Lawn Tennis for Ladies Part 1

Lawn Tennis for Ladies.

by Mrs. Lambert Chambers.

PREFACE

As a rule an author writes a preface to explain or to apologize for a book. I shall do neither: I have tried to explain my meaning simply and clearly in the book itself, and I am optimistic enough to think that my favourite game is too popular to require an apology for increasing its literature, however unpretentious the attempt may be. Moreover, I am still too much affected by the "brilliant and feverish glow" of enthusiasm to dream of offering one.

Two things only I wish to say. First, that I am writing with no academic pride, but only with a pa.s.sionate fondness for what I consider a great sport, and with a keen desire to make others equally devoted. Secondly, I should like to thank all those who have a.s.sisted me with suggestions and the loan of photographs, especially my "arena colleagues" who have rallied round me so graphically in the last chapter.

DOROTHEA LAMBERT CHAMBERS

LAWN TENNIS FOR LADIES

CHAPTER I

ATHLETICS FOR GIRLS

I hope and believe there are comparatively few people who will deny that athletics have done much for the health and mind of the modern girl.

Exercise in some form or other is essential, and although I am quite ready to admit that games of the strenuous type, such as hockey and lawn tennis, can be and sometimes are overdone, yet the girl of to-day, who enters into and enjoys her game with scarcely less zest than her brother, is, I am convinced, better in health and happier in herself than the girl of the past generation. What are the objections to games for girls? It seems to me the chief arguments against them are (1) that they are injurious to health; (2) that they impair the womanliness of woman; (3) that they mar her appearance. There may be something to be said for these contentions, but to my mind the _pros_ materially outweigh the _cons_.

As to the injury to health, I deny that the case is proved. Indeed, evidence is rarely forthcoming. A delicate girl would probably become more delicate if she did not play games in moderation and take exercise.

A friend of mine, an old doctor, told me the other day that in his youth the great plague of his life was the hysterical female. She would put in an appearance obtrusively at critical moments, and the antic.i.p.ation of a scene always shadowed his arrangements. We rarely see this type now.

Games have driven her away. The woman of the present generation is calm, collected, and free from emotional outbursts, and I believe that invigorating outdoor exercise is the chief cause. As to the second objection, the injury to the womanliness of woman, the answer depends on what is meant by the essential feature of "womanliness." I am afraid most people, including most men, say with Hamlet, "Frailty, thy name is woman." Womanliness to most men implies just frailty. They may perhaps call it "delicacy," and refer to the "weaker s.e.x," but they mean that just as a man's glory is his strength, so a woman's glory is her weakness. They argue that you must impair this "weakness" by strenuous games. Is this true? Is the essential feature of a woman her weakness, just as the essential feature of a man is his strength, not merely physical, but mental and moral strength? I do not think so. Woman is a second edition of man, if you will; therefore, like most second editions, an improvement on the first! As Lessing puts it, "Nature meant to make woman its masterpiece." I well remember reading in a stirring narrative of the Indian Mutiny how a small party of English men and women were besieged in their quarters by a body of rebels, and while the men fought at the windows and doors the women were busy preparing ammunition, loading guns, bandaging wounds, and zealously cheering their war-worn defenders. When victory was at length achieved, the men asked themselves what would have happened but for the women. That, to my mind, was a picture of true "womanliness." Inferior in neither moral strength nor brain-power, the true woman is a helpmeet, or man's complement, giving him just the special form of strength in body and soul that he needs for the special experience.

If this, then, be "womanliness," can athletic games injure it? Do they spoil woman's usefulness as a woman? Do they damage her specific excellence? Do they tend to give her less endurance and nerve at critical times? I do not think so. Certainly lawn tennis does not. It is undoubtedly a strenuous game. There is more energy of physical frame, more brain-tax and will-discipline demanded in one hardly contested match than would suffice for a whole day's devotion to many other games.

