LAWN TENNIS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 9 November 1927, Page 3

LAWN TENNIS

AND HOW TO PLAY IT court Position And half Volleying . •- (xvi) (Specially Written for “The Mail”) (By Reno Lacoste —World’s Champion) (This series of articles by the champion tennis player, Rene Lacoste, describes thoroughly each step in mastering the game and will be of great interest and practical assistance to tennis players.) Nothing marks more definitely the difference between the expert and the "rabbit” than .position on the court, Watch Ccclict, Johnson and Vincent Richards, for example, and you will see that whether serving, returning service, driving, volleying or smashing, they are always in exactly the right place. They seem able to reach the fastest shots without apparent effort and they\are usually in exactly the place to- which tile bail is returned.

• Most players play from the position from which they can reach the ball with the least effort and remain, in that position until they know where the return will come. They are wrong. The same stroke that from one position would be a kill, from another may bo a failure. Not only have you to learn from where to play the ball but also to what point you should return in readiness for the next stroke.

THE SERVICE AND THE RETURN

There is no doubt about the best position from which to serve. All the experts serve from a point as close to the centre of the _ base line as can be maintained without violation of the '.footfault’ rule.. Serving from the corner across the court may make your service harder to reach, but if your opponent does reach it and returns it fast to tho opposite corner, you will he helpless. Directly you have played your service, you must make up your mind whether you will go forward to volleying position or stay back in. driving position. Most players only follow very strong deliveries, otherwise remaining near the centre of the base-line or a few feet behind it.

When you are returning service, you must naturally stay in the opposite half of the court- to that of the server, and you should stand on the imaginary line which divides the angle between the two utmost- limits of service. If the server moves from the centre towards the corner, that imaginary line also moves and you must move with it. Most players return service from around tiie base-line, either just- behind it, like Tilden, or slightly in front of it like Williams and Cochet. Just as after serving, so after returning the service you must instantly make up your mind whether to go forward or to stay back. If the service has forced you out of tho court, it will he useless to try to reach the net as you will not have time to reach a good central position. On the other hand, if you have time to reach a close position and when you have played a very strong return, you should always come forward.' Cochet follows most of -his re, turns of service to the net: staying well inside the court and striking the ball on the rise, lie follows quickly.to a position close to the net and then hits most of his opponent’s returns hard enough to kill them.

WHEN THE BALL IS IN PLAY

When the ball 'is in play you may he obliged to reach shots in any part of the court. Above all, you must run hard to come close to the trajectory of the coming ball, whether yon are going to strike it with a volley shot before its bounce or with a grcundstroke after iis bounce. One of these two strokes you must choose; the stroke between them, a low volley or a half volley, played - just before or just after the bounce, you must always try to avoid. Indeed, the part of the court where such strokes are played, between the baseline and the service-line, should be regarded as forbidden ground in which you must not go to play.the ball. Tilden, a true base-liner, stays most of the time far behind the base-line, but most of the great players of to-day, Johnston, Corbet and Richards for example, stay closer to it for their drives. It is true that if von stay far back you will have for the playing and timing of your shots, but on the other band the nail will have further to travel and so your opponent will have more time also-.

There are, v6u see, two schools of thought about the best position on the ba/je-lin.e for driving; but there is only one rule about the best position at the net for volleying. You must come ns close as you can without, being so close that you are helplessly lobbed. Whether you are at the net or in the back of the court, you must remember that a defensive shot from the centre is safer than one from the side, for (he centre position leaves less of your court open for a return. Therefore the further you are from the centre line, the harder, the more aggressively, you must hit. Moreover, a fast shot from the side line or even, from beyond it, will give your opponent greater difficulty than one from the centre.

When you are out of position, try to copy Tilden' in terrific, desperate drives down to tho corner. Bill never fovget that, unless you arc covering a weak position or anticipating your opponent’s shot, you must always get away from the side line and back to the centre line as quickly as possible. Anticipation, however, is sometimes necessary. When your opponent can play hard either to the right or the left, you must realise that from the centre you cannot possibly guard both sides: you must therefore take your chance and go to one or the other.

HALF-VOLLEYS

1 have warned you against the ‘forbidden ground’ between the service line and the base-line. Sometimes, however, to reach a short ball or to kill a soft return. you will be forced into it and compelled to play a half-volley. This is a ground stroke in which the hail is struck very low just after it touches the ground. It is less decisive than a volley because it is played from further and lower, and it is less safe than a drive because it is impossible to watch the hall for the fraction of a second between its bounce and the impact of the racquet. If the ball bounces badly nr carries a certain amount of spin, your half-volleving will be ruined. Technically, a. half-volley is a ground stroke played on a low hall. To play it, vou must, shorten vonr swing, strike the ball on its top,, never trying to undercut, avoid follow through and rely for

speed on tile reaction of the strings rather than on swing. Williams, Cochet and Richards often surprise their opponents with marvellously effortless and decisive lialf-volleys: nevertheless, if they had come forward- a few more steps they could have .killed the ball Inure decisively, and if they had gone back a. few steps they could have driven it more safety. Half-volleying is dangerous and rarely unavoidable. Most of the time a safer and better shot could be substituted for it find achieve as good a result. Nevertheless you must know how to half-volley. But do riot- play that stroke deliberately. (Next article: “Conditions of Play.”)