Evening star., 1915-06-20

asphalt. where shoe that has a light
upper with an extra heavy rubber
soles is better. Leather uppers, with
rubber soles. to my mind. are apt to be
| too clumsy unless a player suffers from
weak ankles, in which case the ball
type Of leather shoe with a rubber sole
is a very helpful support. On asphalt
courts the additional cushion Of an
extra heavy woolen sock is advisable
The Disadvantage of Headgear.
To me. personally, a cap or a hat is
! very annoying. although Brookes and
Wilding are both known to wear some
sort of headgear. I think it is better.
if possible. to accustom ones self to
play without a hat under all condi-
tfons. Oftentimes a hat, especially in a
rush to the net, has to be pulled down
| on the head so tightly, in order to keep
1t on, that it actually tends to stop the
blood-f1ow. For some players who per-
spire freely around the head, a hand
kerchief or band is used about the fore
| head. But this, by no means. applies
to players in general Personally, /
have never felt the necessity of such a
device even in the hottest weather and
during the hottest set
In almost all the American grass
court tournaments the spike shoe is
used. though rarely by the English in
their own tournaments. On account of
the wear and tear that the continuous
use of the spike shoe has on the grass,
few ciubs in america permit such a
shoe in practice, but their periodical |
use in tournament play each year, l am
sure, does no appreciate injury to the
courts. The length of the spike is regu-
lated by the National Association to a
maximum of one-quarter inch. The
average shoe has from twelve to If
teen spikes Gncluding the heeD.
The Grip on the Racket.
Latterly the question of the players
grip on the racket has been much dis
cussed. In my view, it rests with the
player himself to determine what grip
Is the least firing and gives him the
greatest control of the ball
There are two methods of changing
the grip in general use. Roughly
speaking, some players. in switching
from forehand to backhand, turn the
hand instead of the racket; others turn
the racket but not the hand, style
favored in England, where they also
favor the head of the racket above
the wrist" principle, all of which re-
suits in there being quite an angle be-
tween forearm and racket handle on
the backhand. Mr. Vaile has pointed
out that this should not be the case,
that the racket handle and forearm
should be applied in what he calls the
same plane of force" And he dis
tinctly favors the knuckles facing the
coming ball. not. as in the English
style, nearly the whole back of the
hand l can only say that there have
been famous exponents of both sys-
tens.
Some players use their thumb down
the racket to strengthen their back
of the man and his strength and ac-
curacy of wrist. AS to the angle be-
tween forearm and racket handle, Mr.
Vaile's example of the former methods
the rear corner instead of from direct
ly behind it seems reasonable, and for
the average player 1 think I should
advise a pretty horizontal backhand
again the make of the player will have
a great deal to do with it, and above
all it is necessary to cultivate a grip
that is natural to you. There will have
and the time element will enter In in
fast play
When to Hold Racket Loosely,
In general, hold the racket somewhat
loosely, SO as not to tire the arm. ex-
cept at the instant of impact with the
ball, when firm grip is imperative.
In only one instance should the racket
be held loosely at the time of impact:
that is when a "stop-volley" is en-
ployed to drop ball just over the net.
This is often A very effective stroke
on turf courts. where contact of the
ball with loosely held racket causes
it to fall almost lifeless. On asphalt
the bound is always greater and the
stroke not so effective. Beals Wright
dropped the ball short over the net
with slice that gave it back-spin and
caused it to die" where it hit. lust as
the pool player holds his cue ball by
imparting to it a bit of draw
ropyrisht, 1915. by the Wheeler Syndicate, IncJ
This ix one of n series of articles ON
tennis by Champion McLOughlin that
will appear exclusively In this paper
Another article entitled "The Services.
will appear next Sunday.