Omaha daily bee., 1911-08-06
Much Energy Lost
in Walloping Ball
at the Top Cord
Most Popular Method of Service, Ac-
cording to Spectators, is
That of Larned's.


NEW YORK, Aug. 5.-Mostly all forms
of amateur sport possess some feature or
other that appear to the spectators as being
oddly ridiculous, the one in tennis being the
persistency with which players endeavor
to execute a hard drive with the first serv-
Ice ball and fail. Not per cent of the
players engaged in active competition at
the present day can get a hard swift ball
across the net on the first attempt and
yet they keep on trying. walloping, smash
ing and clouting at the net cord without re-
suits. 1t Is worth the while to take a
chance of getting hard one over on the
first, some of the cracks say, but there
is no attention paid to the amount of vi
tality lost in this continuous walloping at
the top cord for nothing.
Very often one sees player nearly ex-
hausted and with the heat devils dancing
before his eyes slash away at his first
ball and in the effort to impart some sting
to the stroke sting himself nearly half way
into the middle of the court. Then he would
have to stagger back to the base line, and
as has always been the case put over the
softest and most babyish service imaginable
with the second ball In one of the big local
tournaments this season 1t was interesting
to watch the play in the final round, which
went to five SETS One of the contestants.
who is remarkable for a strong reverse
service slashed away at his first service
ball with all his strength. 1t was worth re-
Numbering that he did not win a single
ace on service and that out of the entire
five sets only eight of his first balls served
hard landed on the other side of the net
The rest swatted against the top cord, and
the man won his match on his cross court
back hand volleys.
II popular method of service was to be
decided by the spectators the one to be Sc
lected would be that practised by William
A Larned, the national champion It is
not very swift ball nor has 1t any top
spin delivered with any terrific wallop,
and very rarely does he need to serve tho
second, for his first ball lands every time
across the net. and just as 1t does he ad-
vances to position where he can effec-
lively parry, kill. or volley almost any kind
of return Larned loses very little vitality
serving yet he is the most successful player
America has ever had. Nobody of course.
who wanted to be an expert with the rae
quet would ever think OF copying the nice
litle soft service Of Harold H. Hackett,
yet it has puzzled more players to handle
It than all the ripping. smashing. swattins,
walloping drives of the whole brigade of
the followers of the swift American serv-
Ice Hardly anybody ever saw Hackett miss
his first service ball.
II man cared to practice service for
accuracy and to cure himself of walloping
Into the top cord of the net 1t would not
be bad plan to try the method followed
by DR.. Joshua PIN, winner of the English
championship and undoubtedly a wonder
full player in his day. He generally prac-
tised at the F1tz-william club in Dublin.
He would place clrcuar piece of paper
four inches or so in diameter on the OPP
posite court and try to hit 1t with the
that object for a full hour, and as his
strokes grew accurate he would move
nearer to the opposite side OF the net so
that he could learn to shave the top cord
In practice he would always like to play
against the best man available, but when
possible he would play against the profess
sional employed by the club and the doc
tor would agree to pay him a crown for
every set the pro" could win. 1t was then
PIN was properly extended. for the pro
was out to make some coin and he I'M
covered all his best shots and tactics that
would not otherwise be brought into execu-
ton.