On the Courts

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 91, 14 October 1922, Page 14

On the Courts

.OPENING OF SEASON

QLtfBS IN ACTION.

(By " Httka-.")

Great ! preparations were made last week by a large number of clubs for their opening day, but the weather was not in its best mood, and consequently play was' out of the question. Several of the clubs decided to hold the opening ceremony notwithstanding, and speeches were listened to with possibly more attention and less impatience than would have been the case had it been fine. Afternoon tea and a " singsong " drove dull care away from amongst most of.-the clubs.

The city players who were fortunate enough to receive invitations to the opening of the Pukerua Bay Tennis Club's grounds last week had a glorious time. The weather was kind—eomehow 'the Bun seems to be always shining at Pukerua Bay. The president of the club, Mr. H. G. Bedell, after welcoming Mr. and Mrs. Field and the other visitors, called upon Mr. Field, M.P., who is the patron of the club, to address those present, some 200 of both sexes. Mr. Field, after congratulating the residents on their enthusiasm.. in doing the necessary work in making the grounds, touched on other matters, such as that a main road should be formed in the district) a school ,erected, and, in fact, that residents should make themselves heard in tho proper quarters as to their wants. The club is most fortunato in securing such a fine site—it is the pick of Pukerua Bay—and included in the tennis reserve is a lovely valley, which is a perfect picture, with its beautiful fern trees and other native trees. The club has been given the lease of the ground at a peppercorn rental of £1 per year, with tl.o right of purchase at any time at a fixed price. The man who has not only helped in forming the ground, but has practically given this great asset to the club, is Mr. Charles Gray. .He has always been a tennis enthusiast, and if there were more like him it would be better for the sport. Mr. Harris! tho hon. secretary,' had everything in good order, and worked hard to make visitors and club members enjoy themselves. Afternoon' tea was provided by the Pukeroa Bay residents. , F. M. B. FISHER WINS. Thß Hampshire championships were played at the Bean Park Ground; on which are nineteen courts. The weather was fine until the finals were due, and then rain fell in torrents. , Fisher and Martin, the two finalists, Tory generously turned out for the sake of the large crowd which had gathered before the rain, and played their final. The strange sight .was witnessed of two men in flannels playing in drenching rain, surrounded by a crowd sitting and standing covered with umbrellas, and macintoshes. The match, however, produced a good game, and pie crowd were most enthusiastic in their appreciation of the efforts of the players. Fisher received a hearty ovation when he won the match, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. Fisher seemed to- be somewhat the more handicapped by the conditions and the heavy vwet balls probably affected his "touch." When in Ne,« Zealand, "F.M.8." hated rain like a cat when,playing tennis, but he must have become hardened to it in England. * ; NEW ZEALAND ASSOCIATION.

; The annual general- meeting of .the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association will be held on Tuesday, 31st October, in■: Wellington.' .There are two motions on the order paper, of whichv notice Has been .given, and they are as follow:—(1), . That it be a direction to the Management Committee that in, future members, of teams representing. New' Zealand shall receive a reasonable allowance for board and lodging, in addition to travelling ■ fares'; (2)' that, in future the draw for the New Zealand championships, affili- j ated assobiatibnb' '--.' club 1 championships, or any level event, be "seeded ". ;or, conducted by arrangement, according, to the method as* adop-. 'ted-by 'United States' Lawn Tennis' Association. Dealing .with No. 1, motion: According to\ the rules of the English Lawn Tennis Association, "a player when .representing ap -association or club may receive necessary travelling and reasonable hotel expenses from such association'or-club, through its-re-cognised ■ officials; if .^permission to pay such expenses*shall have;been previously obtained-from this-council." : The New ! Zealand Council could give permission, but if a player is.paid .without the permission being, obtained, then he/or she has broken the amateur rule. If an association or club' has the money to spare, there is no reason why its representatives' expenses :should : not be paid; As to' v Nd..'2: The United, States Association, whichis: almost progressive body, gave it. every, consideration,' and. the hew rule has, been declared a, success v .in America. The champions'■''dp '. not meet until towards the','latter stages'of the contest, and.thus, for spectators'arid players alike food , matches-are' assured in the ) semirials and .finals.;; ,'Ji delegates so desire, the,. ri^es, can/be : 'worded so that club mates, will hot "meet in the first round, and thereby- ahardsqip can be legally provided .for. r The ."'seeding "■ or arranging of the dravy has been done even in ,New-- Zealand* .butut Ms not. legal, 'according to/ the rules/ 1 and it would be much.'better to have,',a.rule permitting it than having/it'done on the .quiet. COURTS\A VND.SUBR.OUNI?INGS. ' Owing to .the constant inquiries as; to the' regulation;' size\.o£ a tennis court, ■ and the necessary surrounding area, the following;'■ will be a useful guide. The court: for the; singles gamey-according ,to' the' rules— i\ia\i be a rectangle, 78ft long and 27ft wide.-It shall be divided across the middle;'by a net, suspended from a cord, the ends of which shall be attached to or pass over-.the tops of two posts, 3ft 6in in height, -which shall, stand 3ft outside the court on each side. The height of the ,net,shall be 3ft:at the centre, where it shall be held down taut by a' strap' hot , more than 2in wide. ■There shall bo a;band covering the cord and the top;.of.the net for not less than, 2 inches nor more than 2|- inches in depth on, each Bide. The lines, bounding the ends and- sides of the court shall respectively Ibe : called the base-lines and the side-lines'. On each side of the, net, | at a distance of 21ft from it, and parallel with it, shall be drawn the service-lines. The space on each side of the net between the siirvi'cs-line Amd the side-lines shall be divided into two equal parts: called the, service-courts by Lhe centrc-service-line drawn half-way between, and I parallel with, the side-lines. Each baseI lino shall lie bisected by an imoFjirmry "paQtinwiiau oi the ceafcre seryiee-lin© t<>

