Lawn Tennis and How to Play It

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 192, 3 November 1927, Page 8

Lawn Tennis and How to Play It

By RENE LACOSTE (Exclusive to THE SUN) IV. FOOTWORK Let us now assume that you have learnt to concentrate, that you have acquired physical fitness, and that not for a moment would you ever dare to lift your eyes from the ball! Now, what do you have to do in order to send an approaching bail over the net? First, you take up your position, placing your feet in the most efficient manner; then you will grip your racket; and lastly, you will strike the ball. In other words, we have now to deal, in order, with footwork, grip and swing. There are many different strokes in lawn tennis, but these three principles are common to them all, and we must therefore get the principles right before we go on to discuss the particular strokes. The first of our three principles is footwork. It is very important. After all, your body and all that you do with your body depend on the legs and feet which support the body, and if the legs and feet are badly placed, the actions of the body cannot be so true, so effective. You may hold your racket very correctly, you may have a perfect swing; but if your footwork is faulty, you will not get the fullest value out of your stroke. First of all, you must stand at the right distance from the ball, neither too near it nor too far away, and you must be able to sti'ike it without bending forward or having to straighten your arm too rigidly. Secondly, you must stand on tip-toes with the knees slightly bent, and you must remember that this is the attitude in which you have got to remain practically throughout the game. It is the attitude which best enables you to hit the ball with power and accuracy and also to keep good equilibrium. IMPORTANCE OF STANCE Thirdly, your feet must be neither too close together nor too far apart. Find the happy mean. Some players choose a wide stance for following through

their strokes; but in my opinion it is seldom advisable and certainly not for a beginner. Fourthly, and perhaps chiefly, when striking the ball, never face the net, but always keep your feet on a line at right angles to it. Later. I shall have to explain all the different strokes, drives, volleys, halfyolleys, smashes and so on. But I do not want to confuse you by referring overmuch to them at present. Now we are dealing with the general principles which apply to every kind of shot. I must, however, point out that most of these strokes are done in two ways: forehand and backhand. Forehand strokes are those made to hit a ball on the right of the body, and backhand strokes are those made to hit a ball on the left of the body. Naturally, then, for a forehand stroke, your body must face the right side of the court, 7F Hr ryr ~'c Vr sve

and your left foot must be nearer to the net than your right foot. For a backhand stroke, you must turn the other way, with your body facing the left side of the court and your right foot nearest the net. Remember then, that there are four essentials in footwork and that the most vital of them is the last. If you invariably observe all four, you will be already on the road to becoming a first-class player. Correct footwork makes good style, and it is good style that makes a champion. You have got to keep your footwork correct not only always, but also everywhere. Do you think that when you are on a particular part of the court footwork does not matter. It always matters. Many people who study footwork at the back of the court disregard it at the net. They are wrong. Some people will tell you that experts use bad footwork in retrieving desperate shots. That is true: It is proved by photographs. But it is still more true that a good shot played with feet in a faulty position would have been both easier to play and more effective, if the feet had been correctly placed. Cochet’s backhand drive and Richards’s forehand drive are the weak points in their play because in making these strokes their footwork is usually faulty: and Borotra’s beautiful volleys result not only from" his agility but also from the fact that his footwork, particularly at the net, is perfect. Footwork, indeed, is so important that you can sometimes score by fore-

ing your opponent to disregard it. Surprise him with a ball that comes straight at him, and he will very likely play it facing the net, without moving his feet; for it is much more difficult to place the feet correctly when caught standing still than when moving to meet the ball, and if he does not place the feet correctly he will not make an effective return to your shot. CAUSE OF WEAK DRIVES It is important that you should get into the way of playing equally well and easily whether you are playing a forehand stroke or a backhand stroke. Many beginners learn the forehand before tackling the backhand and as a consequence get into the habit of facing the right side of the court. Then they have difficulty with the backhand stroke. After a forehand stroke you have to make a complete about-turn, to play a backhand; if you only make three-quarters of the turn, your footwork is incorrect, and the stroke suffers. You will very likely find, in practicing, that one of these two strokes, either the forehand or the backhand, is much better than the other. The reason “lies at the feet”; you are standing ready to play the stroke you do best, and you do not turn your feet sufficiently to get the right position for the other. Without good footwork you cannot look easily at the coming ball, you cannot hit it freely, you cannot get a proper balance, or properly distribute your weight so as to get the full striking power in your arm. Nor, when you are expert, can you possibly achieve good style. Good footwork means control of the ball, accuracy, speed and pace; it also leads to accurate halfvolleying, delicate drop-shots, and the hardest smashes. The running drive of a Tilden, the invincible backhand of a Borotra, turning seemingly untakable shots into winning returns, are only possible with correct footwork. The freeness of the swing, the fluency of the whole stroke (which show the real beauty of action in the game), have their foundations in perfect footwork. NEXT WEEK: THE GRIP OF THE I BACKET.