For the benefit of those who have no opportunity to watch good playing
and so work out for themselves the general tactics of the game, and
since those who have that chance can watch more intelligently if they
have some idea of what is being attempted, the following general
summary has been written. If you do not know what to look for, it is
difficult to gather much about the general tactics of the game just
from observation. But with more or less knowledge of the ground work
of the game, the student can learn a great deal from watching others,
seeing what they are trying to do and how they are doing it.
Singles is the better game for the beginner to start with, for she
is playing all the time and so gets much more practise in “strokes.”
For the girl beginner it is particularly useful, for it necessitates
constant attention on the part of the player; she must be on her toes
and working every minute of the time. Thus she develops the habits
of concentration and alertness, which will later prove invaluable to
her.
[Illustration: Miss Bjurstedt caught in a difficult position--a
backhand half-volley.
© Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.
]
[Illustration: Mrs. Raymond taking a backhand shot.
E. Levick, N. Y., Photo.
]
[Illustration: Miss Eleonora Sears making a backhand shot taken on the
run.
E. Levick, N. Y., Photo.
]
[Illustration: Miss Eleonora Sears at the net finishing a backhand
volley shot.
E. Levick, N. Y., Photo.
]
“Service,” that is, serving the first game of the set, is a great
advantage in the boy’s game, for if he has a good service he will
speedily be camped down near the net, thus putting his opponent on the
defensive. First service is also an advantage to the girl, even though
she cannot rush the net. For one thing, it helps to get all her muscles
in play, to limber her up; so much so that if one is not to serve the
first game, it is well to send over a few service balls during the
knock-up or practise just before the game starts. The server, even in
the baseline game, has a certain advantage, for a good serve can often
be so placed that it will put the opponent on the defensive, so that
she has to be content merely with getting the ball back and the server
then has a good chance for a winning shot.
It must not be gathered from this, however, that points are always won
so quickly. The game is one of manœuvring until one side or the other
is drawn into such a position that the ball is out of reach or very
difficult to return.
This manœuvring is done by so “placing” the ball that the opponent is
eventually drawn out of position, or off her balance; that is, is in
such a position that she cannot make her stroke properly. It is easily
seen, therefore, why it is of such importance to be able to place the
ball approximately in any desired spot. Speed alone is of no use, for a
player of any experience can soon learn to handle a fast ball. Accuracy
plus speed, of course, enables the player to get her opponent into
difficulties more easily, for there is less time for court covering,
but a fair degree of accuracy must first be attained; the greater the
accuracy the more chance that the stroke will be effective.
This is often illustrated when two players--one steady and able to
place the ball where she wants, the other speedy but lacking in
control--are pitted against each other. The steady one will usually
win, for her percentage of “outs” and “nets” is much smaller, owing to
the fact that she is seldom out of position and is playing her shots
with care. In fact, there is no use hitting every ball hard anyway.
Vary the speed so that the opponent will have to pay more attention to
timing her shots, allowing her that much less thought for the actual
play of the point. Rather reserve your speed for shooting a fast one
into an opening in the opponent’s court, which you have made by getting
her out of position. An “opening” is that portion of the court that the
opponent, owing to her position, cannot protect.
The server should try to place the ball in that part of the service
court which seems to bother her opponent most. Put it where it must
be returned by a backhand drive if that seems to be the opponent’s
weak shot, or vary the corners into which you hit the ball. It is well
to try to keep the ball as near the service line as possible without
“faulting,” for the greater depth to the ball will give the server
just so much more time to get ready to return it. If you are not going
to rush the net on service--and it does not seem advisable for girls
to try it, as it is too tiring--stay back of the baseline to receive
the return of service. Remember in playing that whenever you are not
well inside the service line, “playing net,” you should stay behind
the baseline. Otherwise you will find the ball bouncing at your feet,
and very difficult to handle. If you are behind the baseline, however,
all the balls will bounce in front of you, and you can judge them more
easily. If you find that the return is to be short, you can simply step
forward to meet the ball. Having returned a comparatively short ball,
either get back behind the baseline or move closer to the net, so as to
be able to volley the next ball and finish the point.
A volleyed ball should always be returned very deep and with a wide
angle, unless it is so short and wide of angle that the opponent
cannot reach it. (The word “angle” in tennis is used in speaking of
the relative position of the line of flight of the ball to the net.)
