The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1920-11-05

pion and its marks are ie1t deep circles uhuer
the eyes and habit Of almost passionate concen-
tration are the unsought Accomplishments of the
world championship. Tildens nervous organiza-
ton Is keyed to tremendous pitch. And yet
when he was asked how he trained, without hest
fancy he answered
II try to keep normal mental attitude. try
to keep my mind right The staleness Of athletes
think, is due to mental rather than to physical
causes. Ty Cobb told me that he trained hard for
six weeks and then broke training for day to
prevent staleness. After the interruption he goes
back to strict system.
Il don't break training but I try In various
ways to keep my mental attitude balanced and
normal. stop playing for day or two when 1t
seems to be necessary and look for some d.
version. game of bridge music or the theater
afford relief to me-
II have not got any system of training except
the system which attempts to keep things normal
go to bed early, but not too early, not much be-
fore eleven, and sleep as late as 1 can. think
any drinking hurts the tennis game. and find that
for me very light smoking Is best"
Il am not born tennis player. am what you
might call handmade tennis player. l have
worked to learn tennis, and any other youngster
who wants to work hard learn to play as
good 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 of play which were good enough for
boys were not good enough for the larger cOmpe-
tition. So / set about learning a better system.
1t took about two full years to get it. l was
eighteen and nineteen while this going
and in the university.
II practced the system finally learned by a
process Of elimination Three things l watched
the stroke itself the position Of my feet and the
distribution of the weight of my body. II my
feet placed correctly and my weight was
properly distributed and still the ball did not
spond, then l knew the stroke itself must be at
fault. and SO worked at that. That was the way
l learned the game.
Il practice now as much as seems to be neces-
sary. II were to make rule should say three
sets OF tennis day, four days In the week. would
be a good average. But when getting ready for
a match / 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. That may
come quickly or 1t may be slower. 1t may be de-
sirable to play Is sets in day and then to stop
sharply for day. 1t depends your condition
and on how quickly you respond"
Tllden is nervous wry man. AS with many
who successful In different ways he absorbs
energy from the crowd. His best game Is played
when excitement runs highest.
II will be perfectly frank and honest" he said
II love q crowd In practice am no good at all
Half o. the kids play with can beat me- mere
children whom coach In practice. The excite
ment Of tournament inspires and makes my
game better"
William T. Ti'den II. lives, moves and has his
beng in the realm of tennis. Not only he thinks
about his game. but also he Is interested In
the national and international recognition Of
tennis
"The future of tennis is bright" he said "Ths
country ought to produce more good tennis play
than any other nation. There are now hum
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-
ncipai courts tennis is becoming a truly national
game. 1t Is no longer a class game-thank God
for that"