The Art of Lawn Tennis Part 20

Second only to Suzanne Lenglen in France is Mme. Billoutt, formerly Mlle. Brocadies, once the idol of the Paris tennis public. This remarkable player has as perfectly developed a game as I have seen. Her actual stroking is the equal of Mlle.

Lenglen. Her strokes are all orthodox, flat racquet ones. Her ground game is based wholly on the drive, fore- or backhand. She has grown rather heavier in the last few years and consequently slowed up, but she is still one of the great players of the world.

England

In marked contrast to the eccentricities of Mlle. Lenglen one finds the delightfully polished style of Mrs. Lambert Chambers.

Mrs. Chambers has a purely orthodox game of careful execution that any student of the game should recognize as the highest form of tennis strokes.

Mrs. Chambers serves an overhead delivery of no particular movement. She slices or "spoons" her ground strokes, forehand or backhand. She seldom volleys or smashes. Her only excursions to the net are when she is drawn to the net.

It is not Mrs. Chambers' game itself so much as what she does with it, that I commend so highly. Her change of pace and distance is wonderfully controlled. Her accuracy marvellous. Her judgment is remarkable, and the way in which she saves undue exertion is an art in itself. She gets a wonderful return for her outlay of effort.

Hers is a personality of negation. Her manner on the court is negative, her shots alone are positive. She is never fl.u.s.tered, and rarely shows emotion.

Mrs. Chambers is the "Mavro" of women as regards her recovering ability. Her errors are reduced to a minimum at all times. To err is human; but at times there is something very nearly inhuman about Mrs. Chambers' tennis.

ELIZABETH RYAN

The English-American star Elizabeth Ryan is another player of marked individuality. Born in California, Miss Ryan migrated to England while quite young. For the past decade "Bunny," as she is called, has been a prominent figure in English and Continental tournaments.

Miss Ryan has a queer push-reverse twist service that is well placed but carries little speed. She chops viciously forehand and backhand off the ground and storms the net at every opening. Her volleying is crisp and decisive. Overhead she is severe but erratic. She is a dogged fighter, never so dangerous as when behind. Her tactics are aggressive attack at all times, and if this fails she is lost.

Although Miss Ryan is an American by birth she must be considered as an English player, for her development is due to her play in England.

MRS. BEAMISH

This English player is an exponent of the famous baseline game of the country. She drives, long deep shots fore- and backhand, corner to corner, chasing her opponent around the court almost impossible distances. Her service volleying and overhead are fair but not noteworthy. Another player of almost identical game and of almost equal cla.s.s is Mrs. Peac.o.c.k, Champion of India. Her whole game is a little better rounded than Mrs. Beamish, but she lacks the latter's experience.

Among the other women in England who are delightfully original in their games are Mrs. Larcombe, the wonderful chop-stroke player, whose clever generalship and tactics place her in the front rank, and Mrs. M'Nair, with her volleying attack.

Women's tennis in England is on a slightly higher plane at this time than in America; but the standard of play in America is rapidly coming up. International compet.i.tion between women on the lines of the Davis Cup, for which a trophy has previously been offered by Lady Wavertree in England, and in 1919 by Mrs.

Wightman in America, and twice refused by the International Federation, would do more than any other factor to place women's tennis on the high plane desired. This plan has succeeded for the men, why should it not do as well for the women?

ILl.u.s.tRATION CAPTIONS

{PLATE II. FOREHAND GRIP. FRONT VIEW. Notice the straight line of the arm, hand and racquet, the flat racquet face, the natural finger position on the handle. The racquet is in position to hit a forehand drive.

FOREHAND GRIP, BACK VIEW. The line is straight, the head of the racquet slightly in advance of the hand. The pose is at the moment of contact between ball and racquet.}

{PLATE III. THE COMPLETED SWING OF THE FOREHAND DRIVE. Notice the body position, at right angles to the net, the weight on the front or left foot, having pa.s.sed from the right foot with the swing, just at the moment the ball is struck. The racquet is carried to the limit of the swing and falls into the left hand at height of the shoulder. The racquet face has pa.s.sed over the ball. The reader is looking through the strings. The stroke was made with the far side of the racquet from the camera. The eye is following the ball in its flight. The whole movement is forward.

The tendency in hitting a forehand is to stop the swing too soon.

Notice the full follow through to the extreme limit of my swing.