A short ball puts the volleyer at the mercy of her opponent, for
the ball comes back so quickly that it is extremely difficult to
anticipate. Then, too, there is more chance of a passing shot.
To handle the net position successfully the player must keep cool and
not be in too great a hurry to hit the ball, and when she does hit it,
must do so with a firm wrist and steady forward sweep of the racket.
She must not get upset by her errors. Even if at first a great many
balls are missed there is no reason to get discouraged, for it is no
more disastrous, though more noticeable, to lose a point at the net
than it is to lose it from the backcourt. Watch the good men players;
they miss many volley shots, too. It is only because a girl tries so
few that her mistakes are so prominent.
If the player has been drawn to the net on a short ball, or has made
her own shot deep and well placed with the idea of going to the net,
she must be on the lookout for a lob on the return. This lob is a
perfectly good weapon for the opponent to use, although girls have
a tendency to scorn it at present, owing to its former abuse. By
carefully watching her opponent, the player will soon be able to tell
from the way she handles her racket whether she is going to lob or not.
Even if she does try one, a perfect lob--deep enough so that it cannot
be killed and low enough that the player cannot run back and return
it--is very difficult to make. It requires much practise and a very
keen touch. If two or three short lobs are successfully smashed, the
opponent is apt to fight shy of that particular form of defense and
will go back to the passing shots to try to win the point.
From the other point of view, if the first few lobs are too short or
too high, the player should try several more, endeavoring to correct
her error, so that in an emergency she will not be afraid to use the
lob. Furthermore, not all short lobs are successfully smashed. The
opposing side may miss it entirely or may return it in such a way that
it can be easily handled--either not severe enough or not well placed.
Several unsuccessful smashes will go far toward upsetting the player,
for in no stroke is self-confidence more needed and sooner lost than in
smashing.
This is a department of the game that girls have very much neglected,
but, as has already been shown, it is one that is very important,
not only for actual use in the game but as training for both eye and
judgment. The smash must be hit at exactly the right second, pretty
well in the center of the racket. There is no reason why girls cannot
learn to smash. They have fought shy of the stroke because they have
not been willing to devote the necessary time to practising it, and in
part because a bad smash is so conspicuous an error. A good smash is
a pretty sure point winner and is a constant menace to the would-be
lobber; so is well worth cultivating. Indeed, without good overhead
work it is rather useless to attempt net play, for the opponent has too
obvious and sure a method of defense in her lob; and the player who
deprives herself of this form of the game loses much of the thrill of
the game. With the inveterate baseline player the game resolves itself
into a patient striving for openings--and so loses much of its snap and
vigor.
A girl must, however, as a rule, play the major part of her singles
game from the back court, going to the net only when drawn in or
when she has a fair chance to finish the rally. Of course, there are
exceptions to this, as to every rule. Some good players, for instance,
play the net game consistently. But most girls will find that they
cannot last through a three-set match with this style of play, it is
too tiring. But they should be able to vary their backcourt game by
going to the net occasionally. In order that they may handle the ball
properly when they have the chance, a good deal of attention should be
given to the volley and the smash while practising.
When in the back court try to return the ball where your opponent
cannot easily reach it--keep it near the sidelines instead of returning
it down the center of the court, a habit formed through fear of putting
the ball out. Make your opponent run, that she may tire the more
quickly and may often be off her balance when she has to hit the
ball. But do not be afraid to run for the ball; be on your toes every
minute of play and do not be afraid of a long rally. Many players feel
that they are not playing well unless they finish the point quickly.
This leads to a wild hitting of the ball in an effort to smash it
through the opponents defense, and the percentage of errors is very
high. Keep the ball in play, trying to force the other player “out of
position”--either off balance by sending the ball where she does not
expect it or by forcing her far out of court on one side or the other,
then sending the ball into the unprotected space. Of course, a certain
amount of speed is always necessary, for on a slow ball, no matter how
well placed, the opponent can usually get comfortably into position for
the return. The point to bear in mind is that speed without placement
will seldom win a point.
[Illustration:
Miss Marion Zinderstein at the finish of a chop volley shot.
Note her position, as shown by the side line behind her, relative
to the net; also the firmness of her grip.
