The sun., 1916-08-23


In sport. have known four persons to
play 1t. One Of them won the champion
ship Of England with 1t four times.
He 10 now dead. That was Anthony
Wildlng.
Twenty-Five years ago at my home
club IN Auckland. New Zealand. there
was q young girl who played II. So far
As l am aware the only American player
who uses II is q. A. l.. Dionne. former
captain Of the West Side Tennis Club.
There 10 the fourth to account for.
He 10 ichiya Kumasae. the japanese
champion. BY means Of the pull he de-
feated william n. Johnston, the ma
tional champion. In the final at Newport
last Saturday.
This stroke. the pull or the pulled
drive. corresponds In every way to the
pull In of. 1t Is a remarkable thing
that II Ia not mentioned in the whole OF
the photography OF tennis. l have known
II for more than twenty years. but have
never CLASSIFIED II as n specific stroke, for
It's rarity seemed to me to put 1t beyond
the realm OF practical tennis
kumagae did two things when he beat
Johnston. He put Japan on the map
as a ennis country and he put the pull
! ntennis among the recognized strokes
OF the game-and It cannot be found.
even mentioned. In any book on the
game. This surely Is \ most extraordi-
nary state OF affairs. II only goes to
prove that tennis 10 such a wonderful
game that II one tries to learn II on
the courts without getting all he can Of
strokes and strategy from the books he
viii be too old to play 1t before he
knows II.
Reverse Of Johnson's Stroke.
One Of the most accurate strokes in
the game OF tennis Ia the forehand cut
stroke. as played by Wallace Johnson.
This stroke Is commonly mlscalled a
chop. which Il Is not. Thomas Bundy =
stroke Is a chop. but Wallace Johnson's
stroke IL a cut stroke.
Now, the pull Is practically almost the
reverse OF Wallace Joanson's cut stroke,
which has a feature that | have never
seen mentioned, namely a very short
follow through. This conduces much to
accuracy. as II one follows through on
this shot IL has a great tendency. espe-
cially against the wind. to soar out OF
the court. AS docs its close relation the
chop.
1t is 20 me a wonderful thing to think
that poor Wilding won four single cham
pionsh!ps at Wimbledon and hat neither
he nor any one else ever fully described
the stroke by which he did 1t. kumagae.
however. has made 1t necessary 10 do
this.
The pulled drive In tennis bears the
same relation 10 the ordinary topped
drive that the American service does TO
the ordinary topped service. To make II
a little clearer | may say that the ball.
Instead OF spinning about a horizontal
axis as In the forshand topped drive.
spins about an axis trat is tilted at an
ang.c of approximately thirty-ive de-
grces. with the higher end o. the axis
i.earer 20 the striker than the lower end.
In other words. the axis of spin Is
slant!ng away from the player.
How wnding Did II.
Every one who was familiar with
Wildlng's play Will remember how his
racket swung gu, and finished pointing
away on his right side instead OF ON
ing across his body az in the finish Of
the ordinary forehand drive. The reason
for this was that W!lding swung across
his ball from left To right at an dug.e
and thus gave his tennis ball practically
the same spin rs Il golfer Hiparts TO the
pulled ball at golf.
1t was his wonderful command 81 this
stroke IN the forehand that gave HIN his
great victories, for by means of L Wild
ing used to drive Two or three fc I above
the net when lie was not being pressed
and yet get good length and a great
bound.
He did not. however, use II on the
back hand. as his hold on that side pre-
cluded him from doing so. kuinagae.
however, has this stroke developed on
both the forehand and backhard SIDES,
and D!onne also has It on both sides.
ANY one who knows pionne's play knows
what a wonderful. way he has OF digging
the bail up out Of the ground and keep
ing the wrist going. His outward sweep
or push across the ball Is most pro-
nounced. perhaps. on his back hand.
Nearly all OF those who use t"is stroke
play II n good deal from the shoulder.
! Indeed, from the nature OF It.. this seems
TO be necessary. for II comes from behind
I he body and across the back. thus pre-
Guiding much elbow action. such as Is
usually found in a finished backhand
drive OF the modern school.
It was only quite recently that ] was
talking 10 Frederick Il Alexander, Hack
v.,'s famous partner and the conaueror
OF II l.. Doherty In France. who In my
opinion knows and can play well. and In
their right places, more tennis strokes
thar any other man in the world. about
Wilding's drive.
Alexander Used stroke.
said to him. "Do you know that
Wild!ng always played the pulled drive
YES" said Alexander quickly, that's
right he ind ouhtedly DID
Had YOU ever thought of II before"
asked him. We'll. no. said Alexan-
der: 80 tell you the truth II had never
occurred to me until you said 1t. but it Is
ga. used to play 1t myself a good
dea.."
] myself have seen Alexander play II
twice when forced to. bu. in referring
10 those whom 7 know to have used 1t !
mean AS a staple ground stroke. y
is in his way that ! am inclined To hin
yclOpment before We have done with the
Japanese invasion, Before Kumagae
has lone anything very exciting I wrpte
that unless Americans brushed IN their
technique. both In tennis and golf. the
would have them collarcd with
In ten years. Right here halve that
One tennis player does not necessarily
make a nation Of tennis players. but
that Is Just what kumagae II going to
do for Japsn, and we shall have n ma
ton OF ''pullers" knocking at our tennis
door.
This drive, the pull, Is one OF the most
sickeningly consistent returns that one
can come up against. II Is heavily cut
sideways, upward and outward. Tho
finish IL high up. pointing away to the
the right. In fact. In many cases, coming
In again and ending almost over the
head. There is very little actual follow