LAWN TENNIS. Its Evolution into an Indoor Game.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 427, 11 December 1889, Page 6

LAWN TENNIS. Its Evolution into an Indoor Game.

One of the moat interesting features in the evolution of the game of lawn tennis is the gradual growth of- the covered court play. There can be little doubt that when the game ,was first started its prompters in-tended-that it should be a purely outdoor pastime. There were court games already in existence, established on so firm a basis as to make the danger of their being supplanted extremely slight, and fenced around with all those old associations which cling to every favourite and time-honoured form of recreation. Bub they laboured under two principal disadvantages. In the first place, the bodily exercise which they afforded was not that exercise in the open air which many regard as so essential to health and without which the average American feels that he is lost. In the second place, the comparative scarcity of the courts in which these games are played (there are only three of these courts in this country— one in Newport and two in Boston, and few more in England) and the expense attending the erection of new onas placed them beyond the reach of many whose occupation or inclination prevented their turning their attention to some other already existing pastime. ' It was, therefore, in order to meet these two disadvantages that the game of lawn tennis — a game that could be played in the summer and in the open air, and was within reach of all. those who had a sufficiently large plot of grass at ,their disposal — was started. But it was not long before;' enthusiasm for the game and a desire *to be more or less independent of the vagaries of a winter climate led to the practice of playing on hard courts, both out of doors and under cover ; and where new courts were not laid down especially for the purpose, the drill-shed or the abandoned skating rink were made to administer to the rising game. And so it has come about that people play lawn tennis on a variety ot surfaces widely different from that natural ground after which the game is named. Among the many causes which have contributed to this result the desire for winter play has perhaps been most potent. It did not take long to make the discovery that the game was almost as enjoyable in winter as in summer, and that the violent bodily exercise was sufficient to keep a player warm even on the coldest day, while the value of winter practice and the superior skill shown ab the opening of a season by those who had not abandoned their favourite sports during the winter months we.ro too obvious to be denied. Bub there is another cause which is tending to increase the popularity of covered court play. This may be described as the desire for the elimination of luck. It cannot be denied that the element of luck enters largely into the game as played on grass and in the open air. Few grass courts are absolutely true, and false bounds may occur ab any moment. Seldom, too, isthere a day on which the wind does not interfere more or less with accurate play, whilo boo much or too litble light and a host of other adverse conditions are always likely to upset the calculations of the scientific player. In a covered court, on the other hand, these annoyances are, or ought to be, almost entirely absent.