LAWN TENNIS AND HOW TO PLAY IT.

Shannon News, 17 February 1928, Page 3

LAWN TENNIS AND HOW TO PLAY IT.

(By RENE LACOSTE)

THE BACKHAND STROKE. Most players'"are much weaker in backhand than in forehand play. Even among the experts, backhands seldom carry the speed of forehands. O'llava Wood, Tiiden, Williams, and Richards are among ihe best backhand but Johnston, Cochet, Alonso, liarada, and Patterson are ail more dangerous when they play forehand. It is perhaps natural that the backhand should be the more difficult stroke and that in becoming accurate and reliable it should lost aggressiveness. That, however, makes it all the more important , that backhand play should be thoroughly practiced. Weak strokes should always receive more attention than strong ones, for, to become a real champion, you must be able to play one stroke just as easily as the other. Tiiden and Suzanne Lenglen owe their overwhelming superiority over other experts to the fact that their game is so good, not in any particular stroke, but iu e\*ery direction. Footwork and Grip. In backhand play the rules of footAvork arc those of forehand play, but reversed. Remember never to face the net, ncA*cr to push the ball, and alAvays be ready, as you await the ball, to turn quickly so as to gft your footwork correct.

The grips are nearly the same as for forehand play. Johnston plays a very accurate sliced stroke with the Western American backhand grip and some other plavers, including Aesehlimann, use it for strong "rolling" backhand strokes. But it develops a tendency to pushing the ball and is weak on low balls, so that beginners should certainly avoid it. The English backhand grip has many exponents, Richards, Alonso and Feret in particular using it with success. But it produces a rather defensive stroke, slightly undercut and not so good as the aggressive backhand which O'Hara Wood and Borotra get Avith grips similar to the Eastern Amercan grip used by Tiiden.' Personally, I use a backhand grip which is half-way between the English and the Eastern American grips: it is rather American in the position of the handle under the hand,, and entirely English in the low position of the elbow, in having the thumb along the handle, and in the action of the wrist. In a good backhand the'wrist must play its part exactly as in a good forehand. The wrist must be taut, the handle of the racquet must be at right angles to the foieaim, and the striking face of the racquet must be turned rather towards the light side of the court than towards the net..

Speed of the Ball. As in the forehand, speed in the backhand stroke, results from a comlinatiou of momentum, speed of swing weight of racquet, spring action of the arm,'body Ration, shift of body weight and follow ihrough. All of there are needed. Personally I rely largely on body rotation in my back har.ds. Eut, as in the forehand stroke, body rotation is a delicate tiling to master." At the end of the stroke at any rate it must be not so much a horizontal turning of the chest as a downward rotation of the shoulder and the upper half of the body on the pivot of the hip. Be careful that you do not use so much body rotation that at the end of the stroke you are brought to face the net. Personally I believe so strongly in the necessity of avoiding this that I sometimes turn my back to the net and follow-through my stroke diagonally from right to left instead of forward. In the same Avay, Avhen- playing forehands, I sometimes follow through from left to right, going on in the direction in Avhich I ran to meet the ball.

Spin. The most common varieties of the backhand stroke are the straight backhand drive, the rolling backhand, the sliced English backhand, and the Ca.lifornian sliced backhand. With all these four, the trajectory of the racquet head is very similar to that belonging to the forehand stroke. The preparatory s.wing brings it upwaid and behind the player and then either with or without a pause,, it is brought down Avit.li a beni. arm a .id wrist wh'ch soon straightens for the forward nori.-rontai si Hike. In the straight backhand drive, tii'' bail h fi'.tivk hn''ixer.taUy mid t!). stroke is finished at the heigh! of tii hiwnei. In fjit-r-rl backhand.-, tlv bal' is 'struck downward*, snd the stroke finishes low. Li. topped backhands, rh( bail h struck upwards with a high finish. DRAW FOR DAVIS CUP CONTESTS SEMI-FINALISTS PREDICTED. The draw for the Davis Cup contest at the President's Palace in Paris was a brilliant affair. The Ambassadors of most of the competing countries attended. The President, M. Doumergue, said politeness demanded that he offer the best wishes to the visitors for success, but. he hoped and believed the draw would again be made in Paris in 1929.

The champion piayer, Rene Laeosto, in commenting on the draw, said he thought the United States, and Japan would contest the semi-final in the American zone, and Australia and South Africa in the European zone. The draws resulted as follows: EUROPEAN ZONE. First Round. Australia V. 'ltaly. Rumania v. Belgium. Germany v. Greece. Chili v. Spain. Yugoslavia v. Finland. Argentina v. Britain. Hungary v. Noiway. Ireland v. Holland. Poland v. Denmark. Philippines v. Austria. South Africa v. Sweden. Second Round. India v. Switzerland. Portugal v. New Zealand.

""■S/echo-Slovakia v. Sou'h Africa or Sweden? AMERICAN ZONE. First Round. Cuba v. Japan. & United States v. Mexico. Second Hound. Canada v. Cuba or Japan. China v. United States or Mexico.