BADMINTON

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 199, 20 May 1936, Page 17

BADMINTON

How Devlin Learned INTER-CLUB PLAYERS REVIEWED

(By

Shuttle.)

At. the end of this month Wellington is to have a visit from F. J. Devlin, probably the greatest badminton player living. His explanation of the way he learned to play the game is interesting. "My earliest recollections of the game,” he says, ‘‘are of hitting an old shuttle against my bedroom wall with a very ancient racket. I was recovering from an operation to my foot, so that I could not move about much, but had to make the shuttle return to me. I remember counting the number of times I was able to hit it, and finding that I could' get up to fifty °r sixty if I concentrated very hard, and watched the shuttle yory carefully, but it was very hard work, "Then suddenly I found the secret whereby I could play that shuttle easily and comfortably against the wall and make it bounce back right across the room to me. That secret was to play with my wrist and not my whole arm; to bend my wrist back and snap it forward as | hit the shuttle, so that it required very little effort to keep up a rally with myself, until I was so tired 1 missed the shuttle through sheer exhaustion. ......i.s "I don't suppose I thought out wiist action’ then and there, as I was only twelve years of ago, but I do remember he pleasure 1 obtained from this game after I discovered how to make that shutt e bounce off the wall. After a little while J pulled some of the leathers out ot the shuttle so as to deceive myself as to its flittilt, and became proficient at playing around the pictures with a minimum ot damage to them.” Inter-club Players.

Inter-club players were seen in action for the first time this season at the M inter Show Building last week. Some ot the players showed a fairly high standard, while others gave evidence that they were far from being in their best condition Badminton is such a strenuous game that it demands perfect physical fitness m the player. The best strokes, are ot little avail if the stamina is lacking to get properly in position to use them. One of the best performances was put up by' Miss Zilla Castle, who gave Miss D. King a hard tussle. Miss Castle, who is fast about the court, has a good assortment of strokes, and uses her head, has the milkings of an even better player than she is at present. She is fast improving. With her speed, she also shows good anticipation. , , Miss Dorothy King seems to lack the snap that was hers at her peak last season. She almost gives .the impression of under-estimating her opponent, bhe is not moving so quickly- about the couit, and she is inclined to overdo the drop shot. She ho 6, however, a splendid back'"tjiss Freda Fernio is another player who shows considerable improvement, m her play. She is fit, moves fast abou the court, and plays with freedom and enjoyment. She plays all her strokes with a freedom of movement that is delightful to watch, and she endeavours to vary her game. # Miss P. Newman found in Miss Palmer an opponent who was more versatile and profited by Miss Newman’s failure to deal with shuttles smashed down to about half-court to the backhand. Miss Newman did not appear to be eiglitmg the shuttle accurately at all. Miss Palmer was steady without being spectacular. , ~ Miss K. White was too strong for Mrs. Le seiir bv reason of a more varied type of play, as well as a sound defence and a good overhead. E. Ridyard is among the best players in Wellington, and carried too many guns for M. Castle, who could not. accommodate himseif to Ridyard's deceptive play. Ridyard kept Castle guessing, and as in all guess-work, the answer was very often wrong. But some of the rallies were long and interesting. . J, Scotland is a strong player, and his win over P. Driscoll was really the result of his use of the big battalions or the heavy brigade. When he exploited drop shots it was usually because that was the best tactics. Such occasions usually followed a bout of hard hitting. L Pollock was much more certain m his hitting than F. Manoy. He used the court more, aud he bad more shots. B. Roberts, with height and reach, outmatched T. Hewitt. Roberts is improving greatly, and before the season finishes should be a hard nut to crack G Pearce won his matches by the most tricky play of any competitor in the hall.’ He uses bis wrist, more than nnj of the others, and thus brings off many surprising shots, particularly delH e drop shots. He also smashes wcl • ““ hpicht and r p a<*h make him a djuicult player to pass, while the fact that he is a left-hander makes him still more awkward to oppose with success. Miss E. Driller is another player w;ho is improving. Her game 13 sbow ‘"= morn variation than last season, and she is succeeding more in the delicate diop shots. She defends well and is very active about the court. t Miss J. Carr is a determined pla.V<r who gets her results hy concentration, counting no shuttle too difficult to trj for. Her height and reach make her a fine smasher. She recovers well shuttles nlaved just over the net. Miss Dulcie Nicholls has some distance to go before her badminton s aw - ard will be the equal of her tennis standard, but there can be no the extent of her improvement. M ith her height, reach, speed, and her eye, sue ought to make a first-class player. Although quite new to the game, she is showing that she is not « f r ald I°JF't'he moot and to try out s rokes. That is the real wav to learn, she showed that she can smash and play drop shots with equal facility.