These requirements must help a woman, and in the possession of the qualities that games bestow athletic girls have a great pull over their sisters. If you are skilled and well drilled in discipline and sportsmanship, you are bound to benefit in the strife of the world. You are the better able to face disappointments and sorrows. For what do these strenuous games mean? Exercise in the open air, and exercise of a thorough and engrossing character, carried out with cheerful and stimulating surroundings, with scientific methods, rational aims, and absorbing chances. Surely that is the foundation of health culture.

The truth is, games have done for women what the dervish's subtle prescription did for the sick sultan. You perhaps remember the story.

The sultan, having very bad health from over-feeding, sedentary habits, and luxurious ease, consulted the clever dervish. The dervish knew that it would be useless to recommend the sultan simply to take exercise. He therefore said to him, "Here is a ball, which I have stuffed with certain rare and costly medicinal herbs, and here is a bat, the handle of which I have also stuffed with similar herbs. Your highness must take this bat and with it beat about this ball until you perspire freely. You must do this every day." His highness acquiesced, and in a short time the exercise of playing bat and ball with the dervish greatly improved his health, and by degrees cured him of his ailment. Now, the tennis ball, to my mind, is stuffed with medicinal herbs which impart vigour and health to the player. The racket is possessed with a magic handle that has the power of quickening all the pulses of life in the plenitude of healthy vigour and wholesome excitement. In a medical book now before me the subject is put tersely thus: "Health and strength depend on rapid disorganisation, and rapid disorganisation depends on rapid exertion."

Now, if this is true, what better and more interesting method of rapid exertion could be devised than a game of lawn tennis? Body and mind alike are wholly absorbed with the utmost rapidity, and there is no doubt the sense of refreshment is largely due to the rapid exertion demanded for the proper playing of the game. The medical book goes on to say, "During exertion we drink, as it were, oxygen from the air." This oxygen is the only stimulating drink we can take with lasting advantage to ourselves for the purpose of invigorating our strength. It is the wine and spirit of life, an abundance of which Nature has supplied us with ready-made. If you are low-spirited, drink oxygen. Take active exercise in the open air and inhale it. When next you see a lawn tennis player hard at a strenuous game, remember he or she is not necessarily overstraining or injuring health, but taking long, deep draughts of oxygen, imbibing the wine and spirit of life and laying up a store of vigour in readiness for the varied experiences of life.

Of all games lawn tennis is the one most suited to girls. Its claims are many and potent. It is strenuous and very hard work, but if not overdone it is not too taxing for the average girl. The exercise depends naturally upon the nature of the game played and the players engaged, from the championships to the garden-party patball game. The greater the knowledge of the game the greater the enjoyment and benefit derived from it, and there is really no reason why a girl should not excel at the game and therefore thoroughly appreciate and enjoy it. It is not physical and brute strength that is wanted so much as scientific application--finesse, skill, and delicacy of touch, all of which women are just as capable of exercising as men.

I am well aware that if you compare the lady champion of any year with any first-cla.s.s man of the same year you will find a great disparity between their actual play. That is to say, the first-cla.s.s man would be able to give the lady champion thirty or even more in order to have a close struggle. I have often played Mr. R.F. Doherty at the tremendous odds of receive half-forty, and have not always been returned the winner at that! I wonder sometimes why there is this p.r.o.nounced discrepancy.

Garments may make a little difference, but they do not account for it all. I think perhaps that man's stronger physique, naturally greater activity, and severer strokes prevent the girl from playing her own game. She has to be nearly always on the defensive, and thus plays with less accuracy and power.

Another claim lawn tennis has for girls is that it is not an expensive game. It is more or less within the reach of all, rich or poor. It can be played on one's own lawn or at any of the numerous clubs situated all over the world, or even nowadays in some of the public parks. The time required to play a game is not excessive. The implements, rackets, b.a.l.l.s, nets, etc., are neither numerous nor prohibitive in price. The club subscriptions are moderate, and the actual expenses of pursuing the game are small as compared with golf.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WIMBLEDON, 1905: MISS MAY SUTTON WINNING THE LADIES'

CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE FIRST TIME. SHE BEAT MISS DOUGLa.s.s IN THE CHALLENGE ROUND.]

Then, again, lawn tennis is not difficult to learn, although of course by this I do not mean that it is an easy game to play well--far from it.

