RACKETS, COURTS, DRESS, AND TRAINING
A good lawn tennis racket is indispensable; indeed, to use a weapon of
inferior make is to court failure from the start. You cannot be too
particular to have a really well-made racket. Fortunately there are now
so many good makers that it is a player's own fault if she is not
suitably equipped. It may be a little more expensive to buy a really
first-class racket; but the few extra shillings are well worth while if
you mean to take up the game seriously, and to get out of it all the
enjoyment you can. Personally I always play with a "Slazenger" racket,
preferring their make to any other; but there are many other good
manufacturers.
The weight of your racket should vary according to your strength of
wrist, and should depend on whether you volley or play entirely from the
back of the court. I am inclined to think there is a tendency on the
part of lady players to use too light a racket. I have often seen them
with a 12-1/2-oz. or 13-oz. These are too light, and may be condemned.
If you use a racket that is too light, it means that the maker has not
been able to string it as tightly as it ought to be strung--the frame
would not stand the tension. I do not think a racket should be lighter
than 13-1/2 oz., which is the normal weight for ladies. Myself, I prefer
and always play with a 14-oz., and hold that unless there is a weakness
of the wrist, or some personal reason why the player should knock off
the extra half-ounce, this weight is the best for ladies to use. I like
my racket slightly weighted in the head, but I think most players
prefer one evenly balanced. The latter may be recommended to a beginner.
The handle should be about five inches in circumference--at least, that
is what I use and recommend for a natural and easy grip. Of course the
circumference must vary a little according to the size of the player's
hand or length of her fingers, but I counsel all ladies to fight shy of
the handle that is abnormally large. I am quite sure it is a mistake; it
tends to tire and stiffen the hand. Endeavour to standardize your
requirements. Find out by careful trial what weight, what size of
handle, and what stringing suits your game best; and then you will find,
when you use a new racket for the first time, that the tool is familiar
and has a friendly influence over your strokes. What more embarrassing
experience than to play a match with a racket you cannot recognize?
You should always take a wet-weather racket with you when you go to
tournaments; it is, like a pair of steel-pointed shoes, a necessary item
in your tennis bag. In England, with such variable weather, it is
necessary to play in the rain, or at any rate on a wet ground, and with
sodden balls; and the very best gut in the world cannot stand rough
usage. It is a good plan, too, to take to tournaments at least two
rackets as much alike as possible. If anything goes wrong with one, you
will have a good substitute, one that is not strange to you.
Always take great care of your rackets. They are very susceptible both
to damp and excessive dry heat, and should always be kept in a press
when not in use. A warped frame is fatal. If you do not use a tennis
bag, your racket should be protected in a waterproof case. It is a good
plan, after use in the wet, to rub the surface of the strings with a
little beeswax or varnish. Most makers keep a special preservative in
stock.
And now for a few remarks on dress. There has been a great improvement
during the last few years in the costumes worn by those who take part in
tournaments held all over the country. First-class players know from
experience how to dress to be most comfortable and least hampered by
their clothing. But the less experienced are wont to appear in a
"garden-party" trailing skirt, trimmed hat and dressy blouse--a most
unbusiness-like costume for the game. It is essential to remember that
you want, above everything else, free use of all your limbs; physical
action must not be impeded in any way by your clothing. An overhead ball
which may require your arm to be extended as far as it will go, a low
volley at the net where you must bend down, a run across the court or up
to the net--all these strokes you must be able to perform with freedom
and facility.
[Illustration: ON TOUR: THE LATE MISS C. MEYER, MISS PINCKNEY AND MISS
E.W. THOMPSON (MRS. LARCOMBE)]
I advise a plain gored skirt--not pleated; I think these most
unsuitable on court--about four or five inches from the ground. It
should just clear your ankles and have plenty of fullness round the hem.
Always be careful that the hem is quite level all round; nothing is more
untidy than a skirt that dips down at the back or sides--dropping at the
back is a little trick a cotton skirt cultivates when it comes home from
the laundry. A plain shirt without "frills or furbelows"--if any
trimming at all, tucks are the neatest--a collar, tie, and waistband, go
to make an outfit as comfortable and suitable as you could possibly
desire.
The material that this plain shirt and skirt is made of does not so much
matter, and must be according to the taste of the wearer. Serge,
flannel, and cotton are the most popular, and the last predominates.
