TENNIS

Shannon News, 6 March 1928, Page 3

TENNIS

THE GAME AND HOW TO PLAY IT.

(BY RENE LACOSTE)

BASE-LINE PLAY. It may be that when you play good, irthodox strokes in a good style you will still find yourself being defeated oy players who, in these respects, arc admittedly your inferiors. That, if it happens, will be because you have act only to master the strokes, you have also to know from where to play die ball, where to send it and also whai rind of spin to give it. ' Every rally is started by a service, but every service is followed by a reurn of service, and this return is almost equally important. The skill of i player is alway seen from the ease with which he handles a difficult service or kills a weak one. Your return of service can be either (Tensive- or defensive, and you must a now when each kind of return is to m employed. Patterson’s service cannot be returned in the same way as Borotra’s nor Borotra’s in the same way as Shimidzu’s. Jf vour opponent follows his service ro the net, you must always .attack. Against Borotra, for instance, you musk ,trike the ball as high and as soon as vou can and play hard downward to .iis feet.

Striking the ball on the rise, in this way, implies standing inside the base-line to await the service, and although it increases the chance of error, it also increases the speed of the stroke and it leads to more dangerous across-court returns.

Prom time to time you should vary your play with a hard and long drive along tlie side line, although across.•ourt play is always easier and it gives your opponent less chance for a kill. Always keep the ball as low over the net as you can, for it is better to force vour opponent to play a low volley \v a half-volley than a high one. * You can also attack if your opponent delivers a weak service and does ~ot follow it to the net. You can hen return hard across the court to win riie point outright or to prepare an opening; or else you can send a iong drive to the centre or along the •ade line, and follow to the net. By .hose tactics, you will run loss chance „f being passed than if you play .short .cross the court. Keep It In Play. * Usually, however, you will face a ong and accurate service not followed o the net. Then you cannot delivet i strong attack, and you should there ore try to keep the ball in play, with,ut giving a chance for a strong at ack to your opponent. * A Jo-ng, slow nd h gh return to the centre is often juite as useful as a fast stroke, and the flaying of it is easier. "a good service usually bounces .lighcr and faster than a drive in play, uul you will get the strongest return against it by learning to drive at the ueight of your shoulder, with a rathei .hurt swing. While you are awaiting .he service, 'stand so. that you can get your feet easily and quickly into, the ■orrec't position for either-forehand o. •actdiand play, and remember that you •hould always move to the ball rathe; Iran play it*while standing still. When the ball is in play and your ..pponent is at the net. awaiting your maun, play exactly as you would in claming tiie service of Borotra or any .thei- player who follows his service to lie net; strike the ball on the rise, tard and downward, trying either to -trike his feet, to pass him across the o urt or to out-drive him along the line.

If your opponent attacks, as Washer iiicl Anderson do, from the back of the •ourt, you should play long and slowly, iigh uver the net. Aim at the centre ather than trying for sldlfnl placing, or that would give openings to youi pponent. If you are playing against i man like Cochet, or Johnston, who is mod at the net and skilful at killing holt returns, keep him buck by sus .ained length. W hen you get a chance to attack, hit lord, mix ng your long drives with a ,'cw re turns across the court, especially f your opponent, like .Jacob or Dego.nar, is weak at volleying or dislikes playing at the net. At iiisc you should imitate Suzanne Lenglen and learn, above all, to keep Jie ball in play. Then you should acquire accuracy* by practising every Kind and vaiicty of ground-stroke. Last, you should learn the value of attack, not. merely to win, but also ...as the best means of defence. And all the time play hard, and rely on speed. The Use of Spin.

Spin is less, necessary in driving Ilian , it is in serving, and, although a slight | ■.-pin is needed to keep the ball within I the court, generally speaking, spin ] should only be used as a variation and to worry your opponent. Top spin will make the boll drop directly after passing the net and therefore, while it increases the margin of safety, it allows of harder hitting and is useful in trying to hit the feet of I ihe man at the net. A topped ball bounces very,hi gh, and therefore, while a long and fast top spin drive like that of Washer is very difficult to handle, one that is short and soft can easily he killed. Undercut slows down the flight of the ball and tends to straighten its trajectory, while it also reduces the height of its bounce. It is a good defensive stroke against a base-liner, but it is useless —and, indeed, dangerous —

against a man at the net, for it will give him a higher ball to volley. The first time I beat Washer, at Nice in 1924, the court was wet after a whole night’s rain, and I easily won the .first two sets by playing a sliced, backhand in reply to his backhand; the undercut spin of my shots on the wetcourt kept the hall so low that Washer could not manage his drive. Then the sun came out. and the court quickly dried, with the result that I lost, the next two sets. Happily for me, rain then fell and the match was temporarily stopped; and when we came back a ittle later my undercuts on the now wet court gave me the match. Some players, 11. Kinsey for instance, impart a terrific amount of twist to tlreir ground-strokes. Last spring Foret, who two days before had beaten Richards, was beaten by Kinsey’s mixture of loop drives, fast chop strokes and drop shots. The drop sliot is either a chop or a sliced drive in which the wrist is drawn backwards and downwards just after the impact. Played well, it makes the ball bounce low and backward, just over the .net. It is a very difficult stroke to play, and it can only be played on a rather short and slow return. In most cases whore it wins, the point could have been won more surely with a fast drive, i Loop drives carrying a heavy top | spin can be successful once in a match, I and drop shots can out-tire your opI ponent. But it is by orthodox, straight strokes rather than ornamentations that you will win in the long run, for they iiro the basis of every sound game.