But a rudimentary idea of it suffices to give any one a good deal of healthy exercise and enjoyment, and provided that one is keen and wishes to improve, and possesses what is known as a good games' eye, there is no reason why advance should not be rapid. It is also a pastime in which women can combine with and compete against men without in any way spoiling the game; and mixed doubles, to which I refer, are perhaps the most popular department with the average spectator. I think I am not wrong in saying that there is no other game at the present time in which this combination of the s.e.xes does not tend to minimize the enjoyment of the player and the interest of the spectator. A mixed foursome at golf is poor sort of fun for the man, unless the ladies are quite first-cla.s.s; the game is rather spoilt for him. Mixed hockey is an abomination; splendid sport absolutely spoiled for both s.e.xes. But a mixed double at lawn tennis seems like a distinct game, so different is it to the other forms of lawn tennis and so well adapted to the combination of both s.e.xes.

Then it is a.s.serted that strenuous games mar the appearance of girls.

This charge was very deliberately brought against hockey for women some little time ago in an influential London journal, and was rightly and promptly answered by a spirited article with ill.u.s.trations of some well-known lady hockey players--proof positive of the fallacy that hockey damaged their appearance. I am afraid most of these contortions are the product of the snapshot camera. It must be remembered that instantaneous photographs show players of games as they are really never seen. Girls are doubtless in the ungraceful position represented for a fraction of a second; but the time is too short for the eye to see, although the camera, worse luck, catches the view, and what is more, registers it for ever! Though a girl should always try to be as neat and look as nice as she possibly can, even when playing a strenuous game, it is hardly possible or natural to be "just so" every second of a long struggle. In fact, I think it is more interesting to see a girl not absolutely immobile. I prefer that she should show some signs of excitement, that her muscles should be strained and her face set. This has a very real pleasure of its own, and I do not think it unsightly.

Public speaking and singing may distort the mouth and disturb the facial muscles to a most ludicrous extent and give the eyes quite an unnatural appearance; but I have never yet heard it said that a man or woman should give up either because of its effect upon the appearance. Why, then, should women abandon athletic exercises, which they enjoy so much, and which do them so much good, merely because, just for a moment or two perhaps, their appearance is distorted?

CHAPTER II

PRACTICE, AND HOW TO IMPROVE

Players, even tournament players, often ask how they can improve. "I have been at the same stage so long; what can I do to play a better game?" That is not infrequently the question. Now I think many who are very anxious to advance go to work in the wrong way. To my mind, the great point to remember when you are practising is not that the match must be won, but that all your weak strokes must be improved. We all know our special failures; if not, some kind friend will soon point them out to us. Tackle these doggedly in practice. Strokes naturally avoided in a match should be given as much experience as possible in a knock-up game. It is the only way. Many players make the cardinal mistake of playing day after day in the same way; they starve all their weak strokes and overdo all their best ones; in fact, they play in precisely the same manner as if the occasion were an important match. If you do this, you must always preserve those weak strokes; they are not even given a chance to develop. I once asked a girl whom I noticed continually running round her back-hand in a practice game, why she did this. The characteristic answer came back: "I cannot take a back hand. I should be hopelessly beaten if I didn't run round the ball." But what does it matter if you are beaten fifty times in a practice game if you are improving your strokes? That girl's back-hand could never improve; she made absolutely no distinction between a practice game and a match.

In fact, it was very little of a _practice_ game to her. How can your game improve, or move forward, if you make no effort to strengthen what is feeble?

Practise, then, conscientiously, and with infinite patience; never mind who beats you. Take each weak stroke in turn, and determine to master it, and I think you will find that you will be amply rewarded for all your painstaking work by a vast improvement and keener enjoyment in your game. What greater delight than to feel a stroke you have always dreaded becoming easier and less embarra.s.sing each time you use it, to know that you are genuinely advancing instead of making no progress and playing the same old bad shots time after time? I am sure you will say such a sense of achievement is worth all the trouble which must be faced and all the patience which must be exercised.

