LAWN TENNIS

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 141, 14 March 1928, Page 8

LAWN TENNIS

COMMITTEE RESIGNATIONS

SUGGESTED REFORMS

(BY

“FOREHAND.”)

It is with great regret that I record the resignation of Air. M. E. F. Airey from the Management Committee of the Wellington Provincial Lawn Tennis Association, through ill-health. His reign on the committee as its chairman was shortlived, and I still remember with what enthusiasm he looked forward to effecting great reforms at Miramar and in Wellington tennis generally. The Management of the Game. It is a time to take stock of certain things that matter. First, the Management Committee is unwise in doing its business behind closed doors and away from the influence of the Press. Tennis is the only sport conducted with such secrecy in matters of administration. Nothing official gets llirougn to the Press, ana consequently the public are quite right in thinking nothing is being done. For a paper to De fobbed off with a perfunctory para, graph instead of the Press being allowed to exercise a judicious discretion and publish only those things that will interest the public is unjustifiable as it is inimical' to the best interests of the sport.

Secondly, a vastly different method of selecting representative teams is urgently necessary if the committee is to secure the confidence of tennis players. The method of selection of the last two

representative teams cannot be upheld, and the manner of its being done has been a severe set-back to tho game. This matter I have dealt with in these columns on previous occasions. Selection by committee has proved itself a farce. Perhaps the personnel of the committee has no appreciation of the merits of Wellington tennis, and, therefore, is lacking in that judgment so necessary if justice is to be done. What will have to be done, and that very quickly, is the setting up of a ladder and a compulsory playing of ladder matches for prospective provincial representatives. It should be made quite clear that only those on the ladder will be considered for inter-provincial matches, and then only in the order ot their placing on that ladder. In other words the team ought really to select itself. Such a ladder ought to be confined to ten men and ten ladies, with the right of anyone not on the ladder to challenge the person at, the bottom ot the ladder. There is one exception I would make in the placing of the team in the order the players are on the ladder, and that is in the matter of the provincial champion. He, or she, having played through a tournament, should be number one. Previously the ladder was not a success, because there was no clear indication that the ladder was to be the basis of the team selection. It was what the Newtown Club ladder now is, a farce. Make the ladder and keep it strict.' Players must be compel ’od to toe tho mark. Then there is the question of Miramar —a splendid ground that will be a millstone round the association’s neck, and tho players also), if steps are not taken to let courts out to hire. The association, through the obstinacy of the Management Committee in its refusal to take steps to increase revenue somewhat approximating to expenditure, are throwing back tho course of the game in Wellington. What the Wellington Association wants is money—it wants it by all the legitimate moans possible. The hire of courts is the most ■ obvious, most logical, and most commonsense method. If there are any conditions outside the province of the committee that are responsible for preventing tho putting into operation of the hire of courts scheme, then it is time they are swept aside. The courts will have to be made to pav, or they will revert to the Citv Corporation. Tho general public Ivill then be allowed the use of the courts, and pay for them as they use them. The cost of the upkeep of those grounds is enormous.

There is another important factor in connection with the Miramar grounds thjit the Management Committee should legislate very definitely upon, and that with great urgency. Members of affiliated clubs may join Miramar Grounds as as c ociate members at a reduced fee. For the purposes of inter-club matches, a club has been formed among members of the Association Grounds known as the Miramar Grounds Club. The team representing this club represents a fair proportion of associate members. I know of cases where members of other clubs have been asked to plnv for the Miramar Grounds Club instead of for that club, membership of which is the sole factor that enables them to become associate members at Miramar. The whole principle Is wrong. There should be no such thing as members of a club playing against colleagues of that same club, and certainly it is unfair that influence should be brought to bear to cause them to contest inter-club matches against their own club. Tim Miramar Grounds team, in short, should comprise only those players who are rnembi” - * of the Association Grounds solely. There should lie no other consideration -beyond that.

There is next the question of tournaments. It is useless to hide the facts. Tournaments at Miramar are not a success. either in the standard of the play or financially. XVellington tournaments are ceasing to attract. Not even the provincial tournament was sufficient tc induce several of the best players from going abroad to minor tournaments. From what 1 hear the same will be true of the Easter tournament. It is time a searching investigation was made into the whv and the wherefore of things. There is then the question of coaching. That was one of the advantages which were held out when the appointment of a permanent paid secretary was mooted. Up to the present no effort has been made by the association to avail itself of the present secretary in this connection. Thus is another source of revenue allowed to go begging. There are hundreds of players only too anxious to avail themselves of- the advantages of intelligent coaching.

