The Question Clinic

Equipment

Question: "Why is an expensive racquet, with frequent re-stringing necessary?"

Answer: Only in an expertly constructed racquet will you find good balance and long wearing qualities. A good racquet may be used for many years because it is strong enough to stand being re-strung. Re-stringing is well worth the price because you will get much better strokes from a tightly strung, well balanced racquet.

Question: "Why are balls considered too old to use after a few sets in a tournament?"

Answer: Although the bounce of a ball may hold up during a whole season of play, the felt cover does not. When the fuzz is worn off the cover the ball may be considered old. It becomes "light," in the sense of providing too little wind resistance and inability to take on ball spin. Thus old balls tend to sail out of the court, and to be unresponsive to the player's attempt to put topspin or sidespin on them.

Getting The Ball In Play

Question: "Why do I miss the ball or hit it on the wood of my racquet?"

Answer: Probably you are not lining up your backswing with the oncoming ball. Not only your backswing—but the actual center of your racquet must be aimed at the ball. Also, you may not be watching the ball closely enough. Test yourself by stopping your racquet as it contacts the ball so you can actually see the ball on your racquet. Thus you can figure out your difficulty and learn to aim your racquet center accurately. Unless you watch the ball closely, you may as well close your eyes—it's the same thing!

Question: "How can I learn to get the ball somewhere near my buddy to start a practise rally?"

Answer: The easy and correct way is by use of The Courtesy Stroke as described in Chapter VII. This is useful for getting the balls back to the person who is ready to serve, also. Be careful not to hit the ball down at your rallying partner, nor too high over the net either. The thoughtful, courteous way will allow the opposite player to catch the ball in his hand on the first bounce without having to move.

Question: "Why can't I locate the service court? My serves go in all directions."

Answer: It is necessary to have a mental picture of the size, shape, and direction of the service court at which you are aiming. In order to memorize this picture you can start near the net and just throw balls into the area. Then move back a bit and use the Courtesy Stroke. Retreat again—this time to a position nearer your serving position. Aim forehand and backhand drives into the service court upon which you are concentrating. Then try some sliced volleys (throw the ball out to the right, just above shoulder level). If you have proved to yourself that you have located the service court, then learn to control the direction of your serve.

Question: "I don't have any fun playing tennis because I keep trying to do good-form strokes without success. I have a bad habit of backing up behind the ball so that I miss them when I try a full arm swing. None of my friends like to play with me because the ball never gets in play. What would you suggest?"

Answer: Perhaps you will decide to use chop and slice strokes rather than drives. In these strokes the ball is so much closer the body when it is hit that you should be able to get the ball in play.

Difficulty With Height Of Bounce

Question: "How can I learn to handle high bouncing balls?"

Answer: Don't try to use a drive in returning a ball that bounces above your shoulder. A chop or slice works very effectively against such bounces and allows you to "hit down" at your opponent, which is a great advantage. (See Fig. 43.)

Question: "I have trouble handling shoulder-high and knee-high bounces. Usually I drive the high one's into the net, and send the low ones much too high. What's wrong?"

Answer: Be careful to keep your "grooved swing." The follow through of your drive must remain shoulder-high or above in the case of both the high and low bouncing balls. It is a natural tendency to follow-through in a downward direction when hitting a high ball and to finish in a skyward direction when hitting a low ball—but don't do it! Remember the long ball flight (70-78 feet) of the drive must be arced over the net through use of topspin. It is relatively unimportant whether the ball started at the height of two feet or five feet—the grooved swing will carry it forward in the desired trajectory.

Difficulty Handling Different Spins

Question: "Why do I always lose when I play against a cut-stroke artist?"

Answer: When you try to place topspin on a ball which has been heavily cut or sliced you are at a great disadvantage because the ball is already spinning in the same direction as the spin you intend to put on it. Net play is the best defense against the opponent who chops and slices. And be sure to keep him back behind the baseline where it is almost impossible to execute effective chops and slices.

Question: "Is it worth the time and effort to develop good-form strokes when you can have just as much fun playing with simpler strokes?"

Answer: It's entirely up to you. Just as some people are content to read only well enough to enjoy the newspapers and comic books, so some tennis players are content with simple strokes in a simple type of tennis game. Enjoyment is the chief aim of tennis, so—it's up to you. COURT POSITIONS

Question: "Why should I serve from near the center of the baseline? I get much, better serves if I stand out at the corner of the court."

Answer: The advantage of being near the center of the baseline is obvious: to protect both sides of your court. The reason you like to serve from the corner is that you believe your serve will go in the diagonally opposite service court easier from that position. Perhaps this is because you tend to face the net when serving. Remember, the serving stance is a side-to-the-net position, with your left shoulder pointing in the direction you want the ball to go. As long as you throw your body forward, along with the follow through of your racquet, in the direction of the desired ball flight, you will have no trouble with the centered position.

