when one makes it ? How ought one to move during the stroke? What ought one to do afterwards ? How can one practise, when one is busy all day ? How can one improve one's game and correct one's faults ? Why has one hitherto failed to improve ? How can one keep in training and yet lead a sedentary life ? " This quotation from ' The Game of Squash ' will illustrate some of the difficult " words " of which the game is composed. It is the purpose of this Chapter to teach the spelling of these words. The spelling is not uniform throughout the world, or for all individuals : — for example, the American spelling is somewhat different from the English spelling. The reader must be content with generalities. " I see the ball and I hit it." This was the way in which a leading expert summed up his method. Now as often as he hit the ball correctly — and he generally did — not only must his mind, the master, have had an intention ; his body, the servant, must have had an absolute understanding of the intention and have given an intelligent obedience to it. But the weakness of this method of a genius is its uncertainty. Not knowing how he does it, he also does not know why he (sometimes) 52 CH. ix] STROKES AND ALPHABET OF PLAY 53 does not or can not do it. For my meticulous and more tedious method I claim that it reduces the margin of error; that it should enable one to adapt his style to diverse players and diverse occasions and conditions. He who can analyse his own method can analyse another's method and get from it what he most needs. / want to know not only that I do certain things, but also how I do them, and why^ and how and why others do these or other things. It is possible for certain people to speak, and to speak well, without ever having learnt the letters of the alphabet in their orthodox order. But, even if they do not know the alphabet at all, yet at least they must know the letters in their combinations. They must possess the elements of the words, although they may not know that the words can be divided into elements. Let us here consider the alphabet of play, the letters that go to make up Racquets and Tennis and Squash. The genius-player is seldom aware that such letters exist. If we imagine the body to be a clock, and the arm and racket to be the pendulum of the clock, and if we imagine that we want the pendulum to hit the ball with great force, and in a long sweeping line rather than with a quick jerk, we shall get one important letter of the alphabet, namely, the direction in which the body should face while the stroke is being made. For a long and free swing, the body should generally face not towards the net or play- line but towards the side on which the ball will be, whether the ball will approach from the opponent's racket, or from one's own hand (during the Service). And this sideways position must have been already formed before the stroke be made. It therefore follows 54 RACQUETS, TENNIS, AND SQUASH [pt. ii Fronf Wall or Ncf . ©TK« Baill fi commq , fe fKe ForaK^.^d or I rlqK^ side of ^Ke Left 742 4^lSmcKcl Jkp&rl* Right ^ Di&qram 1 Diagram i. — A good piosition of the feet before a Forehand Stroke. Fror\> Wall or Ne>. vtfh>}m>miuaw>fiumimim^wi-!^)Hfi-..,,»>..v:j.>\my:j/j.'jn/?ir\-m^ I TKe Ball is comirig ^L 1-0 <-K« B&ckKar\d ^P or l€f^ side o^ <¦>%* I Player. V' Diaqra,m 2 tol8 inches Ap&rt Uf<' Diagram 2. — A good position of the feet before a Backhand Stroke. CH. ix] STROKES AND ALPHABET OF PLA V 55 that the feet should be in the right places before the stroke; for the feet are the bases of the body. Golf teaches us two lessons here. The first thing that we learn in Golf is not to let the body face the direction in which we are going to hit. Let it face the direction in which the ball is. As an experiment, stand with a Golf-ball on the ground at your right side, instead of in front of you. Swing your body round to the right on your hips, keeping your feet still. Then make a stroke. You will find that the ball will go some distance, owing to the body-swing, but will not go nearly the distance of an ordinary drive from the ordinary position. The first rule will be illustrated by Diagrams i and 2, showing how the feet should face the approaching ball, and should not face the net or the play-line. In Golf we have plenty of time to get into position : in Racquets and Tennis and Squash we have not. Therefore in Racquets and Tennis and Squash we have to consider not only the correct position itself, but also the movements which will lead to that correct position. The reasons for the position are obvious. Quite apart from the healthiness of the body-swing, we must notice the formation of the body. We cannot make a free stroke as long as the body is facing forwards. Imagine a stroke to come to your Backhand ; you cannot possibly hit with full force straight forwards if your body is facing forwards. The whole of your left shoulder would be in the way. You must stand like the left-handed cricketer when he wants to hit to the off. You will thus bring the larger muscles into play, and the larger muscles make more reliable curves than the smaller muscles, as we shall point out in Chapter XI. The second lesson from Golf is that the implement should be raised before the stroke, in order to give power 56 RACQUETS, TENNIS, AND SQUASH [pt. ii and impetus ; just as, if one wishes to go up-hill, one can acquire pace by going down-hill first. The golfer carries through his stroke in as straight a line as possible, and at the finish of it his club is up again. It has gone far beyond the spot at which it has hit the ball. In Racquets and Tennis and Squash, for ordinary players, I think there is the same rule. Lift your racket before the stroke ; carry it through (as a rule) in as straight a line as possible ; carry it up afterwards. This leaves the racket ready for the next stroke, and ready also to protect the head. For those who can time the ball very accurately, a more effective stroke is the arrested movement, which will be described in a later Chapter. It is shown in the illustration in Chapter XXIII, which gives the point beyond which the racket scarcely moves forwards, but rather moves suddenly backwards. Latham does not use full follow-through strokes at Racquets or Tennis. But they seem to me to involve far less risk. Each player must decide for himself. In this Chapter I am only writing with reference to a good average stroke for average players. Having these two letters of the alphabet to start with, namely, that the racket should be kept up before and after each stroke, and that the body should be ready facing the side on which the ball is approaching, we are brought to a third letter : namely, that one should have moved into this position before one makes the stroke, and, therefore, that one should be limber and alert. The player who is, like the boxer, on his "toes," and who keeps his eye on the ball, has a natural and instinctive tendency to move into position of his own accord, and to time the ball accurately. For to time the ball, to have " a good eye," means not merely to see the ball itself, CH. IX] STROKES AND ALPHABET OF PLA V 57 Line of Fronf Wall or Ne». ^ EITHER (C) lef^- Ip-^ I / R'lqK^fiJsh^^^^K^ ^M*' OR (D) UfM Diagram 3 '•^RigKtE 1^ UfMA \ / \ V/*^ 1 Diagram 3. — How t6 move the feet from the Waiting Position into the Foi-fe hand Position. (C) brings the feet further back and to the left ; (D) bring them further forward and to the right. 5B RACQUETS, TENNIS, AND SQUASH [pt. il Lir\e of Front Wall or Net. J •8 o » I I I I \ I r I ? ! o 03 S>» o 7" Q. ^ I I I I EITHER (A) AUftl /hx^\s\ I *"•-. .n^ OR (B) '*^. f /ufrn '^^ Diagram 4 Diagram 4. — How to move the feet from the Waiting Position into the Back- hand Position. (A) brings the feet further back and to the left ; (B) brings them further forward and to the right. CH. IX] STROKES AND ALPHABET OF PLA Y 59 but to reckon its flight, and, if necessary, to judge its angles off the floor and off the walls. And so we have as elements of success not only the right Forehand position and the right Backhand position during strokes, but also the waiting position before and after strokes. The feet may be twelve to eighteen inches apart, with the toes turned slightly outwards, and the knees slightly bent, though individuals differ as to the best waiting position. From this waiting position — a position of poise upon the balls of the feet — one must be able to pass quickly into the Forehand position with the racket up and back. The steps by which one passes from the waiting into the Forehand position are shown in Diagram 3. Then follows the Forehand stroke itself. Next come the steps from the waiting position to the Backhand position, as seen in Diagram 4. Then the Backhand stroke is made. Diagrams 3 and 4 are thus described in ' The Game of Squash' (p. 61). " In the Diagram you see your feet in the waiting position, rest- ing OH their balls and not on their heels. " To pass into the Forehand position, you may move your right foot back, so that it will be behind your left, and then turn your left foot round as on a pivot. This will be better if the ball is to be taken further back in the Court. " If, however, the ball pitches ' shorter,' and is to be taken rather more forward in the Court, then move your left foot forward, and let your right foot rest on its toe. (If the ball is to be taken very near where you are, you may move your left foot forward actually during the stroke itself.) " Notice how either movement may help to bring the left shoulder forwards. " To pass into a Backhand position from the waiting position, either — " Move your left foot back and pivot your right foot round, as in the Diagram ; or else " Move your right foot forward, and pivot your left foot round. Here, again, notice how either movement may help to draw the left 6o RACQUETS, TENNIS, AND SQUASH [pt. Il shoulder back. The steps should be practised again and again until they have become quite easy and automatic. I have had to practise them many thousands of times." For further notes on these Diagrams, see Chapter X. The ideal of movement, if it is to be continued for a long while, is that large muscles should be employed, and that each action should be a preparation for the next. Thus in walking we use large muscles and the step-forward of one leg helps the other leg towards its step-forward. And so we have to practise such Fore- hand and Backhand strokes as will naturally lead us not only to use large muscles, but also to end up somewhat near to the waiting position. Hitherto we have spoken of the strokes as if they were single and simple things. It is essential, however, to consider the whole apparatus of a full stroke, the move- ments of the trunk and the shifting of the body's weight, the movements of the shoulder, the upper arm, the fore- arm, the wrist, the fingers, to say nothing of the grip of the racket. It is almost indispensable to a correct and safe stroke that the racket should be meeting the ball in a line opposite to the line of its approach, for as long as possible, and therefore that the large muscles of the body should be employed. See the Diagram in Chapter XI. And in the ordinary stroke there are other points which various players would consider to be essential : the help given by the left hand and arm and shoulder during the stroke is by no means unimportant. It is vital also that we should economise the energy of the rest of the body ; we should not make unnecessary exertions with muscles that we do not in the least need to employ. In addition, we should have at our control a stroke CH. IX] STROKES AND ALPHABET OF PLA Y 6i independent of the position of the feet — a stroke which relies chiefly upon the body-swing and the shoulder- movement. Now and then there is no time even for this, and we have to rely mainly upon some of the smaller mechanisms, for example, the arm or forearm or even the wrist alone. But always there must be poise. So much for the two ordinary strokes, Forehand and Backhand. These should be practised at first with a free outward swing, rather than with a swing across the body. That stroke can be added later. Later also can be added the cut-stroke, which is not altogether distinguishable from the twist-stroke. The cut-stroke is an integral part both of Racquets and Tennis. In Racquets it is found in the Service ; in Tennis it is found in the ordinary play. It will be described in Chapter XXXIII. Besides this, we have the Half-volley and the Volley. Every player must be able to use these two strokes. It does not in the least follow that he should use them frequently ; but, if they are not part of his available mechanism, he will always be liable to fail in them, just as the Lawn Tennis player will, if he cannot come up to the net to volley. He may be able to play a whole Match, as Mr. A. W. Gore (last year's Amateur Lawn Tennis Champion of England) may have done, without a single Volley ; but until he can volley well he is always liable to be beaten by an otherwise inferior opponent. This is not the whole of the ABC of play. One must know the angles as well as the flight of a ball ; one must know what will happen to a ball that has struck the Back-wall, or a Side-wall, or both. Back-wall strokes hold quite an important place among the elements of success. Then we must know how the balls will bounce accord- ing to their pace, cut, twist, and so on. 62 RACQUETS, TENNIS, AND SQUASH [pt. ii We must also master at least one kind of Service. Nor is this enough. For we must know in what part of the Court we should stand whilst we are waiting. There seems to be little doubt that, usually, we should stand near the central line down the Court. But whether we should stand near the Back-wall, or further forward, is doubtful. Much depends on our activity. A player with a quick eye, like Latham, can afford to stand forwards : a slower player might find it better to wait. Each stroke, let us remember, seems a simple thing ; in fact, a rally consisting of many of these strokes, let us say a rally consisting of several ordinary Forehand and Backhand strokes, two cut-strokes, a twist-stroke, a Volley, a Half- volley, and some Back-wall and some Side-wall play, will itself seem quite a simple thing. Yet each stroke is complex, each stroke is a word of many letters, each rally is a sentence of many words. And most of us would find it worth while to learn the letters very early in our life (not necessarily before we learn any words) ; and the words ^ before we learn the sentences : and the sentences before we learn the paragraphs and chapters. We need not learn the alpha- bet at the very beginning, but it is worth while to learn it somewhere near the beginning. For my own part, I do not play games merely for amusement and recreation. To me they are work, they are creation. I find them teeming with problems which I long to solve ; the test of the solution is progress and increased pleasure and — further problems. Each problem truly solved becomes in turn a fresh letter in my alphabet, a fresh word in my vocabulary. 1 The word STROKE might suggest the initials of Sideways position, Timing the ball, Racket up, One full body-swing, Knee of right leg unbent, Eye on ball. CHAPTER X MOVEMENTS AND POSITIONS BEFORE STROKES The holding of the racket must be correct. That is an essential of good play. This does not mean that one should always grip the racket tightly, but that, except for intervals of rest, one should habitually have the fingers placed ready for a correct tight grip. The special " grips " for Racquet and Tennis strokes will be con- sidered in Parts III and IV. Meanwhile we must be content with generalities. In ' The Game of Squash ' (p. 38), I wrote as follows : — "What part of the handle should one hold? Should one hold the handle near to the end or somewhat nearer to the face ? For ordinary purposes the hand might reach to about three inches from the end. But, if one has a weak wrist, or if one is taking a ball from close to the Back-wall, it might be better to hold the handle at a point far nearer to the face. This 'clubbing ' of the racket will give n)ore certainty. For a hard drive, on the other hand, it may be better to hold the racket almost at the end." As to the fingers, they may " group themselves " in various ways. The Latham Racquets-grip will be described in Part III. A useful arrangement for ordin- ary strokes is the one in which the flat of the handle lies across the middle of the pointing finger, as in Illustra- tion VIII. The right hand is closed over the handle, 63 64 RACQUETS, TENNIS, AND SQUASH [pt. ii the fingers being somewhat apart rather than hunched and huddled together. If the player now holds his racket with the head up, say in the hand-mirror fashion, as in Illustration VII, he may proceed thus to master the ordinary movements, and positions of the feet before strokes. To the following general movements and positions before strokes there must be some noticeable exceptions, as when one is taken by surprise, and has to resort to the flick of the wrist and some shoulder-jerk in order to get back a ball ; and when one is only able to turn the body rapidly without moving the feet. Tom Pettitt is perhaps the best exponent of the shoulder-jerk and wrist-flick. It is marvellous to see what he can achieve, apparently without moving any other part of his body. But for ordinary players, without the wonderful eye and rapidity and strength, such a stroke would not be worth the risk. Then, again, besides the occasions when one is taken unawares, one may vary the position of the body in order to vary the pace and direction of the stroke. But as a rule, in Racquets and Tennis and Squash, as in Golf, the sideways position is essential to safety. Of the forward-facing position of the feet for Forehand and Backhand strokes I need add little to what I said in ' The Game of Squash ' (p. 50), where it was pointed out that this position may be inevitable in sudden emergencies. " It is true that this may need less shifting of the feet, or rather that it may need a less unusual and more 'natural' position of the feet, and that it gives the player the best possible view of the coming ball, i.e. the view from the point towards which the ball is coming. But it has too many disadvantages. For not only is it awkward for a large number of strokes ; it also excludes our free and powerful body-swing along the line of the coming ball. It relies too much on an absolutely correct timing of the ball, and often on a mere whip with the wrist, which makes a very risky unreliable curve." #-..*•' Pig, 8. — The Handle — Before a Grip of the KAigiET. (See page 63.) P5 P5 ^ P=^ CH. x] POSITIONS BEFORE STROKES 65 Racquets and Tennis and Squash differ from Golf in this, that they do not allow one plenty of time in which to plant one's feet correctly. In Racquets and Tennis and Squash one must have come into position for the stroke before he makes the stroke ; and he must, if he can, be in such a place that the ball meets his racket somewhat as in the following Diagram, the ball Line of Appro&cK of BALL v**''^^ FOREHAND I BACKHAND Diagram 5. — A convenient distance of the Ball from the Feet. being from 6 to 1 8 inches above the floor, and nearly opposite his forward foot ; though sometimes a little behind it, and sometimes a little in front of it. Before ordinary strokes, one waits poised, with the feet on their balls, alert to move anywhere. One watches the opponent, as a boxer does, unless one knows where the ball must be returned. It was said that Barre, the great French expert at Tennis, used to know almost invariably the direction in which his opponent was 7 66 RACQUETS, TENNIS, AND SQUASH [pt. ii bound to hit the ball. In such a case it would be waste of energy to be ready for any and every kind of stroke. The Lawn Tennis player is content, as a rule, to leave the risky shots out of calculation, and to go to the place Diagram 6. — How to move towards a ball after the Forehand Posi- tion of the feet has already been formed. where the chances are that his opponent must return the ball. Such a player ignores the risky stroke by his opponent : indeed, it is part of his policy to tempt his opponent to make it, the odds being ten to one that he who tries to make it will fail. Suppose the opponent hits the ball to one's right CH. X] POSITIONS BEFORE STROKES 67 hand, i. e. hits it so that one will return it forehanded ; then one of two movements may be advisable. If one is going to take the ball at some spot in front of the spot where one is waiting, then one has to move forwards ; if one is going to take the ball at some spot behind the spot where one is waiting, then one has to Diagram 7. — How to move towards a ball after the Backhand Posi- tion of the feet has already been formed. move backwards. In such cases the feet may shift as in Diagram 3 (Chapter IX). This will change the body from the waiting position to the Forehand position ; the racket is up in the air. In this position one moves to the required spot either by short steps or by long strides. Diagram 6 will show directions in which one should be able to move while still maintaining the Forehand position. 68 RACQUETS, TENNIS, AND SQUASH [pt. ii Diagram 7 will give similar directions to be followed while one preserves the Backhand position. The principle is, first to form the sideways position, and then, in that position, to move towards the ball. This, as we have remarked already, seems to me to be one of the most essential features in Latham's success. When he runs for a ball, he does not run in the ordinary way, facing forwards, but runs with his feet and body already in position. He can run sideways almost as well as he can run straight. Batting at Cricket gives one a good example of a similar method. What good cricketer, when he is going to run out to the ball, first faces forwards, then runs out, then faces sideways again ? The good cricketer comes out sideways. Thus he is already in position when the ball comes. Success in this implies practice in moving both backwards and forwards and sideways, with the feet and body either in the Forehand or in the Backhand positions. As we have remarked elsewhere : " It is needless to say that this sideway running- is extremely awkward at first. But it will become easier and easier with practice, until at last you will be able to do as the result of conscious and repeated effort what Latham does unconsciously and instinc- tively. The illustrations will suggest a few directions in which the feet may move. They must preserve their relative positions. And these positions must have been formed as long as possible before the stroke is to be made. " It is a question ^ whether one should move about with short steps or with long strides. The former encourages the desirable habit of alertness and smartness, the latter the equally desirable habit of calmness and deliberateness. As to accuracy, there is little to choose between the two ways. It is possible that with long strides you will be less likely to be 'caught on the hop.' But I expect a good deal might depend on the nationality and temperament, and on whether one is short or tall, lithe or ponderous, in training or out of training ; and on other considerations." ^ Compare Cricket, where the batsman may shuffle out, scuttle out, jump out, stride out, or only stretch out. CH. x] POSITIONS BEFORE STROKES 69 It is no feasy task to preserve the balance under such conditions, especially when one remembers that it may be better to hold the racket with its head up. Some prefer to hold it as a hand-mirror, whereas others support the head with the left hand : the latter is the commonest position for the Lawn Tennis player. Before the stroke, the racket and the arm come up and back with the shoulder, in order to prepare for the swing of the stroke. With the expert, the swing back- wards knd the stroke forwards, together with the shifting of the feet, seem to be one single indivisible movement. But the parts of it can easily be separated, and then practised one by one. Before the stroke the head is held back, the eye watches the ball, the shoulder and the arm draw away from the ball, the other arm and the shoulder help in the swing. So we are brought to the movements during the strokes. Photographs IX and X will show the player (Moore) ready for a Forehand and for a Backhand stroke. These positions are not exactly the best for either Racquets or Tennis. But they are very useful for Squash- Racquets and Squash-Tennis. CHAPTER XI MOVEMENTS DURING STROKES We may assume that the learner is now in position, with his feet and his body facing sideways in the direction of the spot where he will take the ball. Not only this, but we may assume him to be placed so that the ball will be hit with an ordinary stroke, or Volley, or Half- volley ; so that it will not be too near him, nor too far from him, nor too much in front of him, nor too much behind him ; he will be in that spot where a good swing will catch the ball fair and square ; the racket is lifted (or ready to be lifted) up and back, the shoulder being up and back also, the eye on the ball. Now for the stroke itself, which perhaps should not be taken while one is running, and certainly not while one is moving backwards. The weight is on the behind foot ; it passes onto the forward foot as the body swings round. But the head must not swing round with the body ; the head must be kept almost as steady as it is at Golf. For the full stroke, the trunk of the body, the shoulder, the upper arm, the forearm, the wrist, and even the fingers, may all move together at the moment when the racket hits the ball. The pace of all this combined movement may be enormous. But the pace may be varied by the disuse of one or more parts, and even by 70 CH. XI] MOVEMENTS DURING STROKES 71 a movement in the opposite direction, to give a kind of drag. Players were often wont to wonder how Saunders altered the rapidity of his stroke so imperceptibly. The explanation probably was that, while he moved most of his muscles as usual, some of them he kept still, if he did not actually move them in the opposite direction to effect a drag. But, although the pace is great at the moment while the ball is being struck, as a rule one should not stop the pace at that very instant, but should let the racket follow through the stroke, and along the direction of the retiring ball, as at Golf. The racket may fly up, and the body may move towards the waiting or forward- facing position. As we shall see when we come to the Latham stroke at Racquets, there is a better method for any one who has a good eye — the arrested stroke, which resembles the flicking of a peg-top. Here we are dealing with ordinary strokes for ordinary players. And for these ordinary strokes the following hints will be found useful. " Although there may be exceptions, still the beginner should try at first to play with a swinging racket which shall offer its full face fair and square to the approaching ball. Besides the swinging and the full face, there is a third requisite : the racket should move for as long as possible in the line of the approaching ball, so that, in case one may be a little too early or too late, the racket may still be meeting the ball in a line which shall carry the ball to the Front-wall. Fourthly, the racket should usually be gripped firmly during the stroke." (From ' The Game of Squash,' p. 36.) If one is taken by surprise with the feet still facing forwards, then one must be content to twist the body itself round, and to get the swing thus, with some help from the shoulder ; or even merely to flick up the ball with the wrist. But of course the risk of such a move- ment is great, as the following curves will show. The 72 RACQUETS, TENNIS, AND SQUASH [pt. ii (U o c " — — o o S2 o U^/tS s5iJe/Elevi>Noa -?4 7" (oorp' ^ fla^r Fig. 16. — Sketch li Scale J i B j^~ JL 2>res3ijfa — sc — & i. Squash-Court. : 1 foot. jC^^?^ V1\. J'^^^V" -**- - - - - u. ^n.^y'r, _ _ n'-^ba . Zn > <^ UJ Shorfr Cross 39 ft from » ^ B Courf Line Front-Wall D BACK-WALL witK OALLERY above Floor-I&vcl SIDE-WALL Diagram ii. — Ground-plan of a Racquet-Court and plan of the Front- Wall. CH. XX] THE COURT AND IMPLEMENTS 137 seems less likely to catch a chill ; but otherwise either cotton or linen or a mixture of cotton (or linen) and wool may be preferable for many of us. India gauze is excellent. It is important to have flannels which are " easy," espe- cially about the shoulders. Perhaps a broad belt round the waist is with our ordinary clothes better for many of us than braces over the shoulders. And certainly in a Racquet-Court I find such a belt most comfortable. Anyhow there should not be a thin belt or tight sash. The ideal may be to have trousers which fit so well that they do not need to be supported. But, as trousers shrink in the wash, a belt may prove cheaper. And, for my part, I like the support of a fairly broad belt. Even with ordinary clothes I prefer a belt to braces, which now feel extremely uncomfortable to me. The boots or shoes should allow of a good grip on the floor. We have lost much of our ape-power to grip with our feet — a power which the Japanese " Bartitsu " wrestlers possess, and which the peasants of Central Europe possess also. The ordinary thick-soled boot or shoe deadens the fine sensations of the various parts of the feet, which should be able to feel the ground independently. The cushions or " pads " of the toes ought to be hardly if at all less sensitive to touch than the fingers of our hands. Besides this, the ordinary shoe distorts the big toe, turning it outwards and away from the straight line (Meyer's Line). Hence we lose much of the leverage of the big toe. Altogether we bully our poor feet scandalously. We do sadly need, at least in games, a sensibly-shaped shoe — of course a boot supports a weak ankle better — and a shoe which shall have a sole not all in one separate-part- deadening piece. 