James Dwight

“ One is often asked the best method of learning to play. I fancy that the best way, could one often adopt it, would be to let a marker, as in a tennis-court, hit the balls gently to the beginner, pointing out to him his mistakes, so that he might not acquire a bad style. If he begins by going on to the lawn and playing a game, his only object will be to get the balls over the net, and he will be almost sure to fall into bad habits of play. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 ”

“ We now come to a wholly different class of volleys, namely, those of a dropping ball, as when a weak return is made off a fast service, or more often when one player is lobbing to drive his opponent back. In this class comes the “Smash,” which is simply a volley made very hard, with all the joints of the arm free, so that as soon as the stroke is started all control of the racket is lost. In a simple volley the joints are not held stiff, but one retains control of the racket throughout the stroke; in a smash one lets the racket go apparently at random. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Rackets.—The choice of a racket is an important matter, and it is also a difficult one. Young players seem to take pleasure in selecting the most extraordinary rackets in a shop. Let me strongly advise them to avoid all unusual handles, heads, or methods of stringing. All these eccentricities are useless at the best. Nothing is so good as the simplest form of racket, possessing an octagonal handle, and strung in the usual way. Such a racket is used by all the better match-players in England. ”

“ 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. ”

“ In one word, if you are the better player, do all that you can to exclude luck from the game, because, if there is no luck for either side, you will probably win. If luck is to come in, no one can say who will get the best of it.
The next point to consider is the service. With duffers the service is an advantage, because the striker-out misses so many balls, or, at least, returns them weakly. With good players, I believe the service to be a decided disadvantage. On a good ground almost every service can be returned. The first service, if fast, seldom comes off ”

“ A player should never play slackly because he fancies the set won. Every game that he loses encourages his opponent, and also makes it harder for himself to get back to his old game. There is no score at which a set is safe till it is won. ”

“ On the other hand, never give up a match till it is lost. I have seen the score two sets to love and five games to two, and the player who was ahead lost the match. It is always worth while to try for one more game. Try to learn to play up the whole time, unless it is absolutely necessary to ease off to save your wind.
I wish to call particular attention to the fact that it is a great mistake to attempt to return the service till you are sure that you are ready. Your opponent will often serve as soon as your face is turned towards him, and there is a strong temptation to return the ball. ”

“ Never cut nor twist a ball except in service; it tends to make the ball travel more slowly, and will deceive nobody. The underhand stroke puts a little twist on the ball, but it is an over twist and not a side one. Try to meet the ball fairly, i.e., to bring the racket against it in the line of its flight; or, in other words, don’t hit across the ball.
Watch carefully your own weak points. Any good player ought to be able to show them to you, and you should then try to improve your game where it is weak. ”

“ Never drop a ball short. It is a very tempting stroke, and at times very effective, but one loses a great many strokes in trying it. In almost every case the ball could be killed as well by a hard stroke, and the danger of putting it into the net would be much less. It is very difficult to hit a ball so slowly that it will just go over the net, and if it goes a little too far one’s opponent comes forward to meet it, and can, as a rule, place it wherever he pleases. I play the stroke at times, myself, and each time vow that I will never try it again. ”

“ 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. ”

“ If, then, he plays a cautious game and tries mainly not to make mistakes, his opponent will win nearly every stroke. The receiver of odds ought to play as bold a game as possible. He should hit hard and take every chance of making a stroke that cannot be returned. Let him give the same odds to some weaker player, and he will soon find how difficult it is to give them if his opponent plays a fast game. Against a player who hits hard and takes the chances one is apt to make more mistakes than one can afford. ”

“ When, however, one is in the extreme back part of the court, especially in the middle, the chance of passing a good volleyer seems to me to be small. If one is in a corner of the court, one has two strokes to choose from, one down the side-line and the other across the court. If the volleyer does not foresee which stroke will be played, it is unlikely that he can do more than save the ball. ”

“ 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. ”