The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-04-30
STYLE OF SERVICE
A PUZZLE TO TYRO
Tennis Veterans Worried by
Problem TOo-Depcnds on
Rest Of Game.
FOTTRELL A HARD HITTER
ny EUGENE n. O'CONNELL.

WI hfhu
ny EUGENE n. O'CONNELL.
One Of the FIRST things to disturb the
mind OF the Tennis tyro. and for that
matter n feature OF the game which
lends moments Of anxiety to him even
long after he has been graduated from
the tyro class. Is the question Of se-~
vice. Almost every one w-ro ever has
taken enough interest In the game to
play It or play at 1t realizes the
value Of a strong service and wishes
to acquire m Naturally enough then
the tyro wants to develop the service
that will help him most and therefore
wants to know which one tina, is.
II u friend the tyro has delved into
tennis lore at all he shall rave heard
Of Maurice r.. McLoughlin's cannon ball
service. graced ny some with the name
81 the American twist service. lie also
will ave heard Of the reverse twist
service. said to have been used first In
this country by Malcolm whitman,
American champion in 1898. 1929 and
1900. m later brought to a high degree
~ efficiency by Thomas e. Bundy. These
varieties OF service probably will he
conttas;cd with the less severe delivery
affected ny the high class British play
ers.
Many Copy McLouGhIiu.
II has been noticeable EVER since the
first invasion Of the East by the Califor-
MIA players that the beginners have a
tendency to try to develop a service
a la Mclaughlin, regardless OF whether
or NOT they are adapted to such q SIREN
u stroke. This is naturally the case
because OF the great success that Nc
Loughiin has had with his service. The
tyro mind figured that n Mclaughlin
could beat the best players Of this coun-
try and OF England as we'll and was
aided materially in doing SO by his can
non bail service. certainly his style Of
service was best.
As a matter Of fact. McLoughlin's ser
vice has come in for some adverse crit
icism by close students OF the game. Al
admitted that IL was a wonderful point
winner. but In the next breath were
ready to point out that II was also TOO
great a strain Oh the player. Some sven
held tina; M~c!.oughlin's terrific delivery
was the child OF necessity. thai .hc
Comet developed II to counterfeit the
weakness Of the rest of his game. They
tried to point u that Mclaughlin with
out the cannon ball service would no;
ran IN the first ten.
on the face OF things. tina. seems
ridiculous. Most OF those who held that
the Conet' service. and his service
alone. held him NJ the top Of the heap
forgot, to take into consideration other
players famous for severe service and
their position IN the tennis world. 4
shining example OF a man with a Sc
we're service who has no, set the world
aiire ny his play Is Ella +. Fottrell.
anothe- Californian. Those who have
played against both McI.oughlin and
Fo:trel! almost 10 a man state that the
service o. the latter is a much closer
relative 20 the cannon ball than that
OF Mclaughlin.
FOtsrrlI Hardest server.
Fot,re!i's service probably is the most
severe in the history OF the game. Ger
'a!nly II seems TO have more pace ard
break to IL thar that OF any other player
In the country. And yet Fot;rell never
has Won a national championship In
fact. he jus; barely squeezed into the
hrs, ten once. That was in 1914. when
he was ranked tenth.
Certa My then that ough, to show
that there Is something more TO Nc
l.oughi.n's game than his service. Just
as surely II should show that service.
white "A erea, help. is OF little avail II
the rest OF the tame Is not well balanced.
As "A matter Of fact. Mclaughlin make.
better use OF his fast service than
Fottrell does. because he knows how TO
work in change OF pace. While Fo,-
trell has been wont to keep peppering
with his cannon ball delivery. Nc
ISoughlin has made IL a practice 10 mix
up "A fast straight bail, a fast twis-er
and a slow twister. In this way Nc
I.oughlin keeps his opponent guessing
as to what kind OF bounce 20 expect. for
he can shoot over any one OF the three
with practically the same motion. Incl
dentally II keeps his adversary from
getting well acquainted with any one
KIM OF bounce and developing a strong
return stroke for IL.
Getting right down TO brass tacks. the
cannon ball service IL o' little or no
avail II the server does not use II as A
help 10 getting up to III" net in a hurry.
There can he no better Nample % this
than Mclaughlin himself. When he
was playing the service for all that IL
was worth 10 get him up TO the net, he
was winning regularly. As soon rs he
attempted 10 play the back court game
he tasted .he bitterness % defeat, for
his adversarics took the service and
slammed II back at him.
Too slow Getting 20 Vet.
Those who saw the Comet being beaten
last year 10y Karl Behr as Scabr,ght.
by Morris Williams at Newport and by
william Johnston at Forest Hill. re-
marked that II wac his lack OF speed
IN getting TO the net on his service as
much as anything else that contributed
TO his defeat.
The slow service used by the British
and Australian players, and for that
matter by all European racket wielders.
is adapted To their back court games.
the accuracy and smooth stroking
coupled with marvellous volleying and
half volleying brought players like Nor
man i. Brookes and the late Anthony
i. Wilding to the fore on tennis courts.
Their games were so sound that they
did not need a terrific service To help
them out. They had pla aged the back
court game from the OutSe, Of the,r