138 RACQUETS [pt. in Scarcely less necessary than proper flannels and proper shoes are the means of washing and rubbing oneself over after the game, or, at any rate, the means of wrapping oneself up until one has reached the washing- place. With regard to the racket, the actual weight is of less importance than the feeling ; a heavy racket may suit one better than a light racket. It depends upon the individual, and his style of play, and — his funds. It is possible that some players should not use the ordinary covering for the handle ; either india-rubber or wash- leather or some other material may suit them better. The gut of course should be tight, tighter for Match- play than for practice. The black gut is often the best, but much depends upon the particular lot from which one's gut has been taken. This, again, depends on the time of year etc. A fortune awaits the maker who can produce a uniformly good gut. The racket itself should be free from knots and flaws. Many prefer to have much of the weight in the handle, which is now far thicker than it used to be, though not so thick as the Lawn Tennis handle. A press for rackets is almost essential to economy as well as to enjoyment. When once a bat is warped, it can seldom do itself justice again. The Racquet ball is illustrated in Photograph XVIII, side by side with the Fives and Squash balls. The size of the Racquet balls is uniform, but their hardness varies. They are made of cloth inside, the cloth being very tightly packed ; round this is wound fine thread ; then comes the covering. New insides seldom provide good balls ; play improves the insides. According to the softness or the hardness, we have two different games of Racquets : the soft balls giving M Ph P4 W w fe. Fig. 19. — The Grip. (Not unlike Latham's.) (See page 154.) CH. XX] THE COURT AND IMPLEMENTS 139 the better practice for beginners, because the rallies are longer, and the killing strokes are fewer, and the killing Services are fewer ; a soft ball takes less cut, and cut drives the ball quickly down off the Back-walls and Side-walls. The balls should be regularly dried and warmed before play. They are not satisfactory in modern times, perhaps because few will take the trouble to make and re-make them carefully. I do not think that those who make them are underpaid, but the drudgery is said to be extreme, and probably a great deal of the work is care- lessly done. It certainly seems to me that the balls to-day are far more carelessly sewn than they have ever been before. I never played so many games in which so large a proportion of the balls have been discarded not because they have lost their shape, but because they have come unsewn. Here there is urgent need of a practical invention to take the ball-work out of the hands of care- less workers, and to give it to the mechanism of some machine. Or let us hope that Mr. Prosser's new ball, which is likely to be practicably imperishable, will prove a success. So far as I can judge, it is uniform and reliable, and it certainly is of regulation weight and size and colour. But the fact that it has no equivalent to the seams may render it too unlike the actual ball to satisfy an expert. CHAPTER XXI PLAY AND THE RULES OF PLAY The scoring of Racquets is not nearly so complicated as the scoring of Tennis, but still it may be as well to illustrate it by a concrete instance, by the scoring of an imaginary game, for the purpose of defining the various features of the marking. The game is a Single for 15, and the Marker gives Jones 13. Diagram 11 (in Chapter XX) should be studied in connection with the following paragraphs. The Marker spins his racket ; Jones calls " rough " ; it falls " rough " (i. e. the rougher side of the strung gut falls uppermost) ; so Jones goes " in " and serves. I. Jones stands in the Service-box A, and hits the ball up against the Front-wall, below the top or Service-line (which should be a red line). The Marker calls " Cut," which scores exactly as a Lav/n Tennis " Fault." Jones' next Service is above the red Service-line but short of the line across the Court. The Marker calls *' Short," which also scores the same as a " Fault " : Jones has now served two " Faults," and so loses the point, and the Marker goes in : he can serve from which- ever side he likes — from A or from B. 2. He serves from A, and sends the ball above the 140 CH. XXI] PLAV AND THE RULES OF PLAY 141 Service-line, and beyond the Cross-Court line, but into his own half of the Court (C) ; so "Fault" is called. His next Serve goes above the Service-line, beyond the Cross-Court line, and into the other Court (D), which is all right. Jones fails to return it, so the Marker scores his first point (1-13). 3. He had served from A into D, so now he has to cross over and serve from B into C, from right to left (hence called " Serve Left ") : Jones returns the ball onto the board, and so loses another point (2-13). 4. The next Serve Jones returns above the board, but he only hits it at its second bounce, and so loses the point (3-13)- 5. The next Serve he hits above the board, but it then goes into the Gallery (above the Back-wall), and loses another point (4-13). 6. The next Serve Jones also hits above the board, but the ball comes back and hits Jones while it is still in play : this also counts against Jones (5-13). And so the game goes on, till the Marker has reached 13 : once or twice Jones has put him out, but Jones has not won any points while serving : it is only the Server who can score points, and the Server's score is always called cut first. At 13-all the Marker, having won the last point, asks Jones whether he will play the game straight out or whether he will " set " : that is, whether he will make the score love-all, and then whoever first gets either 3 or 5 points will win the game. Jones knows that, the more points he has to get, the less chance he has of winning the game, so he decides to play the game straight out and not to " set." The Marker serves, Jones volleys the ball, and the Marker fails to return it, so Jones goes in. 142 RACQUETS [pt. hi Jones serves a ball, hitting the Front-wall first, then the Side-wall, and then the Back-wall, the ball coming finally to a place just behind Jones himself, so that, if the Marker had a fair hit at the ball, he would probably hit it onto Jones, who has his racket up (Chapter XXVI) in order to protect his head. The Marker leaves the ball alone, and, in some Courts, would not be allowed to have a " let " — a very weird and dangerous rule. Here he does not claim a " let," so Jones scores the point (14-13). The next Serve Jones stupidly sends on to the board, which puts him out altogether, counting as two Faults. The Marker goes in and wins one point, making the score 14-all. Again Jones has to decide whether a single point shall decide the game, or whether whoever gets 3 points first shall win (this is called " Set three "). Jones decides, for the same reason as before, that one point shall win the game, and so the Marker serves, with the score at 14-all. Jones takes the Service, the Marker returns Jones' stroke, and then Jones tries to get at the ball, but the Marker is in the way; Jones stupidly strikes at the ball and misses it, and so he cannot claim a let. It is an excellent feature at Racquets, as opposed to Fives especially, that, when a player tries at a ball, he cannot claim a let for it in case he misses it : he must either run the risk, or else claim the let, unless his racket actually hits against the Marker, or unless he hits onto the Marker a ball which would otherwise have gone up. The Marker thus wins the game (15-14). We shall see below that a far better arrangement than this for beginners and ordinary players, apart from Matches, is what I have called Reverse-scoring. If F, the Server, wins, he shall not score a point, but S shall go in to serve. If F then wins, he shall score a point ; CH. XXI] PLA Y AND THE RULES OF PLA V 143 in fact, according to the Reverse-plan, F serves not until he /oses a rally but until he wins one. This method prevents those monotonously long runs of Service which are too unfortunately usual when experts are playing, or when duffers are playing. It gives longer rallies, and therefore more exercise and practice and enjoyment. Another method is the Lawn Tennis Scoring, when each player serves for one game, the score being 15, 30, and so on. Six games go to a set. Another way, which I think is my own invention, is that each player should serve twice, once from each Court. But to return to the games as they are usually scored in England and America. F's Service is all right if he has one foot in the Service-box, and if his ball hits the Front-wall above the Service-line, and bounces into C or D (according to whether he has served from B or A), or if S takes a ball that would have bounced a Fault, or that did bounce a Fault. For one has a right to take a Fault ; one cannot take a Fault at Lawn Tennis or Tennis. Faults are of three kinds. First there is the " Cut," when the ball hits the Front- wall below the Service-line. It is hard for a Marker to see certain balls in time, and still harder for him to call out in time, if he is up in the Gallery. I suggest below that a Marker should call nothing at all if the Service be all right, and should call " Cut," if it be Cut, or " Fault," if it be Fault. The second kind of Fault is called " Short." A short ball pitches in front of the line across the Court. Here it is still harder for the Marker to see in time. Racquets is not like Lawn Tennis, where the receiver of the Service takes the Service whether it be a Fault or not, 144 RACQUETS [pt. hi if there is any doubt. For in Racquets if he tries to take the Service he annuls the Fault. As it is, the Marker calls " Play " when the ball hits the Front-wall above the Play-line. There is absolutely no need for him to call anything at all. If the ball then falls short, he has to call " Short " during that tiny interval after he has called " Play " and before the ball shall have reached the player's racket. There is scarcely a Marker in England who can work this satisfactorily. And at present there seems to be no appeal when the Marker calls wrongly, as he often does. The obvious remedy is that the taker of the Service should be allowed to leave the ball alone, if he thinks that it is Short, and then to appeal to the Gallery. And certainly the Marker should not be allowed to call " Play " at all. The only apparent use of calling " Play " is to wake up slack beginners. It is so easy for the Marker merely to call " Out," " Cut," " Short," " Fault," " Double," " Not up." Otherwise let the players always take it for granted that the Services and strokes are all right. The third kind of Fault, besides the ball that goes too low or too short, is when the ball goes into the wrong Court. This is called a " Fault " proper. Two Faults count as a stroke against the Server. So does a Service which is hit out of Court, or up against the Side-wall first, or below the lower Play-line. This much for Service. Now for ordinary strokes. A player misses a stroke, and loses the rally, if the ball has hit the ground twice, or if he hits the ball below the Play-line, or if he hits the ball out of Court, or if he lets it hit him before he has hit it, or if he lets it hit him after he has hit it and while it is still in play. Should one player get in the way of the other, that other player has the right to claim a let, i. e. to claim to CH. xxi] PLAY AND THE RULES OF PLAY 145 play the rally over again. A great deal is left to the honour of both players. One or two players unfortun- ately persist in obscuring the sight of the ball, or they stand so that their opponent cannot make free strokes and yet cannot quite claim a let, or they stand where their opponent, if he made a free stroke, would run the risk of injuring them. All these three tricks are un- desirable if they are intentional. Fortunately they are extremely rare, as is the trick of keeping the opponent waiting. With regard to rests, it is generally agreed that there shall be practically no rests during the games or between games, except for the purpose of fetching a new racket, of chalking the racket-handle, of binding up a blister, or taking a sip of drink, and so on. And certainly it is etiquette not to baulk the opponent. To baulk the opponent is quite distinct from head-play, and is a sight all the more disgusting because it is happily so unfamiliar. Scarcely less unpleasant, though in a different way, is the look of the player who does not put up his racket to protect his head, as he should do, and as the player is doing in the Illustration in Chapter XXVI. LAWS OF RACQUETS The following Laws of Racquets are those which are generally accepted in England to-day ; I am very much obliged for kind permission to quote them here. Where the work of framing the Laws has been so excellently done it would be ridiculous to attempt to frame a new set of Laws. 12 146 RACQUETS [pt. hi DEFINITIONS AND LAWS DEFINITIONS Ace. — A stroke won and scored. Board. — The wooden planks which cover the lower part of the Front-wall to the height of 2 ft. 2 in. from the floor. Box. — See Service-box. Cotcrt. — The whole building in which the game is played : or one half of the floor, between the Short-line and the Back-wall, as divided by the Half-Court-line, and called the right (or Forehand) Court, or the left (or Backhand) Court. Cut. — A ball served so that it strikes upon or below the Cut-line is called a Cut. Cut-line (sometimes called the Service-line). — A line painted on the Front-wall, formerly about the height of 8 ft. from the floor, but now somewhat higher. Double.— A ball struck after it has touched the floor a second time is called a Double. Fault. — It is a Fault : {a) if the Server, in serving, fail to stand as provided in Law 2 ; or {b) if he strike the ball more than once in serving ; or {c) if the ball served by him strike upon or below the Cut- line ; or {d) if it fail to drop in the proper Court (see Law 4). Good. — A service delivered, or a return made, in conformity with the Laws, is called good. Half-Court-lhie. — The line on the floor, drawn from the Short- line to the Back-wall, and dividing that portion of the floor into two equal spaces. Hand-jti. — The player who has the right of serving the ball. Hand-out. — The player who has to receive the Service. In-play. — The ball, after being served, is said to be in-play until it has touched the floor twice, or a player, or the board, or has gone out-of-court. Out-of-court. — A ball served, or in-play, is said to go out-of-court when it touches the roof, posts, or cushions, or is driven into the Gallery. Rally.— The repeated return of the ball in-play : it used some- times to be called a bully. Rubber. — A set of 3, 5, 7, or any other uneven number of games. The winner of the majority of the games wins the rubber. Note. — The usual number is five for a Single, and seven for a Double Match. CH. XXI] PLAV AIVD THE RULES OF PLAY 147 Serve-to. — To start the ball in-play by striking it with the racket. Service. — The ball served. Service-box. — The square (marked out on each side of the floor) from which the Service must be delivered. Service-li7ie. — See Cut-line. Short-line. — The line on the floor at the distance of about 39 ft. from the Front-wall and parallel to it. Note. — The distance is different ifi so7ne Courts. Volley. — A ball which is struck before it has touched the floor, is said to be struck at, or on, the Volley : the stroke is called a Volley. LAWS THE SINGLE GAME 1. The right to serve first shall be determined by the spin of a racket. The player who wins the spin shall have the right to serve first. 2. The Server, in serving, must stand with at least one foot within the Service-box, and not touching any of the lines which bound it. 3. The Server may begin serving from the right or from the left Service-box, as he pleases ; but, after serving from the right, he must next serve from the left, or vice vcrsd; and so on, alternately, as long as he remains hand-in. 4. The ball served must strike the Front-wall before touching any other part of the Court, and must strike it above the Cut-line, and must drop within the lines ^ which bound the Court on the side opposite to the box from which the ball was served, and must not touch either of such lines. 5. Hand- out may declare that he was not ready for the Service ; and, if the Marker decide in favour of his claim, the Service shall count for nothing, and the Server shall serve again from the same box ; but, if he decide otherwise, the Server shall score an Ace. If hand-out make any attempt to take the Service, he cannot claim that he was not ready. 6. Hand-out may take a Fault ; but, if he do so, the rally must be played as if the Service had been good. 7. Aces are scored by hand-in only. 8. Hand-in wins and scores an Ace, {a) if hand-out fail to return the ball served or in-play to the Front-wall, above the Board, before the ball has touched the floor twice, except in case of a Let (see Law 10) ; or 1 That is, the Short-line and the Half-Court-line. 148 RACQUETS [pt. hi ip) if hand-out return the ball served or in-play so that it goes out-of-court ; or {c) if the ball in-play touch hand-out, or anything that he wears or carries, except his racket in the act of striking. 9. Hand-in becomes ha7id-oiit, (a) if he serve the ball so that it touches him before dropping in the proper Court, as provided in Law 4 ; or (i) if he serve tlie ball on the Board or out-of-court ; or (c) if the ball served touch any part of the Court before striking the Front-wall ; or (d) if he serve two consecutive Faults ; or (e) if he fail to return the ball in-play to the Front-wall, above the Board, except in case of a Let (see Law 10) ; or if he return the ball in-play so that it goes out-of-court ; or f) if the ball in-play touch him, or anything that he wears or carries, except his racket in the act of striking. Then, in any of these cases, hand-out becomes hand-in, and serves in his turn. 10. It shall be a Let, and the Service or rally shall count for nothing, and the Server shall serve again from the same box, (a) if the ball in-play touch the striker's opponent on or above the knee, and if (in the Marker's opinion) it be thereby prevented from reaching the Front-wall, above the Board ; or U)) if either player (in the Marker's opinion) undesignedly prevent his opponent from returning the ball served or in-play. 11. The ball served or in-play may be returned by the strikei^s opponent at the Volley, or after it has touched the floor once, but not after it has touched the floor a second time. 12. Each player must get out of his opponenfs way as much as possible. If either player claim that his opponent prevented him from returning the ball served or in-play, the Marker shall decide whether it shall be a Let, or not (subject to provisions of Law 14). 13. The game is 15-up ; that is, the player who first scores 15 aces wins the game, provided that, {a) at the score of 13-all, hand-out may "set" the game to 5, or to 3 ; and {b) at the score of 14-all, hand-out may "set " the game to 3 ; that is, in the first case, (a) the player who first scores 5 (or 3) Aces, according as the game was " set," wins the game ; and, in the second case, (/3) the player who first scores 3 Aces wins the game. Note. — In either case, the claim to "set" the game must be made by hand-out before the next Service shall have been delivered. 14. In all cases the Marker's decision shall be final j but, if he CH. XXI] PLAY AND THE RULES OF PLAY 149 doubt which way to decide, he shall direct that the Ace be played over again. In Matches, when there are Umpires and a Referee appointed, the Marker's decision shall be final on all questions relating to the Service ; but (when in doubt) he shall refer all other questions to the Umpires and Referee ; and either player may appeal to them from any decision of the Marker, except as to any Service ; and they shall decide each case by a majority of votes. All appeals must be made before another Service shall have been delivered. THE DOUBLE, OR FOUR-HANDED GAME 1. The Laws of the Single Game (as above) shall apply to the Double, or Four-handed, Game, except as set forth in the following Laws. 2. Only one of the side which has won the spin shall serve at the first time of being hand-in, in any game : at all subsequent times, the players on each side shall serve in the same order in which they began serving. 3. One player on the hand-out side may stand where he pleases, to receive the Service ; but his partner and the Server's partner must stand behind the Server until the Service has been delivered. 4. If the ball served touch the Server's partner before touching the floor twice, whether it was, or would have been, a Fault or not, the Server shall lose his right of Service, and the next hand-in shall serve. 5. The players on the hand-out side may choose the order in which they shall receive the Service, and they shall adhere to that order, and shall only change it once in any game, or at the end of any game, of a rubber. 6. If the ball in-play touch the striker's partner, it shall count against them ; that is, if the striker was hand-out, the other side shall score an Ace ; if he was hand-in, his side shall lose one hand-in : — Except in case the ball in-play touch the striker's partner after it has been hit at and missed by one of their opponents, when it shall count against such opponents ; that is, if they were hand-out, the other side shall score an Ace ; if they were hand- in, they shall lose one hand-in. CHAPTER XXII HANDICAPS I. It is very rarely that we see a game played with other Handicaps than those of points or " Hands." The game is for 1 5 points. F,^ the better player, may give S any number of points up to 14, or he may "owe" a certain number of points, as at Lawn Tennis, or he may allow S to serve twice (to have two " Hands "), or even to have three " Hands." There is real need of other Handicaps. The present system is hard upon the Markers. However many points they give, they cannot get a reasonable game. They cannot get a game which does not lower their standard of play, unless they be extraordinarily clever. Only a few of them are. Pettitt has the art of playing with beginners without appreciably lowering his level of skill ; but then he is a genius. The rest of us need systems by which any two players can meet, not merely on equal terms, but so that each will have to play up his hardest and may be able to improve his game, especially where it is weak. It is therefore worth while to recommend a few such Handi- caps to Markers and others. Let us consider F to be the stronger player, and S the weaker player. Let us * F standing for First, and S for Second. 150 CH. XXII] HANDICAPS 151 remember that the Handicap of points or " Hands " can be added to, or exchanged for, those which are men- tioned below, 2. We have already noticed the different methods of Scoring ; namely, the Reverse-method, the Lawn Tennis method, and the method with two Services each. F generally wins his games chiefly by Service. Any one of these three methods prevents him from doing this, although the Service is still an important factor in the game. 3. Handicap by Implements. F may play with a Cricket-bat. By this means, to his activity and agility he adds some strength, though he must beware of strain- ing himself. To play well with a Cricket-bat implies a very accurate timing of the ball. The body-swing must come just at the right moment. Instead of the Cricket-bat, there may be a piece of wood of the size of a racket, but with a smallfer head — such as one uses at Bat-Fives. A walking-stick is too difficult to play with, but, as at Cricket, something of this kind does increase the correctness of one's style. It almost forces one to meet the ball in its own line for as long as possible, to get into position with great care, and to risk little or nothing. F may be obliged to catch the ball with one hand, and to throw it from the place where he stops. He should be obliged to throw it with his left hand. This is good for the purpose of exercising one's judgment, and it employs the muscles of the left side also. 4. F may have his Volley forbidden ; he loses any stroke which he volleys. This gives his opponent's Service a chance to be more effective, especially if it be a Cut-Service. It gives F more Back-wall play, and gives S more practice and a larger number of ordinary strokes. 152 RA6QUETS [pt. hi 5. Or his Half-volley may be forbidden, by itself, or in addition to his Volley. 6. Or his Cut or Twist-Service may be forbidden. In this case, he takes more pains in placing his Service. The ball is then fairly started in a rally ; the rally does not so often consist merely of a single Service. 7. Or any stroke of his which falls full onto any wall may count against him, or any stroke which falls full onto any Side-wall, or onto either one Side-wall, or onto the Back-wall. 8. Or any stroke may count against him which hits any wall, or the Side-wall, or the Back-wall, while still in play. In Tennis this is an excellent Handi- cap. " Touch-no-walls " forces the very best player to move about rapidly, and to get complete control of each stroke. 9. Or F's strokes may be confined to half the Court ; if they pitch in the wrong half, they count against him. This improves his power of placing the ball either down the sides or across the Court. In Tennis and Lawn Tennis it gives admirable practice. The halves of the Court may be taken alternately, either in alternate games or in alternate rallies. 10. Another Handicap is that F should not be allowed to hit any ball above the Service-line. I think it will be found that none of these Handicaps will tend to weaken the play of F : indeed, if they be properly chosen, they will tend to strengthen his play. They will certainly give him more control of the various strokes, and they will give S more balls to return, and therefore more practice, and they will help to ^icourage S as well as to improve him. 11. Last, but not least, F should sometimes play left- handed. How very few of us are ambidextrous. Probably CH. xxii] HANDICAPS 153 it would not be desirable that our left hand should be as skilful at all things as our right. The sides of the body are differently formed, and are differently supplied with blood. But some sort of skill with the left side is pre-eminently important, if only because some day we may lose the use of our right side. But, apart from this. Racquets becomes almost a new game when it is played left-handed. It is this Handicap particularly that can be recommended to the attention of Markers, not with an absolute beginner, because with the left hand they would have less chance of hitting balls to such a player ; but with him who has advanced to a certain point of skill. He who receives a Handicap should risk more than he who gives one. The former player should never "set" when 13-all or 14-all is reached. 