How To Use This Book

The purpose of tennis is to send the ball over the net to land within the boundaries of the opposite court in such a way that the opponent will have difficulty returning it. Ninety percent of tennis points are won on errors, i.e., balls hit into the net or out of court. A beginner must have faith that "good form" will pay dividends, once he gains control of his shots. A good-form stroke sends the ball more swiftly and accurately to spots on the court where the opponent will have the most difficulty in returning it. Fig. 1 shows the placement-shot areas.

Fig. 1

Beginners are warned that they must be content with a goal of "getting the ball over the net" and not expect to hit placement areas very often. Likewise the beginner will dwell in "Dubland" more often than he wants to. He must practise patiently, first to conquer the net and boundary lines so that his balls land somewhere within the court. Later he will learn to control his shots and the placement areas shown in the diagram will become his point of aim. Although many of his shots will miss the target, it is better to try for them during practise than to be content with "Dubland" shots. It takes time to achieve tennis placement shots just as in the case of a 200-yard golf drive or bowling strike.
 
Your first assignment in learning good tennis strokes is to find out what they look like. Watch good players to get the mental image of the stroke, footwork, and body action. Next you must learn what the stroke feels like. This muscle-picture comes through imitating the form of good players. Because it is very hard to watch oneself perform, the advice of a coach or good player is invaluable. However, it is important to imitate the strokes of a player who has the same body build as yours. Thus if you have long arms and legs, with a flexible trunk, don't try to imitate a short, heavy player. Some tennists dance about the court, using hops, skips, and slides. Others use long strides. Some coaches recommend a short backswing of the racquet while others insist on taking the racquet back as far as one can reach. One teacher may advocate a lot of English (spin) on the ball while another believes in a flat stroke with very little topspin. The beginner should not be deceived by freak methods of stroking. In this book sufficient freedom within a range of sound techniques is provided. The reader is expected to use his common sense in working out the type of strokes which suits him best. Tennis is an individual game and skill is dependent upon the type of physique, mental, and emotional make-up of the player.

Fig. 2 shows Francisco Segura's famous two-handed forehand drive. Although he had great success with this stroke, no other player ever rose to stardom with it. Thus a two-handed forehand drive could be called "unique-form" rather than the age old "good-form."

The big difference between men and women players is degree of strength. Naturally men players can hit the ball harder. Often women players make up for their lack of strength by greater accuracy. Court strategy differs only in the amount of net play used. Many women players cannot hit the ball hard enough to follow it to the net. Thus women's tennis is often characterized by being a baseline game with net trimmings, while men's tennis becomes a net game with baseline trimmings. The best women players are at the top because they play a man's game. Figs. 3 and 4 show the similarity in hitting an overhead smash between a man and woman world champion. (All action pictures of women players in this book show championship form which is the same for men and women topflite players).

Fig. 3.—Frank Sedgman, International Tennis Champion.

This Australian tennis star has won more Singles and Doubles Championships than any other international tennis competitor in recent years. His all-round game most nearly resembles that of former world champion William Tilden 2nd. (Photo from European Picture Service.)

Miss Marble raised the standard of women's tennis through her masculine style of play. She was aggressive in both Singles and Doubles because of her excellent net game. She had a wide stroke vocabulary, including American Slice and American Twist Serves, Overhead Smash, topspin and flat drives, slice and flat volleys, drop shot, and half volley. Thus her game was the nearest approximation to championship men's tennis that has ever been achieved by a woman. (Wide World Photos.)

Girl players should set their tennis goal in terms of a man's game. They should practise and play with male companions whenever possible. Otherwise girls tend to develop soft strokes which will not stand up in real competition. It is not possible to place spin on balls which are hit too gently, and spin is essential in a good-form tennis stroke. Likewise boys may learn much from the greater accuracy of girl players. When you can make your opponent hit the ball into the net or out of court, you have a winning game. There is a limit to the force which can be placed on the ball, if it is to be accurately placed. Each learner must decide on a happy combination of force and accuracy, although good force must be used in good-form strokes. Good force does not mean trying to hit the cover off the ball, and home runs pay no dividends in tennis.

Fig. 4.—Alice Marble, former Women's World Champion.

Even the champions go stale, forgetting some element of good form. In Fig. 5, Don McNeill, Jr. is shown practising a forehand drive at the time he was National Singles Champion. Notice his intense concentration on watching the ball. Experts sometimes lose this skill in their endeavor to watch their opponent, or the placement area on the opposite side of the net. Probably "taking your eye off the ball" is the most common fault in tennis, as in golf. Thus an advanced player has lapses, making costly errors because of such a fault, and must practise to regain his ability to watch the ball until he hits it. Research studies have shown that beginners frequently fail to hit the ball squarely in the center of the racquet because they do not watch the ball, or do not get the racquet behind the ball in time to aim it accurately. The beginner can learn a very important lesson from the action picture shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 5.—Donald McNeill, Jr., former American Champion.

This tennis star sets a good example to beginners by (1) keeping his eyes on the ball (2) lining his racquet up behind the ball with plenty of time to spare (3) stepping into his shot so that his body weight and racquet can follow through in the direction of the ball-flight. (Photo by Max P. Haas, European Picture Service.)

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