James Dwight

“ A match, moreover, is in itself more exhausting, as you can seldom afford to drop your game to rest yourself, and the anxiety tells greatly on your wind. A player who often plays six or seven hard sets in practice may feel utterly out of breath in the first set of a match, mainly from excitement. The more he plays the less he will notice the difference between practice and matches.
A great difference, too, lies in the fact that a player, being anxious, is afraid to play his game, and tries only to get the ball back. ”

“ It is very common to see a player who is losing take a bisque or two bisques almost at random, from a morbid fear of never taking them at all. In this way he adds a game or two to his score, but he forgets that it is sets, and not games, that win matches. It is far better to risk losing the set at six-love than to give up a chance of winning it by taking a bisque for the sake of saving one game. ”

“ I should give to any one who was going into his first match, “Try to play just as you would in practice.” If he cannot win by playing his usual game, he will, as a rule, play worse instead of better by changing it. It may prove, of course, that you cannot win with your usual style of play. In such a case, try something else by all means, but don’t do so until your own game has been fairly tried. ”

“ Again we are told that if a player cannot serve a good second service, he would do better not to try a very hard service the first time, but to serve a medium-paced service which would be at once reasonably sure of going into court, and yet be difficult to place on returning. I must dissent entirely from this advice. I believe that in the single game and with good players the service is a distinct disadvantage. The first service is oftener a fault than not, and the second service can be placed almost as the striker-out pleases. ”

“ It is seldom that a player has not a decided preference for serving from one end rather than from the other, and his opponent will probably prefer the opposite. It is a small advantage to have the better court for the first game, compared with the arrangement of the service. If the winner of the toss chooses the court, his opponent can make him serve or serve himself, as he prefers to have the service come from one end or the other. If the winner chooses to serve he can be put in either court that his opponent sees fit. ”

“ With both men in position for volleying, each player of course takes the balls on his own side; the trouble is simply about those between them. The simplest rule and the best is to let the partner who played the last ball play the next. He knows best where the return will probably come, and his eye is in for it. I fully believe in the teaching of the Champion, that a player should be allowed to finish a rest if he can. That does not mean that he is to rush all over the court, but that he is to take all the doubtful balls. ”

“ As a matter of fact, such a player seldom uses his wrist at all, but rather he should be thankful for the advantage that a good wrist gives him, instead of handicapping himself by using an absurdly heavy racket. Almost more important than the weight of the racket is its balance. By balance is meant the way in which a racket hangs in the hand. Many rackets of 14 oz. feel as heavy as others of 141⁄2 oz. There is only one way of judging the balance, and that is by holding the racket by the end of the handle, as if in actual play, and trying how it comes up, and if it feels light or heavy. ”

“ About the worst umpire that there can be is one who is trying to show off his umpiring. I believe myself that players are as a class the best umpires. They are more used to watching the ball, and will, therefore, see it more correctly. Besides, they understand better what the players look for in an umpire.
It is your duty to keep the net at the right height, and you should arrange it before play begins, and from time to time afterwards, but don’t get down to look at it in the middle of a game, unless it is absolutely necessary. ”

“ To become an adept at the game, the player must be able to volley well; he must know how the stroke is made, and he must be able to make it, no matter where the ball may come—high or low, right or left, straight or dropping. One common principle applies to all volleys, namely, that the ball must not be allowed to hit the racket, but the racket must hit the ball, and a distinct stroke should be made. A step should always be taken with the opposite foot, i.e., with the left foot in a forehanded stroke, and with the right in a backhanded one. ”

“ One succeeds more often by accurate placing, and by concealing the direction of the stroke till the last moment, than by its actual speed. Of course, a fast stroke will give one’s opponent less time to reach it, but the risk of the ball going into the net or out of court is increased out of proportion to the gain. It is surprising to see how easily a slow stroke will pass a volleyer if he does not know on which side it is coming. Combined speed and placing are perfection, but the placing should be cultivated first, and the speed increased as one improves. ”

“ The best working service is probably the simple overhand service delivered without twist. It should be placed down the central-line or across to the outer corner of the court, and should be served as fast as possible. Should the first service be a fault, it is the custom to serve again in the same way, but at such a pace that there will be no danger of a second fault. We are often told that a good player should cultivate a second service which should be difficult to return, and at the same time should never be a fault. ”

