TENNIS

Shannon News, 10 February 1928, Page 3

TENNIS

THE GAME AND HOW TO PLAY IT.

(BY RENE LACOSTE). SPEED AND SPIN IN' THE FORE HAND STROKE. All the experts use for the fiordtanj stroke a swing which is very similar to that of the service, but most of them —Johnston is one of the exceptions—use less back swing, sacrificing force, to some extent, for the sake of getting better control and move perfect timing. For a beginner, it is always better to learn first to use a shorter swing, which of course can be increased later if necessary'. $ The swing starts, in either case, with the preparatory swing which . brings the racquet away from the idle hand and upwards and backwards behind the player’s back. Suzanne Lenglen, makes a noticeable pause a|. the end of this part of the swing in order to get control; most players, however, get this, not by a pause, but bv shortening the back swing. They bring the racquet head only slightly back, down ward to the left,’with bent elbow and wrist. Then they start the upward and forward swing of the stroke. If the stroke is to be a straight one, the swing in the action of striking must, bo horizontal, play'cd vith a straight arm. If you want, .to play with good style, you must, always strike the ball at the same distance from your body: that is to say, as far as you can reach with the arm neaily straight.

Be careful, too not to strike either too soon or to late; you should strike, as most of the experts do, just before the ball comes on a line with your body.

In serving, you will have appreciated the difficulty of timing your stroke. In play, when the ball is moving, this difficulty is still greater. _ The great thing in overcoming it, of course, is to watch the ball; then you must calculate how long it will take to reach the point, at. which you must strike it. The racquet: should be kept vertical, spin being imparted, not by an alteration of the plane of the striking surface, but by the upward or downward direction of the racquet as it meets the ball and by the direction of the follow-through. Speed in the forehand stroke, like speed in the service, comes. from the rate at which the racquet is brought to meet the ball. Johnston, for instance, who is of all living players the one who gets the best momentum into a really heavy racquet, uses a very •ong, full swing, and steadily increasesspeed until lie hits the ball with a peculiar flick of the wrist. Most players, however, lack sufficient, confidence ru their timing to use so long a swing as Johnston’s and rely, like Williams, move on body and shoulder rotation, .)]■( like Cocliet, on shifting forward the weight of the body. Speed, in fact, is best obtained from a combination of momentum of the racquet, body rotation and? the proper use of weight, cogcther with the wrist action which is used noticeably by Masher and Cocliet and to an even more marked ■degree by Johnston and Tilden. When the stroke begins, the weight of the body is on the right foot. Just before the impact it passes on to the left or forward foot, at the same moment that the shoulder comes well forward. You must not neglect this shifting of the weight, for if .you rely, is Williams does, mainly on body rotacion, you will get speed but- lose c.on:roi of direction.

The follow-through, also, is vitally important'. Mo St authorities say that n the follow through you should keep die arm even straigliter than in the .stroke itself. lam afraid Ido not agree with this counsel. I would say if the follow-through in the forehand atrokc that, instead of trying to reach mt further than you did in the stroke itself, you should grip your racquet ■iglit to counteract the throwback of :he strings, as they hit the ball;, then id vn nee the shoulder; and Anally Jii’uiv yourself forward in the diroc.ioii of vour run. If your follow-

;lirough is good, you .should, like Pocket, almost fall on your face at die end of it.

Spin —1 have already explained how die .various spins are nifectod bv the way you grip your racquet. To impart top spin to a forehand stroke, Mart the stroke as for a straight drive, but strike upward. Generally speaking, the pack swing should come lower and the follow-through higher than in a horizontal drive. Most players, Washer, Kinsey, and Goumarakof for example, increase their top spin by turning the racquet surface with a movement ot Ihe wrist, but it is un wise to rely on this wrist action to do more than' increase the top spin already imparted by the choice of stroke.

On tlie other hand , undercut should be done mainly with the wrist, with a very low follow-through in which the head of the racquet is brought under the ball. It is noticeable that Tilden and Richards use very little follow-through in their undercut forehands.

The chop stroke is quite distinct from the undercut drive, being rather an American slice service at various heights on a ball in play- The stroke starts very high over the body, meets the ball ahead of. the . body, pushing rather than striking it, and Amishes very low in front of the body. As Miss Ryan and 11. Kinsey play it, it can be a very useful'stroke, but it is never as reliable as a good drive and should only be learn as a variation. D’ ection.—Most beginners find diffi-

eulty in • varying the direction of their forehand strokes, playing well only to one side of the court. They try* changing their swing and using different wrist action, but they remain helpless when they want to drive to the other side of the court. They do not realise that the change _ to be made is not in the stroke but in the position of the feet. For a drive across the court, the feet must be turned so that the body faces more towards the net and the ball must be struck a little earlier, more in front of the body.