]
[Illustration: Mrs. Edward Raymond in an unusual illustration of the
half-volley shot.
© American Press Association.
]
[Illustration: Miss Edith B. Handy finishing a cut service.
E. Levick, N. Y., Photo.
]
[Illustration: Miss Eleonora Sears about to chop the ball. Note
position of the arm and racket.
© International Film Service, Inc., N. Y.
]
All of the foregoing is particularly true in doubles. If a player is
not out of position, she should be able to handle almost any swift
ball. In doubles it is very difficult to get the opponents out of
position and the possible openings are much fewer and harder to make.
That is why when four girls are playing, all in the backcourt, the
rallies are so long and monotonous. Each side is trying to out-manœuvre
the other and make a hole through which to shoot the ball. But with
two persons on guard, these holes are not easily made and the rally is
more apt to end in one side finally either netting the ball or putting
it “out.” Points are seldom won. This is good training in accuracy and
steadiness, but the fun and excitement is mostly minus.
If, however, net play is introduced into the game, the story is quite
different. More and more this fact is being recognized and girls are
devoting more attention to their volleying. At present many teams are
composed of one net and one backcourt player. Against two backcourt
players this is a very effective combination. However, it forces the
backcourt player to carry most of the burden. The girl at the net is
too apt to take only those balls which are right on her racket. Instead
of which she should try to return everything within possible reach, so
as to save her partner as much as she can. These returns should be, as
in singles, either very deep and wide, or else close to the net and
very much crosscourt. This latter is the more effective in doubles,
for the deep shot is too easily returned when there are two players
guarding the back territory. The baseline player must always keep the
ball deep (near the baseline), for otherwise she is putting her partner
at the mercy of the other side. She must be ready to cover practically
all the back court. But, on the other hand, she should not back her
partner too closely on the latter’s shots. Many girls come right in
behind their net partner, as if sure she is going to miss, thus almost
making her miss the point solely through lack of self-confidence.
The baseline player must guard her own side, but she must be on the
constant lookout for a lob over her partner’s head or for a wide
crosscourt behind her partner. Then she must cross over to return the
ball, her partner likewise crossing to cover the unprotected court.
The net player, however, must take as many chances, try for as much as
possible, in order to assist her partner--not be content, as many girls
are, to take only the inevitable, sure shots.
This combination is productive of much more interesting and much faster
tennis than is the baseline combination. But it is less effective than
the baseline combination when matched against a team that takes the
net. Then the backcourt player has no choice but to lob, and if that
be short, the net player is practically helpless. She cannot hope
to return the expected smash, the ball comes too quickly for her to
anticipate it (guess just where it is coming and be ready for it) and
with too much downward force for her to handle it, even if she could
get her racket on it. She is also at a disadvantage, for she stands
a fair chance of being hit by a fast drive. It is very hard to drive
successfully through the opponents, for with two persons covering the
net the openings are very small, down the center being about the best
chance, for then there is apt to be confusion as to who should take
the ball, whereas the openings for the net players are proportionately
large. They have an easy chance to volley the ball deep and very wide,
behind the opposite net player, or else very short and wide, to the
other side of the court.
The disadvantage of the all-net game comes from the lobbed ball. Girls
are very much afraid of “being lobbed.” But, by carefully watching
the opponent’s racket, a lob can usually be foreseen, and the players
ready to go back under it. This anticipation is the result only of much
practise and of keen concentration on the game. Moreover, even if a few
lobs are counted against the net players, of what matter so long as the
percentage of points thus lost is not too great? The advantages gained
by taking the net will usually more than offset this disadvantage. If,
however, the opposing team are lobbing unusually deep and accurately,
it is well for the net team to change their tactics and stay back for
a while. But do not be afraid of a possible lob, and stay back after
the first ball missed. The chances of a lob being either out or else so
short that it is an easy kill are in your favor; give yourself a fair
trial before staying back.
It is easier for girls to develop a net doubles game than a singles
game, for doubles is naturally a much less tiring game. There is less
court to cover, the service comes less frequently, and the odds are
more in the net player’s favor. The best women players are more and
more inclining towards the net position in doubles, and by so doing
are broadening and developing their whole game, improving the quality
of their singles as well, through their increased familiarity with net
play.