Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-12-30

attack and make your game one of COM
pletely rounded excellence.
The very lack of this defensive style Of
play beat Williams in 1914 against Brooks
and Wilding, and again this season
| against William Johnston in the national
1t was the cause of MacLoughlins de-
feats by Behr and Johnston, and 1t Is n
matter of question whether IL was not
the cause of Wallace Johnsons defeat by
Armstrong In the Pennsylvania State title
play last year, for Johnsons defense
crumbled and he literally beat himself.
There are various forms of defensive
shots, CD the lob, (2) tho chop stroke, 49,
occasionally the drive. The defensive
game is always back court. Under no
circumstances try to play defensive net
game.
The lob is really high tossed ball hit
with very little pace, and should be placed
to bounce anywhere from the base-line
to eight feet inside. 1t should be about
16 to 20 feet in the air at the top of it's
rise. When you lob, lob high. A short
lob Is an utterly useless shot.
Use of Lob
The lob may either be chopped or hit
fiat. When lobbing from fast return
use the chop. since 1t tends to remove
the speed from the shot and puts it up
in the air easily and deep. Use a decided
under cut on this shot not the draw
chop" which is effective from the base
line for n low side-line shot Use the fiat
lob shot when the return is soft and deep.
1t needs the full racquet face to get the
ball into the back of the opponents court
without having 1t carry out. The chop
lob tends to drop short. so lob higher
when using this form than you do when
using the fiat shot.
The question of when to lob can easily
be summed up as follows:
nF
need time to get back, while your oppo-
nent has position at the net. You have
more time during the flight of the ball
on a lob than any other shot In tennis.
and therefore when you are hurried and
need time to get back 10 position lob.
and lob high.
Second-Lob when your opponent has
had hard run after a short shot to the
net and is drawn out of position. Use
the fiat, low lob, since the chop lob would
give him time TO recover
Third-Lob any shot that comes too fast
to drive when your opponent has net
position and you have back court.
Lob in Doubles
In dourlcs the cleverest lob is the deep
one between the two men, for II one man
goes back and takes 1t on the fall their
team work is momentarily broken up,
while IL he allows 1t to drop then the
opposing team can gain the ret and kill
the return at his partners feet. Then,
too, there Is the chance of the two men
getting mixed and either both trying for
1t or both letting 1t go. TIE lob is the
"gOat-getter'' in doubles II you want TO
break up team that you can not beat by
a straight attack just piece out one man,
and every time you get the ball lob high
and deep to him. Unless he is remark
able overhead he will sooner or later get
nervous and start to miss. An excellent
example of such an instance was Dwight
Meigs in the doubles finals at Norristown
last spring. He is very good overhead,
but the consistent lobbing of the oppos-
ing team, who used a motto of ''in the
pinch lob to Meigs." simply "got his
goat" and "he blew" missing shot after
shot toward the end OF the match. II
was not that he was poor, but rather the
good lobbying of the opposing team that
did it.
The foot work of the lob is exactly the
same as for all other shots, for the fore
hand the left foot In front and right back,
while for tho backhand lob 1t is exactly
reversed.
Do not aim to put a lob clear over
mans racquet and have it bounce in the
court. If you do you will put 1t out. Try
TO put your lob where he will have to
either jump or run back and reach for It.
In other words, do not try to make an
earned point on a lob. make your oppon-
ent miss his shot. 1t Is very seldom that
one should try to make a clean point with
a lob except in the case where your np-
ponent has been drawn out of position
close TO the net, and then you can lob for
for the front.
My next article viii be on The Chop
Stroke and Defensive Drive"