RAIN UPSETS INTER-CLUB TENNIS

Northern Advocate, 2 December 1936, Page 2

RAIN UPSETS INTER-CLUB TENNIS

a IX matches in th£ Inter-club /\ Competition set down for last I Saturday were cancelled ow-

ing to the weather and will be played later in the season. This also applies to *a match which had been arranged between a Whangarei district team and Dargaville, and which was tb have been played at Dargaville. The association courts will benefit by the rest, however, and should be in much better condition next Saturday.

The absence of a review of play this week presents an opportunity of explaining a reference made last Wednesday to the Bargain Store Club’s entry in the C grade of the Competitions. The club concerned have protested strongly regarding the reference, stating that the paragraph was tantamount to accusing them of a lack of sportsmanship and generally gave the impression that they were ‘pot-hunting’ by entering a team too strong for the grade. .

direction than speed. Then again, since the object of your service is to make it as hard as possible for your opponent to return the ball, if you cannot beat him by sheer pace, it is quite possible for you to make your service pitch in his service court in such a position that it will be difficult for him to give a good return or will catch him cut of position. It is a good general rule to make your service pitch well back so as to give your opponent little opportunity of getting to the net—keep him on the base line.

Foot Faults,

Before going into the various forms of service it is as well to explain one important point—the position you take up in order to serve. The rule may be summarised as follows. At the moment your racquet strikes the ball both your feet must be behind the base-line and one foot must be in contact with the ground.

Many players, even good players, break this rule and unnecessarily lose

The racquet is held a little more loosely than usual and the ball is hit .with a glancing upward blow from right to left. This blow will put a lot of over-spin on the ball, and the result (if you have hit it right) will be that the ball will swerve through the air, first outwards to your right and then inwards. When it pitches it will kick right away to your opponent’s backhand, fast and high. The spin you have got on the ball will continue to control it and makes it very difficult for your opponent to make a good return.

This is a most useful shot to acquire but you will learn more about it by watching a player who is an adept than by any amount of reading how to do it—and more still by practising it for yourself and finding out for yourself why it isn’t doing what you expected it to do.

Other Modifications.

Two other modifications of the serve deserve mention. The first is the “Ref verse American,” a very difficult onfr. to perfect, and one which can only be learnt by actual demonstration, as it is px-actically impossible to explain it in words. The other is the underhand service. This is very seldom seen today, but is a useful service for a play- • er well c-n in years or for one whose wrist is not very strong. For these it is better to cultivate a good under-, hand than to rely on a weak overhead, because it keeps low on pitching and gives little opportunity to the opponent to get in a good return. However, it is considered unfashionable today, and therefore has no appeal to the average player. Summary. Finally, make the most of your opportunity to attack with your service. Vary your service both in pace and direction.' Don’t always stand in the

same place to serve, nor serve too often in succession to the same spot. If you find your opponent has a weak backhand, serve mostly on to his backhand, but not always, as he will naturally “fall” for your idea very quickly and play accordingly. Changing your service keeps him guessing. Don’t make presents of points to your opponent by serving double faults. Serving a very fast ball, which proves to be; a fault, and following it uo with a very weak second ball, is also bad policy. Make sure cf getting your second service not only over the net but also as far back in the court as possible. If you must serve double faults, at any rate don’t let the second one go into the net.