Of course in match play it is quite different. You avoid your weak strokes as much as you can; your object then is to win the game. But after discriminate practice you will find, probably to your surprise, that there are not so many weak spots after all to remove, that your game is opening out and steadily advancing. Do not get easily disheartened if you find improvement slow; for a game that is worth playing at all is worth playing well, and to play lawn tennis well you must go through a stiff apprenticeship. You must school yourself to meet disappointments and failures; you must cultivate a philosophic spirit, or you will never reach the goal of perfection. I need not say that if you wish to go forward enthusiasm is essential. Lawn tennis players never seem to me to be nearly so keen on their game as golfers. So many of them appear quite satisfied to remain at a fixed stage. They will certainly not get their handicap reduced unless there is an ardent desire to become better acquainted with the science of the game. A struggling golfer is never tired of learning talking about his pastime--often, I admit, to the annoyance of people who are not so obsessed. Nevertheless, he is on the right track; and being so thoroughly absorbed and in earnest, he ought to improve. You will find him buying every new book that comes out and poring over its pages. He may play in a few compet.i.tions, but his time is more seriously occupied with practice and improvement. He wisely deprecates the continuous strain of match play. He prefers to acquire a working knowledge of the game, to make the various strokes with some degree of accuracy, before he pits his skill against others.

I think this lack of adequate practice is one of the reasons why there is such a dearth of rising talent among lawn tennis players. Some of the compet.i.tors one meets at tournaments have been for years at exactly the same stage. They never pause to take stock of their game. They never advance or cultivate a new stroke. They go from one tournament to another, struggling to win by hook or by crook. a.s.sisted by a generous handicap, they may win a prize, and, apparently, they are satisfied. Let me say, in regard to tournaments, that when you are taking your strokes correctly and are really adding to your knowledge of the game, open compet.i.tions are admirable, and are essential if the highest honours are to be achieved. But tournaments can very easily be overdone, especially by young players who have not completed what I may call stroke-education.

When you are practising, remember to practise head-work as well as strokes. Cultivate thinking about the game. Never mind asking an experienced player for advice. Most people who play the game well are anxious that every one should improve; they want them to get more enjoyment out of the game, and they want the general standard of play to advance. As a rule they never mind giving a helpful hint. Do not hesitate, therefore, to ask for that help. Discuss the game with your friends and find out all you can about it. Read all the excellent books that have been written on the game from time to time. I have often noticed that beginners will willingly pay their entrance fees for open events at tournaments, when they know very well that nothing but a miracle will take them through the first round. Yet the same players grumble at the expense of purchasing books dealing with the game. The book would most probably help them a great deal, whereas the one solitary match does them no good. It is over so quickly, the difference in the cla.s.s of play is so great, that the beginner hardly hits the ball at all.

A good way of practising is to play up against a brick wall. In my own case I found the method very useful. It helps one to keep the eye on the ball, to time well, and place with accuracy. Another good way of practising is not to score, but to get some friend to hit or even throw the ball where you want it. Systematic stroke-play like this for half an hour a day, finishing up with a game which brings into play the stroke you have been developing, is bound to improve your game. I know of one champion of England who always practised in this way. Any new stroke that had to be mastered was pa.s.sed through the mill and a.s.siduously exercised until perfection came. If no friend were available for the purpose, the butler had to devote an hour a day to throwing the ball in the given direction.

To come to the various strokes, I do not mean to enter into these elaborately. There are now so many good books in the market that deal exhaustively with this subject, such as "The Complete Lawn-Tennis Player," by A. Wallis Myers, that I shall not aim at covering old ground.

The first and foremost stroke to be learnt is _The Fore-hand Drive_. A good fore-hand is one of the chief a.s.sets of the game; a good length must be one of the first things to cultivate. The ball must be sent as near the base line as possible. Do not at first try to get a severe shot, but practise getting a good-length slow ball until you are very accurate at that. You will find that pace and direction will come afterwards. When making a fore-hand drive stand sideways to the net.

Your left shoulder should face the net, your left foot should be in front of your right. Wait as long as possible, for the ball. By this I mean, do not rush in to it; wait for it to come to you. Stand well away from it, sideways and lengthways. Swing your racket slowly back to about the level of your shoulder, then bring it slowly forward, and simultaneously transfer your weight from your right foot to your left.

