Los Angeles herald., 1910-11-21
EARLY TRAINING
BEST FOR TENNIS
Winter Practice SeCret>of Skill of
Cracks of Eastern
Courts

NEW YORK. Nov 2O.-One of the
best things in the world for a lawn
tennis players is to get fit in the early
part of the season and keep in condi-
ton until it closes. A majority OF
players try to, get In condition in the
full glare of the warm weather, and
in doing so undermine their vitality,
and they wonder why they are not
able to stay more than a couple of
sets. An instance of advantage of be-
ing in condition early is that OF Rich
ard II. Palmer, who recently won the
tri-state championship, and among
those whom he defeated was Wallace
f. Johnson. Had Palmer been in the
same trim for the New York state
championships last June as when he
defeated Johnson he would have surely
annexed the title.
Another good thing for a player. es-
pecially a beginner, is to practice the
right way of making bis shots. In
discussing this and other points of the
game an expert remarks: Nearly
every aspirant for lawn tennis honors
is firmly imbued with the idea that the
only way he will ever get to be first
class player Is through tournament
play, by meeting men with whose style
he is unfamiliar and getting beaten by
some so-called crack. But while 1t is
undoubtedly an advantage for the now
ice to play against men much better
than himself the notion that a suf-
f1ciency of tournament play Is all he
needs in time to make him champion
or a near champion is an unfortunate
delusion from which too many young
players are suffering. About as rea-
sonably might they hope to become
great singers by 'suping' faithfully at
grand opera.
MANY REASONS OF FAILURE
"There are several reasons why
many man possessing all the phys
ical attributes requisite for f1rst-class
player fails to become one, and the
chief of these reasons is that most of
these players are wholly and fearfully
self-made-they have never been
taught the game. AS a result, most of
them do not know how to make the
simplest strokes properly, while the
rudimentary principles of footwork, po-
sition, timing, etc, are wholly unknown
to them. The novice at tennis seldom
or never receives any competent
coaching. He picks up the game as
best he can by playing with other
novices, during which process he is
certain to acquire a great many faults
of style which later he finds 1t almost
impossible to get rid of, If, indeed, he
ever realizes the necessity of doing so.
"It would hardly be an exaggeration
to say that at least nine out of ten
players who take DIP the game are so
badly handicapped at the start by this
lack of skilled coaching that there is
practically no. chance of their ever ac-
quiring a correct form or developing
half the proficiency they might have
attained had they been taken in hand
early by experts and taught the correct
methods of play.
WILL NOT CORRECT MISTAKES
Another almost insurmountable OBJ
stacle to the success of most tennis
players is their curious inability or un-
willingness to recognize their mistakes
and to correct them. To the observer
it sometimes seems as though the aver
age player must leave what brains he
has in the clubhouse when he goes out
to play, for ne so rarely acts as though
he had them with him on the court
Again and again in a match he will be
guilty of making the same stupid and
fatal mistake-such as trying to vol
ley from the back of the court, or rush
ing wildly to the net after an easy re-
turn, or sticking to the sort of game
which is only too plainly exactly to
his opponents liking. The average
player, in short, uses everything but
his head in trying to win.
HE is apparently TOO much con-
cerned as rule in trying to bring off
some favorite shot-generally of a
highly spectacular and risky kind-to
give any thought to anything else. 1t
is as though he were fatally obsessed
with the idea that he must win the
point in one particular way or not at
all, quite oblivious to the fact that this
precise way may be the one least
adapted to the purpose. His main no.
ton is to end the point one way or
another as soon as possible. Seldom
does he evince the slightest disposition
to plan ahead for a shot, to try to work
his opponent out of position or to keep
him guessing as to just what sort of
stroke to expect next.
"a contest between two players of
this kind is usually a slambang, hit or
miss affair, which provides more
amusement than real interest for the
spectators.
'In the early stages of any large
tournament one may see men who have
been playing tennis for years and years
repeatedly commit errors of judgment
and faults of execution which make
their playing seem like that of the YER
lest tyrO. These men have time and
again watched the best players of this
country compete; they are not deficient
in powers of observation or mental as
tuteness, and yet to watch them one
would think them ignorant of all the
finer points of the game. The adage
that you can't teach an old dog new
tricks seems to apply with peculiar
force In the case of players like these.
Their style If such it can be called
was formed long ago and despite its
glaring imperfections' of which they ap-
pear blissfully unconscious, they cling
tenaciously to it and rely vainly on
agility, steadiness or luck to give them
victory"