BADMINTON

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 217, 11 June 1935, Page 2

BADMINTON

Comparison With Tennis

INTER-CLUB MATCHES Players Reviewed (By Shuttle.) Run through the list of Badminton players in lyellington aud you will find a great preponderance of people who, in the summer months, play tennis. Ask any of them why they are so Keen on Badminton, and a majority will in all probability reply that it helps to improve their tennis. Otuers, more honest with themselves, admit that the game does not improve their tennis, but helps to keep them lit. The impartial observer may declare with a certainty based on tho facts that the very qualities that go to the making of an outstanding tennis player are frequently a handicap in Badminton, and a too great proficiency in Badminton may be a handicap in tennis. Supporters of both games will doubtless point to two or three players who appear to be the exception to the rule. That there are exceptions me must admit. But generally speaking it is true that the best tennis players are oy no means the best Badminton players, and the best Badminton players are a long way from being the best tennis players in Wellington. . Why is this? First, the Badminton players are of necessity called upon to smash, in a way which, if they tried it in tennis, would necessitate someone going six sections down to retrieve the ball. Tbe very science of the smasher in tennis is against him in Badminton. He must learn a different style. Again, the champion tennis, player develops an easy style of stroking that is the result of maintaining a perfect court position. Your champion tennis player, relying on placement, usually compels the inferior opponent to do the running. He gains his objective by a quiet persistence. In Badminton there is no such quietness. It is a game of rush and hurry and bustle from the start. The ’cn.ms player who relies on quietness finds himself out-pasted in Badminton. Because there is no absolute certain court, position, no “no-man’s land” in Badminton, the advantage is to the inferior tennis player who scarcely ever thinks, in terms of position when playing tenuis, but is content to dash all about tbe'court regardless. It will not be denied that. Badminton is an infinitely more strenuous game than tennis. Indeed, it is so strenuous that any person who has any suggestion of heart weakness ought not to take part in it. To do so is a positive danger. The strain is much too great. Inter-club Matches.

In tho inter-club matches which were commenced last Wednesday the best game of tho evening, was between E. J. Ridyard and 11. W. Reid. The margin of victory in Reid’s favour was of the narrowest. It was a battle of tactics, Reid excelling in smashing, and yet not bci ig deficient in drop shots, and Ridyard trying to counteract Reid’s smashing by perfect drop shots. When Reid was drawn to the net, Ridyard essayed to lob him, but Reid’s height and great reach made that difficult. Reid won many points by smashing strdight at Ridyard, who could then only return the shuttle defensively. As only natural with a game in which two players were evenly matched, points were decided by the sligiftest mistakes or smallest openings. The best doubles game was Misses While and King against Misses Phillips aud Bennett, There was little to choosebetween the pairs, and the four players were of an even high standard. Each pair showed a thorough understanding, with the result that seeming big openings in tbe court were immediately closed up by one of the opposing partners. Many of the smashes, drop, shots and crosscourt shots were brilliant. The weakest part was the lobbing. It was not always deep enough. There was not a lax moment throughout the match. Some of the shots to the sidelines just missed, and good judgment was shown in letting them D °N. R. Foden lost to J. Allison through the latter’s superior tactics. Allison excelled in drop shots and lobs, and so had Foden racing to the net and back with speed. Foden relied mainly on smashing, and the very excellence of these shots were often turned against him by the quickness and cleverness with which Alli’ sqn countered them. Foden appeared to tire before the end. R. Whyte has a brilliant assortment of shots, and despite a physical handicap, is remarkably fast about the court. He brought all his wiles into play against Rickman, whom he defeated without much trouble. He is quick at getting to drop shots, while being himself a skilled exponent of that shot; he is an accurate Jobber and severe smasher. He is as safe on the backhand as on the forehand. Mrs. Whatley us far as possible takes the shuttle in the same way overhead as she is wont to do on the tennis court with the ball—that is, on the backhand. Miss Luke found her a most disconcerting opponent to play. Mrs.. Whatleys smashes, coming almost straight down, were hard to counter. J. L. Macduff was palpably out of form when he met C. Evans-Scott. He could not last the pace that Evans-Scott se*-, and was outplayed. Evans-Scott showed commendable energy, and his strokes were superior to Macduff’s. He caused Macduff to do the bulk of the running. H. Pollock on many occasions appeared not to got a good sight of the shuttle in bis match with IT. N. Burns, who made much better use of the court. Burns was superior in strokes, and his height and reach were a valuable advantage, lie would bring Pollock in. then send him back with lobs, or beat him with a smash, which was decisive. Miss D. King is one of the most active of the women players, and she has a great variety of strokes, Besides being a very fine smasher she uses the drop shot well and is very good at angling her placements. It was the variety of her game that proved too strong for Miss Bennett, who did not cease to try throughout. But Miss King used the court to better advantage than did Miss Bennett, who had difficulty in handling the drop shots and in dealing with smashes to her backhand. E. A. Roussell is one of the outstanding players in Wellington, as he is also outstanding in tennis. He shows surprising speed in covering the court, and is lighter on his feet than one might suppose from his build. He has a powerful smash, is quick to anticipate the direction of the opponent’s return, and is equally quick to seize the opening. He uses the drop shot and the lob with equal facility.