LAWN TENNIS: HOW TO PLAY IT.

Otago Witness, Issue 3854, 24 January 1928, Page 75

LAWN TENNIS: HOW TO PLAY IT.

THE SMASH AND THE LOB.

HINTS FROM A CHAMPION.

BY

RENE LACOSTE.

(Special fob the Otago Witness.)

'xv. I have said that if you want to volley decisively you must stand close to the net. You may say that this allows your opponent to toss up the ball high over your head and out of your reach. The answer to that is that you must learn to smash.

Technically speaking, a smash is merely a service stroke played on a ball in play. It is, however, an extremely difficult stroke, for a good smash requires good footwork and perfect timing. You must be able to place your feet correctly, whether you are running backwards, forwards, or to one side or the other. Also, you must know how to time the approaching lob exactly, whether it comes horizontally to your racket when you arc close to the net or high overhead, to fall near the base-line. A lob must be killed. But it must be killed decisively, for a weak smash will leave you out of position and often out of balance, and your shot will be killed in its turn.

The first requirement for good overhead play is confidence. Many players who can serve well and whose service swing is exactly right for a smash, nevertheless fail to kill lobs because they play them nervously. When I began to play my service stroke proved weak for smashing. I changed it, but my smash was still weak. It was not until later that I learnt that the fault was lack of confidence. All through my career in lawn tennis I have lacked audacity, seldom putting all I could into my strokes, and even now I suffer from this. My lack of confidence did not affect my strokes at the back of the court, but it put me in trouble at the net; much more, however, did it lower the quality and the success of my play overhead. Since the smash is always an aggressive shot, it relies mainly on speed, sometimes on accuracy, but very seldom on spin. You must use for it the same grip, the same footwork, and the same swing as for a straight overarm service. In learning to smash it is always an advantage to be able to serve straight. All the great smashers, Borotra, Cochet, Patterson, Richards, are players who use a straight service, at least in their first delivery. Although some, such as Johnston, manage to play a very good smash in spite of using in it some American slice spin, I never saw anyone play effective smashes with the American twist. For most players the more the racket follows the flight of the ball through and after the impact, the straighter and better is the smash.

Many players shorten the preparatory swing when smashing, and most pause as the racket is over the shoulder. Bend your back, shift your weight correctly, and follow through, for the sake of speed. Body rotation sends thc racket out of line with the ball, and should therefore be avoided.

The smasher’s greatest difficulty is in timing. To overcome this, strike the ball, as in service, right over the head, and above all, watch it more carefully and longer than in any other stroke. Placing.—At any rate, when playing singles, you should not often try cross-

court smashes, except on very easy lobs. It is better to hit straight along the side line, for there you will have a larger opening, and, if your opponent reaches the ball, you will have more time to come back to a good position. Very few players are able to kill all the lobs that come over on their left side. These caa be smashed if there is time, but often there is not, and then the backhand smash is used, which is nothing but a high, backhand volley. It is a very difficult stroke to play, and it requires an extremely strong wrist. In playing it, the weight must be thrown forward and the stroke must be followed through with a rotation of the shoulder downward on the pivot of the hip. , Most experts acquire habits in placing their smashes. They usually smash to one particular side of the court, relying mainly on the speed of the shot. Most of the American players smash to the left, and most of the French and Australian players to the right. A really great smasher, however, must be able to smash equally from any position to either side of the court. Richards’s smashes have only moderate speed, and yet he can kill lobs as frequently and as easily as Patterson, simply because he is able to smash cither to the right or to the left.

Some experts, Patterson, Decugis, and Richards, for instance, when they have allowed a lob to fall and bounce, play it overhead with the service stroke instead of driving it. This is a very difficult stroke to learn, for the timing c-f it is more difficult than that of serving, and the margin of safety is smaller than that of smashing. Lobs.—Although without any doubt overhead play is the most difficult part of the game, lobbing is certainly the next in difficulty. To the amateur it seems merely a tricky shot. In the expert, it is the mark of true greatness. When you lob, toss the ball up as high as you can, for three reasons: first, to gain time to get back into position; second, to keep your opponent away from the net; and third, to try to win the point outright by catching your opponent out of balance.

To lob well is very difficult; you must not only play long, you must also send the ball at a certain height over the net. If you want to lob well and dangerously, send the ball higher, not by changing your stroke* but simply by finishing higher. Do not put too much spin into your lobs. Defensive lobs should be slightly undercut and fast lobs should be slightly topped, but the use •'f this spin must never be accentuated.

Learning to lob is absolutely necessarv. Without it, against a clever and fast volleyer, you will be helpless. Even if your opponent kills all your lobs, you must still play them; for one thing vou will tire him, for another you will probabiy make him play his volleys less decisively at a further position from the net. Do not lob often against Patterson, or Borotra. But even then lob sometimes. And, above all, know how to lob. That is essential.

■ Next Week: “Court Position and HalfVolleying.”)