12. Handicaps can be exchanged ; they can be used voluntarily and tacitly by the stronger player (who may dock off, for example, his best Service) ; they can be made to rise or fall (one point at a time) according to the result of the previous game or day's play. This is a decidedly satisfactory arrangement, and should be adopted by all people who play frequently with one another and who are not nearly level. CHAPTER XXIII THE GRIP AND THE STROKES The general rules already given for ordinary strokes — see Part II. — apply here : namely that the feet shall already be in the right direction, facing sideways, before the stroke is made ; that the racket shall be up and back ; that the trunk, shoulder, upper arm, forearm, and (we may now add) the wrist also should contribute some- thing to the stroke. Let us note a few details which apply specially to the strokes at Racquets, as distin- guished from the ordinary strokes at other ball-games and from the strokes at Tennis. The Grip of the Racket. — There are some players who never change the grip of their racket at all, whether they be serving, or taking an ordinary Forehand or Backhand stroke, or a Volley, or a Half-volley. Among these players Peter Latham and Mr. Percy Ashworth may be cited as examples of beautiful style. Their way of holding the racket for all occasions is illustrated in Photograph XIX, which explains itself. The flat of the handle crosses the middle section of the pointing finger, the knob of the handle is in the palm, and the handle itself is supported by the thumb along it, and not athwart it. This grip is extremely uncomfortable at 154 CH. xxiii] THE GRIP AND THE STROKES 155 first, and may create a sore place in the palm of the hand. But after a little familiarity it will probably be preferred to any other, especially if one decide to adopt the Latham stroke. Others, however, prefer to hold the handle an inch or two nearer the head and further away from the knob. And they hold their thumb across the handle (though they may move it along the handle for Backhand strokes). And not a few of them change their grip in this way also, that the flat of the handle crosses the middle section of the pointing finger for Backhand stokes, but crosses the thicker section (the section nearer the thumb) for Forehand strokes. Each player must decide for himself after fair trial. Personally, I have changed lately to the Latham grip, which I have now come to like best, though I do not use it during Service. The Forehand Stroke. — At Racquets the ball is, for ordinary players, nearer to the feet than at Tennis, and it is somewhat lower than at Tennis. In Tennis many strokes are taken while the ball is high in the air, so that one may get " on the top of the ball " and slice it down. And certainly in the Tennis stroke the player stands at a considerable distance from the ball. " Keep away from it," is one of the cries of the Tennis teacher. The player stands with his right side up and away from the Front-wall. His trunk, shoulder, upper arm, forearm, wrist, and fingers may all be back. His weight is also on the back foot. His left shoulder, however, is forward. Now he sweeps downwards, forwards, out and away to the right, through, and upwards — a lot to remember ! His weight passes onto the forward left foot ; indeed, 156 RACQUETS [pt. in the trunk movement itself almost effects this. The left shoulder follows the swing, moving round and away towards the left. The greatest pace of all the movements, including those of the wrist and fingers, comes just at the instant before the racket strikes the ball, i. e. very nearly at the bottom of the swing. In Racquets the ball is generally taken lower down than at the other two games. The ball need not necessarily be falling — it may be rising ; but at any rate it is usually low down and near to the player. This stroke may end up in a position very like the ordinary waiting position (Photograph VII). It should be practised until the player gets an easy swing of all the parts together, the movements culmin- ating just before the bottom of the swing, and thence passing onwards and upwards without loss of balance. No amount of time spent in mastering this can be considered wasted. So far we have a stroke which we practically never use in actual play. Some part of the mechanism almost always fails to work. And it is well to acquire the habit of mastering any given part, for, needless to say, there are many combinations. Pettitt sometimes uses his wrist and fingers only. I myself sometimes use my trunk only. It is possible to combine the movements of any two parts, or of any three parts. As to the other parts, they can be kept stiff, or they can even be made to move in the opposite direction. Thus one can vary the pace and deceive one's opponent. The Latham stroke is utterly different. Starting with the head of the racket held not nearly so high, and with the body drawn not nearly so far back and away (the shoulder is drawn back), Latham brings the head of the Fig. 22. — The Forehaxd Stroke. Illustrated by Incomplete Apparatus. No Stop-Strings. (See page 157.; GH. xxiii] THE GRIP AND THE STROKES 157 racket down and out and away from him to the spot which is shown in the Illustration, with a snap and a flick, as if he were whipping a peg-top. The stroke is not carried right through, but stops short soon after the head of the racket has begun to move upwards. This sharp upward movement gives the ball that spin which will bring it down smartly off the Front-wall. I remember wondering how Joe Gray managed to do this with the ball. It was only in January 1902 (some- what late in life !) that I learnt the secret from Latham himself The strokes which we have described are strokes out- wards, away from the body, and not across the body. The stroke across the body, the stroke across the Court, from side to side, is easy to acquire ; it is, indeed, what is known as the " pull " in Cricket, that stroke which beginners are so apt to make. If the ball is to be hit across Court, one swings not downwards and for\vards, but athwart and round, and then through and upwards. The position while one is waiting for Service (in the Forehand Court) is shown in Photograph XXIII, which explains itself The player can be somewhat more on his toes, more alert than Moore is, Moore having had so much experience that he needs less of the prompt readiness. The beginner should be prepared, perhaps to move forwards and to the right, in order that he may volley or half-volley the stroke ; or perhaps to move backwards and to the left, so that he may take the stroke off the Back-wall. If the Service be heavily cut, he probably will not dare to leave it till it has hit the Back-wall, unless he has Latham's capacity for flicking these impossibilities up. Part of the play off the Back-wall can be made safer 158 . RACQUETS [pt. hi if the grip be changed, if the racket be as it were clubbed, held nearer to its face and further from the end of its handle. I have noticed with interest how experts occasionally hold their racket there for some of the most marvellous " gets " off the Back-wall. For the Cut-stroke, see under the heading of " Ser- vice." The Cut-stroke is especially useful across the Court, to bring the ball down sharply off the Back- and Side-walls. I think Latham introduced this into Racquets. But, as a rule, the Cut-stroke involves more risk, less surface of the racket being exposed to the ball. Certainly it takes off pace, as it does at Lawn Tennis, and thus it enables the opponent to reach the ball more easily. The same will apply to the Back-hand Cut, which, however, is used more commonly and more effectively than the Forehand Cut. Self-Protection is shown in Photograph XXIV. The Backhand Stroke. — The Backhand strokes are similar to the P'orehand. Photograph XXV shows Crosby ready to take a Backhander. The right side of the body goes across to the left and then actually back and away from the Front- wall ; the trunk and shoulder and upper arm go away back and towards the left. The lower arm and the wrist and the fingers may be bent forwards rather than backwards. This makes the Backhand stroke some- what different from the Forehand stroke, for the right arm is here flexed at the elbow. But in both cases the weight is on the back foot. The left shoulder is pushed backwards and not forwards. Now one takes the swing downwards, forwards, and away to the left, through, and then upwards — again a lot to remember ! The weight passes onto the front Fig. 33. — Moore waiting for Forehand Service. (See page 157.) Fig, 24. — Self-Protection. (See page 158.) CH. xxiii] THE GRIP AND THE STROKES 159 (right) foot. Here, also, the trunk movement does much of the work, and the left shoulder follows the swing. Here, as with the Forehand stroke, the greatest pace of all is just before the racket strikes the ball, very near the bottom of the swing. It is at this moment that the wrist and fingers lend their little or great contribution to the pace. The above description may be somewhat confusing, and it can be simplified as follows. For the full stroke, one may have all the parts of the striking apparatus arranged so that they will be moving in the opposite direction to the ball at the moment when they meet it. This stroke may end up very nearly in the waiting position. It must be practised till a full easy swing of all the parts shall culminate just before the racket strikes the ball, without loss of balance. Having acquired the full swing (which, again, one seldom uses in actual play), one may practise the arresting of various parts in turn, whether it be of the wrist-movement, or of the trunk-movement, or of one part of the arm-movement. The stroke across the Court may next be tried. It is quite easy. One swings downwards, forwards, across and round, through, and the'n upwards. Latham's Backhander is of the same nature as his Forehander, except that in the former the ball is taken when it is somewhat more in front of the body. But in both strokes there is the movement of whipping the top, the flick which imparts to the ball the spin that shall bring it down nicely from the Front-wall. While one is waiting for the Service, one may adopt i6o RACQUETS [pt. hi the attitude in Photograph XXVII, which again explains itself. Here, also, the beginner may stand more on his toes, more alert, for the same reason as in the case of the Forehand waiting position. For Back-wall play, once more, the racket may be held shorter, especially if the ball has been at all heavily cut. It is obvious that it is easier for most of us to make a slight flick movement with only a small sweep by means of a short racket than by means of a long racket. The Half-volley. — The Half-volley is a risky stroke for beginners ; but it may save the exertion of running ; it may save time ; it may take the opponent by surprise. Besides this, it is generally a pleasant stroke to make, and a pretty stroke to watch. It may also be considered as a " sporting " stroke, if only because it risks something. Last, but not least, it is good practice in that it needs a very accurate judgment of pace and place. Photograph XXIII shows Bob Moore giving one of his famous drop Half-volleys, which hit the Front-wall just above the play-line, and then come down almost dead. He moves into position with many short little steps. For the Half- volley one must hit the ball as it is just rising from the floor. Here, also, one may swing through the stroke, though not so fully as before. Nor need one hit so hard, since the ball has more pace. It is not just falling to the ground for the second time and therefore almost dead ; it is, as it were, in its prime of vigour. The stroke nearly " makes itself" It is important for the beginner to remember this, because he is apt to slash at Half-volleys, and, among other disasters, to break the strings of his racket. The Volley. — The same remarks will apply more or Fig. 2o. — Backhand Stroke by Crosby. (See page 158.) Fig. 26. — During Backhaxd Stroke with Ixcomplete Apparatus. Xo Stop-Strings. (See page 159.) CH. xxiii] THE GRIP AND THE STROKES i6i less to the Volley. It is seldom like the high smash- Volley at Lawn Tennis, for that stroke is made while the ball is dropping, and sometimes almost dead so far as forward movement is concerned. Nor is it like that Tennis Volley which needs some cut. The ball often wants only to be met gently. The stroke may be followed through, though a snap-stroke is at times excellent; and a high Volley can be effectively done with the wrist, as while one is taking a Service. But for ordinary Volleys one must remember that the ball has more pace than it has for ordinary strokes. One must leave it to do its own movement. One must let the racket come along the line of the approaching ball as far as possible. One must let it meet the ball in its own direction. Drop-strokes. — The Drop-stroke is one of the most beautiful, and of all Drop-strokes the Volley or Half- volley Drop is the best : into these you do not put the whole of your force, but, while apparently about to use the whole of your force, you keep back some part of it. We have seen that the greatest force is given by the combination of the leg- and hip-movement, the shoulder- movement, the arm-movement, the forearm-movement, and the wrist-movement, all working together at the same instant. Now, if one practises sedulously, one can get into the way of keeping one or two or three or even four of these forces in abeyance without the opponent detecting the difference : this will enable one to " drop " the ball, that is, to hit it so that it only just reaches the Front-wall. Obviously, if one lets him see that one is going to hit slowly, he will have time to get nearer the Front-wall and will probably " kill " the ball. The best way, then, 13 i62 RACQUETS [PT. ill to mask your Drop-stroke will be to practise outside the Court, or in the Court, between games : for instance, stand in the Forehand position, and then strike a real or imaginary ball not with all the force but only with the stiff-arm : in fact, practise using any two or three of the movements together, apart from the rest. Boasted Strokes. — We have said that the typical Racquet stroke is a hard drive down one side or down the other, a drive which shall cling as nearly as possible to the Side-wall ; occasionally we get a cross-Court stroke, and, comparatively rarely to-day, a Drop-stroke, which is truly one of the prettiest. A variety is the stroke which hits the Side-wall before it hits the Front- wall : this is called a Boasted stroke. The reason why you make it may be either that you cannot get up a ball at all in the ordinary way, or that you cannot get it up easily thus ; or that you can kill the ball better by such means. Perhaps you hit the ball so that it strikes one Side-wall and then just fails to reach the other Side-wall. In that case the Side-wall serves the same purpose as a Drop-stroke. Or, as a third reason, you may wish to place the ball : the Side- wall absolutely alters its direction. There are not a few players who use this stroke with great effect. Imagine yourself to be standing at the right-hand side of the Court. Your opponent (in the middle of the Court) has the ball well under control on his Forehand side. He may hit the ball down the Side-wall where you are, or he may hit it onto the right-hand corner of the Front- wall. In either case it may reach you. But, if he hits it against the right Side-wall first, it will come out into the middle of the Court, and you will have to alter your position. Thus by varying the direction of his stroke Fig. 27. — Moore w.mting for Service ix Backhand Court. (See pase 100.) Pie 28.— Half -Volley Drop-Stroke by Moore. (See page 160.) CH. XXIII] THE GRIP AND THE STROKES 163 only a few feet he varies the destination of his stroke by almost the whole breadth of the Court. The angles which a Boasted ball makes with the Side- wall and Back-wall are well worth studying. I have seen players who were puzzled by these angles time after time, although the angles are, with a few exceptions, quite easy to understand. Mr. Julian Marshall gives in- teresting diagrams of these angles for Tennis. The spin imparted by the Side-wall must be taken into account, and one must get oneself into position with this different condition in mind. As usual, one can best learn these angles not by trying to take balls, but by watching them first, when they have been hit. This is a golden rule of practice inside the Court. First watch where the ball falls at its second bounce, then get into position for a similar ball, then, when you can do this easily, try to make a stroke. Do not use the Boasted stroke too frequently. Apart from its ugliness — though it is not always ugly — the Side-wall takes some pace off the ball, and, in Racquets, pace is of the greatest moment. Besides, it is a pity to rely on this stroke, or indeed to use it much until the plain, straightforward drives have been mastered. He who relies on the Boasted stroke will seldom acquire the straightforward stroke at all ; and it is the latter stroke which pays. Back-wall play. — In modern times there is a marked tendency to volley, not only because the game is so fast that one has not the activity nor the time to get into position for a simple stroke off the floor, but also because the Service is usually so heavily cut that it drops down almost dead off the Back-wall. So the player who has not the wrist of a Latham or Pettitt will fTnd that he has either to take the Service on the Volley, or else to look i64 RACQUETS [pt. hi on while it constantly falls down like a bullet from the Back-wall. Useful as the Volley is, however, and essential as it is to all-round play, still one must first learn to do without it, and, for this purpose, one should impose upon oneself the form of Handicap in which no Volleys are allowed. This Handicap is useful at Lawn Tennis also. The general instructions for the stroke off the Back- wall have already been given. The main principle is to face towards the Back-wall while you are waiting for the stroke, to be alert on your toes, and to learn to get into position instinctively. I may be forgiven for repeating, since its importance cannot be over-estimated, that it is a mistake for a beginner to try to hit the ball at once. As we have already seen, he should first throw the ball onto the Back-wall, and watch where it falls at its second bounce; then do this again, and get into position ; then do this and make a few strokes with no ball at all ; then throw the ball up once more, get into position, and make a stroke ; and then correct it according as he fails or errs. The varieties of the Back-wall stroke are that the ball may hit the Back-wall first, and then the floor, or the floor first, and then the Back-wall and the Side-wall, and so on. By far the best stroke off the Back-wall is the stroke low down into one corner or the other. It is off the Back-wall that the Drop-stroke is most in place. Suppose the ball is hard to get up — " to pick up " as they say — off the Back-wall — suppose it is a good- length stroke, or has a severe cut upon it, then shorten the grip of your racket, and, if your wrist feels stiff, practise the wrist-exercise recommended above, first with the full movement, then with the arrested movement. CHAPTER XXIV SERVICE Although a good Service may win many games and Matches, most beginners make a great mistake in start- ing with the Cut-Service. The right order of learning seems to be as follows. First of all, the plain stroke, with the full swing, in the right direction ; then the plain stroke, with the full swing, in the right direction, and at the right height Pace and length should be acquired next ; and, last of all, cut. The player should be able to hit any spot on the Front-wall, either by altering the position of his body, and especially of his feet, or by moving some other part of his body, say his arm, or by throwing the ball to a different place. It is essential to be able to place the Service, since so many modern players come up to volley. It does not pay to rely entirely upon the cut. I. Swing and direction. Get into position for the Forehand stroke, as in Photo- graph XXIX. This is very like the position for an ordinary Forehand stroke. Now aim at an imaginary line up and down the Front-wall, not across it — a line near to the middle of the Court, but rather closer to you. You must throw the ball well out and away, follow through with a full swing, and end up alert and without 165 i66 RACQUETS [pt. hi losing your balance. Then you should step back as if your opponent were going to return the Service. This is an extremely hard task, but one cannot begin to learn it too soon. Look to the place to which you are going to hit the ball. Get that place firmly fixed in your imagination, then, keeping your eye on the ball (as in the Lawn Tennis Service), and keeping your head as still as possible (as in a Golf-drive), try to hit the ball onto the right place. If the ball hits the Front-wall too much to the right, then turn your body (your left leg) more round to the left, or swing more across to the left ; but, if it hits the wall too much to the left, then turn your body (your left leg) more round to the right in front of you, or swing further out and away to the right. Or you may alter the place at which you drop the ball with your left hand. Do not step back too soon after the swing ; do not cut short the " follow through." This is less important at Racquets than at Golf The golfer need not be prepared for any ball to be returned by his opponent. The Racquet player usually makes this mistake when he begins Golf, that he fails to follow his swing through : he is so anxious to see where the ball has gone. And of course the same applies to Tennis, Lawn Tennis, and Cricket, as to Racquets. When you can hit the ball every time onto this imaginary line, then aim at other imaginary lines by altering your shoulder and arm, or by altering the place at which you drop the ball with your left hand ; and later on, by altering your wrist-movement, acquire the power of hitting any line on the Front-wall at will, either by altering the position of your feet, or by altering the position and movements of one or more of the other parts of your body. CH. xxiv] SERVICE 167 Now for the practice of height. During this practice we may for the present neglect the direction. 2. Height. A similar method maybe adopted here. Look at the required height, which may be just above the Service- line ; get it into your imagination ; then keep your eye on the ball ; do not move your head more than you are obliged ; and swing through, end up alert, and step back as if the ball would be returned by an opponent. But, once again, do not step back till the full swing be ended. Correct your mistakes as follows. If you are hitting too high, then next time take the ball sooner — before the head of the racket has begun to rise. If you are hitting too low, then take the ball later — after the head of the racket has begun to rise. It is as well to practise a very high Service of good length. Such a Service, though seldom seen except as second Service, may be most effective, since the striker has to put on all the pace. When you can quite easily get the height which you need, then combine the height which you need with the direction which you need. 3. Pace and length. Now, without neglecting the direction and height, vary the pace and length of your Service in one or more of many ways. We have observed that the whole striking apparatus consists of the trunk with the body-weight, the shoulder with a movement of its own, the upper arm, the forearm, the wrist, and the fingers. If you keep one or two or more of these parts still, or if you move them in the opposite direction, you will vary the pace and length of your Services. The best way to acquire control of all these parts independently is to practise the Fast Full i68 RACQUETS [pt. hi Movement Exercises, and the Fast Arrested Movement Exercises. 4. Cut, etc. The right place on the Front-wall for a plain Service is not the right place for a Cut-Service, for a Cut alters the direction which the ball will take after it has struck the Front-wall. There are two ways of cutting the ball. With the first, the racket moves all the time in a slanting direction, at an angle ; with the second, the racket only slants and turns at an angle just at the moment before it strikes the ball. It is needless to say that the latter Cut is more severe than the former. In cutting the ball in either of these ways, one should not let it come too near to one's body. The Cut needs considerable distance. The easiest Cut is like an ordinary Racquet stroke, the head of the racket being down. Raise the racket a little way, to between this and the shoulder level, and you get a second Service. A third has the racket level with the shoulder. A fourth has the racket above this level. The fifth has the racket very low again ; the knees may be bent, and the back of the hand facing the Front-wall. Such a Service is awkward at first, but it has far the severest cut or twist. Such a cut or twist from the right- hand Court is very valuable in play. It tends to send the ball sharply onto the left Side-wall. The Service can be altered by a slight alteration of the grip. An underhand Twist-Service, either low or high, is generally objected to (by the player who has to take it). It does, indeed, tend to get the Server out of the habit of the hard low drive. It is not easy for him to return immediately to a stroke in good style. But why it should be considered bad form to serve such a Service, CH. xxiv] SERVICE 169 or to send a Drop-stroke, or to send a hard-drive-Service without cut, I cannot say. It certainly gives variety to a game which is apt to be singularly monotonous ; and it certainly pays. There was a similar objection to the Reverse-Twist-Service by Ward and Davis and other Americans. The chief objection really is that the ordin- ary stereotyped player is not used to the Service, and does not know how to deal with it. For every Service there is a right method of defence which may soon become a method of attack. In Tennis the overhand Railroad Service at times seems untakable. It remained for Latham to show how easily it could be disposed of. The same changes of attack and defence have been going on for a long time in the sphere of naval warfare. The Backhand Service must be learnt by a similar process. The position for an ordinary Backhand Service is shown in Photograph XXX. An advantage of this Service is that it hides the ball from the opponent : one may stand between him and it. One may also get a heavy Cut across the Court. Needless to say, one can- not strike the ball so well down the side-line ; but this is decidedly made up for by the fact that, for most players, the Backhand stroke should be easier and freer than the Forehand. For both Forehand and Backhand strokes the order of learning is : — first control, then severity, then variety. Do not aim at pace or cut until you can hit the ball just where you want it to go. A great deal may be done by judicious placing of the Service. If your opponent comes forward to volley, you can send your ball so that it hits the Side-wall very short, or else you can send it almost down the middle of the Court. You can place the Service less obviously by throwing the ball further to the right or further to the left. CHAPTER XXV PRACTICE OUTSIDE THE COURT We have already considered the subject of training in general. We may now proceed to give some special hints for regular practice outside the Court, If there are any general laws of practice in exercise, they seem to include the following. (For others we must refer to the Chapter in Part VI.) First, there should be correctness. This may necessi- tate the dividing up of a complex whole into simple parts, and the acquiring of these simple parts one by one. Then there should be pace and promptitude, and endurance by means of repetition. All the time there should be concentration of the attention. Next there should be various combinations and rapid changes. The increase in pace, endurance, promptitude, and complexity may be gradual. Conditions such as fresh air and free clothing and moderation should be carefully attended to. For Racquets one needs much freedom of movement ; for Tennis stiffness is somewhat less fatal. In order to get the freedom of movement for the various parts of the striking apparatus, one may choose between two orders : one may start with the large muscles, and work from them to the small, or vice versd. 