TILDEN ON TENNIS

Waikato Independent, Volume XXXI, Issue 2781, 28 November 1931, Page 3 (Supplement)

TILDEN ON TENNIS

SCIENCE, NOT MERELY A GAME.

NECESSITY OF STUDY.

“ The intermediate stage in tennis is the most delicate, and, at the same time, the most interesting period in a tennis player’s career. For here it is that he emerges from the great mass of average players, and his abilities are the only limit to where hd may go. “ Had I not been asked to coach at my high school it is very improbable that I would ever have risen to championship rank. For this marked a definite turning point in my attitude toward the game. Up to then, I had considered it primarily in the light of

a pastime in which I might indulge. Then, I was forced actually to study and analyse, that I could impart knowledge to others. I was forced to consider the sport more in the light of an actual profession than a recreation.” And that is the one essential hallmark of every one who is more than just a “ player ”of the game. Professional training cannot supply the lack of intensive study and practice in one’s own right. Tilden, in fact, is very sceptical regarding its value to lift one very high. He has, in his own career, never taken one single lesson from a professional. So it would seem that one can rise quite high without such assistance! • What is required, however, is that one consider tennis as a science, not as u mere “ game.” Tennis is based solidly on fundamental and immutable physical laws, and can be studied in just the same manner as geometry, let us say. Not only can, but must be so considered, if one is to succeed. When a ball comes across the net to you in such and such a manner, and you hit in such and such a way, it must do so and so. This is, of course, self evident. But the point is that you must know beforehand how it can be made to do what you want—and then you must be able to do that thing. Nothing can be left to hope or chance.

It is not a bad idea, in fact, actually to become a student of the science of physics, and apply the fruits of your study to your game. You must be careful, however, not to become so rigidly mechanical that you are unprepared for emergencies. For this purpose, it is well to balance your book-study with study of human beings. Psychology counts for more than it is given credit, and even much-abused temperament can be made a factor in success. _ Avoid, therefore, excessive booklearning and blind copying of a model. Corelate the two, rather, into a well-balanced and well-thought-out whole. And practice—for the intermediate player as for the beginner. For a, championship player the very minimum of practice is a full half of every year. For one in the intermediate stages, it is possible to get along with a bit less than this amount but the more that you can get the faster your game will improve. Practice is necessary in order that your muscles may respond almost instinctively to whatever you may demand of them. What is the value of the finest theoretical knowledge, if you cannot put it into effect? The intermediate player, as well as the beginner should seek competitive playing in tournaments and matches., This makes him exert himself to the utmost, and often brings out unexpected excellence that would otherwise lie dormant.

To sum up: Study your game, and play it.'

Any person with an alert mind and eye, and a suitable physique, can be made into a tennis player of championship calibre—if he is willing and able to give the game the time and practice that it requires. To begin with, one cannot start too young. Emulating his elder brother, who was a champion himself, Tilden started the game at the age of six. Start at the earliest age possible—in fact, almost as soon as you can hold a racquet steadily. But to be merely a “ good player ” (which is a high enough aspiration for most people), it is almost never too late to start.

When you have learned the rudiments of the game, the next step is to choose an outstanding player of your own general physical type and emulate him. For this purpose, it matters little whether you choose a champion, or simply one of the best players in your own club. The most important thing is that he be of one’s own general build and temperament. It would be suicidal to one’s game, for instance, if a short, stocky man chose a long, lanky one to emulate. Championship is not limited to any stature. If one man is better than another it is not due to his build, but to a greater study of the game. The same thing, too, is true of temperament. Perhaps even more so than of build, for it is a thing that can be governed and allowed for with much less exactitude. If one is of a slow, easy-going nature, it would be impossible for him to follow the

mental processes, and thus the physical actions, of one of a more nervous cast.

When you have finally chosen your mentor, the next step is to study his actions and learn why he does a thing in a particular manner. It is not enough to blindly copy. Not only this, but you must know why the ball, when struck in such and such a manner from such and such an angle does such and such a thing with inviolable regularity. You must know at all times what you are doing and what must come of it. Nothing should be left to hope and chance. It is only when the beginner has reached the point where he can look upon a stroke as a matter primarily of geometry and physical laws that are immutable that he is emerging from the stage of tutelage. Tennis, properly played, cannot be the plaything of mood or whim. Even when sick, a good player must play a better game than a player who is even slightly inferior. The mind must know what it is doing, and why, and the muscles must be trained to a machine-like and precise response. For this latter thing, which is fully as important as the matter of study that we have discussed, the one requisite is practice. Practice, practice, practice! You can never get too much. The absolute minimum, for a first-rank player is six months a year. For one who only wishes to play for pleasure, the minimum is as much as you can possibly find time for. Also, you should always try to play with opponents who are better than yourself. There is nothing that will so quicken you and make you exert yourself. There is-nothing, on the other hand, that will dull and take the edge off a good player’s game as playing with one of inferior skill. Competition matches, too, are a good thing, and for the same reason—that they make you exert yourself to the very utmost.