New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1920-10-29

n,on and its marks are left. Deep circles unuei
tbe ewes and a habit of almost passionate coheen'
tration are the unsought accompahihen'' y
world championship. Tilden's nervous organiza-
tion is KEYED to a tremendous pitch. And yet
when he was asked how he trained, without hesl-
fancy he answered:
81 try to keep a normal mental attitude. l try
to keep my mind right. The staleness OF athietes.
think, is due to mental rather than to physlcai
causes. Ty Cobb told me that he trained hard for
six weeks and then broke training for a DAY 10
prevent staleness. After the interruption he goes
back to strict system.
"I don't break training, but I try in various
ways to keep my mental attitude balanced ana
normal. / stop playing for a day or two when It
seems to be necessary, and l lock for some Oh
version. A game or bridge, music or the thea'e'
afford relief to me.
IL have not got any system Of training except
the system which attempts to keep things normal.
II 60 to bed early. but not too early, not much be-
fore eleven, and l sleep as late as l can. l think
any drinking hurts the tennis game, and l md that
for me very light smoking Is best"
81 am not a born tennis player. l am what you
might call a handmade tennis player. l have
worked to learn tennis, and any other youngster
who wants to work as hard can learn to play as
good or a better game.
"All through my school and college days / play
ed. Until / reached the university l played sue
~cessfully. Then / realized that the strokes and
the SYSTEM OI Dluy WDltu NCiC ScoN "ONe"
BOYS were not good enough for the larger compe-
titlon. So / set about learning a better system.
1t took me about two full years to get 1t. l was
eighteen and nineteen while this was going on
and In the university.
"I practiced the system / finally learned by q
process of elimination. Three things watched
the stroke itself, the position of my feet and the
distribution of the weight Of my body. II my
feet were placed correctly and my weight was
properly distributed and still the ball did not re-
spond. then l knew the stroke itself must be at
fault. and so I worked at that. That was the way
l learned the game.
81 practice now as much as seems to be neces-
sary. If / were to make a rule 1 should say three
sets of tennis a day. four days in the week. would
he n good average. But when getting ready for
n match I train as much as Is needed. You can
not tell how much that involves. The thing to DO
is to get your eye focused on the ball. mat may
come quickly or 1t may be slower. 1t may be de-
sirable to play IS sets In one day and then to stop
sharply for a day. 1t depends on your CONDITION
and on how quickly you respond"
TIden is a nervous, wiry man. As with many
who are successful In different ways, he absorbs
energy from the crowd. His best game Is played
when excitement runs highest.
"I will be perfectly frank and honest" he said.
81 love a crowd. In practice 1 am no good at all
Half of the kids I play with can beat me. mere
children whom I coach in practice. The excite
ment of a tournament inspires he and makes my
game better"
william T. TiIden II, lives, moves and has his
being in the realm of tennis. Not only he thinks
about his own game, but also he is interested In
the national and international recognition Of
tennis.
THE future of tennis is bright" he said. This
country ought to produce more good tennis play
ers than any other nation. There are now hun
dreds and even thousands of boys between twelve
and eighteen years who play real tennis. Thanks
to this junior system and to the building of mu-
nicipal courts tennis is becoming a truly national
game. II is no longer a class game-thank God
for that"