COURT MANNERISMS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22422, 17 November 1934, Page 7

COURT MANNERISMS

LAWN TENNIS STARS INDICATIONS OF ANXIETY CHAMPION’S COMMENTS By Feed J. Pebrt, Amateur Lawn Tennis Champion. Perhaps in the midst of. all this lawn tennis.'talk., it would be quite a change and a good idea to talk about' something quite apart from the actual game, but still in keeping with lawn tennis celebrities. Everyone the world over knows the type of game and tactics employed by the stars, but few realise the peculiarities, and sometimes quite small mannerisms peculiar to each player. It is a strange thing that these mannerisms usually show- themselves; on important occasions, and by that'.’;; I mean that, apart from the ordinary everyday mannerisms each peraonpossesses, they have some.other peculiarities which show themselves at usually when that player becomes very excited or very nervous. Let us take a glimpse of Jack Crawford, for instance. A' more . serene or nonchalant player has yet. ,to; walk a lawn tennis court. There ( isnever any show either of joy,; or tqmper, ■ -He is always the same from the time he goes on the court to the time he walks off. He never seems to hurry,’but; is*, always in the right place at ;the ; right time; but if you watch him; closely when he gets in a tight corner,; (and T, might add here that opportunities';,,to see him in a tight corner are very; few and far between), then you will’notice that he runs his left hand over: his hair many times. It does not mean'Aery much to the ordinary spectator]ibut it is a strange thing that' Jadk only ;touches his hair in that way when things begin to wotry him. He always twirls his racket between shots, but that is -more a habit than a peculiarity. When you see Jack Crawford’ start running his left hand across his head as if brushing the hair’from his eyes, you twill, then know that he is not quite ’ so happy as he would ' like to be. VINES’S PECULIARITIES..' 1 Ellsworth yines, too, was another player’ with few peculiarities, but when lie was really serious and'really'getting down to business and all his-ebneentra-tive powers were brought to bear on the match in question, he would crouch to, receive serves, at the same time twirling his racket slowly between his fingers as if making sure that it was still, there. Ellsworth Vines only crouched in this position, with nerves taut ready for any emergency, when .he really wanted a point. Then, again, there was a peculiarity known only to a few of the slight, swaying of the hips towards the centre of the court before hitting his cannonball* serve. Usually he would just stand and deliver the ball with a formal swing, but before hitting that cannonball serve he would always sway his hips towards the centre of the court as if to summon all his energy. Betty Nuthall, still one of the greatest _ drawing cards in the game to-day, takes the game very seriously, although she appears to have a lot of. fun during ea,ch match. However,, when you see Betty .Nuthall clenching,' .her,. left fist -and shaking it, as if to say,,“ Now,, come on, Betty;” then you know from that that, she is concentrating to the fullest extent.; , , k ’ ■ .HUGHES THE ACROBAT.

Pat’ Hughes, one of tlie' mostpopular tennis-playersin thei jyqrld, can perform fiibre acrobatic fea,ts%»n the court, and still keep his balance, than anybody else in the game. H* ;never seems ,to take any shot without Aviating himself into all sorts of knots. A. ball may seem to be yards out of his reach and at times to pass him, but a quick and clever turn of the body suffices to shoot the ball back across the net at an alarming pace. Three years ago he even used to tie himself up into a knot" before serving, but in later years he has relied upon a comparatively straight swing of the racket. It is always "very , comforting to play doubles with Pat Hughes, as you always know that if your opponents put a shot into a most difficult place you can rest assured that Pat will make a last minute effort to get that back, and if it is humanly; possible to. return it there is no question that he will do it. In the Davis Cup team we call him “Micky,” but our captain always refers to him as “The Contortionist.” To me, Pat Hughes is one of the most interesting players to watch—there is- no one in the world to-day nho plays tennis like him. He has a style peculiar unto himself, using the chop with great effect, and you can take it from me that it is no easy matter to play Pat Hughes when he is fit and well. At present he is fitter than ever, and his repertoire of ground spins, slices, and chops make him a most interesting exponent of the lawn tennis game. ■ “ THE TOWERING CZECH.”

Roderick Menzel, “ the towering Czech,” is another player who has many peculiarities, and a most interesting one to watch. He is always the first to approve of any good play on the part of his opponent, and to show his appreciation of such play breaks out into English with as hearty a “Good shot!” as anyone could wish to hear; but when he does not approve of his own efforts he will proceed to tell .himself so in his own language. Menzel is indeed a very excitable fellow and very • entertaining to watch while in play. It is a great pity that he did not call at New Zealand en route to Australia. I have always thought that Sidney Wood, the American player, was one who should have appealed more, to the public. At the age of 17 years he was a great player, and one who had been well coached by the great Tilden. He was a player with all the shots at his command, and one who had picked up many of Tilden’s peculiarities during their association together. After all, you cannot be in contact with people for a long time without picking up some of their sayings or mannerisms, and when Sidney Wood first played at Wimbledon he was held as Tilden's protege. Even at that early age he: carried himself • like a veteran aad seemed to be quite at case under any conditions, but after his victory at Wimbledon in 1931 he became qui f e nervous in his matches. Just why that should be seems hard to tell. At the same time he developed one or two mannerisms which served to give his opponents an idea as to his mental state during his matches. When everything was going well he would be quite calm and collected, and, in fact, literally wander around the court, as he seemed to have a lot of time between shots. This state of affairs would continue until he was apparently in sight of victory, and then he appeared to speed up and tear all over the court as if in an effort to finish the match quickly. His mannerism of bouncing the ball once or twice before serving seemed to serve to keep him on his mettle, and to see him in full cry was a sight indeed. However, when things started to go badly, Sidney would get very excited and run his fingers through his hair as if in despair. He appeared to throw caution to the winds, and just hit wildly in an effort to bring off impossible shots. It was amusing to sec the difference between Sidney Wood confident and Sidney Wood nervous.