Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-08-01

I had to sacrifice great deal of speed.
Furthermore, this service entalled
tremendous amount of physical strain.
especially when 1t had to be sustained
through long match. That is why
in an earlier article l mentioned the
fact that in late years 1 have largely
eliminated the break on my service ana
! proportionltely increased its forward
speed. coupled with more complete
control Of direction.
I have thought that perhaps at this
point in this series it would be we'll
for me to state that the thing I wish
! least of all to do is to assume any
authority, to lay down the law as one
who considers that he knows it all To
such Of the match-winning champions
as may chance to read 1t, / hasten to
offer my admiration. So great is my
debt to the game of tennis in general.
for the fun it has given me and the
friends it has enabled me to make, that
l want to thank it as though 1t were
an actual person and to recommend 1t
to youngsters in the game whether
they are boys of fourteen with their
first rackets or far older men and
women who are just discovering It's
joys). I offer dif1idently what things
1 have found out by actual personal
experience.
There certainly is no royal road to an
expert game. and no words of mine
can turn your lead into gold by some
mysterious alchemy. One does rot
learn tennis from a book, in any case,
but by constant practice and study on
the court itself, and the encountering
and overcoming of the obstacles that
present themselves in each days play.
A racket in the hand Is worth any
number Of diagrams.
AS with everything else in life, 1T is
salutary to be perpetually dissatisfied
with the class of game you play; but
this dissatisfaction should never cause
despair if you are really DESTROYS of
climbing to the expert class. Rather
it should be "a constant spur to your
intelligence and ingenuity.
In the first place. it is most advis-
able to start with the correct positions
whatever source, to learn to distin-
guish the difference between good and
bad stroke-form. If you have con-
tracted cramped and essentially wrong
habits of play, by all means set about
Immediately to remedy them by the
exercise of intelligence and practice.
The most expert players have often
worked for long time to eradicate
some faulty eccentricity of their earlier
method.
You should never relax the study ct
your various opponents and should
strive to meet men with very different
styles of play, that your tennis educa-
ton may not be one-sided. Play con-.
erably, better than yourself Never be
satisfied with easy little victories or
strive to win in any old way. Play
keenly in practice and play your weak
nesses.
The best books I know of on the
game are by Kidston. Vale, Dewhurst,
Doherty, Meyers, Wrenn, Wilding, AL
exander, Little and Paret. Some of
after I had been playing the game for
a number of years. Consequently
cannot say that they have directly
helped me in my development. Those
that were published before ! took up
the game-I refer in particular to the
works of Wrenn and Doherty-did help
me Indirectly. I say Indirectly" be-
cause I have no recollection of making
study of those books at the time
was learning the strokes. Yet gath
cred enough from them and from the
talk of those around me to give me
rough idea of several stroke principles
advocated by the writer's.
The more one actually plays the
more he will get from his reading on
the game. But forget your books when
you are out on the court Have their
suggestions in your mind, but do not
think bookishly in actual play. Above
all. do not play at playing. monkey
court. This Is very injurious to your
game and yet something 4 great many
very young players, and some old
enough to know better. constantly 90.
self to others for mistake. Their
attitude toward you will be one of
"Methinks he doth protest too much"
anyway, and you will not take the
profit you might from your disaster.
II the mistake was unavoidable that
will be obvious, but ten to one it was
your own fault due to some radical
defect in the way you played that shot
or the position you were In. II YOU
can diagnose the circumstances and
learn from them you will be far more
sensible than in indulging a childish
vanity.
Poise, good temper. control of the
science. Throwing down ones racket
and turning the air blue merely In
crease ones nervousness. II 1t Is In
doubles your more seasoned partner
will feel like spanking you: and. any
way. II he is a good fellow he will not
be laying too much stress on that one
misplay.
Agility is especially necessary in ten
mis-, but endurance plays an equal part.
but this is not because of the game.
1t stands to reason, however, that
temperance and common sense in these
things are a necessity if you are after
success.
!; A little success is very apt to turn
a Young fellows head. Early sue
cess always is dangerous recall a
Young fellow who had beautiful tennis
form and gave promise of being one
of the very best. He started to play
unusually well. and beat four or Ave
Of the best players in his locality when
only sixteen or seventeen years old.
He was given much publicity and
nraise. There was a noticeable change
in him afterward. He lost his respect
for the men he had beaten. and his
whole attitude showed clearly what
was going on in his mind. He beat
two or three men that he never should
have defeated. and then dropped from
sight as far as tennis was concerned.
Keen your head even if you show great
promise. co,,