Wanganui and Taranaki. Wanganui retains the Christie Cup, that fine trophy presented by Dr. Christie for competition among the minor associations, but their margin over Taranaki was very small. Be wffo, like Dr. Christie, presents such a trophy for such a purpose ejnfers incalculable benefit on the game of lawn tennis. There is nothing like competitive tennis, whether of individuals, clubs, or associations, to bring out the best and to effect the greatest improvements.

Taking Wanganui, Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay and the newly-formed Manawatu and Wairarapa Associations, tho strongest association is XVanganui. But that margin of superiority under tho experience of challenge matches is fast losiug its significance, and the time is not far distant when Wanganui will be in the position of challenger rather than challenged. In considering the position of Wanganui among tho minor associations, it is impossible to over estimate the qualities of the veteran M. L. Lampe, who, in any championship conducted amooe the associations 1 have mentioned in combination, would undoubtedly win the title. In all Christie Cup competitions in which he is playing Wanganui can regard his three matches, singles, doubles and mixed doubles, as certainties. A fine feeling for any association when it is known the result of the series will be close.

Deserving of equal consideration with Lampe is the veteran W. G. Wallace of Taranaki. It is pleasing to see C. Dickie take his place in the Taranaki team. For many years he and XVallaco were among the most noted pairs to be seen in any of tho tournaments in New Zealand, including Hie New Zealand championships. Neither has had much chance of practice of late,

and time has set its mark mor® on Dickie than on Wallace. His eyesight is not so sharp now as it once was, and a slowing up in speed lias prevented him from getting tc Hie net with Wallace as in the days that were. The last Dominion championship may be said to have marked the end of this tamous combination, as Wallace played with J. B. Parker and Dickie did not attend. Lampe and Wallace are the apostles of physical fitness. Then, too, Wanganui has another veteran in S. Powdrell, who fights to the last and moves with great speed. There is a son, a left-hander, J. Powdrell, who plays what might be termed a good senior game.

Included in the Wanganui team was Barkman, who for some seasons was one of the mainstays ol Wellington tennis. He was, and still is, ever a fighter. He met in Webster, a Taranaki player of equal experience and fighting ability. Dr. Nicholson 1. remember in his match with J. C. Peacock. He played constantly to Peacock’s backhand, and Peacock swept through him with raking backhand drives made with that even swing that one connects with the expert cutting grass with a scythe, lie did well in this Christie Cup match to beat that solid baseliner, Marshall, who is one of the most difficult of the Wanganui men to beat. G. Ellis (Taranaki) was for many years a member of Brougham Hill Club, und once won the Wellington 'Varsity championship. In the Brougham Hill championships he and A. L. France won a grgat victory over E. B. XV. Smyth and N. 11. C. Wilson. Some idea, then, may be gathered of the standard of play displayed by S. Powdrell when it is seen that tho score in Ellis’s favour was B—lo, 7—5, 6—l.

A. H. Richards was for many years a member of the Hawke’s Bay Club, and really learnt his tennis there, climbing ultimately to number one position on the ladder. He shows great cleverness in his game, which depends on placements, but he has scarcely the physical strength to stand five hard sets in New Zealand championship tennis. It is pleasing also to record that included in the Wanganui team was the donor of the cup, Dr. Christie. He was beaten by C. Dickie. In point of certainty in the matter of winning for Wanganui both Miss Myers ami Miss' Calver, between whom there is little difference in standard of play, (a slight superiority being in Miss Myers’s favour), arc the equals of M. L. Lampe. Miss Myers has had a much greater experience in tournament play than Miss Calver, and in mixed doubles pairs with Lampe in the New Zealand championships. Playing now a fine game. Miss Myers is still improving. Against Miss Calver. Miss Brewster (Taranaki) led 6—4 and 40—0. but lost that game and the next eight games running. She is lacking in the strength to contest a hard, long-.lrawa game in first-class tennis. At her best, in flashes, she is up to New Zealand standard.

Wanganui has a most promising player in the 14 years old Miss Purcell, who has lately defeated three Wanganui representative players.

