TENNIS COURT TACTICS

Taranaki Daily News, 1 December 1932, Page 11

TENNIS COURT TACTICS

“VOLLEYING AND SMASHING.” (By H. W. “Bunny” Austin.—Copyright.) The. serve and the groundstrokes are the foundation of the game. They are the means of opening the game, of defending and of attacking. By means of them alone it is possible to win a match. But unless you can volley as well you are not a complete player. The volley is the complement to the ground-stroke attack; With your groundstrokes you drive your opponent out of position, you make an opening in your opponent’s court With your volley you render the “coup, de grace.” It is important, therefore, once you have mastered your groundstrokes, to learn also the attack from? the net. The first thing to remember in doing so is to advance as close to the net as possible, for the closer you are able to get the easier it is to make, the shot successfully. One of the greatest volleyers there has ever been, one who volleyed so well that when he first began to win championships he was able to dispense with all but the most elementary groundstrokes, namely Borotra, used to make it a golden rule to volley from right on top of the net. This not only lessened, the chances of his hitting the ball into it, but enabled him also to volley downwards, and thus to hit the ball harder than he could have done if he had been further from it and volleying upwards. The only danger that a player runs when he is close to the net is the danger of being lobbed. This naturally happened frequently to Borotra. Fortunately for him, however, his great speed of foot enabled him to run backwards almost as quickly as he was able to runforwards, and to smash with devastating skill even the best of lobs. For this reason it was said at one'time that Borotra was unlobable and many players made no attempt to lob him, fearing as they did his smash. His smash was a tremendous aid to his ordinary volleying, as it enabled him to advance right up to the net without fear, and we all should profit from his example and learn to smash well if we wish to volley well. ' It is, however, difficult to lay down any definite rules as to the way in which a smash should be executed. Generally

speaking, it should be made with the camp action as the serve, the only difference being that whereas when serving you throw up the ball yourself, in smashing the ball is already thrown up for you. Therefore, the most important thing to remember is to place yourself under the ball so that it will fall in the same relative position 'to your body as it does when you are serving. The rest of the stroke is then exactly similar to tlie serve. Cochet and Borotra, however, who are two of the greatest smashers in the world, do not use the same swing as in their serves. They use a short sharp swing, deriving their power from the forearm and the wrist. This, I consider to be the best method, that is to say to start the stroke with the racket held just behind the head and to execute it with a sharp hit made by the wrist and forearm. The forehand volley should be made with the same grip as that used for the forehand drive," but, whereas the forehand drive is made with a long swing, the forehand volley is made by a short stab at the ball, only 'the forearm and wrist being used in the stroke. The head of the racket should be made to travel downwards and forwards so that the ball is cut and a backward spin imparted to it. But cutting the ball in this way it is easier to control it. The backhand volley should be made in exactly the same way, except that the grip used should be the same as that used for the backhand drive. The footwork used in both volleys should be the same as that used in both drives, that is to say a forehand volley should be made with the weight on the left foot and a backhand volley made with the weight on the right foot. But whereas in the ground-strokes it is quite essential to have your feet placed correctly, it is not so essential in the volleys, although correct footwork is a tremendous help. Nor is it so easy to obtain correct footwork, for, owing to your closeness to the net, and therefore to your opponent, you do not always have time to think about the placement of your feet. Your time is taken up with struggling to get to the ball in whatever way is possible. I advise you to learn to volley, not only for its usefulness, but for the fun it brings you. A game of tennis without volleying is like an egg without salt.