Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1920-10-28


the eyes and habit Of almost passionate coaceh-
trotion arp the unsought Accomplishments OF the
world chamDionship. Tilden's nervous organlZa-
ton is keyed to tremendous ptch. Ana yet
when he was asked how he trained, without hesl-
fancy he answered:
81 try to keep a normal mental attitude Try
to keen nv mind right The staleness of athletes
l think, is due to mental rather than to physlcal
causes Ty Cobb told me that he trained hard for
six weeks and then broke training for day to
prevent saleness After the interruption he goes
back to strict system.
81 don't break training but I try in various
ways to keep my mental attitude balanced ana
normal l stop playing for day or two when IL
seems to be necessary and look for some dl-
version. A 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 late as can. think
any drinking hurts the tennis game, and find that
for me very light smoking is best"
81 am not a born tennis player. l am what you
might call handmade tennis player l have
worked to learn tennis, and any other yOungster
who wants to work hard can learn to play as
good or better game.
"Al through my school and college days play
ed Until | reached the university l played
cessfully. Then l realized that the strokes and
the system of play which were good enough for
boys were not good enough for the larger compe-
titon. So I set about learning a better system.
1t took me about two full years to get it. was
eighteen and nineteen while this going on
and in the university
81 practiced the system l finally learned by a
process Of elimination. Three things watched
the stroke itself, the position of my feet and the
distribution Of the weight Of my body. If my
feet 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 l worked at that. That the way
l learned the game.
81 practice now much seems to be neces-
sary. If | we're to make a rule l should say three
sets of tennis day, four days In the week. would
be a good average. But when getting ready for
q 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 the ball. That may
come quickly it may be slower. 1t may be de-
sirable to play Is sets in day and then to stop
sharply for day. 1t depends on your condition
and on how quickly you respond"
Tilden is q 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.
81 will be perfectly frank and honest" he said
81 love crowd. In practice am good at all.
Half of the kids play with can beat me- mere
children whom / coach In practice. The excite
ment of a tournament inspires me and makes my
game better" 49,.
William T. Tilden II, lives, moves and has his
being 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. 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-
ncipal courts tennis is becoming truly national
game 1t is no longer a class game-tbank God
for thats