Rene Lacoste Tells How It Is Done. I don’t think that there has ever Jg/ui anyone in the history of lawn tennis more fitted to become a world’s champion than Rene Lacoste, the baby of France’s "big four,” and the present holder of the American singles championship (states an English writer). ' Although lie is extremely young in actual years, he is a veritable Methusulah in wisdom, and there seems no end to what he has acquired in the way of lawn tennis. Ever since I first saw him play as a delicate-looking school boy on the hard courts of Brussels in the international championships some four years ago, when: (with his anxious mother lookim.' on), he defeated that famous strategist and captain of the English team, Roper Barrett, finishing up the match with a love set, T felt certain that he would go far.' There is a thoroughness and a precision about his methods which in so young a player is nothing less than miraculous. I have had many talks with him since those earlv days, and have played many games with him in Paris. And I have never found anyone who has gone so thoroughly info thj game in all its various branches, ns this young French boy has done. He told mo in that quiet, serious Flinch of his. that he had alwavs been 1 remen :Im. .<lv interested in lawn tennis. "J. have always wanted to learn how to make all the different kinds of strokes. T do not believe that one should cultivate one style to the exclusion of all others. For instance, although I do not use the 'cut’ stroke to any marked degree, I have found if very useful to me on several occasions, so I haro taken nains to master it very thoroughly in addition to my usual top spin, and plain hit drives. T dn believe there are times when von need to know every stroke there is; and it is much better to set to work and lenrn all of them while ■ you are young and imitation comes so easily.” Rene Lacoste to,ld me also that he believed most earnestly in the value of physical fitness as a' help to championship tennis. ' "I have always.” he said, "made a point of getting an average of nine hours’ sleep, and I am always in bed before 10 o’clock when I am in training for any important match.” I asked him whether it was true that in the States he was so Keen that he was even discovered practising backhand strokes before his looking-glass in his room at the hotel one evening. He laughed: "It is probably quite true,” he said. "I don’t exactly remembor it, but I know that I was s> keen just then to get the mechanical accuracy which I knew I should require to carry me through the strenuous matches I had ahead of me that I simply never lost a minute in practising my strokes. You must remember, too, that I had recently been ill and was consequently quite short of practice.” A delightful feature of Rene Lacoste’s character is that he is never too busy a play tennis with his friends. Many cheery games have I seen him play in Paris, with players considerably below his own form. He lias the happy, knack of making people enjoy themselves and also making them play well He does not attempt to dominate the court, but instead plays that easy, effortless game which he lias made so much his own speciality. I asked him many things about his strokes. “It is most important,” he said, “that you accustom yourself to play’ against all manner of opponents. You must not allow yourself either to like or to dislike any particular style of game. You must Hniply build up your own game so soundly by becoming perfectly familiar with the various strokes that whatever kind of attack your opponent uses it may not disconcert you in the least. This is the only way to get the best out of oneself, mid I am sure that to play perfect tennis you must be in perfect health. There is no chance of your eye and your muscles doing their best for you unless tout bodily health is vigorous as well. I have never been particularly strong myself, and 1 know how important it is' for me to 'keep fit’ if I am going to produce anything like my proper game.” Lacoste told mo he much preferred singles to anv other form of the game, "although I like doubles very well when 1 cannot got a single. I find it amusing to have the whole court to myself; I like to feel myself singly pitted against my adversary, and I like to be able to work out my plan of attack when I see uhat his particular strokes are, and bow I can best counteract them. One should always think several strokes ahead in a rally, and not merely make strokes which have no meaning or purpose about them. I do not believe in taking too many risks, because there are some angles from which jt is an impos-

sibility to “Ixlll’ a ball. But when you have your opportunity vou must play decisively, and take a certain amount of risk.”

“Jean Borotora, with his wonderful leaps and bounds, and his groat smashing, is a lovely player, is he not?” he said whole-hearte<|ly. There is something very delightful about the “camaraderie” aud frank admiration which this talented pair have for each other’s game. Borotra will tell you "there is no one so thorough or so sound a player as Rene," while Rene will assure you that his friend Jean "is of all players the most brilliant.”'

I tried to get him to talk of his many triumphs, but he would say little. XX r hen I asked him about his favourite strokes, he told me, "I don’t, think I have anv one favourite stroke, though possibly I prefer my forehand drive to anything else. But I should like to give one word of advice to (wople who want to play tennis well. Start to play early, and learn when you are very young and adaptable—not when you grow older and begin to lose that wonderful power of imitation which children always possess. As a bo.v. I used to watch every tennis plavcr who came to Paris; I used to know them all by name and all their net strokes, and how they made them. I’m sure that’s the way to get on,” he finished with a laugh.