a line 4 inches in length called the cen-tre-mark drawn outside, 4 inches clear of and at right angles to such hase-hne. All lines shall be not less than 1 inch nor more than^2 inches in width, except the base-lines, which may be 4 inches in width, and all measurements shall be made to the outside of the lines. For the doubles game, the court shall bo 36ft in width, i.e-.l^ft. .wider on each side than the court for tile sing es game, and those portions of the singles side-lines which lie between the two ser-vice-lines shall be called the service-side-lines. In other respects, the court shall be similar to that described for the singles game, but the portions of the singles side-lines between the base-line and service-line on each side of the net may be omitted if desired. . There should be, if possible, a clear margin o! at least 12ft at each end, and 1 12ft on each side, of all courts. In the case of couVts placed fiide by side, there should be at least 18 feet between them, and in the case of courts placed end to end or end to side, there should be stop netting at least Bft high between them. If your ground will not allow of the above outside measurements, you must do the best, you can, • but it is a -great mistake to 1 try and get an extra court into the area you have by cramping your outside playing area. If n, player cannot get sufficient ground be--1 hind the base-lines, and outside the &ldeI lines to retrieve his opponent's shots, hjs shots, and consequently his game, areruined. Some may say that it is the same for both, but one smay be volleyer I whereas the other .may be a, base-line i player pure and simple. The Americans bisect each base-line at the contra by a. j line 4 inches long drawn at right angles and starting from the inside of the baselines (instead of outside as under English regulations), and towards the not. The writer prefers the line inside the baseline, both from the player's and, umpire's points of view. Davis Cup players like I more than 21 feet clear behind the baselines, and readers must remember that linesmen have to take up a position behind the base-lines —one linesman' for each sideline, and one for' the centre line I-—therefore it is natural when tnere is I only 21 feet' that limpires should 'take 1 up 3 feet of it at the very least, and if they stretch their logs out, which on© is apt to do during a long match, then 4or 5 feet is taken up. A narrow run back hampers all players, and if there is 1 wire netting or possibly a more- solid back-stop, players must have plenty of room, o^her^ise they : are apt to injure themselves when sprinting back to recover a hard return, by coming on contact frith linesman, or back-stop. Deep as was the> run back on the Davis Cup Court at Auckland, Johnston, when chasing a smash, came into collision with ths back barrier, but" by good luok was just able to turn slightly to the lef b,> thus lessening the impact. Impulsively-inclined receivers, lilt© Tilden, Williams, and Vincent Richards, of the United States, await the service within the base-line, and many of their returns are but bold blocks, which turn the aggressor's weapon against him. Johnston is more orthodox and deliberate, but he, too, stands well in front of where the majority of receivers)stand, hitting his fine forehand as the ball rises, and stabbing his' backhand with the celerity which gives it the surprise of the half-volley. In Europe on v the fins sand counts, and on the indoor courts at Auteuil, in France, many first-class players, exploited these "rising* 1 ground shots before the Americans. This was Wilding's practice against European players (chiefly the Frenchmen), and his acquisition of them, that gave him in later years an advantage over the English players. <

_ Always run in on your service in practice^ that is, if your service is an attacking one, and you Ehould aim to make it so. Every boy should learn this most essential attack. It is absolutely necessary to beat a good player—so if you would advance in y'onr play see to it. One cannot help admiring " the spick and span costumes of the tonnis player, who knows just what he or she should wear for the'game. The young fellows in their spotless whites, always catch the, eye, but there is one fajhng wfth quite a number of them, and that is they go on to the court with dirty, or what were once white,, shoes. It kills the whole Appearance, and if they only saw themselves as others see them —their shoes would be always of 'the spotless white type. The Auckland Association courts at Stanley^ street are completed, and the Australian Davis ,Cup team was due to play _ there yesterday. A very fine pavilion has ,bean erected, in the centre of ..which is a large tearoom, and the dresing rooms are placed at each, wing on an angle.' The broken line effect is very attractive and pleasing to the eye, and from the hroad verandah that runs along the -entire front, a splendid view of all the courts can be obtained.'

Tlie -first courts in Now South Wales available for night tennis have just been established by the Rosebei-y (Sydney) club (says "The Popt's"'Sydney oorra;pondent). The work of constructing the courts was begun two yeari. ago when the club had hardly a penny to bless itself with. The installation of"tie brilliant lighting scheme has seen tennis in full swing each night The club has several hundred members. Other clubs propose to follow suit.