Evening star., 1926-06-17

losing his control. his wind or his CO
When Suzanne first began to par
ticipate in tournaments she was hard
ly strong enough physically to with
stand the hard. driving game of most
of her opponents. We therefore had
to remedy this inferiority and employ
convenient methods to substitute for
her lack of strength and to reestab-
aish an equilibrium which her physi.
cal weakness had destroyed This
swas done by tactics.
Suzannes perfect execution and the
regularity of her strokes made me a
little hopeful of success in a. certain
measure in spite of her youth and
lack of muscular endurance. I
Worked on the basis that although a
fine game was an appreciable asset, in
SuZanne'S particular case ii would be
much better if she devoted herself en-
Iirely to keeping her opponent from
playing well. In other wortis, | made
her adopt "A solely defensive game.
Seeks Foes Weaknesses.
Results showed that ! was right.
Her defense consisted OF a play di-
rected against the weak points of her
opponents, waiting patiently for er-
manner as to prevent them from
using the strokes at which they were
especially good. and which were the
strength of their game.
Patiently she used to keep working
At that part of her opponents game
which was the weakest. sending epd-
less numbers of balls in that direc-
ton and trying not so much to win
the point as to make her opponent
lose 1t. To the lover of fast balls,
She hit slow ones To the one who
liked high bounding balls she sent
drives which slid along the ground
and hardly bounded at all. To player
with a weak backhand she sent a
perfect rain of backhand shots and
waited patiently for the one that
iidn't come back.
Rivals Lose Nerve.
Her opponents very often lost their
nerve in face Of this mouotonouS
regularity. and even then she did not
begin 70 attack. bur waited for them
20 become more nervous and 10 throw
the game away. This manner Of play.
which was ar rhe time an absolute
necessity for her. on account or her
youthful aga. caused certain critics 10
sa.y thar she was only a machine for
'efur-ing balls. Others tried to per
s,lade ne that II NOT allowing her 10
hit the bail hard and assume an at
-acktrg game I was not teaching her
anything and that ! WIS standing in
he way OF her progress
These none too ciairvoynnt critics
1id not realize that her physical con-
d:tion at that age made it impossible
for her to play as they would have
liked to see her play. Had l seen
things from their point of view, | am
sure that Suzanne would have been
worn out and defeated before the
finish of most OF her matches.
' | therefore smiled at their criticisms
and bade Suzanne continue in the
same manner | had no intention
of changing my tactics until the day
came when / felt sure that Suzanne
could resist the grueling effects of
an attacking game.
Takes Up Attack.
How many players do 1 see daily
hitting the ball without rhyme or
reason, whacking it for all that they
are worth. and thinking that hard
stroke constitutes the maximum of
perfection in tennis. What a mistake
that is. In tournament competition
such players always beat themselves,
and their unreasoned method of play
quickly wears them out.
When Suzanne played against an
opponent that we did not know
recommended that during the prac.
tlce before the game she try out her
opponent by sending over every shot
in her repertoire in order to find
out which the opponent liked the
least. AS soon as Suzanne had de-
nnfn al ,Ir hNe L.v
mer away at it with such unceasine
regularity that her opponent was
soon at her mercy. The only way tc
beat this game is to go home and
practice until the weakness is cor
rected.
Changes Her Tactics.
This method of play served us vel
until Suzanne grew older anC
stronger. Finally the day came wher
] felt that my little girl was strong
enough for us to change our tactics
She then began to play along a wei
defined line Of attack, with rea
son for every stroke. AS in chess
there were rarely any useless moves
She would send her opponent t.
one side OF the court and then pu,
sizzling drive down the opposite
side line. She would try to brine
her to the net with a drop shot anC
then either pass her with a wei
placed drive or an accurate lob te
the base line. A weak back hand land
fortunately, too many players pos
sess one) is always legitimate prey
for the brainy player. Suzanne plays
steadily to the back-hand Of such q
player and when it is least expected
she suddenly changes her tactics and
sends a surprise shot to the forehand,
which usually nets her the point