Mrs. Lambert Chambers

“ I know of one well-known player who never has any breakfast at all. She may play hard matches all the morning, and when the luncheon interval arrives she has only bread-and-cheese and fruit. Of course this is a very exceptional case, and I should not care to try it myself. I find a good breakfast a necessity before a long and hard day at a tournament. But the no-breakfast regime certainly suits the player in question. She is always "fit," and has great stamina, coming through exhausting matches without showing the slightest sign of distress. ”

“ Remember that variety in service, as in tactics and general play, is essential. However fast your service may be, if its pace and placing are stereotyped, a good deal of its efficacy is lost, since your adversary knows what to expect, where to stand, and the kind of stroke suitable for return. It is better to possess a variety of slow services, if they have good length, than to own one fast service which has no particular merit except speed. And, of course, the faster the ball comes off the racket the more liable is it to go astray. ”

“ Personally I know what it means to play an important match when feeling really ill. Honestly it is not worth it. It is no enjoyment to yourself, and it is no pleasure to your opponent to beat you when she knows you are unfit. Besides, it is very injurious to your own health. On the other hand, if you are in good condition, and leading a healthy outdoor life, a well-contested match cannot harm you; it is most beneficial in every way. Therefore I think the best training for an important match is to be always in "training"; not to have to alter your habits before a match is the secret. ”

“ To be calm and placid at critical moments, never to get excited or flurried, or in any way put out, whatever little worries may turn up—and sometimes these worries seem endless and try one to the uttermost limit—that is one of the keys to fame on court. I think if a good games' temperament is not natural to you, it can to a great extent be cultivated. ”

“ I think I am not wrong in saying that there is no other game at the present time in which this combination of the sexes does not tend to minimize the enjoyment of the player and the interest of the spectator. A mixed foursome at golf is poor sort of fun for the man, unless the ladies are quite first-class; the game is rather spoilt for him. Mixed hockey is an abomination; splendid sport absolutely spoiled for both sexes. But a mixed double at lawn tennis seems like a distinct game, so different is it to the other forms of lawn tennis and so well adapted to the combination of both sexes. ”

“ Read all the excellent books that have been written on the game from time to time. I have often noticed that beginners will willingly pay their entrance fees for open events at tournaments, when they know very well that nothing but a miracle will take them through the first round. Yet the same players grumble at the expense of purchasing books dealing with the game. The book would most probably help them a great deal, whereas the one solitary match does them no good. It is over so quickly, the difference in the class of play is so great, that the beginner hardly hits the ball at all. ”

“ As I have remarked before, complete concentration is absolutely necessary to success. If you are worried about anything, business or home affairs, it is bound to affect your game. Think of absolutely nothing but the game you are at the moment playing. Your whole personality must be absorbed. To play the game well demands the use not only of limb and muscle, but heart, eye, and brain. The first rule will help the second, because your attention must be more or less fixed on the game if you are carefully watching the ball the whole time. ”

“ One of the most rooted mistakes in the public mind is that the first-class player is a professional. Many times people have said to me, "You must be making quite a nice bit of pocket-money from your tennis." "Making?" I say. "Spending, you mean!"—which always makes them stare in amazement. This fallacy annoys me very much, and is, I find, very common. Let me take the opportunity here of pointing out that there are no professional lawn tennis players excepting a few coaches at Queen's Club, London, and at some of the clubs abroad; these men, of course, cannot compete in open tournaments. ”

“ What greater delight than to feel a stroke you have always dreaded becoming easier and less embarrassing each time you use it, to know that you are genuinely advancing instead of making no progress and playing the same old bad shots time after time? ”

“ But the less experienced are wont to appear in a "garden-party" trailing skirt, trimmed hat and dressy blouse—a most unbusiness-like costume for the game. It is essential to remember that you want, above everything else, free use of all your limbs; physical action must not be impeded in any way by your clothing. An overhead ball which may require your arm to be extended as far as it will go, a low volley at the net where you must bend down, a run across the court or up to the net—all these strokes you must be able to perform with freedom and facility. ”

“ If this, then, be "womanliness," can athletic games injure it? Do they spoil woman's usefulness as a woman? Do they damage her specific excellence? Do they tend to give her less endurance and nerve at critical times? I do not think so. Certainly lawn tennis does not. It is undoubtedly a strenuous game. There is more energy of physical frame, more brain-tax and will-discipline demanded in one hardly contested match than would suffice for a whole day's devotion to many other games. ”

“ The ball must be hit firmly and cleanly with the centre of the racket. Feel as if you were literally sweeping it along—your movement must be so perfectly timed—to the place you wish it to go, not forgetting to follow well through with your arm and shoulder in a line with the flight of the ball. Great muscular strength is not needed to play well. Timing your stroke, transferring your weight at the right moment, and following well through at the finish—these are the chief secrets of good and powerful strokes. ”

“ As to Courts, there are so many surfaces now used for the game, such as grass, wood, asphalt, cement, gravel, and sand, that it is possible to play the game all the year round, under cover or out in the open. I think, however, most players will agree with me that a good grass court is the ideal surface for lawn tennis. The sensation of playing a genuinely hard match with evenly balanced players on a good grass court, under ideal weather conditions, has only to be experienced to be appreciated. It is then you realize what great enjoyment this game gives to any one who loves it. ”

