Racquet and Ball.

Thames Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 17764, 11 December 1929, Page 6

Racquet and Ball.

The min upset nil srriinsemeiits lot matches on S turday. Tba team journeyed to >\aiiu. arrived there at the same time as the rain, and the rain won.

In spite of the U-d weather all •- around, the sun shone bravely m Hamilton last Saturday and those tei too few —who witnessed the exhibition matches are not likely t_o forgev them in a hurry. Stedmm, New Zealand junior champion and runner-up m the open championship and Sturt. i w ho with Knott has held the New Zealand doubles championship on more thjvn one occasion, came irom Auckland to do battle with Dr. Gray and Sims. The first mat;h was a single between Sturt, third on the Auckland • 'ladder, and' Gray. After a quiet beginning the game livened up. and from -C the third game onwards the pace was ®ou with a vengeance. It is me to. Wsay that if Gray were to play up to it Saturday's form, there is not a player in the Thames Val.ey who could hold a candle to him, but it seems that he can only, produie this super-tennis when opposed to 'a top-notcher. His forehand drives have never vorked better and although Sturt fough back manfully, he was not in line p c-■ ture until the Doctor tired. Hall-way j through the second set Gray showed signs of tiring and slackened his pacaStart seiz.d the opportunity. The sting was now out of the Doctor s drives ■ and Sturt, able to cope wxtiT them, stonned the net and demonstrated time and time again his art at s m ashj ing. 'Hie third set reached 2 all, but from then cm Gray was done. His game lost its sting and he lapsed m-fito-errors. If only Gray had the stamina, he would go far in cjiampionsllip tennis. '

Nothing finer has been seen in New Zealand for many years than the doubles between the Auckland colts and > Sims and Gray. The_ bulk of the work fell to Sturt and Gray and their interchanges electrified the crowd- ;■(, 'Every now and again the local players in difficulties, would toss up a lob!, hut they might as well have saved themselves the bother, for Stecl- ' man smashed from anywhere in the court whenever the opportunity was given him. Sims had little to do, but did . that little .brilliantly. His angled volleys, just across the net > -eemed no effort to him, but they all counted on the run home Sims and Gray have >f. never before plajed together and their victory over the formidable Aucklanders was all the more meritorious. It is noteworthy that throughout the . . sets, only once did Stedmnn lose a game on; his service. ... #

-Stedman’s service is of v the cannonball type, but appears to take too much out of .him. After the first few games in. his single against, Sims, lie appeared to tire badly. Sims has ,held the New Zealand championship, but that wiis six years ago. Since then be has had little tennis, but Saturday’s game, showed that he is still a force to be reckoned with. It is doubtful whether there is another player in New Zealand who can beat -Stedman in two straight sets,- and remember, the ; laj/t set ■ w!a s 6—l.

Oil Thursday, Stedman plays Barleet for first place on -the Auckland ladder.

For some, years pist the officials of the Thames Tennis Club have been concerned at ,the dearth of young players in the club. They had a fairly strong tenm, hut none of the team was “young” in the tennis accepta--tion of the teerm, and there seemed to -he no players coming on to take their place. There reed he no fear of that now. ,• •

The best player to join the club in repent times is Rev. Davison. It null be surprising if he is not in the “A” team'before the season finishes.

Moran and Edmonds are two very promising young colts, .though the farmer- is not' playing quite .up to the standard' of a few weeks, ago. He is, howeiver, getting over ■an atrocious foot-fa ; tilting- habit,

If a prize were given for the mosc improved player, Miss Turner would be well in the running. She has a good serve and a nasty forehand driva and never appears to tire.

Dorothy 7 ' and Joyce Griffin should both prove useful members of the club. At present the former appears to be the safer player, but the latter has a beautifully free stvle and if she would spend more time pn the courts should go far. No player ever reached championship form on two hours 5 play per week.

The most stvhsh player in the club is Rnywyn Miller. She hag a large variety of strokes and plays them in orthodox fashion. She lacks the weight to get strength behind her shots, but she makes up for this bv accurate timing. ■ ,

Jean Smith is another tennis “find” of the season, hut needs to correct one fault. Her batik-hand is a slice, but is not sliced enough to make it really effective. She wants to develop either the orthodox back-hand drive or, if she prefers the si ce, she should slice the hall much more severely.