170 w o > (d H rji a ;?; ,^ — , ¦< S3 s 25 -fl^ MS* CO <1 M a g P< ,— ' © i) ^ Vi M >-i ^ 73 D -^ '^ i; to 3 S ^ o I p^ p^ ^ CH. xxv] PRACTICE OUTSIDE THE COURT 171 If one start with the large muscles, one gets the movements of the legs and trunk (the swing has been described already) ; then the free movements of the whole arm and shoulder ; then the free movement of the forearm ; then the free movement of the wrist ; then the free movement of the fingers. The reverse process may be preferred. Let the right arm hang down limp. Now let the fingers be shaken about as if they were weights tied to pieces of string. For this, the whole arm above the fingers must be limp. Now, while you still move the fingers limply (by no means an easy task), move the wrist limply also. Next add to these two movements the free movement of the forearm ; to this the free movement of the upper arm, so that the whole apparatus swings easily, each part being, as it were, suspended from the part above. Hang the fingers from the wrist, the wrist from the forearm, the forearm from the upper arm. The free movements must precede the movements with any apparatus. The first apparatus may be the racket-handle, I am quite sure that, for most of us, it is useless to start with the average " Physical Culture " Exerciser; for this is apt to cramp the fingers, and therefore, by a kind of contagion, to cramp the wrist and the arm above the wrist. The movements with the racket-handle have been already described. Next, if you have a large room or large open space, may come movements with the actual racket. Do not grip it too tightly ; rather let it hang loose in your hand for the ordinary stroke. There are exceptions, as when you take a heavily-cut ball off the Back-wall. As a rule, however, the racket-handle should move freely within the hand, so that the fingers may do their work. T72 RACQUETS [pt. hi A good exercise is given in Photographs XXXI and XXXII. It is invaluable for the Latham strokes, and should be done briskly in both directions. Then you may practise with the Apparatus (see Chapter XIII). The ball is placed, let us say, 12 inches from the floor. Practise first the Forehand drive, then the Backhand drive, then the Service, and so on. Keep your eye and your head steady. If you find any difficulty in doing this, practise the neck-exercises, turning your head first to one side and then to the other. Outside the Court you must practise corrective exer- cises. When you have found where your faults lie, do whatever you can to improve the parts that are weak. Thus, for example, if your wrist be stiff, you must prac- tise the right exercises for limbering it. Shake your wrist and hand about, as if they were a dead leaden weight fixed loosely to your arm. Imaginary exercises can be practised outside the Court. Picture yourself, feel yourself, doing the correct positions and movements. There is no doubt that this employs the muscles to a certain extent. Merely to watch a correct player has its effect, because we almost instinctively imitate whatever we see. Practice in the Squash-Court has been already spoken of for Racquets ; but for Racquets it is best to play with a hard ball, or at any rate with a little ball. And, to make the practice still more effective, it may be well to play with something smaller than an actual racket : for instance, with a racket-handle having a thin strip of wood at the end of it, or with the bat of Bat-Fives. This obstacle-practice encourages correctness ; since the slightest error shows itself at once. CHAPTER XXVI PRACTICE INSIDE THE COURT One or two general rules will be found useful, and the first is that steady safety must come before killing severity. Learn to get up the ball (of course in as good a style as you can) before you attempt to kill it. Imagine a line a few inches above the play-line. There are many experts at Lawn Tennis who not only (as we have said) imagine the net to be several inches higher than it is, but also imagine the Courts to be several inches narrower and shorter than they are. By this means they find that they risk less. Their strokes may not be quite so brilliant, but they are more reliable. Repeat similar strokes again and again. This is far better at the first than to try a large number of different strokes ; for with this latter plan you will not learn any one of the different strokes thoroughly. In order that you may repeat similar strokes, you must get a bag of old balls. They are quite good enough to practise with. Each Court should make a regular but moderate charge for such practice with old balls. The beginner should practise inside the Court at first with a Marker, who should show him the different strokes, letting the beginner see him from behind rather than from in front. It is easier to imitate a person from 173 174 RACQUETS [pt. hi behind than from in front, for, when seen face to face, the player and his legs and arms are " the wrong way round." Then the player should practise by himself, with the Marker occasionally looking on and making suggestions. Then once more the player should practise with the Marker. Let us take an ordinary Forehand stroke first. Let the ball be hit against the Front-wall, so that it will return to the player's right-hand side. The Marker had better hit the ball, since he is more likely to hit it nearly to the same place twice running. First let the player notice where the ball falls at its second bounce. Then, when the ball has been hit up again, let him get into position. Then, without any ball at all, let him make a few imaginary strokes with his racket. Next, when the ball is hit up again, let him get into position and make a stroke. The Marker should now point out the mistakes ; thus, he should tell the player that he has stood too near, too far off, too much in front, too much behind ; that he has failed to lift his racket before or after the stroke ; that he has jerked it round instead of carrying it through; and so on. The stroke should be correctly practised now without the ball. Then the stroke with the ball should be tried again. Others find it far easier, as at Tennis, to begin with balls thrown onto the Side-wall. A common fault is that too little power and pace are imparted. Either the player does not use certain parts of his striking apparatus, or he puts a drag on the ball ; he does not strike it with the full force of the racket and arm and body. Another common fault is that the player loses his balance. Perhaps he ends up all right, but he does not CH. XXVI] PRACTICE INSIDE THE COURT 175 end up alert and waiting to return the next ball. This is an art which has to be practised quite apart from any actual " next ball " — which is apt to distract the player. Let the player learn to make the stroke, and to keep his balance, without bothering about whether he has hit the ball rightly or not. Then let him put this into use with the ball. He will soon find it easy to keep " on his toes " till he has begun to make the stroke, and again after he has made the stroke. The Backhand stroke will come next, the position being as in the Photographs in Chapter XXIII. In practising either the Forehand or the Backhand strokes, one must learn to move about in the proper Sideways positions, such as were suggested in Chapter X. Then may come the Volley, of which we have spoken already. The player must not give the ball a smash, since the ball as a rule has enough pace of its own already. He must rather meet it on its way. The chief fault in volleying is impatience : the player tries to take the ball too soon. He should let it come first to the proper position for an ordinary stroke. The same applies to the Half-volley — an excellent stroke to practise since it insists that the ball shall be low down and near to the ground. Then comes the Back-wall play, as described above. One of the waiting positions is shown in Photograph XXXIII. The strokes throughout should be hit fair and square, with the full face of the racket, and without cut. The wrist-swing should come at the instant before the racket strikes the ball. The racket should strike the ball when the ball is very near the ground. After the stroke the player should be alert and ready. One of the chief difficulties of beginners is to take the 176 RACQUETS [pt. hi Service. The Marker should get a bag of old balls, and should send them to the beginner so that he may take them off the Back-wall. Let the beginner try to return them not across the Court — a stroke easily acquired afterwards — , but down the side. Then let the Marker stand just behind the line that comes across the Court, and thence let him hit hard drives (of course I mean off the Front-wall ! ) to the player, who should come up and volley them down the side and not across the Court. Then let the player practise serving in the way which we have already described. So much of the modern game depends on Service, that the somewhat tedious process cannot be considered as really a w^aste of time. Thus far the player has played in the Court either by himself with the Marker looking on, or by himself alone, or with the Marker. Now let him try some practice- games, during which he will find out and afterwards be able to correct his faults. He should correct his faults outside the Court in the manner which we have out- lined. The general hints for Match-play, as given in Chapter XV, will apply to Racquets, without the need for repe- tition here. CHAPTER XXVII DOUBLES The chief difficulty of Doubles, especially for the player who is used to Singles, is that constant alertness which is required, besides the general feeling that one is cramped for space. In Lawn Tennis Doubles one can watch one's opponent without turning one's head ; in all Singles one feels that the ball must be returned to oneself, if it is to be returned at all. But in Racquet Doubles it may be returned to one's partner again and again. Field- ing at Cricket is somewhat different. There is not the same need for constant watchfulness, for there are many intervals. A good plan, in order to keep up one's interest and attention, is to make the various strokes in imagina- tion — an art not acquired at once, but deserving to be acquired by practice. You should watch good players, and, while you are watching them, imagine and feel yourself to be making their strokes. As it is, many people play the Double game as if it were a Single game while the ball is coming to them, but as if it were no game at all while the ball is coming to their partner. The position of the body and the general mechanism of the stroke is the same as in Singles. But in Doubles there is need of more play close down the Side-walls. 14 ^11 178 RACQUETS [pt. iii It is obviously harder to send a stroke outside the reach of a player in a Double. Besides this, there is more play across the Court, more play onto the Side-walls first (boasting), and there should be more Drop-play, and, as at Lawn Tennis, more play down the centre line, between the opponents. The best position in the Court is not an easy matter to decide. It does not depend merely on where the ball is or is likely to be, but also on where one's partner is. One must not leave too large a gap between oneself and him. Some of the best Single players' are among the very worst Double players, except for the Service and the making of individual strokes. The stronger or more experienced player should call when the ball is doubtful, but should not always call " Mine " except when the stroke is impossible for him (in which case he loves to cdl " Yours " !). When there is any doubt, the stroke should be taken either by the stronger player, or by the player who took the previous stroke. One of the most undesirable features in a friendly game is poaching. In a Match it may be less objectionable ; but I have often seen a Match lost because the weaker player was left out in the cold, and thus never came into the swing of his stroke : hence, when a ball was left to him at rare intervals, he fel't, as it were, out of practice. In friendly games one can avoid any need for poach- ing by a careful use of Handicaps. Handicaps are very seldom patronised. Pairs should regularly play to- gether, so as to learn one another's game. (Perhaps this is more conspicuously the case at Lawn Tennis.) As it is, generally the two stronger players have to play against each other, so as to make an even Match. Why should they not play together, and give odds to the two weaker players? CH. xxvii] DOUBLES 179 After the rule of constant alertness, the rule most frequently neglected in Doubles is this : though of course it has only a general and not a universal applies tion. While you are in, or your partner is in, play for safety, return everything, do not risk brilliant shots. While your opponents are in, do not grudge brilliant shots. To lose a point here is less vital than to lose a point during your own Services. It is especially im- portant to hazard something in order to stop a long run of aces served by your opponents. With regard to Match-tactics, it may be well to " pepper " one player until his partner shall have become listless ; and then to send that partner an unexpected treat. This you may vary by a heavily-cut stroke right down the middle of the Court, out of reach of both opponents. Some partners need abuse ; others need encourage- ment ; others need diplomacy. One may work so that one's partner may be sent an easy stroke to kill. The word " kill " reminds me that it is always better to claim a let than to take a life. Never run the risk of maiming a man : the winning of one stroke is not worth that. When 13-all or 14-all are reached, do not make it an invariable rule to "set." At 13-all, with one opponent out, it may be far more advisable to play straight on. But few pairs have the courage to do this. The " set " feels so like a respite. Never let a slack player play to make up your Four. This is a fatal error. While a keen player may wake up the three others, it is far commoner for a slack player to slacken the three others. A Three-handed game, each having his own Handicaps, would be far better practice and far better sport than such a Four. i8o RACQUETS [pt. hi But, personally, I think that the Single game is the game. Of course a Four teaches co-operation and patience combined with readiness : this is excellent discipline. And a Four may have social advantages. But I prefer to get all the credit if I lead up to or make a killing stroke, or if I pull a game out of the fire ; and I deserve all the blame if I lose an easy stroke, or if I am slack. Besides this, only on a very few occasions have I felt as if I had had enough exercise after a Double. It is not so refreshing as a Single. Nor does it seem to me so satisfactory. Among other reasons, if the Court is the right size for a Single (as I believe that a Racquet- Court is), then it seems hardly likely to be also the right size for a Double. It is interesting here to note that the most enjoyable Double I have ever played was at the Philadelphia Court, which is exceptionally large. It is the best Court that I have yet seen, for Doubles. Part IV TENNIS CHAPTER XXVIII MERITS OF TENNIS The merits of Tennis are appreciated only by a very small number of those players who begin with Tennis as their first ball-game. In order to love the game, one needs apprenticeship at any rate in a Squash-Court, and if possible in a Squash-Court with a Back-wall. If one is unable to get this,.one may practise up against the main Side-wall of the Tennis-Court, treating it as the Front-wall of a Squash-Court. It is here, rather than over the Net, that one should get the habit of the ordin- ary Forehand and Backhand strokes. One should be able to keep the ball time after time within two of the Chase-lines. Very few players can ever reach their best possible game, if they begin with Tennis ; for from Tennis alone, however many lessons they may have had from the best teachers, they are hardly likely to learn that agility which the modern game demands. I noticed that many beginners in America, even those who played Lawn Tennis, took a long while to master some of the very commonest strokes. Those who began with Tennis alone were almost invariably slow upon their feet. I used to urge them to practise in the Squash-Court, but most of them said that they wanted to play Tennis itself. Therefore they failed to master the quite ele- 183 1 84 TENNIS [PT. IV mentary positions and movements. The few who did try Squash (with a Tennis-racket and a Lawn Tennis ball) improved quickly, especially in their Backhand strokes. Here I shall consider the advantages of Tennis, especially when the mechanism of the play has been acquired before the play itself is taken up regularly. We need not consider here, over again, the advantages common to both Tennis and Racquets — the physical, aesthetic, intellectual, moral, social, and economical values. We need only consider the advantages of Tennis as contrasted with Racquets. First of all, there is the great variety which is possible. The number of angles at which balls may reach the player is enormous. Of one Hazard alone, Scaino (quoted in * Asinals of Tennis ') says : — "The main wall is plain, but thicker in one part, where it begins to project further over the floor, forming a figure called by the French tambour {tambiirind); and this coming out obliquely, is the occasion of a variety of bounds which the ball, encountering it, makes with many and various effects, at the hands of good players, and very beautiful to see." A Lawn Tennis veteran, who has recently taken up Tennis, told me that he could spend an hour in the Court by himself with interest and pleasure ; he could practise the hard drive as well as the heavy cut, and in the ordinary stroke he could gain a great variety of length and direction and elevation. He could practise many different kinds of Services, each of which would be effective in its proper place. When he came to play with the Marker, he could use first one Handicap, and then another. Handicaps should be the most conspicuous feature of Tennis, at least for beginners. No two players are so unequal that they cannot meet on equal terms in a game in which neither need spoil his play in the very least. CH. xxviii] MERITS OF TENNIS 185 A study of the many varieties of Handicaps will not be waste of time. Besides this feature of Tennis, this wealth of Handi- caps, which enable any two friends to meet, Tennis (partly owing to its old-fashioned Hazards, and its general associations) is the game which seems most aloof from the rush of commercial life. In the Court is to be found something of the ancient world, as in a cathedral town, the Tennis-Court being considerably more cheerful and healthy. In the game there is always something new to learn. Thus it appeals to Americans as well as to Englishmen. Americans have practically invented in recent years a new Service, and the hard Drive that pitches right in the Nick. They have revived that straight yet artfully masked Force for the Dedans, which the old school of players used to make so correctly. In this game originality and observation pay, as well as sheer experience. The game can be continued almost up to any age. Not so long ago, the Provost of King's College, Cambridge, played a game with Mr. J. M. Heathcote in the morning, and Jim Harradine (he was then over fifty) played a vigorous Exhibition Match in the afternoon. The older player, if he has used his years well, will know how to keep on the Service-side ; will know which Service to use on any given occasion ; will know what balls to leave alone ; will know where to expect returns. The steady exercise with its welcome breaks will not exhaust him. Besides, Tennis is pre- eminently a game for older men because, at their age of life, they should be able to afford the time and the money. They may preserve some part of their vigour, and may keep up some of their old friendships, and may form new friendships in the Tennis-Court. i86 TENNIS [PT. IV It must not be thought for one moment that the game is merely an old man's game. Long ago Rousseau wrote (in his famous Emile) : — " To spring from one end to another of a Tennis-Court ; to judge the bound of a ball which is still in mid-air ; to return it with a strong and certain hand ; such games become a man ; they tend to form him." And, though players do not exactly " spring from one end to another," yet rapid movement is almost essential to complete success against a modern opponent. But complete success is also impossible without nerve, resource, observation, memory, accuracy, and many other "elderly" qualities. Mr. Lukin is very much to the point when he says : — " Besides the score of the game, for the accuracy of which no good player will be wholly dependent upon the Marker, the character of the Chases in relation to the position of the game or the set, the Bisques, if any are to be taken, and the choice of sides in taking them, are matters which call for particular attention, and require great discrimination and judgment." The social value of Tennis is in some ways superior to that of Racquets, since not a little of it is connected with the life in English country-houses. Unfortunately, Tennis house-parties are not so frequent as they were ; but they are still given occasionally. CHAPTER XXIX THE COURT AND IMPLEMENTS AND PLAY Note. — Some parts of the following Chapter have already appeared in Articles by the author, in the ' Badminton Magazine' and in the •Windsor Magazine.' It is a common belief that there are only two or three Tennis Courts in the world. As a matter of fact there are over thirty in England alone, there are six in France, several in America — let us hope that we may soon be able to say ten at the very least — and a few elsewhere (e. g. in Vienna, in Melbourne, and in Hobart Town). As to the idea that the scoring of Tennis cannot possibly be learnt, one is prepared to admit that it has been found hard to learn ; but that is surely the fault of the teaching. What single subject would be easy to understand if the teacher used a large number of technical terms to b'egin with, sjuch as " Tambour," " Grille," " Hazard-side," " Chase worse than 2 " — yes, of course they are not easy to understand or learn, ii we begin with them. As the lady said, after a (Scotch) Professional had tried to explain Golf to her : " I still don't know the difference between the masher and the putty." A third fallacy is that Tennis is the same as Lawn 187 i88 TENNIS [PT. IV Tennis. This may be christened "the ladies' fallacy," and may be illustrated by the following conversation. She. I hear you are going to play Tennis this morn- ing ; won't it be rather wet ? He. I am going to play real Tennis, not Lawn Tennis. Real Tennis is played in a covered court. She. Oh, indeed ! quite a new game then ? Tennis is the mother of Lawn Tennis, and if so many more people know and admire the daughter, it is partly because they have not been properly introduced to the mother. In fact, many of the best-known (past and present) Lawn Tennis players have of late years shown great keenness for Tennis. I need only mention Messrs. Renshaw, Chapman, Winkworth, Briscoe, Mahony, Nesbit, and R. F. Doherty in England, and O. S. Campbell in America. Once again, it is often asserted that Tennis is very expensive. I answer that over-work and ill-health are far more expensive, with all the unpleasantness thrown in. For really bad work, in whatever line it may be, and for really bad health, with its constant drugs and tonics and doctors' bills and holidays, commend me to certain men who take no exercise ; and, of all exer- cises, games are best, partly because they are a pleasure and an interest ; and of all games Tennis is among the very grandest, because it is a fine all-round exercise, in a quiet, uncommercial, old-world atmosphere — alas ! how seldom we can breathe it now ; an exercise possible at all seasons of the year and in all weathers ; an exercise demanding and enchaining the whole attention, which dares not wander ; an exercise vigorous and yet not exhausting. But of these advantages I have already said enough. Let me come to the Court itself. I shall try to explain the Game in a new way. I shall Fig. :J4. — Texnis Uall. (See page 189.) CH. XXIX] COURT, IMPLEMENTS, AND PLAY 189 take it for granted that the reader understands Lawn Tennis already : this will simplify matters. And I shall only speak of the Single Game, as the Four-handed Game is rarely played to-day. We have, as a starting-point, two players, each with a large-headed and large-handled racket, a ball of a certain size, a net over which the ball has to be hit before it has bounced twice, and the ordinary scoring : e. g. 1 5-love, 15-all, 30-15, 30-all, 40-30, deuce, vantage, deuce, vant- age, game. The Set consists of six Games, though " deuce and vantage Games " can be played. " Faults " and " double Faults " score as in Lawn Tennis. And now for just a few of the differences. A great many must be left out for the present, the reader being referred to the Rules of the Game, in Chapter XXXI. Of the Implements of Tennis, the racket has a smaller face and is heavier than the Lawn Tennis racket, because the Tennis ball, though of about the same size, is heavier than the Lawn Tennis ball. The former has an inside of cloth etc., and not of " nothing " ; in fact it is about as hard as the ball used at Racquets or Cricket or Base-ball. Photograph XXXIV shows a Tennis-ball life-size; it must be between 2\ and 2f inches in diameter, and between 2| and 2f ounces in weight. The American and French and English balls all differ, much of the difference being due to the covering. We shall speak of this again elsewhere. In the Court, the Tennis-net is far higher at the ends than in the middle. The Court itself has walls on all its four sides, and a Penthouse along three sides. The best way to describe the Court will be to put the reader at one end, safely behind the netting, where the spec- tators usually sit, i.e. in the Dedans (the French for 190 TENNIS [PT. IV "within"). This word is usually pronounced " Dead- on "(!), though I have heard a more refined Marker call it "diddong," and three less refined Markers call it "dedduns," "deddang," and " diddans," respectively. A ball which is played over the Net into this Dedans counts as a winning stroke to the striker. Now look in front of you, over the Net, and down the right-hand wall (which is called the Main- wall). It does not go straight all the way along, for there is a buttress sticking out, and this is called the Tambour. A ball hit against it will come off at an angle which con- siderably puzzles begin- ners. Diagram 12 will give some idea of this Tambour. Past the Tambour, in the wall facing you at the opposite end of the Court, is a little " cupboard with- out a door " ; it is called the Grille ; a ball which is played over the Net into this Grille makes a winning stroke. Lawn Tennis has no winning strokes of this kind, CH. xxix] COURT, IMPLEMENTS, AND PLA V 191 though they could be arranged if the players agreed that whoever managed to hit a certain chair or lady's parasol (just outside the Court) should score a point. Look down the left-hand Side-wall, and you will see many openings, with nettings — the old Courts had none — to protect the spectators. These openings are called the Galleries, and that one which is furthest away from you (the Last Gallery) is called the Winnitig Gallery, since a ball played over the Net into it counts as a winning stroke. Thus there are three " Winning " Openings — oh the joy of them ! To good Markers the Openings are worth half their salary — The Dedans^ the Grille, and the Last ( Winning) Gallery. (But the days when Markers could win vast sums by betting on their play are of the past.) All the way down the left-hand side of the Court (Diagram 13) runs the Penthouse, abovQ the Galleries. You will notice the Penthouse along the Back-wall, facing you as you sit in the Dedans. And above your head there is a Penthouse also, though you cannot see the business- side of it. These Penthouses help to give the play much of its essential merit, its variety. Truly Mr. H, S. Mahony was justified in saying that the Court was too full of furniture : though he need not have insulted the Tambour by calling it the " Hump " ! Across the floor are many lines, and there are myste- rious numbers low down on the Side-walls. The mystery will be unfolded presently, and the designer of Courts will be defended from the charge of lunacy : he will be shown to be a most prudent man, and the benefactor of those especially who are out of breath. With regard to the size etc. of the ideal Court, the 192 TENNIS [PT. IV reader must be referred to Mr. Julian Marshall's 'Annals of Tennis.' We may add, to his suggestions, that the Bickley cement is by far the best material for floor and walls, and that the Bickley stain is superior to paint, which tends to close the pores of the Court's skin. Mr. Marshall's words may be quoted : — " Our Tennis-court is enclobed by four walls, 30 feet in height, within which, again, are built three lower walls, one on one side of the Court, and one at each end. The space between these outer and inner walls, 7 feet in width (including the thickness of the latter), is covered with a sloping wooden roof, called the pent- house. The extreme length of the Court, from one outer wall to the other, is 108 feet 6 inches; the length, therefore, from the mner wall at one end to that at the other is 94 feet 6 inches. The width between the two outer side-walls is 38 feet 6 inches ; and the width, therefore, from the inner to the opposite side- wall is 31 feet 6 inches. The latter is called the main-wall : its face projects into the Court at the point E at an angle of about 38°. " Enclosed, therefore, by this main-wall and the three lower walls, there is an area, the floor of the Court, which is narrower at one end than at the other, on account of the thickening of the main-wall between the tambour and the end-wall, where the floor is only 30 feet in width. Parts of the inner walls are 7 feet in height ; in the rest of their extent they are only 3 feet 8 inches high, and are there called the batteries. The walls are each 1 5 feet 9 inches in length. Resting on the tops of the walls is the plate which bears the pent-house, supported also by the posts, fixed in the batteries. From the height of 7 feet 2 inches the pent-house slopes up to the outer walls, which it meets at the height of 10 feet 7 inches from the floor. Each last galler}^ is 9 feet 6 inches in length ; each second gallery, 9 feet 6 inches ; each door, 3 feet 3 inches ; each first gallery, 5 feet 6 inches ; and the central open- ing between the line-posts, called the line-opening, is 7 feet 6 inches in width. " There is a longer opening than any of these, called the dedans. The low wall, or dedans-battery, below this opening, is the same height as the other batteries ; the height of the openmg is the same as that of the galleries ; and its length is 21 feet 6 inches. One wall is 5 feet 6 inches in length ; and the other wall, 4 feet 6 inches. At the other end of the Court, in the wall, there is a square opening called the grille, and measuring 3 feet 2 inches each way." We need not here enter into details, except to note that the floor of the French Courts slopes down towards CH. XXIX] COURT, IMPLEMENTS, AND PLAY 193 BACK-WALL AND H.(last WINNIN H.$ECON or) G H.DOO H.FIRS THE (NET or)uNE FIRS DOO SECON tAS a 4 IS NICK No ^ CKases Si Here z UJ .0. D Z' 4-1. h u. Ul lU ¦-0- z »-- \- 4-0- Lini X5n 0^ te'yond which ' ?he Service musfr pit'ch. ¦^ (H) • Second GAllei'y -DooK (H) ¦First G2illcry i mi i THE (NET. or) LINE M 5 First Gallery Door .Second Gallery Y*rd worse than LjkSt GAllcry -6 -5 .4- ¦3 -2 - I ^ ^ I BACK-WALL AND NICK Diagram 13. — Plan of the Left-hand Side-wall as one looks down along it from the Dedans. 15 194 TENNIS [PT. IV the Net, and that some old Courts used to have other hazards : — 1. " The hole " {le trou\ an opening of i6 inches square, facing the Grille. 