White is undoubtedly the best colour to wear. It washes well and does
not fade, and looks very much neater on the court than a coloured
material. I prefer white shoes and stockings, for I think it looks nicer
to be in one uniform colour. But this is a matter of taste. Some people
urge that white shoes make your feet appear much bigger than black or
brown. I do not agree. If you are wearing a white skirt, the black or
brown shoe must show up more distinctly against it than a shoe of the
same colour.
I have also heard it decided that when girls are compelled to play in
the rain or on dreadfully muddy courts, as unfortunately they often are,
it is better for them to don a dark skirt of thicker material. This
seems to me a great mistake. A white skirt will wash well, and it does
not matter how dirty it gets; so long as you do not have it trailing in
the mud it cannot come to much harm. It looks as neat as anything can
look that is surrounded by rain and mud. A dark stuff skirt, on the
other hand, which many players use in wet weather, does not wash, and
is absolutely ruined after a soaking. Moreover, it is twice as heavy to
drag about the court.
If you do not happen to have steel-pointed shoes with you, and are
called upon to play in the wet, it is a good plan to wear a pair of
men's thick shooting stockings or socks over your tennis shoes. It is
wonderful what a firm grip they give without in any way impeding your
movements.
I find, after having tried nearly every sort of shoe for tennis, that
the simple white gymnasium shoe suits me best. Most players use a proper
tennis shoe or boot with a thick sole. I have tried these, but find they
make me much slower in court and are not as comfortable as the "gym"
shoe. Some people say the thicker sole is less tiring to the feet, but I
find I am much less foot-weary after a match when playing in the thin
shoe--there is less weight to carry about. Of course thin soles soon
wear through, but then they have the advantage of being very cheap. I
pay half a crown a pair for mine, and one can have several pairs in use
and can always replace them without any great expense.
I think it is best, if you can, to play without any hat at all. There is
not the bother of keeping it on, and it is much cooler. Nor is it easy
to find a suitable hat for lawn tennis. A girl's hair is generally a
good safeguard against sunstroke. A long warm coat is a very necessary
article of wearing apparel, especially for girls who are playing in
tournaments. It should be put on immediately after a strenuous match,
however hot the day. There is the great danger when overheated of
contracting a chill. The coat should be of a thick warm
material--blanket is very popular and serviceable--and it should reach
to the end of your skirt, if not beyond.
I do not think it is wise to wear bracelets when playing unless they
are plain and tight to the wrist. Although you might not think it,
ornaments, however small, can and do get in your way. I remember one
match that was entirely lost because of the presence of a gold curb
bracelet with a small dangling chain attached. Putting up her hand to
adjust a hairpin, the owner did not know that the chain had caught on to
her fringe-net, and, bringing her hand down quickly, the fringe-net and
most of the hairpins were dragged from her hair. The result was that the
player, who might easily have left the court and fixed up her hair again
firmly, adjusted it as best she could, her hair blowing about in all
directions. In between every stroke she had to clutch wildly at stray
portions that blew across her face and into her eyes. This diversion
naturally upset her game, and I think that was the last time she wore a
bracelet in court.
_Training for match play_ is rather a difficult subject for me to write
about, for I have never gone in for proper "training." The great secret
is to keep perennially fit. Remember that an important match is a great
strain, a challenging test of stamina. To come through the ordeal
successfully you must be in a good condition of health. If you are not,
you ought not to be playing. Personally I know what it means to play an
important match when feeling really ill. Honestly it is not worth it. It
is no enjoyment to yourself, and it is no pleasure to your opponent to
beat you when she knows you are unfit. Besides, it is very injurious to
your own health. On the other hand, if you are in good condition, and
leading a healthy outdoor life, a well-contested match cannot harm you;
it is most beneficial in every way. Therefore I think the best training
for an important match is to be always in "training"; not to have to
alter your habits before a match is the secret. To change your diet and
mode of living suddenly, as some players do, is more calculated to
upset you than to make you fitter for the ordeal. Common sense must of
course be used. For instance, you should not eat a heavy meal just
before playing. I generally prefer bread-and-cheese, a milk pudding of
some sort, and perhaps a little fruit for lunch if I have a match, in
the afternoon. I find this diet very satisfying and sustaining, and of
course much lighter than meat. Bananas or apples go very well with the
cheese. As I like this sort of lunch at any time, I do not have to
change my diet materially before a match. After the day's play is over,
I make absolutely no difference, eating for dinner in the evening
whatever is going. Lunch is the chief meal over which care should be
exercised, for important matches generally begin about two o'clock. A
heavy meal would make me slow and sleepy. I know of one well-known
player who never has any breakfast at all. She may play hard matches all
the morning, and when the luncheon interval arrives she has only
bread-and-cheese and fruit. Of course this is a very exceptional case,
and I should not care to try it myself. I find a good breakfast a
necessity before a long and hard day at a tournament. But the
no-breakfast regime certainly suits the player in question. She is
always "fit," and has great stamina, coming through exhausting matches
without showing the slightest sign of distress. I need not add that
sleep is one of the chief factors for making you feel buoyant and well;
if you have not had your right measure of sleep the night before an
important contest, you are greatly handicapped. Remember, too, how
necessary it is to sleep in a well-ventilated room with the windows
open.