The hitting plane in this picture is too high, the shot having been made almost at the shoulder. The correct hitting plane for the forehand drive is along the line of the waist. Play all drives at this height if possible. Step back to allow the ball to fall waist high if necessary rather than play it at the shoulder.

Hit your forehand drive decisively but do not attempt to kill every shot. Be accurate first and attain speed second.}

{PLATE IV. BACKHAND GRIP. FRONT VIEW. Note the hand on top of the racquet handle, yet retaining the straight line of arm, hand and racquet Is in the forehand. The change from the forehand grip is one quarter circle of the handle. The knuckles are up and directly towards the opponent. The head of the racquet is advanced slightly towards the ball.

BACKHAND GRIP. BACK VIEW. Notice the line of arm and racquet is straight and the hand on top of the handle. The thumb in my stroke is around the handle, but may be placed up the handle if desired. Personally, I do not use it, and do not advocate it, as it tends to detract from the freedom of the grip.}

{PLATE V. COMPLETION OF THE BACKHAND DRIVE. Notice the feet are firmly set, with the weight on the right foot, to which it was shifted from the left with the swing. The racquet has struck and pa.s.sed over the ball, topping it. The body is at right angles to the net, the left arm extended to aid in perfect balance. The whole movement is forward, while the eye is on the ball, in its flight. The stroke in the picture was off a high bounding ball which accounts for the racquet's position being above the wrist in order to bring down the ball. The perfect backhand drive is off the waist, and the racquet pa.s.ses along that hitting plane.

Meet the ball well forward on the backhand, at least in front of the right hip. This will obviate the common error of slicing off to the sideline and will tend to pull the ball, into court. The locked wrist, with no turn is essential on all backhand shots below the shoulders. It insures solidity of impact and adds pace to the return. I believe in all beginners playing their backhand shots cross court until they have fully mastered the footwork and locked wrist swing. The common error of slicing the backhand cannot be too strongly emphasized and condemned and cross courting the shot tends to avoid it.}

{PLATE VI. THE FOREHAND VOLLEY. Notice the body at right angles to the net, the left foot advanced to the shot, the weight evenly distributed on the feet, the wrist slightly below the racquet head, the racquet head itself slighly{sic} tilted,,{sic} to lift the volley, and the whole movement a "block" of the ball. The wrist is stiff. There is no swing. The eyes are down. watching the ball. The left arm is the balance wheel. The body crouched and the knees bent.}

{PLATE VII. THE BACKHAND VOLLEY. The body position and weight control and balance are the same as in the forehand volley. The crouch is more p.r.o.nounced as the hitting plane is lower. The head of the racquet is firmly blocked by the stiff, locked wrist. The eyes are centered on the ball, which has just left the racquet.}

{PLATE VIII. DAVIS CUP CHALLENGE ROUND, 1921 Zenzo Shinddzu. j.a.pan and William T. Tilden 2nd. America, just previous to the opening of their terrific match in which Shimidzu led by two sets. 5-4 and 30-0, only to have the American finally pull out the Victory.}

{PLATE IX. DAVIS CUP CHALLENGE ROUND, 1921 William M. Johnston. America and Ichiya k.u.magae. j.a.pan, take the court for the opening match before a gallery of over 12,000 people. Johnston won in sequence sets, scoring the first point for America.}

{PLATE X. FAMOUS DAVIS CUP DOUBLES TEAMS NORMAN E. BROOKES AND GERALD L. PATTERSON Australia, 1920 R. M. WILLIAMS, 2ND AND WATSON M. WASHBURN America, 1921 M. E. MCLOUGHLIN AND T. C. BUNDY America, 1914}

{PLATE XI. FAMOUS DAVIS CUP STARS NORMAN E. BROOKES Australia ANTHON F. WILDING New Zealand BEALS WRIGHT America W. A. LARNED America}

{PLATE XII.

THE 1921 AUSTRALIAN DAVIS CUP TEAM J.O. Anderson, J.B. Hawkes. Norman Peach and C. V. Todd.

THE 1920 AMERICAN DAVIS CUP TEAM R. N. Williams, 2nd, W. M. Johnston, Captain Samuel Hardy, W. T.

Tilden, 2nd and C. S. Garland.}

{PLATE XIII. FORMER CHAMPIONS OF AMERICA R. NORRIS WILLIAMS 1914 and in 1916 WILLIAM M. JOHNSTON 1915 and in 1919 MAURICE E. MCLOUGHLIN 1912 and in 1918 ROBERT LINDLEY MURRAY 1917 and in 1918}