2. An upright board in the other comer, opposite the Grille, and called Pats. 3. La liine^ a small opening on both sides of the Court, very high up. This was soon done away with. And now for the game, which, however, can be under- stood best of all by an hour or two of play in the Court with the Marker. We have already seen that it differs from Lawn Tennis in two or three respects, namely, that — 1. It has certain Openings into which it is a winning stroke to play the ball. 2. It has Side-walls and Back-walls. Many strokes which would go " out " in Lawn Tennis, either at the back or at the side, are good in Tennis, because they hit the wall and come back into the Court. This makes an enormous difference to the play, and is indeed one of its greatest charms — for the player as well as for the spec- tator. Peter Latham's " returns " off the Back-wall are simply marvellous : some of them are quite preposterous. When I attempt Lawn Tennis after Tennis, I feel as if the Court " leaked " — so many balls find their way out which in Tennis would drip back onto the floor from the Penthouse, or be hurled in again by the kindly Side- walls and Back-walls. Again, it is a common stroke in Tennis to hit a ball not directly over the Net, as in Lawn Tennis, but up against the Side-wall first and thence over the Net. This is called " boasting" and it gives the ball a power- ful twist. I remember once playing Lawn Tennis with Mr. E. F. Benson, just after we had been playing CH. xxix] COURT, IMPLEMENTS, AND PLAY 195 Tennis : he forgot that the Lawn Tennis Court had no Side-wall, and tried to " boast." His ball found its nest about six Courts off. 3. Another difference is in the Service. For not only can the Server stand anywhere in the Court, but he always serves from the same half of the Court — from the Dedans half, the side on which you are sitting. And he must serve the ball onto the Penthouse that runs down the left-hand side of the Court. This is a great contrast to Lawn Tennis, where the Service may be from either half of the Court, and is nearly always of the over-hand kind. In spite of the clever American variation, the Service is most monoton- ous for the spectator. In Tennis there is far more choice : for instance, Charles Saunders (the late English Champion), Peter Latham (Champion of the World), Tom Pettitt (American Champion), all have different special Services. Indeed, Pettitt has had two : he was of opinion that two of his Amateur pupils did his later Service better than any one else. And, again, the opponent is allowed to volley the Service, as at Racquets. 4. The stroke also is as a rule very different, though the Lawn Tennis Backhander (of Messrs. Doherty, Mahony, T. P. Burke, and many others) is far nearer to the old-fashioned Tennis Backhander than it used to be. We may notice two peculiar Tennis strokes (apart from the " boasted " stroke mentioned above) : — {a) The hard straight Drive, especially the drive for the Winning Openings : this would go flying past the opponent's head and out-of-court at Lawn Tennis. (Jj) The Cut-stroke. Instead of meeting the ball with the full face of the racket, the player often " slices " the 196 TENNIS [PT. IV ball, or " chops down onto it " : the ball is struck, not with the full face of the racket, but with the face of it slanting at an angle. One result is that the balls travel more slowly, rise a little, and get a back-spin on them, and, when they reach the Back-wall, tend to drop down suddenly. How suddenly do they perish and come to a fearful end. One can generally recognise the Tennis player, in the Lawn Tennis Court, by this same Cut : his balls will hang in the air, and the opponent will have to hold his racket firmer, and to hit harder when he wishes to get them up. Nevertheless the Cut-stroke seldom pays at Lawn Tennis, at any rate against a good player. The " correct " old school of Tennis players used to pride themselves on holding the head of the racket up, well above the level of the wrist, as in Illustration XXXV. But personally I seldom do this : I know that instan- taneous Photographs would show that Pettitt seldom does this, and that the angle of his racket is more often nearer to that of most of the Illustrations in this book. And I am nearly sure that Latham generally has the head of his racket below the level of his wrist, for ordinary strokes off the floor. I remember noticing how often George Lambert (a former Champion) used to hit the floor with the head of his racket in some of his most severely cut strokes. And now at last we come to a great difference between the two Games : we come to the very bane of the uninitiated, the Chases. What are Chases? 5. In Lawn Tennis, when a ball has hit the ground twice, the round is over and the point is scored. But this is not always so at Tennis ; for under certain condi- tions you can let a ball bounce twice, and yet not lose the point. CH. XXIX] COURT, IMPLEMENTS, AND PLAY 197 Wall above PENTHOUSE (LAST. OR) WINN1N& — . GALLERY TKe Service must fill on ^he PENTHOUSE beyond this Z r S o m < PENTHOUSE Above GRILLE etc :ATheBML w ^served m //pitch her y///////// ///A 'A hen ust/ e HAIARO- CHAS THE ' A\&rker"s Box SERVICE- CHAS SIDE E8 NET ORILLE TAMBOUR ^( Buttress) SIDE ES yfl1TrT,Mi?^.tf ' PENTHOUSt ABOVE DEDANS lU <0 O r z ni a lU > o CO < Ji -I % * t W&ll above PENTHOUSE Diagram i4.--Ground-plan of Tennis Court. The Stippled portions indicate the Winning Openings. 198 TENNIS [PT. IV " Why should you be allowed to leave a ball alone ? " is the very natural question. Well, sometimes I cannot reach it in time ; sometimes I should have remarkably little chance of getting it up even if I could and did reach it. " And what happens then ? " Why, when I have changed sides with my opponent, then every stroke of mine has to be a better stroke than the stroke which I left alone : if I make a worse stroke, then (unless my opponent hits the ball) the Marker calls ''Lost it " : for I have lost the " Chase," as it is called, and my opponent now scores the point. But, if I go on making better strokes than that which I left alone, until my opponent misses the ball, the Marker calls " Won it " : for I have won the " Chase," and / score the point. A Chase is tJierefore a ball which has bounced twice without my having hit it : when we change sides and play the " Chase " over again, I shall be handicapped by having to make better strokes, every time, tha.n the stroke which I failed to hit. " But," you will ask, " what is a better or worse stroke or Chase ? " This is not an easy matter to explain. To speak very generally, a good stroke or Chase might be described as " a good length stroker The nearer the ball falls to the Back-wall of the Court, at its second bounce, the better the Chase is. So, if the second bounce is just close to the Dedans, it will be a very good stroke or Chase, whereas if the second bounce is just close to the Net (say if the ball hits the top of the Net and just dribbles over) it will be a very bad Chase. Suppose, for example, that my opponent has hit a ball over the Net, and that its second bounce was two yards from the Dedans-v^^SS. : this would be called CH. xxix] COURT, IMPLEMENTS, AND PLAY 199 "Chase 2." The Diagram will show where it would fall. When we change sides, then every stroke of mine — unless I hit the ball into the Dedans — will have to be a better "length " than the stroke which I left alone : i.e. it will have to fall, at its second bounce, less than two yards from the Back- wall. If it falls viore than two i: >*> J ¦S fc '=0 » 1^ ,0^ -nigKt of B^LU . ^..,,^^-- __ o ^ / T— r r MAZARO-SIOE SERVICE-SIDE 5 2 I '^.^ , GALLERIES //^ :> %• Diagram 15. — The second bounce (or fall) of the ball is two yards from the Back-wall, so the Chase is called "Chase 2." yards from the Back-wall, I shall lose the point. If it falls exactly two yards from the Back-wall, then "Chase Off" will be called, and neither my opponent nor I will score anything. By cutting the ball I can make it come down slick off the Back-wall ; in other words I can make it fall near the Back-wall, at its second bounce ; I can make a better Chase (if my opponent leaves the ball alone). I 300 TENNIS [PT. IV shall thus, by making a smaller Chase, cramp my opponent considerably when we change sides. It is as well to remember that " the smaller the number^ the better the Chase." " Chase half-a-yard " is better than " Chase a yard," " Chase a yard " (one yard from the Back-wall) is better than " Chase 2," or " Chase 2 and 3 " ; this again is better than " Chase 6." Still worse are the Last Gallery, the Second Gallery, and the Door. " Chase better than 2 " will therefore be nearer to the Back-wall than 2 (yards), and " Chase worse than 2 " will be further from the Back-wall. The Gallery nearest to you (as you sit in the Dedans^ is called the Last Gallery ; then comes the Second ; then the " Door," then the First Gallery : for " first's the worse in all the game," except the open Box where the Marker stands, nobly risking his life (as ladies some- times seem to imagine). His " shooting-box " is called the " Line." After this — beyond the Net — begins the Hazard- side of the Court : a Chase here, as called by the Marker, often sounds like " As at the side." Here there are fewer Chases, i. e. there are fewer balls than I can leave alone without losing the point. For most of the strokes at the end of the Court furthest away from you are like Lawn Tennis strokes : if I fail to hit them, I lose the point straight away. " What is the advantage of these Chases ? " I often hear people ask. In the first place, they give me a second chance when I have missed a ball altogether ; though I shall be cramped during this second chance : I shall have to take pains with every stroke. Secondly, as we change sides, my opponent and I will have a little rest. Lawn Tennis sadly needs more of CH. xxix] COURT, IMPLEMENTS, AND PLAY 201 these oases. I believe that they prevent Tennis from having that effect on the heart which Lawn Tennis has not unfrequently had in the case of some of its most brilHant players : among the recent instances I need only mention Mr. H. L. Doherty. Let me briefly give some of the other differences between Tennis and Lawn Tennis. 6. In Tennis one cannot stand outside the Court to take a stroke, because the Back-walls and Side-walls are in the way. 7. There is practically none of that volleying up at the Net, which has done so much to alter the game of Lawn Tennis lately ; for, if one came up to the Net, one's opponent could " lob " the ball over one's head into a Winning Opening. And now, in conclusion, let us see in what respects Lawn Tennis has the advantage over Tennis, and vice versd. Lawn Tennis (i) has a far larger number of Courts, and (2) a far larger number of players ; (3) it is in the open air ; and (4) it is not very expensive, though the cheapness of Lawn Tennis under the very best condi- tions has often been exaggerated : for new balls are not to be had for nothing, and good Courts are not made in a day, nor are they kept in order for nothing a year. There are these two additional features of Lawn Tennis which many people consider to be an advantage : I offer no opinion about the second of them. (5) There are many Lawn Tennis Tournaments. These lend great interest to the Game, they have a splendid influence socially, and they give ladies some- thing to look at in the open air, and something not un- healthy to talk about. Undoubtedly also they raise the standard of play. Many of these and other merits will 202 TENNIS [PT. IV come to Tennis also, when we get into the habit of organising more competitions. But Tournaments have also been accused of breeding a large class of idle pot- hunters. (6) Ladies play Lawn Tennis, and this is most excellent for the ladies ; it must improve their health, and therefore must improve the health of the nation. But, as some one said not long ago, " I like ladies to play Lawn Tennis ; but not with me." This man was no misogynist, nor even a misosphairistikegynist, but rather a misosphairistikemigdanthropogynist, as the Germans would probably say. Tennis, on the other hand, has those many virtues which we have already discussed in the previous Chapter. It is needless to say that both Tennis and Racquets and (to some extent) Lawn Tennis have suffered terribly from the great bi-mania, Bicycling and Golf. But there is every sign that Tennis and Lawn Tennis are now asserting themselves once more. Let us hope that they will soon arise more vigorous than ever, as after a refreshing sleep. CHAPTER XXX A SAMPLE GAME TO ILLUSTRATE THE PLAY "As to the Game itself, a Person that has never seen it before can make but little out, except it be any Curiosity or Diversion to him to see three or four Persons furiously running after a few little Balls, and laboriously bandying and tossing them about from one to another. If this were all, 'twere well enough, but when he hears the Marker calling Forty, Love, and a Chase, and sees them changing their Sides, and hears the Players wrangling and swear- ing about the taking of Bisks and Faults, and talking of Cuts, and Twists, and Forces, etc., he presently concludes there must be some wonderful Secret in all this ; and so is resolved to satisfy himself a little further." — From ' The Tricks of the town laid open' (quoted in 'Annals of Tennis'). The reader will find that the scoring will be easier to understand if, with the Diagram before him, he follows an imaginary game between, let us say, Jones and the Professional, whom we will call Jim, in honour of the present Markers at Cambridge and at Lord's. Jones is to serve, so he stands on the Service-side of the Court (the side nearer to the Dedans, where you are supposed to be sitting). He serves a ball over the Net, but not onto the side-Penthouse : so the Marker calls " Fault." He now serves another ball : this hits the side-Penthouse and runs onto the end Penthouse (which faces you), and then pitches just by the Grille. This is called a Pass, and does not count. By the present 203 204 TENNIS [PT. IV rules, the marker still calls the score as "One Fault." Jones now carelessly serves onto the Penthouse, but the ball pitches short of the red line across the Court. This makes two Faults, and so Jones loses the first point. The score is "15-love": Jim leads. Notice that the Marker calls first the score of the player who won the last stroke, and not (as in Lawn Tennis) the score of the Server. Jones serves no more Faults after this. Next he serves, and Jim returns his Service into the Dedans : this makes a point for Jim, and so the score is " 30-love " : Jim leads. Then Jones serves, and Jim hits the ball into the Net and so loses the point. "15-30" (Jones' score comes first, since Jones won the last point). Jones' next Service Jim returns into the corner of the Court : Jones cannot reach it, and the ball, at its second bounce, falls more than three yards from the Dedans. The Marker calls " Chase worse than 3." The score is still the same, only now the later score (Jim's) comes first, and we have "30-15." (I have always considered this change of order to be a great inconvenience for the spectators.) Jim returns the next service onto the Side- wall and then over the Net : Jones hits the ball high onto the buttress or Tambour : off the ball flies, at an angle, and then hops into the Gallery furthest from you, which is a Winning Opening : the score is therefore " 30-all." There is a Chase to be played out later on. Jones' next Service is a hard one : Jim can just smuggle it into one of the Galleries, the second from the Dedans. This will be " Chase the Second Gallery." There are now two Chases, so the players change sides to play them out. But the score is still "30-alL" CH. XXX] A SAMPLE GAME 205 Now it is Jim's turn to serve. After one Fault, he serves all right, and Jones returns the ball into the corner. The Chase is " Worse than 3 " ; and Jones' ball would fall, at its second bounce, about 5 yards from the Dedans (i. e. Chase 5). Jim leaves the ball alone, and it falls at Chase 5, which is not so good as " Chase worse than 3 " : thus Jones loses the point, and the score is "40-30": Jim leads. Next, Jones has to play for " Chase the Second Gallery " : he returns Jim's Service into the Last Gallery, which is nearer to the Dedans than the Second Gallery is, and therefore a better Chase. Thus he wins the Chase, and the score is " Deuce." Jim's next Serve Jones tries to return by volleying it into the Dedans: Jim volleys the ball, and gets it over the Net, but it hits a window and so is out-of-Court. Jim loses the point, and the score is " Vantage " : Mr. Jones wins. Jim's next Service pitches just in the very Nick, i. e. where the Back -wall meets the floor. Jones has no chance of returning it, and so Jim brings the score to "Deuce." The next round (or " rest," as they call it) Jim finishes by a stroke into the Grille. This gives " Vantage " to Jim. Jim now serves another point, and thus gets the first game. He follows with the next five games, and thus wins a love-set, and claims a shilling from Jones ; who for the next Set prefers to receive Odds, viz. Half- fifteen and a Bisque, i.e. Fifteen (one point) in every other game, and an extra point which he can claim at any time during the Set. CHAPTER XXXI RULES AND ETIQUETTE THE LAWS OF TENNIS (known in AMERICA AS COURT TENNIS) The following Laws differ very little, except in their wording, from the Laws in force at Lord's Club (the M.C.C.), as published in the Encyclopaedia of Sport (Article on " Tennis," by Mr. G. E. A. Ross). Extracts from Mr. Julian Marshall's Laws are given in small type. For suggestions of various reforms, see Chapter XLIV. It is requested that any suggestions as to alterations be addressed to me at King's College, Cambridge. IMPLEMENTS AND CHOICE OF SIDES. 1. Balls and Rackets. — The balls shall not be less than 2\ inches, and not more than 2| inches, in diameter; and shall not be less than 2\ oz. and not more than 2| oz., in weight. Note. — There is no restriction as to the shape or size of the rackets. 2. Choice of Sides. — {a) The choice of sides at the beginning of the first Set is determined by spin of the racket. {b) In subsequent Sets of a series, the players shall begin each Set on the sides on which they finished the Set before it. 206 CH.XXXI] RULES AND ETIQUETTE 207 THE SCORING OF POINTS, GAMES, AND SETS. In Tennis the points, games, and sets are scored as in Lawn Tennis, with certain exceptions (see above). The game is won by that player who first wins 4 points, which are scored as " 1 5," " 30," " 40," and "game." If both players have reached 40 (the score being then called " deuce "), it is the invariable rule to play "deuce and vantage," as in Lawn Tennis. The set is won by that player who first wins 6 games. If, however, both players have won 5 games (the score being 5 games all), then it is rather commoner to play "deuce and vantage games," than to play "sudden death," The choice between the longer and shorter ending depends on {a) the rule or custom of the individual Court or Club or Competition ; or on {b) an agreement made between the players them- selves ; or on {c) the decision of the player who has lost the last game. If a player wins any six games running in a set, he is said to win a Love Set, and his opponent should pay to the Marker a fine of one shilling (twenty-five cents). A Match may be for the best 2 out of 3 Sets, or — more usually — for the best 3 out of 5 Sets. In contrast to the scoring of Lawn Tennis the follow- ing points are noticeable : — (i) The score called first (e. g. "15-30") is not the Server's score, but the score of the player who won the last stroke. When, however, the players have changed sides, the higher score (e.g. "30-15") is always called first. 2o8 TENNIS [PT. IV (ii) For the " Chases," which are unknown in Lawn Tennis, see above. (iii) The " Pass " counts as a let, i. e. it does not count at all, and thus corresponds to the Lawn Tennis Service which hits the top of the Net and falls in the right Court. A " Pass " does not annul a previous " Fault," as it used to do. SINGLE POINTS. Either player, whether serving or receiving the Service (" striking out "), always wins a stroke, and scores one point, when his opponent — {a) strikes the ball, while it is in play, with any part of his clothes or his person, including his hand ; or, (J?) strikes the ball, while it is in play, with his racket, but either does not return it over the Net, or {c) returns it over the Net but " out of Court," i. e. above the Play-line or Tell-tale, or {d) returns it over the Net so hard that it comes back again over the Net into his own Court before its first bounce ; or {e) returns it after having hit it once already, or flings it after holding it on his racket. The Server always wins a stroke, and scores one point, when (a) he serves a ball which his opponent fails to return (unless this ball falls at a Chase on the Hazard-side). This will include a Service which bounces first on the right portion of the floor, and then into the Grille or into the Winning Gallery ; (J?) he makes a stroke which his opponent fails to return (unless, again, this stroke falls at a Chase on the Hazard-side) ; this will include a stroke which enters the Grille or the Winning Gallery while in play ; CH. xxxi] RULES AND ETIQUETTE 209 {c) he wins a Chase ; {d) his opponent loses a Chase. The Server always loses a point (which is scored to the " striker out "), when he {a) serves two faults in succession, even if one " Pass " or more should intervene ; or [b) allows his opponent to strike a ball into the Dedans ; or ic) allows his opponent to win a Chase ; or {d) himself loses a Chase. THE SERVICE. The ball is always served from the same half of the Court (the Service Side), and may be served from any spot in this half. The ball must be served either directly onto the roof of the (left) side Penthouse, or onto the wall above it ; but it must strike the roof of this Penthouse, so as to rise into the air, some authorities say, and must hit it on the further (or Hazard) half of the Court. It must then pitch on the floor within the proper space, i. e. in the corner bounded by the Pass-line and the Winning Gallery line. Otherwise, it is a Pass or else a Fault. A Pass is a Service which goes on the Grille side of the Pass-line. A Pass does not cancel a previous Fault. The Striker-out may volley a Service before it reaches the floor, unless either {a) " Pass " has already been called, or {b) the ball has touched any part of the Penthouse on the Grille side of the Pass-line, or {c) there is danger of injuring the unexpectant Server. A Pass may not be returned ; but a ball served, which has not gone across the Pass-line or the Penthouse, may be volleyed, 16 2IO TENNIS [PT. IV although, if untouched, it might have dropped in the Pass-Court. If a Pass touch the Striker-out, or if a Service (before it has dropped) touch him, when standing with both feet in the Pass-Court and not having attempted to strike the ball, it is still counted as a Pass. A Fault is a ball which does not strike on the left Penthouse on the Hazard-side, or which does not pitch on the floor within the proper space. Two Faults score a point against the Server. The Server must not serve until his opponent be ready. Should he do so, then his opponent may claim to have the Service over again (i. e. may claim a Let), unless he has tried to take the Service. A Service to an unready opponent annuls a previous Fault. If the Service be good, and fall, at its second bounce, nearer to the Net than the Winning Gallery line, or into any Hazard-side Gallery except the Winning Gallery, a Chase shall be called. In Tennis, as in Lawn Tennis, if a ball pitches or falls actually on a line on the floor, the player who has hit that ball has the benefit of the doubt. Continuation of Service. — The Server continues to serve until two Chases be made, or one Chase when the score of either player is at forty or vantage : the players then change sides, the Server becomes Striker-out, and the Striker-out becomes Server. CHASES. A Chase is a stroke not touched by the racket or person of the player on whose side of the Net it is made : a stroke to be left undecided until the players shall have changed sides. The players change sides when two Chases have been called, or when one Chase has been called and the game is within one point of being finished {40-x, or vantage). No Chase can be carried on into the next game. A Chase is called when a ball in play either enters a CH. XXXI] RULES AND ETIQUETTE 211 Gallery, except the Winning Gallery, or hits a Gallery- post, untouched by the player on that side, or else, under the same conditions, falls at its second bounce onto the floor, except the floor beyond the Winning-Gallery line on the Hazard-side. The Chase is called according to the Gallery or the spot where it falls at its second bounce. The nearer it falls to the Back-wall, the better the Chase is. If the ball falls, at its second bounce, on any spot between the lines (which mark the yards etc.), the Chase is called better or worse than the line nearest to which the ball falls. But, except for " better than Half-a-yard " and " Hazard-side better than Half-a-yard," Chases are not called better or worse than the half-lines. If a ball pitches upon another ball, the Chase is where that other ball was lying, A player wins a Chase either by hitting the ball into a Winning Opening, or by making a better Chase than the Chase which his opponent made. A player neither wins nor loses the point, and " Chase off" is called, if his ball falls on the same line or into the same Gallery as the Chase which is being played for. The Chase is not played for again (in England and America. In France it is). If a player strikes a ball which pitches in the opposite half of the Court and then returns over the Net, " Chase the Line " is called. Chases, how marked. — When a ball in-play (on either side of the Net, not being that on which the Striker is standing) (a) falls on any part of the floor, except on or beyond the Service- line ; or (b) enters any Gallery except the Winning Gallery ; or {/) touches a Gallery-post ; it is marked as a Chase, 212 TENNIS [PT. IV (a) at that Line on the floor on which it fell; or (j8) better or worse than that Line on the floor which is nearest to the point at which it fell ; or (y) at that Gallery the post of which it touched ; except as pro- vided in the following Laws. Note (a). — A ball in-play, which touches the Net-post and drops on the side opposed to the Striker, is marked a Chase at the Line on the side on which it drops. No/e {b). — A ball in-play which enters a Gallery is marked a Chase at that Gallery which it enters, notwithstanding that it may have touched an adjacent Gallery-post without touching the floor in the interim. Note (c). — The Gallery-lines on the floor correspond and are equivalent to the Galleries of which they bear the names. 1 8. A ball dropping or falling in the Net, or bounding over the Net after dropping, how marked. — When a ball in-play (a) drops or falls in the Net on the side opposed to the Striker ; or (6) drops on the floor on the side opposed to the Striker, and, bounding over the Net, falls on that side of it from which it was struck, whether it touch the Net in its bound or not; it is marked a Chase at the Line on the side opposed to the Striker. Chase marked in error is annulled. — If by an error three Chases have been marked, or two Chases when the score of either player is at forty or advantage, the last Chase in each case is annulled. The spectators in the Dedans have the right, or even the duty, to correct mistakes either in the Marker's scor- ing of points, or in the Marker's re-calling of Chases ; but not to correct mistakes in the Marker's first calHng of Chases, or his decision as to whether a Chase has been won or lost. LONG FIVES. There are no Chases in Long Fives. Long Fives is either for 8 points a game, or for ii points a game, according as the players decide whether the Match shall be for the best out of 3 or for the best out of 5 games. The players decide whether a ball hit into any Gallery or Opening, except the Winning Openings, and CH. xxxi] RULES AND ETIQUETTE 213 a ball making a Chase of the Last Gallery or any worse Chase, and a ball making any Chase on the Hazard-side, shall count {a) as a Let, or else {b) as a point against the striker. The players change sides after each game. It is usual for the player on the Service-side to concede 4 or even 5 points of the game to the player on the Hazard-side. GENERAL RULES. A ball which has either entered, or hit the post of, or hit some article within, the Dedans, or the Grille, or any of the Galleries, is counted as having entered that Gallery, and may not be struck afterwards. The settle- ment of details is best left to the special rules of individual Clubs. The Marker shall call Passes and Faults as soon as possible after they have been made, and, otherwise, shall call " Play " if there is likely to be any doubt ; he shall call the state of the game after each point ; he shall call the Chases when they are made, tell the players when they are to change sides, then repeat the Chase before each Service, and finally decide on the winning or losing of each Chase. His decision is always final, unless both players, before the Match, have already agreed to have a Referee, or unless one player, before the Match, requires an appeal to the majority in the Dedans, The Marker himself may ask the opinion of the Dedans ; but no appeal is allowed after the play has begun again. It is usual for players to correct the score and even the Chases by mutual agreement 214 TENNIS [PT. IV DOUBLE OR FOUR-HANDED MATCHES. The Laws are the same as for Singles, except that — One partner of one pair shall be Server or Striker-out against one partner of the other pair, in alternate games; although it is usual to allow the Striker-out to leave any ball to his partner. If the opposing pairs cannot agree as to which player shall be Server or Striker-out against which player, then the toss, or the spin of the racket, decides which pair is to have the choice. It is advisable to change in alternate sets. For ODDS OR HANDICAPS, see Chapter XXXII. ETIQUETTE. I. // is etiquette for you, as a player — Not to force for the Dedans when you are between the Net and the Line of the Last Gallery on the Hazard- side, unless — (i) you either send a Boasted Force, or (2) are taking a Service, or (3) are absolutely sure that you will not hit the ball near your opponent. N.B. — The modern tendency to force straight from close to the Net is despicable. Some Courts have a positive rule against such forcing. Not to serve before your opponent is ready. Not to baulk your opponent in any way: for example, by dawdling before you serve. Not to swear, or to use objectionable language, which will include any expression of anger at the decision of the Marker or Referee. CH. XXXI] RULES AND ETIQUETTE 215 Not to refuse to take proper Odds. The Marker is usually the best judge. 