TENNIS TOPICS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 295, 26 September 1935, Page 9

TENNIS TOPICS

A WARNING TO PLAYERS.

LEARN GROUND STROKES FIRST.

(By “Forehand”)

Many writers have stressed the necessity for learners in the game of tennis to “walk before they run” but the great thing is to learn the ground strokes first.

It is against the pulpil’s interest to take him away from the back line and into the forecourt to teach him volleying and smashing' before proficiency in the fundamental ground strokes has been attained.

Few things arc more pitiable than to see a pupil, lacking all essentials of correct stroking footwork, swing, judgment of distance in standing off from the ball to hit it, body weight thrown forward into the stroke as the ball is hit—trying to volley. What if a fair standard! of volleying is attained by the pupil? That will be useless if accuracy and consistency in the ground strokes are wanting, for a player is only as strong as his weakest stroke. Without accurate ground strokes the player will be unable to reach the net to execute the volley. But there is another aspect of the same question. The great majority of tennis players, while they might become respectable baseline players, relying on their ability to drive and lob accurately, will never become volleyers. The reason is plain. To volley well requires the possession of faculties that only the minority are blessed with. The chief are sharp eyes, quick thought, powers of anticipation, and instinctive judgment of distance. Without these a player can never become a good volleyer. It may be said that without them a player will never become a champion at all. But the lack of some of them, or all of them, is not fel/t to he such a handicap to the player on the baseline for the reason that he luas a longer time in which to play the stroke, and his mental processes need not be of such lightning swiftness. Nothing so much exhausts a player as always running into the net to volley. To be a- good volleyer, a player, besides possessing the faculties already mentioned, must ho properly trained. Very few players are that. Very few get the chance; still fewer think it worth while to get in training because, realising they will never be champions, they play the game for recreation, enjoyment and exercise. These latter make up the great majority of club members. Without them no club could! exist, and the champions would! have little chance of exhibiting their skill. It is for the multitude, not for the champions, that these warnings are issued. Those who pay heed, to them and concentrate upon building up their backcourt game have every chance of improving their standard greatly—perhaps out of sight. Those who are led away by the glamour of the forecourt game, without realising their limitations, will not only tail to become the volleyers they desire, but will have the prospect of seeing their standard of play deteriorate. For the most part the champion player arrives at the net to volley only at the end of a series of ground strokes that have played the opponent out of position and left him with the chance of making a weak return only. Very few of the champions could tell you how they arrived at the net during any particular rally. They only know that they have reached) there because it was the natural thing to do in the given circumstances. They were in no hurry to get there; in most cases it is not necessary for them to go there at all.

The ordinary club member has no knowledge of such tactics as these, and he cannot be taught them. His idea is to get to the net by the shortest route, on any ball, regardless of whether it is behind a weak shot or a strong one. Then he wonders why he' is beaten.

Let the generality of players stick to the back line and cultivate their ground strokes and correct footwork and accuracy, and the game of tennis in every club will improve out of recognition and the players themselves will gain more enjoyment thereby.

Perry in New Role. All Hollywood is animatedly discussing conflicting, versions of the incident at the Trocadero Club—rendezvous of him stars—recently, in which Fred Ferry, the British tennis champion, and Joe Benjamin, a former lightweight boxing champion, figured. Perry, reiterating his account of the affair, said: “A man, unknown to me, threw his cigarette in my face and attempted to hit me. I have no idea why he took offence. I merely tinned my back on him and left the cafe.” This statement is supported by Miss Pence Torres, a film actress, who said she was sitting at the tenuis champion’s table and added: “When Perry and f got up to leave, Benjamin followed us into the street. He struck Perry—and with that valiant effort fell flat on the pavement.” Benjamin, who asserts that Miss Torres was dining with him, has given two versions of the incident. The first w as:—•

“Perry made some uncomplimentary remarks about American, champions, including Dempsey, for whom I used to act as trainer. I got sore. Perry gave me a push and I reminded him that I was once a ring champion. “Somebody told me later that I had knocked out two of Perry’s teeth. I don’t know ll that is true.”

When this was brought to Perry’s notice he declared that ho. held American champions in the highest esteem, and said Benjamin’s story was “ridiculous.”

Benjamin then supplied his second explanation:

“I did not throw the cigarette in Perry’s face,” he said. “He intruded at our table and insisted on taking home Miss Mona Rico, the film star. "So after ho bail pushed me I let him hgve one.”