This transference of weight, let me add, is most important, and can only be achieved by careful practice. If it is transferred too soon or too late, the whole power of the stroke is lost.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE FORE-HAND DRIVE BEGINNING MIDDLE FINISH]

The ball must be hit firmly and cleanly with the centre of the racket.

Feel as if you were literally sweeping it along--your movement must be so perfectly timed--to the place you wish it to go, not forgetting to follow well through with your arm and shoulder in a line with the flight of the ball. Great muscular strength is not needed to play well. _Timing your stroke, transferring your weight at the right moment, and following well through at the finish_--these are the chief secrets of good and powerful strokes. Do not be content merely to watch the ball, but keep your eye fixed on it until the last possible moment, following it right on to the centre of your racket. Until you have tried this you cannot realize how difficult it is, or how greatly it will improve your stroke; and it helps to complete concentration, which to my mind is one of the chief attributes of success.

_The Back-hand Drive_ is taken in the same way as the fore-hand, only with your position reversed. Here, too, you must not face the net, but stand sideways. This time your right shoulder must face the net. The position of your feet for a back-hand stroke is most important; it is where so many beginners go wrong. Take a step towards the ball with your right foot in front of your left, and with your weight at the start of the stroke on the ball of your left foot. Swing your racket well back, with its head raised above your wrist, and hit the ball firmly with the centre of your racket. Be transferring your weight all the time from your left foot to your right, and follow well through in the direction of the flight of the ball. When playing a back-hand across the court, from corner to corner, let your arm and shoulder on the follow through be extended as far as they will go, and your body brought round to face the net.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE BACK-HAND DRIVE BEGINNING MIDDLE FINISH]

_The lob_ is a most important and useful stroke and should be constantly practised. It is by no means an easy stroke to play really well and accurately. It is generally a defensive shot, and makes your opponent move from the net, unless she intends to be beaten by it. I am speaking, of course, of the singles game. It is a useful stroke for giving you breathing time if you are made to run about much, or for enabling you to get back into position if you have been forced out of it. It is nearly always best to lob to your opponent's back-hand, since the majority of players are weaker there.

There are three kinds of lobs: (1) _The high lob_, sent well out of reach of your opponent's racket, but with the disadvantage of taking some time to reach the ground. Although it moves your opponent out of her dangerous position right up at the net, there is time for her to run back and return it. (2) _The low lob_, which only just pa.s.ses over your opponent's racket--a much more risky shot than the high lob, but with the advantage of falling much quicker. If you succeed in getting the ball out of her reach, it is almost certain to be a winning shot, because she will not have time to turn and go after what is a very fast-dropping ball. (3) _The lob-volley_ is one of the prettiest strokes and a most effective one. It is very difficult to accomplish with success; there is always great risk of not getting it out of your opponent's reach and having it killed outright. It is generally played with an under-hand stroke by hitting the ball before it has reached the ground, and lifting it well over your opponent's head. It should be a high lob. The racket must be grasped firmly and held nearly, horizontal for this stroke. In playing lobs the racket must come well underneath the ball, which should be struck very truly in the centre of the racket.

_The Half Volley_.--This stroke has great possibilities, and is efficacious both in attack and defence, although chiefly used for defence. The ball must be hit immediately after it has bounced; in fact, within a few inches after its impact with the ground. For attacking it can easily be seen how useful this stroke can become; the time gained, as compared to waiting for the ground stroke, is invaluable. But it wants a perfect eye to play it with any facility; the majority of players do not watch the ball long enough. Lack of confidence is another reason why this stroke is not used more on the offensive.

_A short drop shot_ from the back of the court, or, in fact, from any position in the court (but I think more effectively used from the back of the court), is a very paying stroke to have at your command. It is difficult to be accurate with this shot, and it needs much patient practice. Yet it is one on which trouble may very profitably be expended, for it often turns the tide at a critical moment.

I remember playing one match where I used this stroke a great deal.