On the Courts

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 16, 19 January 1924, Page 18

On the Courts

(By " Huka.")

N.S.W.. r- WELLINGTON

VISITORS OUTCLASSED

UMPIRES' ASSOCIATION

WANTED.

COMUfG EVENTS.

Waipukur-iu Championships, at Waipukurau, ending 19th January, H2i. > Wellington Championships, at Masterton— _ January 39, 21, and S3, 1924, Dannevirke Championships, at Dannevirke— January 23, 24, 25, and 20, 1021. . Auckland Championships, at Auckland—January Tfi, 23, 29, 1924. Kawakawa Club Championships, at Kawakawa—January 2ij and 28, 1024. ! Hawkes Bay Championships, at Wainawa— January 20, 30, and 31, 1924. Hastings Club Championships, at Hastings— I ebruary, 2, 4, and 5, 1924. Hawkes Bay Club Championships, at Napier— Easter. Canterbury Championships, at Christchurch— Easter. Otago Championships, at Dunedin—Easter.

Ife may not have been a very strong New South Wales team that was defeated by the, Wellington representatives last week, yet it goes down in the records as a'win for our side, and, on the whole, it was well earned. The visitors were weakened by one of their side having left for home, another being in hospital, and •Peach suffering from a strained side. Poach showed his pluck in taking part in the match,' as every service and smash imist have given him a . severe j twinge of pain. He carried on cheer--fully, -vtfthout everyone complaint, and took his beating like all good sports do. Peach, has many fine strokes, arid ha always tiook up a correct position for all his shots, overhead or off the ground. Many of his shots went astray, but that could foe forgiven,' considering his strained, side, and overlooked if one followed his indentions, as well as Uie general fin-ished-style of all his strokes—even iMhe ball c[id go into the net or yards out. Peacli, in good condition and form, would be a very fine player to watch. Ho was also always ready to give advice to younger players, and the writer heard him.' giving very good information to two; of our Wellington representatives, lie knows the game of lawn tennis, and can pick the weaknesses of an opponent yecy quickly, but is generous to a fault in his.contests, and does not flo<* a weak opponent to death. Reid was the most taking player, of the rest, but did not appear to. be over-strong, or perhaps he was travel-tired. Pike and Goodman worked hard in all. their matches; the latter especiallysmade the hard work a labour of ,-love-^smiling at all, his wins and losses, just as a good man always New Zealand players henceforth will have more confidence •in themselves when they meet Australian players, as although Australian writers crack their playors up, ami bo6m them all as comin°JJavis Cup men, it is quite clear that barring a few of the very best, our men snoL-ld be able to push them to the very limit, if not beat them. But the New Zealand players must give more attention to their training, as fitness is just I as essential as form. Some of our best! plajprs do not know how to.train -and some do not give themselves a chance wlieji taking part in a tournament, as they j>l ay duc l cg and dl . akeß with t ' h6 . r diet! Such players should be noted, and marked as not wanted for a voyage or at home for that matter, when reoresentafcwe teams are being picked. Some of out young players already, know the benefits of serious training and keeping lit, so possibly the players who will Vive good results at the next Now Zealand meeting Avill be those who'have determined . to;-play the game for the game's sake, while the tournament is in p^o gvess, and-to be most moderate as far as the social side is concerned during- the WtTT w O,,?° me baok to match —all the Wellington players did well, especially the France brothers, who are now combining very well. When their volleying- is more severe, they will win their matches quicker. At present both o). diem get their racquets quickly into portion to meet the shots, but the ball ?rf M' heU' ra,c<J uets when-the latter are stationary, whereas a sharper, harder volley would be obtained if the ball were hit instead of allowed to go' off the racquet much of its own accord. These I shots are done when they are close in wouM Wh h(! Ul doUl? fc' Me S«»* ones, but would be better, m fact, most brilliant, a they carried pace White-Parsons and lUikman both justified their inclusion in the team In their doubles matches bothcould with advantage have crowded tho net more. White-Parsons played the correct game against Peach and his pawin W- £ f St Sf- P aVe We»^on a t P I M£ f °W) but tiley' were winning ,2' *vL that- WM all tllat wa* necessdiy. ihere .is no occasion to use all shot gives the same result, and possibly theie were not many on the ground d P £,. gT*Whlte-Parsons the credit he f>S W- of *ose quiet-little passing shots. Hud the shots been hurricane smashes, applause would have followed-haa they gone in, but the score would have been just' the same shmvSl^w al aceurate> and at times ddvpf Pa vh ° ? Uld Set P*o" int° his tZ?' a.rker. showed general improveS;JS d 10 P'ok? d f he weakness of his opponents very quickly. One » inclined to think that he could, watch? the ball closer Wlth ad t , J oaii caieful when serving—in fact hk service must bo improved. He was Vert ' within a foot or so of the ba«e line re turned a high lob, which caught Peich but iT P vf aUS^ 0(1 at Wl'eelcr's miss, but n ever a player deserved applause' the joung ex-Otago player did Tint rHi eltenn ?Clf ( *h ™ ''c hasthc i o nt •tennis temperament, and that alone is worth a great deal in the came bom., may think that there was Ul ng buta\n Cj: Up .«'"■«'» Australians! if 1W > iyel' S ■•Wll] havo benefited, and | if they have gained nothii,- mores than some conf,dcn«a in UienisciVoH. and at tho same tuw aro convinced that the &Vn U a- r ( ° not so liard tD ?-!fn P ' | C"i l -was worth wh«e. CapUrn Peach ami lius merry men wcrs jolly pp. fellowa both pa and off the court.

