Today’s Tennis Tips: The Forehand Drive And How To Play It

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 27, 5 March 1948, Page 5

Today’s Tennis Tips: The Forehand Drive And How To Play It

(By “Service”) Most players find it fairly easy to play a forehand shot—i.e. one ’ on the racquet side of the body. Many of these .natural strokes, however, contain faults which must be eradicated before the player can make the most of his ability. First, the grip; Hold the racquet by the neck in the extended left hand, with the face of the racquet vertical and the handle pointing to the body. Then grasp it with the right hand as if shaking hands. Although there are other possible grips, this is the one which suits 95 per cent, of players best. Second, the swing. The body of course is at right angles to the ifet. Swing the racquet well back, letting the weight go with iron to the right foot. Then swing forwards, keeping the racquet moving parallel with the ground; hit the; ball opposite the middle of the body, the weight shifting to the front foot; do not stop the racquet, but let it finish its swing naturally round the left side—tennis is too strenuous a game for any waste effort-—and after the ball is hit. begin turning the face of the racquet forward, so that at the finish it. is almost horizontal. This gives top-spin to the ball, making it drop quickly and -allowing you to hit it harder without losing control. ' ■■

Practice this swing without a ball; . make your swing as wide as possible, so as to hit with a straight i arm. You will notice that your right shoulder follows the ball, so that at the end of the stroke the upper part of the body has turned to face the net. Try to hit the ball. at the top- of its bounce, or before it falls near the ground. Thirdly, footwork: As explained before,’ the body must be at -right angles to the net, and at' the beginning of the stroke the feet should be the width of the shoulders apart, and the line from toe to toe should be parallel with the coiirse of the ball. The main difficulty is to get into position to hit the ball at the full stretch of the arm. Here is Tilden’s advice—take long steps to' cross the court, but make the last few steps very short, preferably waltz steps with the left foot leading. Finally, as in all tennis strokes, keep your eye on the ball; The committee would like members to know that all second round events must be played by March 15.

Murupara Tennis

An all-day tennis tournament was held at Murupara on Saturday between Papuera (Ruatahuna) and Murupara. This resulted in a win for Murupara by 19 games to 12. The Murupara team journeyed to Ngongotaha, Rotorua, and were successful again winning by 21 - games., to 9.