2. It is etiquette for you, as a spectator — (i) To refrain from any noise that may baulk a player just before he serves or during play ; and especially to refrain from making audible remarks, from shifting your chair or feet, from striking lights, etc. During the actual play of important matches there should be silence, except for the very lowest whisper. (2) Not to give either player any advice during the Match. And, possibly, (3) To correct any mistake in the points, or in the second calling of the Chases, but not in the first calling of the Chases, nor in the decision as to the winning or losing of Chases. CHAPTER XXXII HANDICAPS In this Chapter, as in the Chapter on Handicaps in Racquets, we shall call the stronger player F (for First), and the weaker player S (for Second). S should be ready to take his proper Handicap, and F should be ready to give it. Should S refuse to take it, then F can give some Handicap voluntarily. He can refrain from one of his strongest strokes : for example, his severest Service or his Force. But it should be an understood thing that players who are unequal should equalise their standard by some form of odds. There is no reason why it should be fixed : indeed, it is more satisfactory to let it rise or fall according to the results of the last Match. If this plan be adopted, a player need never complain that he is receiving too much or too little. Let the results of the game speak for them- selves and work their own reform. An exchange of Handicaps is also desirable. Let one player give the other " All-the-Openings " ; let the other give a certain number of points to compensate for this. Exchanges of Handicaps improve one's versatility and resource. Mr. Julian Marshall's list of equivalents should be most useful. " Round Services = Half-fifteen. 216 CH. xxxii] HANDICAPS 217 Half-the-Court-Barred = Half-thirty and a Bisque. All-the-walls Barred = Forty. Side-walls Barred = Half-thirty and a Bisque. All Opeyiings Barred = Half-fifteen and a Bisque. Winning Openings Barred = Half-fifteen for a Bisque." 1. Points. S may receive Half-fifteen, i. e. fifteen (the first point) in every second game in each Set. Fifteen, i. e. fifteen (the first point) in every game in each Set. Half-thirty, i.e. fifteen (the first point) in every odd game, and thirty (the first two points) in every second or even game, in each Set. Thirty, i. e. thirty (the first two points) in every game in each Set. Half-forty, i.e. thirty (the first two points) in every odd game, and forty (the first three points) in every even game, in each Set. Forty, i. e. forty (the first three points) in every game in each Set. 2. Bisques. Either F or S is allowed to claim one point or two points during a Set. These points are called Bisques. N.B. — A Bisque may be used to increase odds, as when S receives 1 5 and a Bisque, or to diminish Odds, as when S receives 15 for a Bisque, F receiving the Bisque. If there is a Chase, then the Bisque may be claimed either before or after the changing of sides. The Bisque may not be claimed after the ball has been served, nor after one Fault has been served. Handicaps by Points are simple. They have not yet 2i8 TENNIS [PT. IV been brought down to the fineness of Lawn Tennis Handicaps. They still are only — Half-fifteen ; Fifteen ; Half-thirty ; Thirty ; and so on. One cannot " owe " Points : the system of Chases makes this impossible. On the other hand, one has the Bisque, in the use of which considerable skill is required. Mr. Marshall makes some excellent remarks about the taking of the Bisque. It is a point that can be claimed by the player whenever he thinks it best to claim it But the Handicap by Points and Bisques is not always by itself enough to produce a good game between two uneven players ; and a Marker may ruin his play by always sending easy balls to beginners. Of course such practice gives him control in placing the ball. As we have seen, it is harder to send an easy ball that the beginner must return than a hard ball that the beginner cannot return. In the former case the Marker has to confine his stroke to a very narrow space ; he must have mastery over the ball. What we need is a system by which two players can meet, not merely on equal terms, but so that each shall play up his hardest, and improve his play where it is weakest. 3. Lo7ig Fives is the name given to the game in which the Openings (except the Winning Openings) are dis- regarded. At Long Fives one gets more exercise, and more continuous exercise than at the ordinary game. The rules for it are to be found in the rules of play. 4. Handicap by Implements. This form of Handicap has gone out of fashion. Personally I find a Cricket bat to be the best practice. It develops the wrist and the arm, though it may strain them also. It involves a very accurate timing of the ball, and a very accurate position of the body, and a very full swing. Pettitt is an adept with a small CH. xxxii] HANDICAPS 219 specially-shaped piece of wood : I believe that the original piece of wood was part of a chair. Needless to say, such an implement compels one to be extremely careful. An inch or two of misjudgment, and one's stroke is a failure. Older players played with some other object, as a soda-water bottle. We hear also of a player who undertook to jump into a tub between each two strokes. Another went through a Match with a heavy military equipment. Barre walked over forty miles before a Match in which he gave very heavy Odds. A variety of play is that one of the players should catch the ball with both hands, or with one hand, and throw it from the place where he has made the catch. If he is obliged to throw it with his left hand, he will not only improve his judgment, but will also exercise that side of his body. 5. The stronger player may be cut off from one or more of his strokes. F may be forbidden to volley the Service, or may be forbidden to volley at all, except when defending some Opening ; or he may be forbidden to half-volley. F may be forbidden to force into one or more of the Openings, or to hit the ball into any Opening. Of course the ball which he hits into any Opening must count as a stroke against him. Or he may be forbidden to serve severely. Thus the Service must hit both Penthouses : this is called the all- round Service. Or one Fault may count as two Faults. This is a Handicap which Lawn Tennis players should adopt more freely. Or the following strokes may count against F: — (i) If he hits a ball full onto any wall. (2) If he hits a ball full onto the Back-wall ; 220 TENNIS [PT. IV (3) Or onto the Side-walls ; (4) Or onto one Side-wall. Or if he hits the^ball onto any of the above while the ball is still in play, i. e. if he hits the ball onto any of them before it has bounced twice. " Touch-no-walls " is the severest of the Handicaps. If any of F's strokes hit any wall while the ball is still in play, i. e. before the second bounce, they count against F; S leaves alone a ball which he thinks will hit a wall. This is the best practice for Markers in their play with a beginner ; for they have to be in a very accurate pose in order to get control of the ball. Or one half of the Court may be forbidden to F. Either the first bounce counts, or else the second bounce. This gives F practice in placing the ball, at will, down the sides or across the Court. First he may have one side forbidden him ; and then the other side. Or the Court may be divided cross-wise, at the Last Gallery Chase-lines. 6. Or it may be agreed that all Chases which he makes, if they be worse than a certain Chase (the Last Gallery is the commonest), shall count against him. If he wishes to practise cutting the ball heavily, and getting the length of the Court, he should agree that all his strokes that fall worse than Chase 3 shall count against him ; so that all Chases which his opponent makes shall count as Chase 3, except of course those Chases which of themselves are better. 7. The above Handicaps may be combined in various ways, or may be exchanged. A good player can give a very bad player " Touch-no- Walls," and " All-round Service," and Thirty. 8. Last, but not least, left-handed play is worth practising. One disadvantage of Tennis is that it exer- CH. xxxii] HANDICAPS 221 cises the right side more than the left. It is true that it exercises the left to some extent if the strokes be made with a proper swing. But certainly it should be supple- mented by special left-handed play. With regard to the Scoring of 15-0, for the first point (instead of i-o, as at Racquets), this was perhaps because in France the Chases were scored up to 14, and it might have been confusing to have the Score " 1-2 ( = Fifteen- Thirty), Chase i and 2." Apparently at one time the Score went thus: "15, 30, 45, Game." No Chase, it will be seen, is carried on from one game into the next. The players change sides in time to prevent this, or when two Chases have been made. The Chases used to be reckoned not where the ball fell at its second bounce, but where it stopped rolling. In the modern game this would make most Chases " Chase the Line ! " No wonder the ancient players hit softly, if Chases were scored in this way. CHAPTER XXXIII THE GRIP AND THE STROKES The Grip of the Racket. — The Tennis racket may be held nearly in the same way as the Racquet or Squash racket. The Illustration shows a good average grip. Here, as at Racquets, the question arises : Shall one change the position of the fingers with respect to the handle, or shall one maintain a constant " habit " ? The distance of the hand from the face of the racket should certainly be altered according to circumstances. There are some Services (see Chapter XXXIV) for which the right place of the fingers is quite close to the racket's face : thus " Punch " Fairs brings the fingers near to its face, in an almost " Pingpongian " degree. Latham, for his Side-wall Service, does not let his fingers come anywhere near to the end of the handle. For some strokes sharp off the Back-wall, and for some severe Volleys, a similar "clubbing" of the implement may be useful, especially if one has a weak wrist. As to the exact pose of the fingers, they should not be huddled together, but should be (like the toes of the foot) allowed some separate action. At the moment of striking the ball, or, rather, just before that moment, they should hold the handle firmly (far more firmly than at Racquets). This is certain. But shall the handle always 222 Fig. 35. — A Tennis Grip. (See page 222.) Fig. 36. — A Correct Backhand Stroke. (Seldom seen in play.) (See page 229.) CH. xxxiii] THE GRIP AND THE STROKES 223 go across the middle section of the first finger (as in Photograph VIII, of the Squash-Tennis grip)? Or shall it go thus for a Backhand stroke, but, for a Fore- hand stroke, across the section nearer to the thumb ? Or shall it always go across this larger section ? If one decides to use different grips for Forehanders and Backhanders, one should make the change easy by practice of it outside the Court. One should change the grip by supporting the handle from behind with the thumb, when one takes a Backhand Volley high in the air. We have seen already that Burke habitually uses this support of the thumb for all Lawn Tennis Back- handers, and that Latham uses it for all strokes and Services at Racquets, Before and after strokes, the handle need not be tightly squeezed, but the head of the racket should not be allowed to drop. It should be kept at or above the level of the knee, if not raised to the hand-mirror height. The Strokes in general. — It has seemed to me more and more certain every year that for Tennis, before and after Strokes, one needs less alertness than for Racquets. Undoubtedly one stoops further down during many ordinary strokes, and therefore the "recovery " might well be somewhat later. But anyhow there appears less necessity for a rapid regaining of weight-balance, and of position in the Court, during the rally. And while one is hitting the ball one need not possess the same freedom and litheness and snap. There is more tightness, stiff- ness, set-ness. The whole arm — nay almost the whole side of the body — seems to form nearly one rigid piece of mechanism together with the heavy racket itself. Hence when one returns to brisk Singles at Racquets one has to subdivide one's arm and wrist into more inde- 224 TENNIS [PT. IV pendent parts — a task which recently (February, 1902) Latham was finding extremely difficult, in view of his Championship Match with Brown. But this rigidity is not always necessary. Pettitt is always absolutely free from it. Nor need one imagine that one should slice or cut every ball that comes to one. With many of the hardest returns one must be only too pleased to get the ball back somehow. And the hard Force and the useful stroke for the Nick extort no cut. Nor must one always stoop. The modern player does, it is true, come down with his weight on the ball. But often and often to stoop would not be to conquer. Simple Forehand and Backhand Strokes. — The general rules for positions and movements before and during and after strokes (see Part II) will apply here, except that here the ball frequently is further off from the player, and the player will not be so erect. But the sideway position of the feet (facing the direction in which the ball will come) must be already formed before the player strikes the ball, and must be preserved while he runs towards it or moves away from it. Moreover, the body and arm should be up and back before the stroke be made. Whether the stroke should be followed through or not will depend, as at Racquets, upon the player's personnel. If he have quickness and a good eye he may adopt Latham's snap-stroke, as described in Chapter XXIII. Cut. — In the Cut-stroke the racket strikes the ball not with the full face but at an angle, so as to slice the ball. It is probably better to master the full-faced (simple) stroke before the Cut-stroke be attempted. Then the Cut-stroke CH. xxxiii] THE GRIP AND THE STROKES jjj may be practised, i. e. the racket may meet the ball obliquely. Last of all, the racket may actually draw away from the ball the instant before contact. This is the exact reverse of the Lawn Tennis stroke, which aims not at Cut but at pace. Whereas the Lawn Tennis stroke makes a ball fly quickly, the Cut-stroke makes a ball fly slowly and come down sharp off the Back-wall. Both, however, serve the same purpose, namely, to get the ball past the opponent so that he shall not be able to return it. 1. First of all, then, the Cut-stroke tends to kill the ball by bringing it down with a snap off the wall. 2. This not only renders the ball harder to " pick up," but it also makes it fall nearer to the Back-wall : thus the Chase which is made is smaller and better. 3. About the stroke there is some added grace, es- pecially in the Backhand position (see the Illustration). 4. The Cut also lifts the ball somewhat, by means of the drag, and thus helps it over the Net. Against it, however, is the fact that, since it exposes less surface of the racket to the approaching ball, it involves greater risk. One is hitting the ball with a surface almost the same size as the handle of the racket. Besides this, with the Cut there is less pace. The Tennis player notices this when he comes into the Lawn Tennis Court. In the modern game, especially when one plays for the Nick or for the Openings, pace is all-essential, and the Cut-stroke involves a greater effort and more strain. At what height should one take the ball for the Cut- stroke ? As heavy a cut as any can be given with the head of the racket actually hitting the floor. George Lambert used to win his shortest Chases in this way ; and many 17 226 TENNIS [PT. IV others find such a position best. The stroke is repre- sented in the Photograph, where it will be seen that the ball is so low as to prevent the possibility of the head of the racket being above the level of the wrist. Pettitt's stroke almost invariably has the head of the racket far down, though he uses the twist rather than the pure Cut. By waiting till the ball has nearly dropped, he admirably conceals the direction of his drive. And perhaps the majority of good players take the ball not much higher than eighteen inches from the ground, while it is falling. Others, however, find that such a falling ball has lost much of its pace ; hence the pace has to be put on by the player rather than, as it were, to have been already put on by the opponent. For my own part, I prefer to hit a rising ball, though not to the extent to which one can go in Ping Pong. This rising ball stroke requires more judgment and therefore more risk. On the other hand it takes the opponent by surprise. Who does not know the feeling of hopelessness when he plays against a quick professional ? One never feels that one is up to the best form, and one cannot imagine why. One may be perfectly healthy and fresh. The best explanation is that the professional is nearly always hitting the ball a little sooner than one expects him to, Latham told me that this was why he had an advantage in Racquets. And the risk that one runs in hitting the rising ball is partly compensated for by the need of less pace : the ball having most pace on it when it begins to rise from the floor. Moreover, it is far easier to cut certain balls in a certain way as they come up. Every player must have been astonished at the amount of spin which he has put on a Half-volley quite unintentionally. A Half-volley is of course always a rising ball. A moment's reflection will Pig. 37. — A Cut-Stop Stroke, Forehanded. (.See page 230.) Fig. 38. — A Correct Forehand Stroke. (Seldom seen in play.) (See page 229.) CH. xxxiii] THE GRIP AND THE STROKES 227 give the reason. The ball, on rising and meeting the racket as it does, is bound to receive some spin without any kind of effort on the part of the striker. Last, but not least, it is sometimes impossible to avoid the rising ball, unless one leaves that ball for the Back- wall. It should be the aim of the opponent often to strike so that the ball may touch the floor somewhat in front of the player's feet, and so that the player shall be forced to make a stroke which is not exactly a Half- volley, and is not exactly what one would call in Cricket a " long hop." In fact, one is actually bowling to a batsman when one is hitting to a Tennis player. Let such a stroke be with plenty of cut, and the opponent will not dare to leave it alone. Should he do so, the ball would fall dead off the Back-wall. And so he is forced to take the ball as it rises, or else not at all. But whether he hits the ball as it falls, or whether he hits it as it rises, in any case there is absolutely no necessity for him to have the head of his racket above his wrist. This fallacy must be exposed once for all. Many professionals teach the awkward stroke as a matter of course, whether they practise it themselves or not. Few of them realise that the Backhand stroke of Burke and the Dohertys at Lawn Tennis is almost the only ordinary stroke in the two games in which the racket is habitually above the wrist. We are not here denying that such a position of the racket is invaluable — first of all, when one is volleying, especially off the Penthouse and, secondly, when one is taking a ball that bounces high. To get on the top of the ball is a help towards killing it. Nor do we mean to imply that the wrist should not support the racket — a somewhat vague phrase. Nor do we deny that certain 228 TENNIS [PT. IV players, such as Mr. Alfred Lyttelton, Charles Saunders, and Alfred Tompkins, have actually observed this classical law. What we do maintain is that such players as Latham, Pettitt, " Punch " Fairs, and Fennell very seldom do. If you would put this statement of mine to the test, watch Latham's racket when it actually touches the ball. This position does not differ radically from the position of his Racquet-stroke, and it would be ridiculous to pretend that in this the head is above the wrist. The Cut can be imparted to the ball while the head of the racket is either above the wrist or on a level with the wrist or below the wrist (as in the Racquet Service). How absurd it is to assume that a severe Cut cannot be imparted from this third position ! Think of Mr. Ash- worth's Service at Racquets, or indeed thinkoftheordinary Service at Racquets ; surely one would not wish for any- thing severer ; and from the Forehand Court such a Service frequently has the head of the racket below the wrist. With regard to the Cut, then, one might say that it can be given with the racket in any one of the three positions, and that it need not be given as a matter of course at every stroke. The easier the ball is to return, the more Cut one should aim at adding. " Use deter- mines all things." The object of the Cut is not careful- ness nor conformity to theory — an old-fashioned theory at that. It is to give the ball a spin which shall make it rise slightly in the air, and then come down quickly off the walls. But the first essential of success is the hitting the ball over the Net. A magnificently cut ball into the Net does no good to any one. The Twist-stroke is often confused with the Cut, and indeed the two may be found in combination. The Pettitt Service gives an instance of an almost pure Twist ; I Fig. 39.— Jim Harradixe Ready for Volley off Penthouse. (See page 231.) Fig. 40.— Practice of Volley off Penthouse First position. (See page 231.) CH. xxxiii] THE GRIP AND THE STROKES 229 the racket strikes the ball at its side. As in the Photo- graph of Latham in Chapter XXXIV, the ball will move away from the striker, i.e. towards his right, when it has hit the floor. This is the commonest kind of Twist, though the Twist given by the " Punch " Fairs Service (Chapter XXXIV) will make the ball move in the opposite direction or even backwards when it has hit the floor. For the angles off" the floor and off" the Side- walls we must refer to Mr. Julian Marshall's * Annals of Tennis.' Some useful Diagrams are given there. " One small point may be noticed. Let the player strike a ball with a Twist, and let him notice what happens before and after it reaches the Back-wall. He has hit a Forehand stroke down the middle of the Court. Directly the ball has touched the floor, it begins to move away to his right. But, directly it has hit the Back-wall, it begins to move back towards his left. The total and ultimate effect, for the player who is waiting for it, may be nearly that of an ordinary stroke without Twist at all." The Stop-stroke need not be discussed here. It is neither a slicing of the ball, nor yet a twisting of the ball. It is best seen in the Half-volley of which we have spoken already. Latham's ordinary Racquet-stroke is neither a Cut nor a Twist : it is a Stop-stroke. The Forehand-stroke : see Photograph XXXVII. For the Forehand stroke the old school of players used to hold the head of the racket as in Photograph XXXVI or XXXVIII ; at least they did so in theory, and always urged young players to do so. And they occasionally illustrated this by holding their own rackets thus before the learner. Ask one of these players at what height from the ground he takes the ball, and he will probably tell you twelve to eighteen inches. Now ask him to put himself into such a position that, with the ball at this height, he shall still have the head of his racket above the level of his wrist, as in the photograph of Latham 230 TENNIS [PT. IV (XXXVIII). The theorist will then realise how seldom the ball is actually struck in this way in a real game. Quite apart from the Volley off the Penthouse and the ball that bounces high off the floor, the stroke with the head of the racket below the wrist, or, at the most, level with the wrist, is usually far safer. In practising the Forehand Cut-stroke one should first master the stroke without Cut, then the stroke which slices the ball, and then, last of all, the stroke which, the moment before it touches the ball, moves away so as to make the ball drag. We have already seen that the English Lawn Tennis Backhand stroke of some of the best experts is made with the head of the racket high ; and perhaps the ideal Backhand will be of such a kind. Whether this also holds good for the Lawn Tennis Forehand I very much doubt. The American Forehand stroke, with the head of the racket down, seems to me to be far more effective. It is the stroke which few Englishmen do well. An illustration of the Tennis Backhand Cut of the classical kind is given here in Photograph XXXVI. But, obviously, very few players will run the risk which this position involves, especially as one has to take the ball while it is rising from the floor. It is hard for ordinary players to hit such a ball at all safely, however effectively the stroke may be made by the expert. But to ask them to do this with such a contorted attitude is too much. For the ordinary player we should advise the stroke nearer to the one in Photographs XI and XII, or even XXXVIL The severity of the Cut may be increased or decreased, till eventually the player can safely make the stroke with the racket's face moving away from the ball at the moment of contact. CH. xxxiii] THE GRIP AND THE STROKES 231 The Volley. — The general rules for the use of the Volley are, first of all, that one should not put on too much pace ; since the ball, not having struck the floor or the Back-wall, has lost no pace of its own. Again, I say, one should aim at safety before one attempts to kill ; one should be certain to return the ball, hitting it more and more severely in proportion as one is more and more sure of the power to return. One should follow the line of the ball as long as possible before and after one expects to touch it. The racket should meet the ball on its own curve, either advancing slightly towards the ball, or else remaining almost stationary, or else actually drawing back. When this Volley becomes easy, the Cut-volley can be practised ; the wrist-flick during a Volley is scarcely worth the danger. Often the Volley is a safer stroke than the one off the floor. Throughout games and matches we have to choose between the ordinary stroke and the Volley. For example, a ball is approaching which might be fairly easy off the Back-wall, but we have to settle immediately whether it would not pay better to volley it, and get it back before the opponent is ready. Similarly, when a ball is coming off the Penthouse, shall we volley it, and so get a severe Cut from above, a Cut like that of Mr. Dames Longworth's Racquet Service, or shall we let the ball hit the floor, and then take it in the usual way ? The Volley off the Penthouse is the best practice for volleying. Photograph XXXIX shows Jim Harradine preparing for such a Volley ; and the Photographs with the Apparatus (XL and XLI) represent the ball as it will be when the racket meets it. The Boasted Volley, the Volley hit direct onto the Side-wall, has this advantage on many occasions, that it meets the ball in the approaching line. In Illustration 332 TENNIS [PT. IV XLII, Latham is represented as taking it when the ball has been hit up against the main Side-wall and will naturally go into the Dedans; Latham is meeting it along its own curve, and is returning it back onto the Main-wall. Such a return involves less risk than a slashing Volley across the Court. For a Volley it may often be important to grip the racket somewhat nearer to its face, and it is almost always important to stiffen the wrist. For the Backhand Volley one first draws the wrist back from the palm and towards the upper arm. The Lob is useful. Some few players can lob well into the Dedans ; and a Lob which shall reach that opening after it has bounced once is occasionally the stroke to which one is compelled to resort. The Half-volley generally puts a drag upon the ball. One must be able to use both the Volley and the Half- volley, even if one need not use them frequently. While they are risky, they yet have this advantage, that they get hold of the ball while it still has much pace on it. Boasted Strokes. — Of the Boasted Strokes we have already spoken. The angles at which they will come off the Side-walls and Back-wall need not be described here in detail, since Mr. Julian Marshall has done the task so well already. But one example may be taken, viz. Diagram i6. Each player should work out the rest for himself by drawings, and by experiments in the Court. The example is copied from the 'Annals of Tennis.' Sometimes the Boast is the only possible stroke : for instance, it is hard to imagine any other satisfactory way of dealing with many American Overhead Services. The Fig. 41.