TENNIS NOTES

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 59, Issue 38, 24 November 1938, Page 3

TENNIS NOTES

NOTES ON PLAY. USE OF THE LOB. J The Cinclarella of strokes in lawn tennis is undoubtedly tho lob. Players who use the lob frequently and well, often have a good deal of chaff to put up with from their fellow players. One is inclined to suspect, however, that those who ridicule tin 1 lob are those who lear it. It is impossible to name, even in our humble local tennis, good lobbers who are easy to beat. 1 would go even further than that and say that, more than anything else, the ability to use the lob well is the hall-mark of a clever player. Jt should not be forgotten that if there were no lob in lawn tennis there would be no smashing. The smash is the natural reply to the lob and the smash is the great spectacular shot of the game. There is little difficulty in playing the lob stroke. It is executed with an easy underhand swing on either the forehand or the backhand. No spin is necessary, and the vital need in every lob is depth. To lob short is suicidal for the lob that drops down anywhere near the net is simply asking to be hit. It is better to lob over tho baseline and lose the point that way, than to lob short and be smashed off the court. The lob that goes over the baseline at least does not allow your morale to be shattered and your opponent to develop a superiority complex by dint of destructive overhead work.

In singles play the lob is mostly used for purposes of defence. When your opponent has advanced to the net and you are unable through being hustled, because of the spin of the ball, or because of your relative positions, to play a sound passing shot, then the lob is the shot to play. The lob must be out if reach of your opponent’s smash and yet it must not be too high. The higher it is the more time will your opponent have to run back and retrieve it. The lob that is just high enough to deceive your opponent into thinking he can reach and induces him to jump is a good lob. The nearer it lands to the baseline the better. Use the lob in singles play to gain time. When you are forced out of court and want to delay your opponent’s next shot until you have time to run into positionthen lob to him. Miss Dora Miller has always used lobbing for that purpose with very great skill. We shall continue the lob next week.