Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-07-17
HOW TO PLAY LAWN TENNIS.
The game of lawn tennis has secured a

HOW TO PLAY LAWN TENNIS.
| The game of lawn tennis has secured
strong foothold in this country in very
short space of time. A little while ago no
one heard of the game here, and now it is
on the lips of every one interested in out
door sports. Although the present season
is just opened, more than ten thousand
tennis sets have already been sold in this
city this year and forwarded to all parts of
the country, from Portland, Me-, to Port
land, Or In an article upon outdoor
sports printed in this journal some weeks
ago lawn tennis was briefly discussed, but
the increasing popularity of this game en-
titles it to some further attention. The
clubs in and near our large cities arc fast
producing good players, elaborate prepara-
tions for matches and practice are making
in the prominent watering-places, and
American manufacturers have entered into
successful competition with the foreign
makers of tennis materials. Tennis is a
weak and silly game, uninteresting, flat
and improbable, if the players do not
play to win first, last and always, and if
they do not fully comprehend and appreci
ate what the initiated call "poinis. As
the variable restrictions, privileges and
conditions of the game are many and not
simply and accurately set forth in the
published rules, it is natural that novices
should. at first fall into errors in playing
the game even if they have been prudent
enough to examine
THE ADOPTED REGULATIONS
Before attempting to swing a bat. This,
as a matter of fact, is generally the case
In Boston, where the game first gained
prominence, there are some excellent play
ers to-day. New York can boast of play
ers almost as good, but in both cities
several errors are prevalent. First, as to
counting. Two systems are in vogue
at present among our clubs, only one of
which is the proper one to use, viz: the
old SYSTEM OF making fifteen the game,
allowing the man who has his innings to
be the only one to count, and counting one
every time he wins strike. The new sys-
TEN of alternate countIng-counting fifteen
to stroke, allowing some one to make or
lose every time, and admitting the play of
advantages complicates the game, renders
the players ignorant half the time of the
condition of their respective scores and
shortens the game too much. When two
or more play on side it is easy to imagine
conditions of play, where odds are given,
when it would require three heads to keep
the score. This latter system is the sys-
tenn used in court tennis in England and
not at all in lawn tennis. Ignorant of
this fact some players here have confused
matters by trying to apply the system to
lawn tennis. The regular system is much
simpler 1t demands physical endurance
as a qualification of the game, and in
creases the importance of the service,
which is one OF the chief features of skill
ful playing.
THE RULES
Fix the weight and size of the ball, but
not its retractile force Considerable lati-
tude as to size and weight is allowed A
ball weighing a little less than two ounces,
and measuring about two and fve-eighths
inches in diameter, is generally selected
The amount of elasticity in the ball, how
ever, left as it is, an open question, is a
matter of constant dispute Some players
ike lively and some comparatively dead
| ball. This question, and many others of
Importance which do not arise until
match Is begun, could be settled once for
! all by general meeting of the New York.
Boston, Philadelphia and other leading
| GluDS. "a IuUDSI Ddl4, WHICH, WHICH, uIODDCu
| from the level of the head, will bound from
the surface OF the court as high as the
knee, meets with most favor. There is no
rule as to whether the ball should be COW
cred or not. A rubber ball hattens more
than a covered ball when struck smartly
| by racket, thus offering more resistance
to the wind, and the ball which reduces
the action of the wind to a minimum is the
best ball to play with, because the wind
may upset the best calculations. The COW
cred bali viii go straighter and obey the
stroke of the racket better, thus offering
greater possibilities for accurate placing
BALL
Covered with white felt cemented upon it
and sewed with gut is most durable, and
the elasticity in such balls can be varied as
desired. By washing the ball after a match
it can be made light colored so as to be easily
seen. Balls covered with bright tinted net
work are not serviceable. The net loses its
color after a few strokes and wears out
quickly, and white ball is as easily seen
as the bright net. In selecting sets cheap
bats, etc., are TO be avoided. This year
America is manufacturing tennis sets
largely and making strong endeavors to
suppIant the foreign trade, which has up to
the present time furnished the best playing
materials. The best wood for a racket is
ash. The player suits himself as to weight
within the regulations, but the beauty of a
racket is its balance. BY resting the upper
end Of the handle ON the forefinger player
can discover whether it is heavier in the
handle or vice versa, thus testing the bal
ance The tendency is to hold racket as
a cricket bat is held This is wrong. Ii
the racket is held in front of the player
horizontally, with the rough side of the
bowl uppermost, the player should grasp
the top of the handle in such way that
the first row of knuckles shall be, not on
the top OF the handle, but further over on
the side of the handle most remote from the
PLAYER. This will seem awkward at first,
but little practice will show that it is best.
The service and the return
CONSTITUTE THE GAME,
And the latter is more important As
rule, when serving from his- left court the
server should give the ball the underhand
cut, so as to make it bound to the left of
the striker-out and out of bounds, and when
serving from his right court he should give
the ball the back handed cut, so as to
make it bound to the striker.out S right
and out of bounds These rules, of course,
must be varied at the discretion of the
players. 1t is a question whether over
hand serving should be allowed, because a
very tall player can almost invariably serve
ball overland impossible to return. In
returning always send back swift ball
close to the net. In recent match be-
tween Oxford and Cambridge, ball in
play was returned thirty-nine times con-
secutively, and it did not pass once more
than an inch above the net. The net this
year is usually the same hight all the way
across, which offers greater possibilities for
placing the ball than did the uneven net.
The service line is taken this year TO
laf NOV hafuaan Tho not apd tho