As to _Courts_, there are so many surfaces now used for the game, such
as grass, wood, asphalt, cement, gravel, and sand, that it is possible
to play the game all the year round, under cover or out in the open. I
think, however, most players will agree with me that a good grass court
is the ideal surface for lawn tennis. The sensation of playing a
genuinely hard match with evenly balanced players on a _good_ grass
court, under ideal weather conditions, has only to be experienced to be
appreciated. It is then you realize what great enjoyment this game gives
to any one who loves it. Alas! the really good grass court and ideal
weather are very hard to get in England. I suppose there was scarcely a
day in 1909 that could be described as perfect for lawn tennis; and our
good grass courts are few and far between.
The climate we cannot control, but I often wonder why there should be
such a dearth of true grass courts at open meetings. Of course
maintenance involves a certain amount of expense, but surely many clubs
are quite well enough off to command at least one or two really good
courts. Can it be ignorance, or is it a want of necessary energy and
constant attention? Lawn tennis seems to suffer in this respect more
than most games. There are hundreds of splendid golf greens and cricket
pitches all over the country, but for some inexplicable reason a good
grass lawn tennis court is, as Mr. G.W. Hillyard has remarked, "almost
as rare a sight as a dead donkey." Happily we get this rare spectacle at
Wimbledon under Mr. Hillyard's able care and management.
[Illustration: GROUP OF PLAYERS AT THE NEWCASTLE TOURNAMENT, 1902]
What a difference a general improvement in surface would mean! I am
convinced that if courts were better the standard of play would advance
more rapidly. It is marvellous what beneficial effect a good court has
on play. I have seen an average player, who had always played on bad
courts, with cramped surroundings and poor background, put up a really
good game the very first time he played on a first-class court--I refer
to a well-known private court at Thorpe Satchville, perhaps the best in
the country. That player surprised himself and every one else present.
He performed about half-thirty better than his usual game. The moral is
that if other players had the opportunity of playing regularly on a true
and fast court they must essentially improve. On bad courts you can
never be sure what the ball will do; it is a toss-up whether you get a
false bound or not. A player once told me that he thought it a good
thing to have these bad courts at your house or club to practise upon.
When you went to tournaments, he argued, you would not mind what you
found there, as the conditions could not be worse, and might be better,
and you would always be in the happy frame of mind of not expecting too
much and never being disappointed. Your game would not be put off by
depressing conditions--you were so used to them! But that is poor logic.
After all, we play the game for pleasure, and there can be no enjoyment
in playing on wretched courts. Many unfortunate players, if they wish to
play the game at all, are forced to play on what Mr. Mahony used to
call "cabbage patches"--("Sorry, partner, it hopped on a cabbage," was
his favourite expression after missing a ball in a double); but I cannot
understand any one voluntarily choosing such a surface.
A wood floor has such an absolutely true bound that it must provide very
good practice, and one winter's play on the indoor courts at Queen's
Club is to my mind a quicker way of improving your game than two or
three seasons on grass courts which are not of the best. These covered
wood courts are very scarce, and it is a thousand pities there are so
few of them. Would that this winter game were in the reach of everybody!
On the other hand, you can overdo the game by playing continuously; and
if you have been playing all through the summer with scarcely a break,
it is a good plan to rest during the winter months, taking up some other
game to keep your eye in and your condition fit.
Since true grass courts are so scarce in this country, I sometimes wish
we could dispense with turf altogether, and have at our tournaments the
same surface which finds favour abroad, at places like Cannes, Homburg,
and Dinard. The bound of the ball on these courts is absolutely uniform,
the surface being hard sand. One great advantage they possess--we should
welcome it over here--is that when it rains play is quite out of the
question. Wading about in the mud and playing in a steady downpour,
often our lot in England, is unknown on the Continent. And foreign
courts also dry quickly after rain, and often play better for their
watering.