“ Though a girl should always try to be as neat and look as nice as she possibly can, even when playing a strenuous game, it is hardly possible or natural to be "just so" every second of a long struggle. In fact, I think it is more interesting to see a girl not absolutely immobile. I prefer that she should show some signs of excitement, that her muscles should be strained and her face set. ”

“ Strokes naturally avoided in a match should be given as much experience as possible in a knock-up game. It is the only way. Many players make the cardinal mistake of playing day after day in the same way; they starve all their weak strokes and overdo all their best ones; in fact, they play in precisely the same manner as if the occasion were an important match. If you do this, you must always preserve those weak strokes; they are not even given a chance to develop. I once asked a girl whom I noticed continually running round her back-hand in a practice game, why she did this. ”

“ A committee should do all in its power to improve the standard of play, and that can only be accomplished by having well-tended courts and good balls. Many clubs are not equipped with side-posts for the single game. That is a great mistake, because a player will practise without them in her club, and then when she enters for a tournament will have to use them. It is bound to put her off her game. Such details make all the difference between good and bad management of a club. ”

“ It was very bad luck for Miss Greene, as the moral effect, after having had seven chances of winning the match, was so great that it completely put her off her game, and I won that set and the third quite easily.
Be careful also, when you are behind, and are slowly but surely catching up your opponent, that when you do draw level you do not relax your efforts. This danger is most insidious, and must be fought against. The strain and anxiety involved in catching up, and the great relief when you are games all, provoke a reaction unless you are on your guard. ”

“ Lawn tennis players never seem to me to be nearly so keen on their game as golfers. So many of them appear quite satisfied to remain at a fixed stage. They will certainly not get their handicap reduced unless there is an ardent desire to become better acquainted with the science of the game. A struggling golfer is never tired of learning talking about his pastime—often, I admit, to the annoyance of people who are not so obsessed. ”

“ Length, variety of stroke, and direction are the chief factors in success when playing a single. Very often when the place to send the ball is obvious, even to the spectators, it is just as obvious to your opponent, and she will probably be making for that place before you have even hit the ball. Then is the time to return the ball, not where every one, your opponent included, anticipates, but straight back to the original place—that is, the spot your opponent is just hurriedly leaving. ”

“ Exercise in some form or other is essential, and although I am quite ready to admit that games of the strenuous type, such as hockey and lawn tennis, can be and sometimes are overdone, yet the girl of to-day, who enters into and enjoys her game with scarcely less zest than her brother, is, I am convinced, better in health and happier in herself than the girl of the past generation. ”

“ Upset her usual game by your tactics. It is always a great mistake to keep up a method of attack or defence if it is proving unavailing. If necessary, keep your own method of play continually on the change. A change of tactics has often meant a change of fortune in the game. Never let your opponent know what you are going to do next; do what she would least expect. Always try to make a stroke. Give her plenty of the strokes you know she doesn't like. I have often felt myself improving an opponent's weak stroke by pegging away at it. ”

“ Of all games lawn tennis is the one most suited to girls. Its claims are many and potent. It is strenuous and very hard work, but if not overdone it is not too taxing for the average girl. The exercise depends naturally upon the nature of the game played and the players engaged, from the championships to the garden-party patball game. The greater the knowledge of the game the greater the enjoyment and benefit derived from it, and there is really no reason why a girl should not excel at the game and therefore thoroughly appreciate and enjoy it. ”

“ In match play remember that a game is never lost until it is won. Never give up trying. Matches have been won (you have only to read the experiences related in the final chapter of this book) after a player has had a set and five games to love called against her. Therefore, unless the game is over, it is never too far gone to be pulled out of the fire. Even if your opponent requires only one more stroke to win the match, remember how difficult it often is to make that one.
The same applies if you have a good lead. Play hard the whole time ”

“ I have seen an average player, who had always played on bad courts, with cramped surroundings and poor background, put up a really good game the very first time he played on a first-class court—I refer to a well-known private court at Thorpe Satchville, perhaps the best in the country. That player surprised himself and every one else present. He performed about half-thirty better than his usual game. The moral is that if other players had the opportunity of playing regularly on a true and fast court they must essentially improve. On bad courts you can never be sure what the ball will do ”

“ It is a very important quality to possess, because to lose your temper, or to be upset over any trifle, not only puts you off your game, but helps your opponent to take a new lease of life and encourages her to play up harder than ever. She naturally thinks that if you are so upset at something or other your game is bound to deteriorate, and she will have a much better chance of winning the match. ”

“ A committee sometimes embraces old supporters of the club who have been members for years and years. They have old-fashioned ideas, are very conservative, and do not like innovations of any sort, even if changes are obviously necessary for the benefit of the game. A committee should see that their club has a good match-card, for inter-club contests are excellent practice for the members, and there is nothing like fostering a spirit of friendly rivalry. Care should be taken to choose players who make a good pair and combine well together. ”