— Practice of A'olley off Pexthovse. Second posilioii. iSee page 231.) Fig. 42. — Latham Returning a Boasted Force. (See page 232.) CH. XXXili] THE GRIP AND THE STROKES 233 ball clings so closely to the Side-wall that any other attempt to get it up would be next to useless. The Boast puts on a twist, and thus to some extent serves the purpose of an actual Twist with some Cut. The angles which this Twist will give to the ball after its contact with the floor, and with the Back- and Side-walls, will puzzle beginners and others. Thirdly, the Boasted stroke helps to place the ball, as we have seen in the Chapter on Racquets. Fourthly, the Boast may meet the ball in its own line. SIDE -WALL 2 ^¦^ 1 ^ ^_ 1 • t; a ^-' ^ ^' . ^^ < . x^ »^ ^1 ^ ^^ Jy 4 .-" ^ z Ul r- ^^ * SIDE -WALL Diagram 16.— The Angles made by a Boasted Ball {from ' Annals of Tennis'). A ball coming off the Side-wall will naturally be hit back onto that Side-wall. For these reasons the Boasted Stroke is invaluable; but it should not be attempted until the ordinary strokes have been mastered. Forcing. — In speaking of the Force, we may put on one side the Lob-force, which is a miserable stroke if it misses the Opening. The Lob-force will come into the Opening either directly or after its first bounce. Such a Force is seldom practised. Nor indeed is the ordinary Force practised. Pettitt 234 TENNIS [PT. IV could time after time hit a piece of paper, held up against the Dedans-Net, from the opposite end of the Court. Scarcely any players, however, can make sure of getting within a foot or two of it. Forcing is so promi- nent a feature of the modern game that it is worth practising by itself. The American players excel the English players in the skill with which they mask the direction of their Force. The force may be a hard Drive, with or without Cut. The ball has to rise above the Net (unless of course it be taken very high), and then it has to fall again into the Opening, the Dedans or the Grille. Therefore too great a pace may involve too great a risk. The Force is valuable for many reasons. More pace may be given; and, as many beginners at Billiards find, it seems easier to play accurately when one hits hard than when one hits gently. As one can use the full face of the racket, less risk is involved. Besides this, the opponent is probably weak in volleying, or else he does not expect the Force ; or perhaps you yourself have no time to get into position for an ordinary stroke ; or, if you leave the ball, it would hit the Nick, or else come down owing to a heavy Cut. You therefore volley it, and, not caring to risk a Volleyed Cut, you try to force the ball. It is exceptionally useful, however, when there is a very small Chase (or a very long Chase) to be won. In either event, if you get the ball into the Openings you win a point. In the latter event, if you fail to get the ball into the Opening, you still may not lose the long Chase. In aiming for the Dedans it is better to aim too low than too high. I am not sure that a number of Boston players do not try to hit the ball between the Dedans CH. xxxiii] THE GRIP AND THE STROKES 235 Opening and the Nick, so that in case of inaccuracy the ball may strike either the Opening or the Nick. The Force should be concealed as far as possible. Pettitt in America and Fennell in England are among the best exponents of the concealed Force. But it is not worth while to conceal the Force at the expense of accuracy. One should never force when one is near the Net, except in taking a Service, and in sending a Boasted Force. The Boasted Force is most effective ; very few can stop it. George Lambert employed it to perfection. When everything else seems to involve too much danger, when to cut the ball severely would mean a vast risk, then, time after time, one can get oneself out of the difficulty either by a straight Force, or by a Boasted Force, if not by an ordinary Boasted Stroke. Nevertheless it is good at times to bar the Side-walls. This special form of Handicap prevents one from relying habitually upon the Boast. Puns are too obvious to need mention here. As I said elsewhere, among the disadvantages of the Boast are its ugliness (there are exceptions), and the slowness with which the boasted ball is apt to travel, and also the fact that the Boast is apt to bring the ball into the middle of the Court, instead of making it keep close to the Side-wall. Last, but not least, it is apt to spoil the style of the Boaster : it frequently has a deleterious effect upon his play in general. CHAPTER XXXIV SERVICE " The Service has been aptly described by the French as Pdme du jeu, for upon it rests the issue of most games or sets that are played. ' No one,' says Mr. Lukin, ' can be an attentive spectator, without observing its influence and effect. A good Service, like a good opening at Chess, generally gains the attack (no small advantage). ' " — Julian Marshall. In Tennis-Services there is enormous variety, and only a few types can be mentioned here. The variety is due to many causes, for instance, to (i) the place where one stands, whether near the side Penthouse or not, or near the Dedans-wall or not ; (ii) the position in which one stands, whether with the feet parallel to the Net, or at right angles to the Net and turning either towards the Penthouse wall or towards the Main wall on the right ; (iii) the way in which one holds the racket, whether near the face or near the end ; (iv) the way in which one strikes the ball, simply, or with an overhand cut or twist, or with an underhand cut or twist ; with the wrist-action chiefly, or the full arm- action alone, and so on ; (v) the height of the ball, the number of times it hits the Penthouse, the pace, and whether it hits the Side- wall or not. 236 CH. xxxiv] SERVICE 237 The Service at Tennis is, in fact, far more varied than the bowling at Cricket, and, though seldom studied and seldom attended to, it ought to make a difference of many points in every Set. Mr, Ross seems to think that it is in Service especially that the Professional has the advantage over the Amateur : and, if the superiority of Professionals over Amateurs in bowling is a fair analogy, there would appear to be great reason in this view : anyhow it is, like all that Mr. Ross says on the subject, of very great interest and worthy of serious attention. It is the Service that has added so much to the game of Pettitt, of Saunders, of Latham, and of " Punch " Fairs, in these latter days, and used to add many points to the game of the old French players, who would study and cultivate Service as one of the most important factors in success. He who would excel as a Tennis-player must learn to serve. They do not serve who only stand and hit. We must have at least one excellent Service, and at least one Service on which we can fall back in case the first should fail. I speak from experience, as it was only quite recently that I believed those who told me that I must learn this art. At one time I used to serve anyhow, and I used to rely on my power of returning the ball some- how, and of starting the rally going. And, indeed, there was more to be said for this policy than the critics realised ; for I never served with such effort as to throw myself off my balance. I was far readier to receive a return than I am now. I now notice that those who serve best are, as a rule, least prepared to win the rally afterwards. Latham is an exception to this, as indeed to most statements of what a player cannot do. Service is hardly ever taught as it should be. It is 238 TENNIS [PT. IV hardly ever taught or learnt in successive stages. The stages seem to be as follows. I cannot imagine any way in which a duffer can improve his Service properly with- out attention to these stages. First, he should get the right direction, then the right height, then the right pace and length ; then he should add cut or twist, and, generally, should add severity ; next, he should be able to recover his balance and his alertness immediately after a Service : last, but not least, he should study variety, and should exercise his judg- ment as to which of the varied Services he had better employ on any given occasion. For in Tennis there is a variety of Service with which, as we said, even the variety of bowling at Cricket cannot compare, I suppose that he who studied nothing but Service, and studied it in an original and independent spirit, for a lifetime, would find at least twenty different kinds, each of which would be specially suited to some special occasion or to some special Court or player. The neglect of variety in Service tends to make modern play somewhat monotonous to watch. Thus Pettitt and Latham, throughout their famous Match at Brighton, kept to practically the same Service all through. " Punch " Fairs hardly ever varies his kind. Mr. Ross is perhaps the ablest exponent of the varied Service theory. His criticisms in the ' Field ' are always suggestive. Here we need only touch on the main kinds which are in vogue to-day. Fortunately, what we may call the bash-bang Service, without particular cut or twist, has disappeared, let us hope never to appear again. Latkatn's Side-wall Service. — Latham's favourite is the Side-wall Service, which on some days he does not often Fig. 43. — Jim IIarradixe Serving. (See page 239.) Fig. 44.— Side- Wall Service, with Apparatus. First position. (See page 239.) CH. xxxiv] SERVICE 239 vary, except for special occasions. A gentle form of the Service is shown in the illustration of Harradine (XLIII). The advantage of this style over the style adopted by Pettitt and others, is that it gets the Server into the habit of a good cut stroke. The Server has the first practice, as it were, in each rally. It is essential that the Service, unless it is to be absolutely untakable, should not put the Server off the best possible stroke afterwards. To practise the Service somewhat as Latham does it, stand under the Penthouse at about Chase 3 and 4. Let your feet and body face the angle where the Back-wall meets the Main-wall, i, e. near the right corner of the Dedans. The feet can be from 12 to 18 inches apart. Hold the racket rather near its face, not near the end of the handle (as you would in a Pettitt Service). Draw your hand and arm up and back, far to your right, till your body faces the other corner where the two Penthouses meet. Keep your eye on the ball, which can be held nearly at arm's length, and somewhat above the level of the waist : see Photograph XLIV. Now comes the sweep and swing, into which you should put the whole weight of your shoulder and body. The racket should end up near your left shoulder (Photo- graph XLVI), which during the swing and sweep is moving away towards the left. Your body should end up facing that place where the ball in its flight will hit the Side-wall above the Penthouse. The ball, with a severe spin upon it, should touch this wall under the third window from the end (in a good many Courts), and hit the Penthouse once, and then hit the floor once close to the Back-wall, and should then hit the Back- wall and drop, owing to the cut. It is hard to return this Service with an effective first stroke. Pettitt often forces it straight to the opponent's 240 TENNIS [PT. IV right-hand corner of the Dedans. This is a favourite American stroke, of which the chief English exponents have been Mr, Walker and J. Fennell. For practice of this Service, of which one of the main features is that the racket should move outside the ball, see the Chapter on " Practice inside the Court." The exercises which it involves are among the healthiest possible. The movement is, in some respects, not unlike that of bowling at Cricket. The Saunders and Fairs Service. — This is very similar in some respects to the Latham Service ; but for it one stands at Chase 5 and 6, or even at the last Gallery Chase, and close to the Main-wall, i. e. the right-hand wall. Here, as before, the ball is held in the left hand far away from the body. It may be held somewhat higher or somewhat lower than in the Latham Service, and the racket may be gripped somewhat nearer to its face, and therefore further from the end of the handle. One draws back the right side and shoulder and arm as before, and one sweeps round as before with one's whole weight, swinging the racket so that it shall move outside the ball. But in this Service it seems to me that the ball is somewhat nearer to the body, and that the racket usually ends up, not at the left shoulder, but round still further, and near to the right shoulder, as in the Illustration (XLVII). If we start with this position, the racket being, as it were, hunched up near to the right shoulder, then we shall be likely also to finish up each stroke in this position. Here we have an important principle — it would be hard to say how far it applies to the majority of strokes — viz. to begin to prepare for the stroke by Fig. 45. — Side-AVall Service, with Apparatus. Second position. (See page 339.) mmuamsim smSttiMiiii^ Fig. 46. — Finish of Side-Wall Service. (Exaggerated.) (See page 239.) CH. XXXI v] SERVICE 241 getting into that position in which you wish to finish up. The tendency will be (see p. 25 1) to finish up as we began. When the simple Service has been mastered, there can be added to it a sudden turn of the wrist at the moment when the racket is touching the ball, though I believe that " Punch " Fairs does not employ this wrist- turn. Ted Johnson, a very promising young Professional, uses this wrist-turn effectively. The disadvantage of this Service is that it is apt to throw the Server off his balance. There is required a prodigious exercise of those vast muscles under the arms and at the back of the body. The whole weight of the trunk seems to be put into the effort. And so it may be well to practise this Service, if one is going to use it at all, with the object of making any return impossible or next to impossible. One should rely on killing the first stroke by it. Try to leave your opponent no space in which to return the ball freely. The ideal Service hits the side Penthouse only once ; and then goes either onto the floor or onto the back Penthouse, but anyhow leaves no space for a good swing and attack. It is easy to vary the direction of it, by making one's feet face more in one direction or in the other, or by throwing the ball further in front or behind. One can vary the height by taking the ball lower down or higher up. But for further details about this Service we must refer to the Chapter on " Practice inside the Court." ^^ Railroad" Service. — The next Service is the overhead Railroad Service, of which Messrs. Stockton and Crane, of Boston, are the best exponents. They serve on the same general principle. They make an overhead stroke, not unlike the American Lawn Tennis Service with a z8 242 TENNIS [PT. IV reverse twist. But I imagine that they have a somewhat looser wrist than the American Lawn Tennis players. They hold their racket very near the end also, and not near the face. I have not seen this twist clearly described yet, and 1 shall not attempt to describe it here ; it must be seen to be realised. Many English Markers can explain it to beginners. Some idea of it is given in Photographs XLIX and L. The best type of overhead Railroad Service or under- hand Railroad Service hits the Penthouse only once. Then it may hit the Back-wall full, driving the opponent up towards the Net, and cramping him, since the Net here is very high. Mr. Stockton's Service used to bring me right up almost as far as the Marker ! sometimes it used to fall at its second bounce nearly at the Door. It was extremely hard to follow, and all that one could do was either to force straight for the Dedans, or to hit hard for the Nick, or to hit under the Galleries, right against the Batteries on one's own side, and thence either into the Dedans or into one's opponent's right-hand corner. The ball here received a heavy spin, which puzzled Pettitt considerably in his great Match with Latham. This Service generally clings to the Side-wall, and is very difficult to dispose of, and almost impossible to cut ; though the oftener one plays against it the easier it becomes. Mr. Crane, as distinct from Mr. Stockton, generally aims at getting the Nick rather than at driving one into the front of the Court. This policy is equally effective. I have known him serve many Nick-Services in succes- sion, though it would not have been impossible to volley these. When the Server has such a run of Services, one's chief aim must be to get over to the other side of the Net by making a Chase at all costs. Pig. 47. — The Finish of a "Punch" Fair's Service. (Exaggerated.) (See page 240.) Fig. 48. — Charle.s Sauxders Serving. (See page 240.) CH. xxxiv] SER VICE 243 If such a Service falls short of the Nick, it may bounce into the Winning Gallery. Anyhow it will return towards the Side-wall, and will be uncomfortable to manage. This sounds, at first, rather as if such a Service were a thing to be cultivated ; and so it is for emergencies. But against it one must plead that it spoils the best or at least the most typical Tennis stroke, namely the heavy cut into the corner. It spoils this stroke, not only for the receiver of the Service, but also for the Server him- self It encourages the hard bang. The Server is nearly always put off his balance, and off his best return. Underhand Railroad or Petiitt Service. — Pettitt and George Lambert have been among the ablest exponents of this particular type. It is certainly Latham's weakest point ; I have scarcely ever seen him send this kind effectively. For it one stands about Chase 3 ; the two feet nearly face the Penthouse, though the right foot may be some- what to the right and away back from the Penthouse. The knees may be bent a little, and the right shoulder may be far down. The racket is brought up and back- ward ; then in its flight it moves not on the outside of the ball (as in the Latham Service), but on the inside of the ball. Moreover it hits the ball low down and returns upwards to a position either right in front of one's own face or somewhat to one's right, i. e. near one's right shoulder. In this Service far more wrist is used than in the Side- wall Service. For the way to practise it, we must refer to the Chapter on " Practice inside the Court." The Giraffe Service is very useful, especially if there 244 TENNIS [PT. IV be a short Chase. The ball is hit while it is far higher in the air than during any other Service except the Overhead. This Giraffe Service bears almost the same relation to the Underhand Railroad Service as the Fairs or Saunders bears to the Side-wall Service. It goes far higher into the air, and aims at driving the opponent into the corner towards the Grille. In this Service, the racket ends up often behind the right shoulder, after having swung opposite the left shoulder ; and therefore for this Service one might start with the racket opposite the right shoulder, on the principle laid down above. If the taker of this Service does not volley it, he may perhaps find that the most useful plan is to force it straight for the Dedans, especially if he can conceal the direction of his strokes as Pettitt and Fennell do. The slow Drop-Service is useful, because it takes very little out of the Server. Stand near the middle of the Court, at about Chase 5, and hit the ball, without much cut, either onto the Side- wall first, or directly onto the Penthouse, and (as in the corresponding Racquet Service) aim at getting the length of the Court. This high Drop-Service is useful when you have small Chases to defend. The slow good-length Service is well done by Mr. Ross. He stands close to the Penthouse, at about Chase 3 and 4. He hits the ball slowly onto the Penthouse, using his body-swing rather than his wrist. The ball dribbles along the Penthouse, and often hits the Nick. The advantage of this slow Service is that it forces the opponent to make the pace. Jim Harradines favourite Service is somewhat similar, but he puts on a slight cut. The ball hits the Penthouse once, over the Second Gallery on the Hazard Side, and p^ 1 'S m p^pq W S ."^ .2 P^ fe ^ 5 3 o ^ Eii 3 ^ _t_i C 3 o ,:3 m « ^ 3 .1= g W -2 K* ? -^ ::-' ¦S,^ H .2 h5 CH. XXXI v] SERVICE 24S then clings close to the Side-wall. This is a good Service when there is a Hazard Chase, since it is hard to return the ball into any of the Galleries. Mr. J. B. Gribble has a Service of his own. He stands about the middle of the Court, near the Last Gallery Line, and, letting the ball drop quite low down, he sends a slow Twist-Service, which meanders along the Pent- house, and then, if it does not get the Nick, usually hits the floor and then the Back-wall, and finally returns towards the Side-wall. Here, again, the opponent has to put on all the pace. The Service should be chosen according to the occa- sion, and especially according to the Chase. For ex- ample, if there be a Hazard Chase, then one should aim at getting the length of the Court, and one should send such a Service that the opponent cannot easily hit it into one's Galleries. If one wishes to stop him from forcing, a high Drop-Service may be the best. One cannot do better than watch the good player, or rather the veteran player. Perhaps one is almost com- pelled to go to France if one would learn what Service to send for any given purpose. Merely to vary the Service is ndf nearly the whole of the art of serving : for one must know when to use each special variety ; each has its proper place and time, and on the use of the right Service at the right time depends a good deal of the Server's success and enjoyment : to take every advantage of the particular Court — for Courts differ from one another very appreciably — , to take every advantage of the particular light — for here again Courts differ from one another, and a single Court will differ in its light at one spot and at another — , to take every advantage of the particular state of the game, of the 246 TENNIS [PT. IV particular Chase, and — last but not least — of the par- ticular opponent and his strong and weak points : all this should receive careful consideration. And, as I have suggested already, attention can be best given to this, and to many other subjects, in one's spare moments — while one is travelling, while one is waiting, while one is trying in vain to get to sleep. Such theorisings and imaginings will form a pleasant change in the midst of work or worry. But variety of Service, and the use of the right Service at the right time, and careful study spent on these points are not enough. What more can be demanded of a player } Each player, as we said above, should have his own speciality : we must learn a lesson from the progress of mankind, and specialise. While we have at our disposal every variety, or at any rate numerous varieties, yet we should have some one or two which we can call our very own. Let this or these be our basis, on which we may always fall back. Let us spend a quarter of an hour over it or them in the Tennis-Court once every now and then. We shall never regret it. In taking the Service, notice the opponent's body, and especially his wrist ; listen also for the sound which the ball makes when it leaves the racket. If you can observe closely what happens after each position and movement, and after each different sound, you will soon instinctively judge what will happen on any occasion. As a general rule, we would advise the receiver of the Service to stand with the head of his racket sup- ported by his left hand, or held in the hand-mirror position, with his knees somewhat bent, and with his feet not upon their heels but upon their balls. CHAPTER XXXV PRACTICE OUTSIDE THE COURT It is only human to go frequently into the Court and play a game, even when one knows that success would come more surely from practice outside the Court, or from practice inside the Court ; but success is not the sole object in life : enjoyment is another object. In America, where I had the opportunity of watching and talking with beginners at the game, I was almost invariably met with the answer, " I want to enjoy myself; I do not want to spend my time in learning the game." It was nearly impossible to convince beginners that they would never enjoy the game properly unless they spent time in learning it. I tried to point out that the alphabet of play, the words which made up the sentences, and the sentences which made up the paragraphs, were not the paragraphs themselves, and still less the chapters, and certainly not the whole book, but that they were in- tegral parts of the book ; that he who would fully appre- ciate play must feel that he was improving gradually; and that he who would improve gradually must pay attention to the A B C, to the individual words, to the individual sentences, to the individual paragraphs. They were not play, they were only a preparation and appren- ticeship for successful and therefore for pleasant play. 247 248 TENNIS [PT. IV Without them I should not have appreciated my present recreations a quarter as much as I do. And let me here advise most people who want to play a game casually, " for the fun of the thing," and without apprenticeship, to choose some other game — perhaps Squash, certainly not Tennis. The remarks in this Chapter, and in the corresponding Chapter on Racquets, are based entirely on personal experience. Whilst I do still practise outside the Court, I am not obliged to do so nearly as much as before, except in order to correct small faults. At one time I had a vast number of mistakes in my style ; I was un- aware of what they were ; I only knew that I was playing badly, very badly ; I had a vague glimmering of ambition to play better, and in dreams I used to imagine myself making the strokes which now I actually make in the Court. Then, as I have described already, I came to analyse the different parts of play, very much as I might take a watch to pieces. Up to that time I had only seen the watch of others as a watch ; I had seen it working beautifully, and keeping time reliably, but I had not examined its mechanism. Now I ex- amined the mechanism of play, and took the watch of play to bits, and, as it were, re-made my own watch, part by part, manufacturing and correcting each little section of it by itself, with the utmost care and attention. I offer this part of the book in the belief that most players still have a large number of my old faults, and are unaware of them even as I was : that they only know that somehow they are playing badly. First and foremost come the various exercises which can be practised, for a minute or two at a time, now and then during the day. The exercises for deep and full breathing through the nose, the various foot-movements, CH. xxxv] PRACTICE OUTSIDE THE COURT 249 the sideways running with the head facing forwards (one of the hardest arts to acquire), the neck-exercises from side to side,^ the body-swing with weight-shifting, the full-arm-swing, the fore-arm-swing, the finger-move- ments, and the wrist-shakings to get litheness and freedom — all these exercises have been described above. All seem to be essential to success in the case of those who have not such parts of the stroke and play by nature, and who therefore have to acquire them by conscious art. Let these movements at first be slow and full, then let them gradually become faster and brisker ; then let them be varied by arrested movements. It is in these additional arrested movements that my system differs from Macdonald Smith's, which consists entirely of fast full movements. In the exercises it is necessary to repeat similar movements in succession ; not to change rapidly from one movement to another, but rather to acquire each independently, and afterwards to combine them, two by two and then three by three. The Forehand and Back- hand movements have been described above. We have also seen how a player can practise by himself against a plain wall or in a Squash Court, with a Lawn Tennis ball, and how he can use the Ball-Game Exerciser for the various strokes and Services. Let us in this Chapter consider this Exerciser especially. For the Forehand stroke, put the ball from 12 to 18 inches from the floor; stand facing it with the feet 12 to 18 inches apart. Now do the Tennis stroke as described in a previous Chapter : and see Photo- * It is obvious that dancing would be excellent practice here. He who can dance well, should be readier to acquire these arts. 250 TENNIS [PT. IV graphs XI and XII. First hit the ball full, then gradually increase the amount of cut — that is to say, hit the ball with the racket-face turned more and more away from it. Carry through the stroke, and give the full body-swing. When you can hit the ball with a severe cut, then you may actually turn the racket away from the ball at the moment when it strikes the ball. This will give a still more marked rotation to the stroke, and a still severer cut or twist. After each stroke you should end up alert. It will be far better if you can get a good Marker or player to show you how he would stand for an easy Forehand cut- stroke; then mark on the floor where his feet are, and imitate the stroke immediately after him, till you can reproduce what he does. Afterwards you may have to modify your stroke, for yours may not be exactly like his ; but, for practical purposes, you may imitate him to start with. The same will apply to the Backhand stroke : the position of the feet for this was shown in Diagrams 2 and 5, and the general position in Photographs XI and XII. When you have mastered the ordinary cut-strokes for Forehand and Backhand, then you can stand away from the Apparatus, and keep your eyes on the ball ; move into position, and see how nearly your feet coincide with the marks which you have put upon the floor. Practise moving into position until you get your feet into these marks every time. Your first strokes should be out and away from you. After these have become easy, you can practise