LAWN TENNIS.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 January 1921, Page 9

LAWN TENNIS.

NEW ZEALAND TENNIS. MR. TILDEN’S "QUITE A LOW STANDARD." HOW TO IMPROVE IT. “The standard is low, quite low,” said Mr W. T. Tilden when asked what he .thought of the local lawn tennis he had seen during his stay in Auckland, “but you have a great number of boys who are keenly interested in the game, as I have discovered during the time I have been here, who, if given the opportunity should make the basis of really firstclass, tennis in. New Zealand. But that cannot be brought about unless the schools, the tennis associations, and the players themselves combine to make the scheme a success. You don’t start the boy early enough. It seems that they don’t now start until about 16, 17, 18, and through that way, but yon want to initiate them at the age of 10 or 11. Why, there are any number of boys about here who seem to be just crazy about the game—take th© ball-boys we had for instance—but they never get a proper chance to play the game, because the schools don’t seem to go in whole-heartedly for the game, and the leading players don’t seem to realise the tremendous latent talent there is in the coming generation to improve the game. You must catch them young or you will .never make great tennis players.

A HINT TO THE OLD HANDS.

f Yes,” said the world’s champion in response to a question as to whether he had any suggestions as to how the thing was to be done, “I would suggest that the leading players in this country should each of them ‘adopt’ a boy, somewhere about the age of eleven or so, and personally coach him. I would suggest that the associations persuade the various clubs to throw their courts open to the boys free of charge, and hold tournaments specially for juniors. They should hold inter-school competitions between Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. In this way you will discover a great many promising boys coming up in the game.

“START THE BOYS RIGHT.”

“The main thing in any game is to start a boy right. In tennis you want to teach him the rudiments of footwork, court position, the correct way to hold his racquet, and he will develop the rest. I cannot lay too much stress on the importance of coaching. Personally, I have developed over a hundred players in my own country. At the present time 1 have a large stringof boys I am working with personally or giving advice to by letter. By this system we have in America developed the game wonderfully. You must insist that the schools recognise the game of lawn tennis as a major sport. It is useless expecting the best if you allow it to develop in a haphazard manner. As I said before, all the youngsters I have seen about the courts since I have been in Auckland are keenly interested in the game, and physically they are fine specimens. Those two factors are all you need, and if you take advantage of them, you will get the nucleus of first-class tennis in this country.”

VALUE OF COVERED COURTS.

MR. TILDEN’S STRONG ADVOCACY. The value of covered courts as a means of improving tennis was discussed in an interview on Saturday, secured by a New Zealand Herald representative, with Mr. W. T. Tilden, the world’s tennis champion. He attributes his own success largely to practice on indoor courts, where the conditions tend to cultivate the speed and precision that formed the remarkable feature of the display by the American champions last week.

“The best surface for the court,” said Mr. Tilden, “is what is known as battleship linoleum, which produces a bounce very much on the style of the Davis Cup court in Auckland. It is very much like a very fast grass court, and is absolutely true. I believe in direct overhead, lighting from the centre of the court, and indirect lighting from the sides. I think you could put two courts in one building for less than the cost of separate courts. “Thq value of indoor play is tremen-' dous,” Mr. Tilden continued. “Last year I improved my game fully 15 by indoor games during the winter. I practised four times through the week all the winter on nothing but strokes, and it is to that I owed my improvement during last year. It is by far the best place to practice or to coach on, and I am a great believer in coaching the younger players. I found the lighting quite good. Of course, the lighting you want principally is daylight, and you get that through / heavy glass roof, and use artificial light only when you are up against it. But playing at night, artificial light is almost as good as daylight. There should be 25ft to 35ft of headroom, and when you are at it you might as well make it 35ft.

“If you cannot get battleship linoleum. heavy canvas over wood is superior to the wood floor itself. Failing that, use unpolished wood, painted green, with white lines.

“The cost of upkeep is comparatively little, and making indoor Courts pay is simple. You can either form a club, where members pay so much a year, with a small fee for each game, and an additional fee for artificial lighting, or you can do without a club and raise the fees. Revenue can also be obtained by staging exhibition matches. I think you would fin'd it become tremendously popular. Covered court championships have become one of the big sporting events of the American winter season, and indoor tennis is growing all the time. There are plans under way in New York at present for a building that will cost slightly over £200,000 to stage eight first-class indoor courts, in addition to squash racket courts, shower baths, and so on.”

Mr. Tilden was asked whether the doors game tended to produce a separate class of players. “I think not.” ho replied. “I am indoors and outdoors champion at present. Johnston is a marvellous indoor player. Fortunately for me, he was hot a competitor this

year. “The indoors game is slightly faster, and the tendency is to come in on the ball more and take it on the rise more, because you are certain of your bounce. Therefore it speeds up the game and increases interest from the public standpoint. The service is much the same, for gourt absolutely, true

bounce. I certainly hope you get them in Auckland,” Mr.JCilden added. “If you do so I hope I may play on them some time ”