BASELINE TACTICS AGAINST A VOLLEYER

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18897, 23 October 1929, Page 14

BASELINE TACTICS AGAINST A VOLLEYER

HOW TO PLAY LAWN TENNIS. — No. 2

ALL-IMPORTANT { “HE DREADS A HARD, SECRETS | LOW. DIPPING OF BALL CONTROL. I DRIVE TO HIS FEET.” BY MRS MICHAEL WATSON (CARICATURE BY « MAC.”) niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiniiiiiiiiHHiiMiiuiiiiiiiniiiinuuiiiiniiMuiwiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiim

Many people in the tennis world say t to-day that if a player cannot volley it ‘ is almost impossible for him to defeat a first-class opponent who is able to : volley. 1 Critics of the game may not be so j emphatic on this point when referring 1 to the singles game, but many are 1 agreed that a baseline player and a volleyer cannot succeed against two volleyers in a double. I think this statement is true of men players, but is it so true of women players ? Volleying is a wonderful acquisition to one’s game. I admire the volleyer very much. I only wish I could volley well, but as I am purely a base line player myself, I feel I must write a few words of advice and comfort to my fellow base liners. Volley©r’s Nightmare. The most important thing in lawn tennis nowadays, is to hit. A hard hitter will have bad days when everything goes wrong, but there will be more good days to counteract these when everything goes right. It is with this t} r pe that I propose to deal. Practise hitting hard and low so that the ball barely skims over the top of the net. No stroke is so dreaded by a volleyer as a hard, low, dipping drive. Also, learn to control the ball well; hard hitting loses half its value if the ball cannot be hit into the spot aimed at. Perhaps the most important advice is, get on the attack from the word “ play ” given by the umpire. However good a volleyer is, she cannot storm the net if she is kept chasing from side to side of the court after hard, good length, well placed drives. Side Line Drives. If .your opponent starts running up to the net, drive the ball as near as you can down the side line. If you keep her guessing as to which side you are going to drive down, this stroke will be a winner nearly every time. No matter how good a volleyer a woman is, it is impossible for her to 1 cover the -whole of the net. i

Vary these side line drives with deep lobs—then the guessing competition will at once become more difficult, for your opponent will not know whether to run in close up to the net to interli'miiiiiiiiiniiiiNiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiii

Above all else, do not let this .shot rattle you—watch it, wait a little longer before you take it, and then hit it off the court.

I would rather play against a volleyer than a base liner both in singles and doubles. Once a volleyer is passed, the point i.s yours and there are | not so many of those dreadful long

rallies that make one feel (and sometimes look) like a drowning person rising for the third time. Less Scope. In a women’s double the situation becomes more difficult for the non-vol-leyer. With two volleyers as opponents, there is less space to drive the

ball into and one has to become more accurate, more wily and use the lob more frequently. It is essential for a base line player to have as a partner a good volleyer—one who can put away decisively at the net the openings made for her.

Unless the player on the base line hits hard and low, she is useless in a first-class double. Good openings or outright winners must be made by her or the unfortunate partner up at the net will get everything volleyed back at her feet.

If a player is a weak volleyer with good ground strokes and is playing in an important match with a partner against two opponents who are good volle}ers, it is best for the weak volloyer to remain at the back of the court. The good ground strokes will be of much more help to her partner than indifferent volleys would be. In a double, the base line player must always play an unselfish game—not continue to keep playing favourite strokes regardless of consequences, but must always think ahead what stroke will make the best opening for her partner up, alone, at the net. Your partner, at the net, is the one to be considered. It must be remembered that she is taking on two volleyers—and however good she is, this is no easy matter. The one consolation is that there is no need to run back for high lobs, but, on the other hand, she has to run across the net and do all the intercepting. Success.

Tennis players who do not or cannot volley must not get disheartened and feel it is impossible for them ever to win a big event in a double. The great thing is to hit hard and low and try to master- perfect ball control. I do not volley and yet I won the ladies’ doubles at Wimbledon last year. I must confess that after the final as I walked off the Centre Court, I felt that this was the last thing I had ever expected to do—win a championship at Wimbledon. However, I was lucky, for in Mrs L. B. C. Mitchell (nee Miss Peggy Saunders) I had a partner who is one of the best and most finished volleyers in England, and she well made up for my deficiency in that part of my game of tennis.

(“Star” Copyright.) Published by arrangement with Newspaper Features, Ltd.