“ If he comes up after making a good stroke that has driven his opponent back to the base-line, he has a great advantage, but if his last stroke has been slow and has struck inside the service-line, he is almost certain to be passed, if his opponent does not make a mistake. I cannot dwell enough on the fact that there is no use in volleying unless a distinct advantage can be gained by it, or, at the worst, that the back player must not have an easier return than he had the time before. ”

“ One does not, however, see good players confine themselves wholly to either game. As I said just now, one cannot volley every ball, and one needs to be able to make a severe stroke off the ground to get into position to volley. This one can do only by skill in back-play. Every well-known player of the present day believes that both back-play and volleying are necessary for a successful game, and the question now is not which to use, but how to mix the two. ”

“ If you cannot get men whom you can trust, it is better to umpire the base-lines yourself. It is a mistake to let a man take the side-line and one of the base-lines too. He will have to stand away from both lines, and in such a place he cannot see the base-line as well as you can yourself, and he cannot umpire the side-line really well.
If a line umpire cannot decide a stroke on his own line—as when a player comes between him and the ball, or for any other reason—give your own decision, if you are sure that you could see the stroke ”

“ If he is rather a better player than his opponent, he will stand a good chance to win the first set, and he should then have a great advantage, if he only takes care of himself. If he is rather the worse player as well as the weaker, he had better play for two sets on the better side and for the fifth, for he probably cannot win on the worst side, and will injure his chance for the last set if he tries to.
If the difference between the sides is very great and the players about equal, I think that the weaker man should not change sides every game if he can help it. ”

“ As a rule, it is a most unsafe stroke, and, when it can be played without risk, a hard volley will generally be just as good. It is a great satisfaction, both to the gallery and to the player himself, to see a ball smashed through an umbrella or a parasol, but it is an amusement that should be strictly confined to exhibition matches.
Do not volley a very low ball if you can possibly help it. For instance, one is coming forward, and meets a slow return that has passed just over the net and is dropping fast. ”

“ If one’s opponent lobs much it is unsafe to go in close, as one may have to run back for the ball.
In a word, it seems to me that each player must judge for himself in what place he can return his adversary’s strokes to the greatest advantage, and this place will not be the same against different players. You can usually tell if your opponent means to lob, and I believe that it is right to go in closer whenever one is sure that he will not lob, and then fall back again to be ready for any stroke next time. ”

“ With a wind blowing up and down the court, it pays best to play the first set with the wind. One gets into one’s stroke better in this way, and, on changing sides, it is easier to hit harder than to keep a constant check on one’s self to avoid hitting out of court.
In knocking up before a match, always take the court with the sun in your eyes, so that, if you lose the toss, you will be accustomed to the sun, and will not have to change from good light to bad. If you win the toss, you will feel the advantage of the light all the more. ”

“ If you are unlucky enough to win the toss, take the service, if you want the service to come from the worst court, and your opponent may prefer to let it be so rather than to give you the best court. If you want the service to come from the best court, make him serve so that he shall have to choose the worst side to prevent it. ”

“ Good form is simply the making of the stroke in the best way, so as to get the greatest effect with the least exertion. While nothing can be more graceful than good form, no one should make it his chief object to play gracefully ”

“ A player feels the wisdom of this rule when he has been watching his partner play several strokes in succession, and is suddenly called on to take a fast volley himself. He does not know where nor when it is coming nearly as well as if he had played the ball before it.
This shows us another principle of double play. Keep hammering at one man, if he is at a disadvantage, as thus you can probably gain something with each stroke. If, however, he is on equal terms with you, after he has played several strokes hit hard at his partner, who is often unprepared. ”

“ Without taking his eyes off the ball, the player can usually tell about where his opponent is, and can place the stroke accordingly. In all such volleys he should make up his mind just where he means to put the ball before he takes the step forward, and he should not change it even if he sees that his intention is discovered.
No rule can be given for placing the volley, but in any case the stroke should be severe enough to prevent the next lob from being as good as the last. If you do not gain a distinct advantage by the volley you are pretty sure to be worse off next time. ”