Evening star., 1923-01-28


Tennis differs from golf in TIN,
the latter is competitive and th4
former is combativc. In any corr
bative sport there must be the sni,
OF personal rivalry highly deveIopea
man with none of this spirit ma
make record medal scores in goi.
but he may not succeed in tcTni.
Thus. at the base must be the Il.
greSsiVe spirit of conquest.
Ihen. following in the next grad.
OF quallhcaIon are patience and pnr
sIstence. IT requires both of thcs
factors to master the strokes and AZ
quire that basic form which is need
ed Tor future progress.
Co-Ordination Is Essen1iaI.
Perhaps quite as important ann
necessary as complement to the.
attributes is quick muscular co-ord
nation. This can be ACQUIRED h,
where II is natural 1t starts tn
plaEer off with a far better chance
me court must he covered on tn
defensive, and this means that
player must diagnose instantly Nh.
direction of his opponents shots. TO
thlS counts equally with the Snee,.
Of footwork. This faculty is best il
luStrated by the fact that many ar
deceived into thinking that il Is AZ
ticlpation. or guessing, where the shor
will be placed.
The truth OF it is that the super,or
player Immediately after his oY,
stroke gets into the most satisfaction.
position in his court as speedily a.
possible, but he does not. az a rule
make an attempt to guess and Thus
be drawn into such position that +"
he guessed wrong he has no chanc,.
of return.
Finally, the player must have
sta nina. This he may have natura
~, but. for a large part, IT can r.
built up by careful training, This ! :.
an essential. for in fve-set mate.
endurance counts tremendously. Thr
man who can keep up his speed wins
out over the man who tires. So one
would sum up the qualifications a.
first. highly combative spirit; sec
ondly. patience and persistency ia
practice: third. coordination ana
speed, and fourth, endurance.
Assets of Champions.
As illustrating these qualifications
we have Maurice Mclaughlin, a ma p
typical of the highly combative
spirit. This attribute was a pre-
eminent factor in his play always
He also possessed speed and CO
ordination.
Norman Brooks, his competitor in
that memorable match at Fores
Hills. has a Tess mercurial spirit
but still strongly combative. patient
and persistent He had not tiEe speed
of Mclaughlin, and II is doubtful !.
at his age he was the equal of the
younger man in endurance.
In William Johnston Nittle Bill
we have another example of the high
ly combative. spirit. Both Johnsto
and Mclaughlin in the advance
stage of their careers showed pa
Johnston with half a dozen more
pounds weight probably would have
his endurance markedly increased
William Tilden big BID possesses
the combative spirit and, in fact. al
the qualities. Norris williams some
times mpresses one as more interest
ed in making the stroke land he Ger
tainly has a most marvellous control
over the BALD than in defeating his
opponent.
So much for the examples OF the
qualifications. To return to the aver
age man or woman who wishes t.
determine whether the sport is or
for which he or she is qualified if
will not take very long on the court :
to find out whether the first qualifics
tion is present.
1t will take considerably longer t.
determine whether there is sufficienf
patience and persistence in the praC-
tice of strokes. With the first two
the speed and endurance can be ac
quired.
1t has been a rather remarkable
thing that tennis shows the great
value Of a home competitor. The in
stances are remarkable of brothers.
like the Dohertys, the Wrenns. the
Kinseys, the Andersons and others.
developing their game on account of
the fact that there is always match
at hand or an opportunity for praC
tice. Then, too, the instructive rival
ry between brothers often furnishes
the spur necessary to make each
work to the limit in the hope of ac-
quiring more skill in order TO defeat
the other. Probably convenient
neighbor would answer the same pur
pose, but, as a rule, rivalry is more
highly developed between two broth
ers than with any outsider.
1t is also an excellent plan TO see
good tennis, because it has been
stated that there are more bad play
ers in tennis than in any other sport
The force Of a good example in this
game is inestimahle. for players NAV
go on playing every bad ball or max :
ing wild swipes indefinitely unless
they have an opportunity to see a
perfected stroke and good form.
Copyright 1927