LAWN TENNIS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 200, 13 January 1913, Page 8

LAWN TENNIS.

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(By C r. Dixon, Captain of the lii-iiinh team, in Wellington Times). The style and methods of tiio players* of a country are controlled to a very great extent by its leading exponent. In Au«irnlia. for instance, one sees :iny number of lesser lights in the tennis world endeavoring to take .Mr. Norman Brookes as their"model and eopy. overlooking lhe important fuel lhat Brookes' particular style may be totally ununited to them. ' Brookes is in many way.i a unique, player, in that lie has develop, ed his game' to a great measure on his own lines, Kor instance, to take one. ! peculiarity of his play, namely, the position he takes up to return his-op-ponent's .services. Even to the. fastest I deliveries, such as Maurice McLoughlin's, Ihe stands well within the llano line. That he can do this with such eonspk-u----,OHs success speaks volumes for his' wonderful quickness of eye and anticipation, but to the majority of players such, a course only spells disaster. I" "The'style si player should"'adopt is"th"e~ one that is natural to him, and the,one , thai; in the long run is the most likely Ito he effective with him. This pian (has undouhtedly been the one to h adopted by Iho-c who have made Lueiti- • selves famous not only,at this 'gamtti lint at cricket mid golf. Many a genius at games has, been .lost by a_ too slavish adherence to copy-book methods, or to ,a partiality for one particular style, of ]jlay. So much for,a few general remarks on this subject, SUPERIOR IX, fiROUND ,'PLAY. We will now turn to the chief points of ( difference, between,,, Australasian anil British players. ' fine "of the tors ,of , our "success, 1 not ■ only, in Davis (.'up matches, but in our tour in Australia and New Zealand, lias been our superiority .in ground, play, both in aecu- 1 racy and severity. No pla'yer, I haVft yet met'with' in' Australasia has the force and power behind his drives as that possessed by Mr. J. C. Parkos. Mr, Norman—Brookes,- -though he- possesses nice length and artfully varies the pac& of his ground strokes, can in no way be termed a hard"hitter. Mr. Rod. Heath has a powerful forehand drive, but the pace,is scarcely as great as that! of Parke, nor is he anything like, so accurate with it, and when one turns to the- backhaul drive 1 the 11 disparity is even more marked." usesTlike many other Australian players, the sa'irie face of his racket with "his backhand as 1 with his forehand, and Heath, though his, grip,.for the backhand approximates more to the English method, has a backhand drive which is essentially a defensive stroke, and which gives" the expert volleycrs endless opportunities .at the net. Parke, Beamish and Lowe arc all exceptionally strong on the backhand, and when up against a vollcycr I they will repeatedly pass him by an "agjgressive stroke from this quarter. , 1 NEW ZEALAND'S STRENGTH. [ The New Zealand p'.ayers, who adopt tMJLnglj.sh_.grip.„ ara. in Jiiy_apMon_bejL. ter armed in this .respect than many, 0f,,, the Australians. Peacock has some pace behind his backhand drive. 01livier's,, though not so severe as,his forehand, should develop with more firstclass, practice into a much more formidable weapon of attack. His short crosi backhand return already gains him many valuable poiiits. - Swanston, whom "j had, noted_ as especially weak on his backhand in previous' matches, yester-" day, in his match with ,me, showed particular strength in this department, often beating me outright with it at the net. A. B. Jones, the -New South Wales* | player, and one who shows as much' .promise at the game as anyone I -have I yet come across, is, fairly strong off 1 , tho,| 'ground, but his chief effectiveness is at' the net, where his volleying is both clean and deadly. Neither in,his forehand 01 backhand drive is he quite equal to ou| ' leading players at Home. THE MNISHINOV STROKE. , , Another match-winning factor whieh_ ,wc possesr in "a" much larger" degree "than" ,do most of .the Australasian players is it he accuracy -hi the finishing stroke. We miss far ]es s of what are commonly (known to us at Home as "sitters." In | the many matches T have had the pleasure of watching between- our phi vers and various team in Australasia, I have been struck with this feature. Our opponents have made their openings, and, at the last, failed to utilise them. Xo player is entirely exempt from this! error. Many such mistakes are made by our own players, Some of ' the ! strokes arc 'not quite so casv as they J may appear, apart from wind'and other' [adverse conditions, but i'f statistics were .k.c]).k.ik..w'«uldJie .found. w-.'.JiaveJia<l-»~ very good balance on points in this respect.

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vVi&wing- to; : ;:plness''cSMScted. ings.. Mr, J, C;::MKft5Js%: \vHl jioFW'i" competitor at ,tbe, , forthcoming... tournament. Interest; will : : .be lent : , to -1 he touraamont" by tliQZfMtri'ltttt./G, Ollke^zexE