and may they return; but New Zealand tennis 13 on the upgrade, and if it is to be pushed further, stronger teams from the other side must be the order of the" day. -• UMPIRES AND LINESMEN. I Why is it,that umpires, good, bad, or indifferent, ai-a hard to get when their services are required? Generally, because it has become a' byword that it is a thankless task. As to the linesmen, the same applies, and \ some of the umpires make it worse by thinking that it is clever to have a joke at the linesmen's expense. There never was a greater mis- I take. Such a joke is a menace to the sport, as he generally so disgusts obliging people that they decline to take a line at any future matches. Good umpires never joke whilst umpiring- a match or when getting their linesmen in position. They have certain calls to give, and these are all laid down in the rules, and after naving-given those calls loudly and clearly nothing more remains to be said. Linesmen are not thanked during a match, but after it is completed Linesmen's duty, is also clearly defined' find they do not call unless a stroke i! iost in which their own particular line is concerned..' It does not matter if a ball goes out by an inch or 20 yards, th© inesman must call "outside," and the Jinesman who does his job according to the rules laid down at once has the confidence of the players. Players, especially the good players at tournaments, dodge umpiring and tho linesman's job! It is pure selfishness oh the part of tennis players, and the sooner some rule is brought in to" penalise the shirkers thebetter. A rule whereby, a hatf-a-crown hue could be imposed might have the desired eftect. Some genial players have never been known to refuse, although they admit that they are imposed upon in consequence. Some most glaring case, of downright selfishness were seen'at the Aew, Zealand meeting, and it would serve the- offenders right if tho management published their names in the fe. £« „«n 1 . Wl Um S l t('n Association' will be well advised to have its umpires and linesmen arranged for some days before the next .important matches are played not satisfied unless they have five or six number, but are required only when hunenne players of the type of Tilden and Company are in action. Any good umpire ca , a get. on with two linesmlnone u> tako the services, changing over as necessary-and the other on a far line when the sun is troublesome. There %h°™ U°- h fu, s?, mado over the fact that the umpire did not have linesmen appointed " and. it is only o f l ato y^ rs that the less important matches have been given umpires. In Australia all matches, barring the very big ones, are played without umpires, and the played give one another square deals every time Lut if S ome people will squeal about the lack of umpires and linesmen,- what about forming.an Umpires' Association? = ■■- THE SEEDED DRAW. At last good old conservative England has decided to "seed" the draw in the Wimbledon Championships, and: now oversea players will not have the mislortune of meeting in the earlier rounds Jiach nation is allowed to nominate four players for the seeding process. The United States was the first association to officially adopt tho seeded draw, and New Zealand followed, but quite a number of associations, both south and north ot the Line, arranged the draw quietly, and broke the rules. Now everything is done openly, as the laws permit seeding. All it means is that the top players are so placed that they will not meet until the later stages of the event. They are drawn in order of merit by pairs—one-being placed in the top half and the other in the bottom half of the draw; and so on; the eights and auar.ters positions being filled if so desired The English Lawn Tennis Association was dead against the new idea, but last year some of the best players met early in the championship, and the later stage's were consequently robbed of a lot of 'interest. That would possibly brinig it home to conservative England, who, nevertheless, beat, New Zealand for- the Daylight Saving by adopting it years ' ago! The seeded draw requires very careful manipulation, and only those 'who stand but well from their fellow players should be seeded. ■ Why Wilding was placed amongst the seeded players has astonished those who have studied form of the last^two years. In fact, in the men's singles there were only four men outstanding, and-'only those should have been seeded. Ollivier, Sims, Bartleet, and France were the quartette that earned the distinction. The same thing applies to the ladies' singles, and the seeding there could have been kept down to four ako. The men's team to play I New South Wales was picked when the I draw was seeded, and although that would not influence the selector, it strikes one at once"that the New Zealand Association should have a selector, or selection committee, who should pick the players to be seeded, and the same committee should also pick any necessary New Zealand team. The seeded draw is not to keep players' from one centre meeting in the early rounds, but to have outstanding players so distributed in the event that they will not meet until the later stages. There are only a few men aud lady players who stand out above the others in New Zealand, therefore it is unnecessary to make an extended seeding. The New Zealand Championship Meeting, which has just 'ended, may make that quite clear, and it may be worth while to compare the form shown so that a classification list could1 be drawn up of the ladies and men. That brings us to a classification committee, and, after all said and done, the classification committee should do the seeding of the draw as well a3 the se< i lecting of the New Zealand teams.