the strokes across your body, such strokes as you would make from one corner of the Court into the opposite corner rather than down the sides. CH. xxxv] PRACTICE OUTSIDE THE COURT 251 Placing the ball somewhat lower, you can practise a Pettitt Service ; placing it somewhat higher, you can practise a Latham Service ; placing it somewhat higher again, you can practise a " Punch " Fairs Service ; and, somewhat higher still, a Giraffe Service. See Chapter XXXIV. But, as often as you can, get some competent teacher to supervise your various strokes. Let him point out which part of your body is making a mistake. Let him show you how any given stroke should end up ; then, if you start with the finishing pose, you will have a natural inclination to come back to it after the stroke. This principle seems to be of especial importance in Service, but it applies to some extent elsewhere, at any rate in practice outside and inside the Court. CHAPTER XXXVI PRACTICE INSIDE THE COURT Hitherto, with the Ball-Game Apparatus, one has had a ball ready to be struck. Now it is necessary to go to the ball, as Mahomet had to go to the mountain. We have not merely to see the ball, but to time its flight : a very different matter, a matter which does not enter into a course of instruction as given by ordinary " Physical Culturists." It is in thus timing the flight of the ball, and adapting themselves to the right position in advance, that most players are weak. For practice inside the Court, as for Service, there are successive stages. First, one should aim at the right direction of the stroke : one should face the Main-wall on the Service side, and hit the ball up against this Main-wall, trying to keep it between two of the Chase lines. When the ball goes outside either of the two lines, one must correct the position of the body or the swing of the racket. Having got the direction of the stroke correctly, one may now get the height of the stroke, which is an easier matter. You will find that it will depend chiefly upon where you take the ball ; the swing of the racket is first downwards and then upwards. Take the ball too soon, and you will hit it down ; take the ball at the right 252 CH. xxxvi] PRACTICE INSIDE THE COURT 253 instant, and you will hit it to the right height ; take the ball too late, and you will hit it too high. Having acquired the power of striking the ball along a certain line, and to a certain height, you may next vary the pace and the length of the stroke. In these strokes the racket is supposed to meet the ball with the open face, and I should recommend that the beginner master the simple stroke before he proceeds to the cut : I have seen dozens of Tennis-players who have been taught to cut the ball in a most elaborate manner, and in a manner often absolutely at variance with the practice of the teacher, long before they knew how to get the ball over. I have seen many players, who might have improved rapidly, kept back by the fact that they did not know how to get a simple Back- hander over the Net in a simple way. After this, you may add the cut : first the plain cut, growing more and more severe, and then the cut during which the racket moves away from the ball at the moment of striking it. This is not altogether to be distinguished from the twist. The severity of the cut and twist should be increased gradually. Having acquired all these essentials of a good stroke, you must next see to your recovery after the stroke. At first you will be thrown off your balance, and indeed you must disregard this : you will have to give your whole attention to the movements themselves. By degrees, however, they will become easy, and you will be able to get ready for a new stroke the moment that the old stroke is over. Last of all, you can give attention to variety. You may pass quickly from one kind of stroke to another ; but at first this would be the greatest mistake imagin- able. Divide et impera : take the things to be mastered 254 TENNIS [PT. IV and master them one by one. When you have mastered them one by one, then practise them in various ways, and notice the effect of each particular stroke, so that when you come to use it in a game you may use it with judgment. See, for example, what happens to a ball when you have cut it, as distinct from what happens to a ball when you have twisted it This observation of what happens to any given stroke is sadly neglected by teachers. They teach the player how to hit the ball, but they do not make him mark the effect of each particular style of hit. In learning any sort of stroke you should, first of all, hit or throw the ball several times onto the Side-wall, and notice where it falls at its second bounce ; or, better still, get another to do this for you. It is sounder to begin with the Side-wall play than with the Penthouse play : that should come second. Next throw the ball to the same place, and get into the position to make the stroke. Do not make the stroke yet, but simply move into the place at which you can easily make it. Practise this until it becomes a matter of instinct to move rightly. Notice your faults and correct them. Next, not only throw up the ball to the same place, and move into position, but also make the stroke itself; at first gently, then with more and more pace and severity. Then notice what happens to the ball when you hit it faster, or with greater cut. It may be as well to acquire nearly all the ordinary strokes by throwing the ball onto the Side-wall. This encourages the sideways position of the feet and body — that position which will give you the full swing and power as at Golf. After such strokes, you may learn not CH. xxxvi] PRACTICE INSIDE THE COURT 255 only how to hit the ball over the Net, at first with and then without cut, but also how to hit the Nick, and then how to hit this or that Opening, the Dedans, the Grille, the Winning Gallery. Pettitt, as we said, used to practise hitting a piece of paper put up in the Dedans, I am not aware that any player takes the trouble to do this to-day, in spite of the fact that this Forcing for the Dedans becomes commoner and commoner every year. A few minutes might be profitably spent every now and then in the practice of Forcing : throw the ball onto the Penthouse, and " force " it either when it has hit the ground or by a Volley : then throw a few balls onto the Back-wall, and practise forcing them. Do not hit too hard, for this is not good work for the racket. If you can get some one to send you over a few easy balls to force, do so : in return for risking his life, tell him he may practise forcing while you practise stopping. Players very seldom think of practising together systematically, and yet they could help one another considerably. The strokes off the Penthouse should be learnt according to the same plan. Throw the ball up onto the Penthouse, and notice where it falls at its second bounce ; then move into position ; then move into position and make the stroke. Afterwards you may practise volleying off the Penthouse. This is an ex- cellent feature of the Tennis Court, that it gives you something to throw balls to you. The writer in the ' Badminton ' volume says that one can play Racquets against oneself, but cannot play Tennis. This is true ; but at least one can practise by oneself. One can practise strokes off the Side-wall, off the Penthouse (this will be an excellent plan to teach one how to 256 TENNIS [PT. IV take the Service), and then off the End-wall. The method of learning strokes off the End-wall has been considered above. After this, strokes off the Tambour should be studied and tried again on the same system. First let the ball be thrown onto the Tambour by some one ; notice where it falls at its second bounce. Then let the ball be thrown again, and this time get into position. Then let the ball be thrown again, and this time get into position and make the stroke. The Service can also be practised inside the Court. Let us take the Latham Service as an example. You stand in the place and pose described in a previous Chapter. You can do a few swings before you attempt to hit the ball at all. Swing with your right arm out and away from you, and let it end up opposite your left shoulder, as in Photographs XLVl, XLVII, and XLVIII. Now make a stroke. Do not trouble about how high or how low the ball goes; simply try to make the stroke — to hit the ball. Next, try to hit the ball in a certain direction, for instance towards one of the Gallery- posts on the Hazard Side. Never mind yet how high it goes, or how low; aim simply at hitting that post. If you go too much to the right, then let your feet face more to the left, or throw the ball differently. Go on till you can hit the ball straight in any direction. First get the swing, a full natural swing with your weight behind it, then alter the position of your feet till that swing will drive the ball in the required line. You can increase the severity of this Service by degrees; you will find it admirable exercise for the larger organs of the body. Next you can consider the height. You will see that CH. xxxvi] PRACTICE INSIDE THE COURT 257 you can regulate the height of the ball by taking it when it is further in front of you, or further behind you, i.e. by taking it sooner or later. This will alter the direction of the ball as well as the height. The Fairs Service may be practised similarly. In this Service, the right arm swings out and beyond the ball, and round again, ending up opposite the right shoulder, as in Photograph XLVII. First make the stroke itself, thinking of nothing but of how you shall get the ball somehow to move away from you. Do not think for a moment of the direction or elevation. When you are once able to hit the ball, and to hit it over the Net, then practise the direction ; regulate the direction by the position of your feet, as before, and by the place at which you take the ball. Your racket is moving round in a curve. The direction of the ball, after it has left your racket, will depend largely upon that part of the curve at which your racket has met it. You must, above all things, get a comfortable full swing ; that must be the basis. Do not alter the direction simply by your wrist. Now, having the direction under your control, pay attention to the elevation. You should soon be able to hit the ball onto any spot upon the side Penthouse. Your aim should be, however, either to send it short, so that it will bounce on the floor just beyond the Service line, or else to send it far back, so that it will leave your opponent no room for a swing : the Back-wall shall be in his way. A test of the correctness of this Service is that it should hang. If your racket has moved outside the ball, then the Service when it reaches the floor bounces rather towards your left than towards the right; and a 19 258 TENNIS [PT. IV specially severe Service will actually bounce backwards as well as towards your left. The same plan may be applied to a Pettitt Service. Get the swing first and then the direction, so that you can hit the ball (let us say) into the Second Gallery on the Hazard Side ; then the height, so that you can hit the Penthouse just above this Gallery. "Long-Fives" — see Chapter XXXI — is among the best forms of practice inside the Court. It gives more play in a given space of time. To achieve the same end, have a rule that one Fault (and perhaps one Pass also) shall count as two Faults. In order to have many similar strokes in succession — for this is real and true practice — arrange such Handi- caps as Half-the-Court. At the very beginning you may find it even better to ask the Marker to give you " Touch-No- Walls." As you advance in skill, it might be advisable to give the Marker practice. Hit over balls to him so that, for exartiple, they shall pitch about Chase 3 and 4 on the Service-side. A basket-full of balls might be profitably used for this purpose ; the Marker would not mind. The advantage of practice inside the Court is obvious. By its means one can correct faults one by one, and can attend to that which, during the flurry of a game or Match, one cannot notice with full power of mind. Besides this, the knock-up which should precede every game or Match is a condensed form of a great deal of this practice inside the Court. *^ ^ w CHAPTER XXXVII FOUR-HANDED GAMES Four-handed or Double games are comparatively rare. Against them is the fact that they do not give much exercise ; and, besides this, as we remarked about the Double game at Racquets, if the Court is (and I think it is) of the right size for a Single game, it is of necessity too small for a Double game. Another reason against it is that players so seldom play it that they do not know any of the ordinary ABC of play. On one historical occasion, when four of the greatest living Single players met, the result was lamentably unsatisfactory. A player like Lord Windsor is more useful in a Four-game than many who, in a Single, could perhaps give him as much as Thirty. Two good Single players (as at Lawn Tennis) do not necessarily make a good combination. With regard to the position of the two players, it is a question whether one should be forward and the other back, or whether both should be back. If one be for- ward, then he himself is useful for all strokes that come within his reach ; especially can he defend the Galleries on the Service-side, and the Tambour and Grille on the Hazard-side. His opponent is in a somewhat uncom- fortable strait. For my own part, I am afraid of hitting 259 26o TENNIS [PT. IV my partner when he is in front of me, especially as I am somewhat fond of the Side-wall (Boasted) stroke. And when my partner is close up to the Net on the Service- side and I back in the right-hand corner, the Dedans is left exposed to our opponents' Forces. To return these Forces is somewhat dangerous. Obviously it would be out of the question for both players to come forward, since the opponents could then lob into the Dedans or Grille. If both stand back, then on the Service-side one is at a great disadvantage, in that the opponents can return the ball into the Galleries, and so themselves gain the Service, which should always be a considerable profit. It is possible that both players should stand back on the Service-side, however, and that both should stand forward on the Hazard-side, the one to defend the Tambour and Grille and the other to defend the Winning Gallery. To defend the Grille when one is standing near it, is extremely difficult. In the Four-handed Game, the Boasted stroke is of unusual importance, and of all Boasted strokes the Boasted Force is among the best. As a variation, the Three-handed Game is good. One of the best Matches I have ever had was at Boston, when I played against Messrs. Fearing and Stockton. They have practised together as a pair again and again, and they probably form the best working pair and combination of all amateurs. It was capital exer- cise, and I cannot imagine anything more enjoyable. But I can count on my fingers the Four-handed Games that I have enjoyed. CHAPTER- XXXVIII HINTS FOR PLAY AND MATCH-PLAY Except in important Matches the object of players should be practice and improvement and exercise rather than victory. One of the chief aims should be to secure good rallies or rests. Hence the game of Long Fives should be tried at intervals. No beginner should attempt more than one full game until he has played many games of Long Fives. In this game all Chases that are worse than the Second Gallery, and the Second Gallery itself, may count against the striker, though it is the rule for them to count as let-strokes. In this variety of play there is far less waiting and dawdling ; one has not to change sides constantly. To save time, one may also (see Chapter XXXVI) have the rule that a Fault shall count against the Server, instead of two Faults counting against him. A Pass may also count against the Server. Nothing wastes more time than a Pass. In practice one should leave many balls for the Back- wall which in a Match one would volley or half-volley. On the other hand, one must be able to volley and half- volley successfully. Besides avoiding these two strokes to excess, at the 261 262 TENNIS [PT. IV beginning one must also avoid the Force, and especially the Boasted Force. It is so easy to add these two strokes ; but, having once learnt them, having once realised their value in difficulties, it is extremely hard to resist the temptation of using them on ordinary occasions. They should be rather kept for a stimulant than used as a regular article of diet. In Service, again, one should not invariably employ the most effective kind. In such a case one will get few balls returned, whereas what one wants is play in the rallies. In general, one should try to get all the practice one can for one's weakest points whatever they may be. And one must train the mind to do sub-consciously all the ordinary mechanism of play. This can only be the result of conscious effort continued during many weeks. After a certain point of proficiency has been reached, it will be time to observe the niceties of the game. Notice the opponent's wrist and his racket, instead of merely watching the ball ; for the ball itself may tell one very little about the coming stroke, whereas the opponent's wrist and racket may tell one a great deal. Between games of Tennis there should be intervals of Racquets, to freshen up one's play and to give it prompt- itude and rapidity. For Match-play one needs to be in training, but not in the ordinary sense of the word ; for to be in training should mean to be calm and collected, master of one's head as well as of one's limbs. One should also be warm before the game starts. A few swings and a little rubbing will put this right, if the knock-up is not sufficient to do so. CH. xxxviii] HINTS FOR PLA V 263 Comfortable flannels, and good shoes with a firm grip, and plenty of well-strung rackets, are indispensable. During the Match, begin gradually, and perhaps with a needless variety of strokes, so that one may detect one's own faults on this particular day, and detect one's opponent's faults also. By degrees increase the pace and the severity. In Service, for example, one may try five or six kinds before one decides which shall be the suitable Service for that particular Match. For my own part, I find that some Services are practically impossible on some days, even if on other days they may be singularly effective ; and the same applies to strokes. There are times when I cannot rely on the Half-volley : there are other times when the Half-volley seems to be t/ie stroke on which I ifmst rely. Try to keep on the Service-side. In Long Fives the Server has to concede points to the player on the Hazard-side ; and I always consider the Service-side to be worth at least Half-fifteen. One can get back to the Service-side either by a very severe stroke, which will make a Chase, or by a stroke into the Nick, or by a stroke into one of the Galleries ; but anyhow one should get over from the Hazard-side whenever the opponent has a dangerous run of Service, even if this demands the sacrifice of one or two points. If you are not playing so well as usual, then it may be advisable to shorten the grip of your racket for safety, even though thereby you lose some power and speed and some snap. Safety must be the rule before severity. With regard to Chases, in the heat of the game one is apt to forget them. Mr. Ross's words from an article in the * Encyclopaedia of Sport ' are worth reading a great many times by Match-players. 264 TENNIS [PT. IV "(i) Remember always to serve carefully with reference to a Chase which is being played for, whether it be a Chase on the Service-side which you are defending, or on the Hazard-side which you are attacking. " (2) Be on your guard against forgetting altogether, in the excite- ment of a long rest, the fact that you are defending or attacking a Chase. When defending Chases, especially, beginners are liable in their excitement to return or attempt to return a ball which would have ' lost the Chase.' " (3) Remember that a Chase on the Service-side is successfully defended by striking the ball into any of the Openings on the Hazard-side, and that a Chase on the Hazard-side is successfully defended by striking the ball into any of the Openings on the Service-side." We may add that when there is a Hazard Chase, and you are on the Hazard-side, it is not always best to aim for one of the Galleries in the orthodox manner. A hard Force, or a hard drive for the Nick, such as Mr. H. E. Crawley frequently gives, may be far more effective. If you are having a run of bad luck, then say to yourself what Latham told me he said to himself: " Here is your chance ; this is the occasion which will put you on your mettle ; this is just the moment that you have been wanting. Now you can show yourself at your very best." If a player has the opportunity, he should consult some authority like Mr. Alfred Lyttelton or Mr. Heath- cote or Mr. Ross (I mention a few out of the many) ; they will give him valuable advice as to Tennis Match- play. Mr. Ross, for example, will point out the vital importance of a good Service and an appropriate Service. There is no game, except perhaps American Football, in which more can be learnt from the advice of those who have studied the refinements of skill and head-work. Part V HISTORICAL AND PERSONAL CHAPTER XXXIX BALL-GAMES IN GENERAL There is no need to quote here the early mentions of the games of ball. Homer tells us of Nausicaa and her maidens ; Herodotus describes the ball-games of the Lydians. Nor can there be any doubt that ball-games were considered to be not beneath the dignity of the noblest and richest. We hear of bishops playing them as early as 450 A.D. — foreshadowings of the present Bishop of London. But we must be content to leave details of the history to specialists like Mr. Julian Marshall ; for this book is practical rather than his- torical. A bare outline must suffice. As we have said elsewhere, there are two great classes of Ball-Games : in the first the ball is stationary when one hits it, whereas in the second it is moving. The stationary Ball-Games might have originated partly in a desire to hit, and especially to hit a stone with a stick ; but, where the ball is moving, the desire might also have been to defend oneself or one's property from attack, as in batting at Cricket. The change from the stone to the ball is small and natural. It seems that, in early times, in some primitive forms of the latter class of game, to which Tennis and Racquets and Squash belong, the players did not hit the ball, 267 268 HISTORICAL AND PERSONAL [pt. v but rather caught it and then threw it This at least appears to be the case in some of the ancient Ball- Games. Mr. Marshall says : — " Herodotus depicts a dance, combined with ball-play, between Halius and Laodamas, two excellent performers, which seems, however, to have approached more nearly to the nature of apnaarSv than to any other form of a> ditto 1900 ?) Eustace H. Miles. I90I J! Jos. Crane, Jr. 1902 n ditto CHAPTER XLIII RACQUET-PLAYERS IN ENGLAND AND AMERICA The early players of Racquets were chiefly English, and for the most part cricketers : at least the amateurs were. We may take the professionals first, and we may follow in outline the account given in the Badminton volume, to which account we should add the name of George Smale, of Wellington College (as one of the greatest teachers of play, and as one of the greatest players of the Open-Court game) ; with some of the veterans, for instance, with Grimason of Eton, and Judy Stevens of Harrow. Among the earliest records we find those of Robert Mackay, in 1820, and of Thomas Pittman, who played in the Belvedere Gardens, Pentonville. In those days there was a special rule in case the ball hit a tree ! John Pittman was brother to Thomas. He was succeeded by J. Lamb, who indulged in the slow lobbing game. J. C. Mitchell succeeded him in 1846, and then came Francis Erwood in i860. This player had a high slow Service, and a great power of dropping and placing the ball. But, in one of the most famous games in the history of Racquets, he was defeated by Sir William Hart-Dyke, who was in superior condition, and who used the drop 295 296 HISTORICAL AND PERSONAL [pt. v stroke with great effect. He was the first and the last Amateur Champion who was also Open Champion. Racquets proper began with the building of Prince's Court in 1853. In this Court were played the University Singles and Doubles in 1858. The next professional name is that of Henry J. Gray. William Gray was perhaps the best player of the family. He defeated Foulkes, the Champion of America, in 1867. William was a thorough sportsman, and insisted on the best style for every stroke. He apologised, and was truly sorry — the two things are very different — when he made a fluke. He was slightly built, and well- shaped, with long arms, and he preferred the Volley or the Half-volley to the ordinary stroke. But all strokes he made with ease and grace, even, as Mr. Alfred Lyttelton points out, when he was using the very oldest of rackets. Like the earlier players, he used the drop stroke freely. On his death. Punch (H. B. Fairs), the father of the two Markers at Prince's Club, defeated Joe Gray in 1875. Punch was only 5 ft. 4 in. in height, but he had exception- ally long arms, and seemed to be able to reach here, there, and everywhere. The writer in the Badminton says, of the great Championship game : "The 1876 match presented great differences of style, Gray's self-contained neatness being in marked contrast to 'Punch's' slashing sweep. 'Punch 'was a little man, standing somewhere about 5 ft. 4 in., but the manner in which he reached the ball would lead one to suppose that he had the length of arm of a six-foot man. That arm too was e.xtraordinarily loose. To see him hit gave rather the impression of a racket being slung at the end of a rope, so flexible were his joints. .'\s he played it seemed as though H. Fairs was an arm and a racket, the rest of him being a mere appendage." Ti; Joe Gray, whom, with H. J. Gray, I know best of the I j Gray family, held the Championship from 1878 to 1887. JpL-. CH. XLiii] RACQUET-PLAYERS 297 He had the cleanest Backhand stroke that I have ever seen, and a beautiful Volley also. He hit at a great pace, but his stroke was not so powerful as that of his brother Walter. Peter Latham, the present World's Champion at both Racquets and Tennis, defeated Walter at Manchester by four games to two. He was the first to introduce the very heavily-cut Service. This Service, with his activity (unequalled by that of any), and his power of getting into position before he began to move towards the ball, his incredible quickness in flicking up balls off the Back-wall, have won and keep for him his pre- eminent position. Gray beat him at Rugby, not so much by hard hitting as by placing, and also because the Rugby Court did not allow Latham's Service to drop down so heavily as the fastest modern Court would ; but Latham in the next Match beat Gray. Latham plays with his head as well as with his wrist and his feet. He is the first Champion at the two games, and probably there has lived no player who could have beaten him at either, at any rate without utterly altering his style. Latham has not been unchallenged during his career. The call from George Standing, Champion of America, led to the home-and-home Match of a few years ago (see Photograph LIII). Latham was victorious. He has since been challenged by Brown, a calm and graceful and easy player, who is one of the Markers at Prince's Club. The Matches were played early in 1902. Among the other Markers who come below Latham may be mentioned Crosby, Fairs, Hawes, and Laker; Ellis and Moore are at present in America, Ellis at Philadelphia, and Moore at Tuxedo. 298 HISTORICAL AND PERSONAL [pt. v The first of the Amateur Champion players was Sir WilHam Hart-Dyke, of whom we have spoken above. In a copy which I have of the Cambridge University Challenge Racquet Cup, I find the familiar names of Lyttelton, Ponsonby, Steel, Studd, Bligh, and Cobbold. Mr. R. D. Walker was one of the most famous of the earlier players. He had the power of placing the ball, and, like George Standing, never seemed to have to move quickly anywhere. Few players have played so frequently for safety. He used to remark that there was more space above the board than below it. But without his nerve and judgment he would have fared badly in a Match against an active opponent. Mr. C. J. Ottaway is also said to have been an impassive player. Among the other names we may mention, Mr. C. F. Buller, T. S. Dury, Cecil Clay, R. V. Milne, A. J. Webbe (who still plays a good game), A. G. Steele, and Col. Spens, one of the ablest exponents of the drop stroke, and Messrs. Leaf, Eustace Crawley, and Noble. The game still flourishes in England and in India in the army stations. Among the best army players we may mention Cooper-Key, Friend, Hedley, King, and Crawley. An important epoch in the history of the game was when the Queen's Club was opened in West Kensington, and the Amateur Championship established. In this, Mr. C. D. Buxton beat Major Spens, the first year. The other Amateur Champions have been Mr. E. M. Butler, Mr. Percy Ashworth, who beat both Spens and Hedley, and Mr. Philipson. Mr. H. K. Foster held the prize for many years in succession. In 1901 he was challenged by Mr. Dames-Longworth, but did not compete. I was fortunate enough to win against the latter player in 1902. At Queen's Club the Public School Championships f^ '^^ O K o C5 1 T-l <; ^ pi A