MRS MALLORY’S TENNIS HINTS.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3130, 14 August 1922, Page 7

MRS MALLORY’S TENNIS HINTS.

(By Allan E. Norman).

In tho following interview Mrs Bjurstedt Mallory, the lady champion lawn tennis player of the United States, who is the only woman ever to have beaten Mile. Suzanne Lehglen since she became world-famous offers some excellent advice to all English girls. "The most striking difference between women's play in Europe and America is speed. When 1 have said that before girls have thought I was criticising their ability to run. In America the girl's tennis is fast as compared to England and the Continent; and by that I mean speed of stroke. "Over here most women favor the underhand drive. That means they let the ball fall towards the second hop before striking. In America the firstclass women concentrate upon hitting the ball much sooner; as the ball bounds they rush in on top of it and hit the moment they are in position. That is what I mean by fast tennis; — for your opponet then has the least possible time to recover from her own shot and to get hack into position. "I believe English girls' tennis would improve considerably if they learned to hit the ball at the top of the bound. That is the real secret of fast, modern play. To do this tho player must learn to hit from the shoulder. This modern stroke implies what is practically a horizontal swing of the racket. The elbow and the wrist play only a minor part; it is tho shoulder action which counts, together with tho throwing of one's whole weight into the forward punch. "Other things being equal, the girl who employs this shoulder drive and hits the ball as quickly as possible after the hop should be able to concede at least half-fifteen every game l to an opponent. "Girls should learn, to servei overhand, and while they must acquire skill at volleying also, net play will not win them big matches. "There is no woman playing to-day who can live at the net in face of good base - line hitting. Therefore, big matches are, and will be, won and lost by back-court driving. "Girls cannot move fast enough to intercept side-line passing strokes; they .seldom finish off ai volley decisively, even when they reach, the ball; and, what is more, they are weak in anticipation because no girl thinks quickly enough to win as a man can by volleying alone. Tn spite of this the ambitious girl must learn all the volleying strokes or she will be easy meat to any opponent who can entice her to the net and then pl'ay the high ball. Cultivate hard' hitting; aim your hardest shots for the base line and put all the angle you can into your slower returns. It wais by fast play that I wais able to heat Mile. Lenglen in America last fall. I never hit hardier in my life."