Omaha daily bee., 1911-08-06
Doherty Said to Be
Most Scientific in
Tennis Court Play
A. E. Crawley Discusses His Clever
ness, Declaring His Strokes to
Be Ideal.

NEW YORK, Aug. 5-There is discus
sion now going on as to who was the best
tennis player and on it A. E. Crawley has
the following to say:
LAS for the relative merits of different
methods of stroke, the test is their rela-
ton to the conditions of the game, includ-
ing both variety and economy. That
most efficient in pace and placing. most
capable Of variation with the least ex-
penditure of time, space and effort-a
stroke which is always adapting itself to
changing requirements, and yet is always
the same in principle. 1t will, In fact, COM
bine in itself the merits of all specialized
strokes, and will be an epitome of the
evolution of the art of striking the ball.
With such a stroke a player can hit the
ball clean, with over spin, under spin, or
side spin, as he pleases, without prepara-
ton, and can use shoulder, arm, wrist and
fingers, either all together or with a spe-
cial call upon one or more In other words
the connection between body and racquet
is organic. The principle, of course, APP
plies to the four classes of stroke. service
volley. fore handed and back handed drive
In the volley, for instance, there is no
change Of mechanism, whether the stroke
is low or high, hard or stopped. driven or
| cut
Now in lawn tennis such a stroke or
method Of hitting has been evolved for the
volley and the two drives. The man who
has this and also possesses strategic ca
pacity and winning temperament, to-
gether with a reasonable amount of the
ii.
a proportional list Of the highest results
is the best player. l have been lengthy
on the subject OF the stroke because It is
the best test OF the development of the
game
ION that test and on the other require
ments combined 1 base my opinion that
the best lawn tennis player yet seen is H.
L. Doherty His stroke came nearer to
the ideal combination 1 have roughly
sketched than that of any player 1 have
seen or heard of. A good judge once said
that he did not believe there was anything
that H. l. could not do with the ball.
and he was nearly right.
II saw him play and played against him
and with him both when he was a boy
and when he was at his best. Only four
men can claim to be considered his possible
|
best player-W. Renshaw. PIN. r. F. Do
herty and Larned. / have studied their
play and have played against them all ex-
cept Larned. H. LIS volley was better
than that of any; PINS came very close
TO 1t. Overhead H l. was far the best,
and has never been approached in this de-
partment. In the forehand and backhand
drive he was slightly the superior OF Pim
his methoe being more organic and more
certain. The same applies to its slight
superiority to r. F.'s method.
1T would take too long to give an anly-
sis Of the living mechanism OF H. L. Do
herty's drive and volley. 1t Is Of very
great interest In connection with the evo-
luton Of strokes and is as yet hardly APP
preciated. In technique and finish, I con-
clude, H. L. Doherty was the greatest art
list the game has seen; on this qualifica-
ton, combined with the other qualifica-
tions of generalship and character, compe-
ttlOn and achievement, he Was its greatest
player"