LAWN TENNIS.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 November 1925, Page 4

LAWN TENNIS.

HOW TO WIN. EQUIPMENX AND DRESS. (By Captain Donald M. Greig, English International.) (All Rights Reserved.) . I. The trouble about equipment is that even the best people may go on for years using the wrong size, shape or weight of a racket; or with some persistent error in the equally important matter of clothing; and their game suffers without their knowing it. Consequently, before we discuss strokes in general, or the way to play a particular kind of stroke, it becomes a necessity to consider the implements we shall use, and Hie way we ought to dress. SHOPS AND “SHOPS.” But before even that, let us talk, if we may, about shops. Examples of the good and the indifferent dealers will readily occur to everyone who has been interested. The one will be cheap when he is expensive; the other may be costly at any price. As, however, it is not possible, or even fair, to generalise in matters like this, I will merely urge that you select your shop with care and discretion, always remembering that your custom, year after year, maybe, is a thing that entitles you to good service and more than ordinary consideration. It may happen, though, that you go to make your purchases in the company of an experienced player; or that you are “fitted out” through the buying arrangements of the club you have joined. In either event, you will usually be under good guidance, and escape subsequent irritation and disappointment. With these reservations stated, we may pass on to the particulars that matter. THE RIGHT RACKET. Firstly, as to the racket. More skill goes to the making of a tennis racket than the individual player can ordinarily realise, and it is of the first importance not to allow yourself to become the victim of some new manufacturer’s earliest experiments. On the principle of “living a nd letting live,” this counsel may sound ungenerous, but if the man in question, should have it in him to win a reputation honestly, he will seek to satisly the players who know and can discriminate before he launches his goods on the open market; and if, as a result, his name is recommended, to you —the beginner—-he will assuredly not lose anything by this kinder process. Of the old-established manufacturer there is little to be said that is not good, and there is not a great deal to choose between them; but the price of their products is another matter. The safe rule will be to pay -what you can afford, anywhere between 50 per cent, of the highest price and the highest price itself. WHAT TO LOOK FOR. The racket you need must not feel heavy in the head. If you are offered one which is not evenly balanced, you should look for another that is. Make sure that it comes up easily -as you swing it—really easily—and yon will not have gone wrong in this particular. Ihe handle should err, if anything, on the side of smallness. The hand should go round it with ease; for the surest way, in my opinion, to become a sufferer from “tennis elbow” is to play, as a matter of habit, with a racket of which the handle is too big. Talk of dimensions, diameters, and circumferences will merely mislead you if you have not tested the grip for yourself, and found it comfortable. I do not like to argue much the question of weight, beyond saying that a man’s racket may be anything between 13| and 14| ounces, and a woman’s from T2| to 13£ ounces. Heavy rackets mean slow play, and slow play in these days is a hopeless anachronism. I hesitate, too, to talk about the gut used for stringing. All that we, who are “merely players,” can do is to see that the stringing is of medium tightness and of medium thicknes®. quote, I think, a hundred other details that would stamp me as a person of some knowledge on the subject of gut, but certain mysteries are best left unsolved, and racket-stringing is one of them. The men who really know could be counted on the fingers of two hands. The price you are paying and the name of the maker have practically everything to do with it. You will very largely have to take the rest on trust. CLOTHING. Despite the importance of this subject, I cannot regret that I have little space in which to deal with it; for it is summed up in the three little words: “Comfort plus speed.” Short'sleeved shirts will save you many an anguished moment; thick socks will prevent you from getting sore feet; well fitting shoes, of a reasonable lightness and tightness, will enable you to run and dash, instead of pounding and slithering like a quadruped; and white trousers, of linen, drill or flannel will answer all the requirements of free movement, hygiene and appearance. To modern girls and women players I respectfully submit that they have nothing to learn abotit dress; and that I could not help them if it were otherwise. TENNIS ACCESSORIES. Tennis balls cannot in any sense be considered a problem. The best are the cheapest, and they must be fresh, of the current season’s manufacture. See that they are always clean; and that is all. Do not worry overmuch about “stitches” and “plugs,” or the absence of either. Controversies such as these tend to burn themselves out without scorching anything or anyone in their vicinity. It is as well.

But you must buy a racket press—one for each racket in use—or you will spend such a fortune in rackets as shall make yon wonder if polo wouldn’t have been a cheaper game to play. Verbum sap.