Another much improved player is M : ss Mac Duff. Sbe hp s a tendency to hit' the ball when it is too high in

the air. Although it is an excellent rule to hit the tall at the top of the bounce, the rule requires modification for liard-court pl y. Or© has far more control over a, ball when it is, say, 3 feet from the ground than when it is 5 fe:t or more. Tavlor playstwice the gam© he did,

Notes and Jottings.

COMPILED BY “VAN-IN.”

at tlie beginning of the season and is already knocking at the door of the “B” team. •

Twenty man Ins the liest lob control of anyone in the club, out he needs to be reminded that the lob should be resorted to only when in difficulty. Some few years ago, the then New Zealand champion was playing an Aucklander who wag a. lob expert, in the first game the Aucklander skied every ball. That was the finish. The champion strode off the court, remarking, .“He can have the b match I” I\venb>man has 'perfected his io—ng. It is time now that lie cleyoted ins attention to other strikes.

Tlie Weli.ngton iad.es’ tennis team to defend the Nunneley Casket will Le:—Mrs. Adams, Mrs. Melody, Miss Tracy and Miss Duleie Nicjholis.

Auckland, tennis players have challenged Wellington for the Whelm g Sh;ei’d, and the match will probably be played next month. Tlie Wellington team will -be:—D. France, Mailboy, Wilson and L. France. Auckland's four are Bartleet, Sturt, Stedman and one other;

RIGHT TEMPERAMENT.

ESSENTI AL TO TENNIS SUCCESS

To get right to the top of the tree at lawn tennis you have net only to be able to make first-class shots and be able to use your head to adopt the best game to defeat your opncneiit. The real champion must also have the right sort of temperament to play important matches.

Hie ideal tennis temperament is possessed by Rene Laeoste and Helen Wills, the two greatest players in the world. ,A bad bounce, a bad decision, or a bad stroke on their part leaves them quite unmoved. . They just go on concentrating all tlie time, and nothing short ■ of an earthquake will put them off their game. The young player would do well to take care, from the very- earliest of his lawn tennis days, not to allow himself to get irritated over littie things while playing.

To give you an example of what I mean, 1 will take two friends of mine, both of whom ape well-known tournament players. ■ Nigel Sharpe is one. This year at Wimbledon, Sharpe, playing under perfect conditions, played magnificently against Morpurgo, the famous Italian (says an English writer). ' His tennis was very nearly as good as that shown by Bunny Austin. Before Wimbledon I have watched Sharpe play/ and nave played against him under bad conditions. That is to say, there was rather a high wind, and the court was by no means'true. Under these Sharpe appears to have convinced himself that he oonld not play. He has been beaten by players he should beat easily simply because he is thinking more of the conditions than concentrating on the game. A really great plaj T er will .overcome bad conditions.

B. D; Helmore is another player who might have gone a long way had he not “blown up” too easily when playing a game. Once you acquire the habit of thinking you can’t play in a wind or get unduly distressed over a had bounce or a. had decision, it is likely to grow on you, and the longer von play the more you will be affected. "If you do this you will remain a second-class

player. Sometimes when you are playing in .a match you are provided with ballboys, and if little tilings are apt to worry you, it is pretty certain that at some time or another they will take your - mind off the game.

That is, >of course, unless they are very well trained, which is unlikely. Nicholas Mishu, the Rumanian, who used_ to piay a lot in England, ana still plays at Wimbledon,__is a temperamental player, and one may rest assured th/.it if he js playing wifcii bail r boys, he wid cause some amuse:, ment to. the spectators beforq,. he has finished the match,.. i have seen him throw away many games, simply because a boy has moved when he ought not to have done or net moved quickly enough when he should have uone. It is. bad luck, that he should suffer from a ballboy complex, but there it is. , Another Continental player, who was well known belore the war, and who still plays a great deal on the Continent, used to have a most expen- | sive temperament.

When he played badly he used to break his racquet across his knee, and on one occasion when he was playing on some courts near the sea, I am told he ,picked up six balls and hit them very solemnly out of the ground straight into the sea.

He dpes not do" that probably because the paper money of his country is not worth quite so much in these days.

jL'iiere is no doubt that the temperamental tennis player adds to the gaiety of the game, anyway, from the spectators’ point of view, but if you want to he really 7 good at the game, let the other fellow be temperamental. The way to win is to train yourself not to be distracted by any of the many little things which are sent to try us.

When you get a hit of had luck it is mo use holding up your hands to heaven to bear witness to the fact that the fates are' against you. The only person or thing that is going to help you yourself and your ability to carry on without being distracted.