Question: "Why do I find myself always drifting up into mid-court, where the balls land right at my feet?"

Answer: No doubt you have been playing "in bad company"! Unskilled players tend to hit the serves so soft and drives so short that an opponent can take advantage of their weaknesses by playing up in the court. Remember, good serves are handled easiest from a position near the baseline. Good drives will land within five feet of the baseline with a bounce of fifteen to twenty five feet. Your best position to handle them is behind the baseline. You must figure out your opponent and be prepared to move quickly—but it is always easier to move forward rather than backward in the court. Even the experts can't handle balls that bounce at their feet! (See Fig. 36.)

Strokes

Question: "Why is the Lob classified as an advanced stroke? I do them all the time, and find the drive much harder to learn."

Answer: The lob is a very dangerous stroke—you put yourself out on a limb when you do one. Any good player will use an overhead smash on your lobs and you won't even see the ball go by! The lob is safe to use only when the opponent is at the net, 01 when the player needs time to recover his court position and has his opponent in such a position that he cannot smash the lofted ball.

Question: "Why is the volley considered an advanced stroke since it is really easier to learn than the drive?"

Answer: The volley is used only in advanced tennis where net play is important. If the Volley is learned first, the player usually fails to develop good foundation strokes because his muscles get set in an elbow-bent mold from which he cannot extricate himself.

Question: "Why not learn the serve first?"

Answer: Because thousands of hours are needed in learning footwork and timing connected with the forehand and backhand drives. The ball never comes over the net in exactly the same direction, same force, or same bounce. Constant practise is required if good coordination of hand-eye-feet is to be learned. A test of your ability to handle the drives is: can you rally the ball one hundred times with a hardhitting buddy who keeps you driving from behind the baseline?

Question: "Should I learn two different kinds of serve since I have been playing a whole year now?"

Answer: No, since it usually takes two or three years to gain good control of the Top Slice Serve. You can have fun experimenting with various kinds of serve, but don't let yourself get "out of the groove" with the serve you have learned. The Top Slice Serve is the most practical serve for all situations. Many champions have won National Tournaments without resorting to other types of serve.
Question: "I have worked hard to perfect my serve, but continue to doublefault especially in crucial points. What can I dor

Answer: It is natural to "press" (get tense) when the situation demands a perfect serve. You may be doing one of two things (1) trying to make your second serve as forceful as your first (2) weakening your second serve too much—thus changing the form of it. The secret of an accurate second serve is to correct the fault apparent in the first serve and slow up the tempo of the swing slightly (not as fast a second serve, but the same form). Also, remember it is better to get the-ball in play even if you lose the point because of your opponent's excellent return. Don't beat yourself. If your second serve goes to pieces completely, just ping-pong the ball over until you have a chance to practise your service and straighten out the difficulty.

Question: "Why is it hard to control two kinds of serve—for instance the Top Slice Serve on the first trial, and the Twist as a second serve?"

Answer: Because there is no chance to correct the mistake of the first serve on the second trial. Since you are not trying to repeat the same coordination, but are substituting a new coordination on the second serve, there is no chance for correcting a form-error. When two different serves are used, the ball must be tossed differently. Thus the ball position is slightly in front of the body for the Top Slice Serve, and slightly back of the head for the Twist Serve. Top notch players have gained a machine-like precision of the ball toss, swing and wrist action which have different "grooves" for the two kinds of serve.

Question: "Everyone tells me I have beautiful form, but I never get very far in the tournaments. Players with poor form always seem to win. Why is this so?"

Answer: It is more difficult to be accurate when you hit the ball with speed and spin. Tennis games are won by the player who makes the fewest errors. Many poor-form players gain good accuracy and allow their opponents to beat themselves. However, the plateau of learning is reached by poor-form players in the second or third year of play. The good-form player continues upward progress slowly but surely. He will play on equal terms with the poor-form player in the fourth or fifth year of play, and finally after that he will be able to win in straight sets.

Self Coaching

Question: "Does it help to give yourself pep talks?" Answer: Yes, there are a number of instructional phrases which assist self-coaching. In order to build up visual images and muscle-pictures of good-form strokes, use the following:

"Shake hands with the racquet" "Give the ball a ride on your racquet" "Throw your body into the stroke" "Get alongside the ball, not behind it" "Get your racquet back ahead of time" "Swing out away from the body" "Step into your shot"

"Follow through in the direction of your shot" "In serving, throw the racquet head into the ball" "Can you see the ball as your racquet hits it" "Keep on the balls of your feet at all times—knees easy"

After you have mastered the form of the strokes and can concentrate on court strategy, your pep talks should consist of figuring out a plan of attack, locating the weaknesses of your opponent, thinking one stroke ahead in anticipation of placement shots.

Fig. 43.—Louise Brough, outstanding American Tennis Star.

Miss Brough has shown that women can develop strength, speed and aggressive tactics. Note the expression of grim determination coupled with taut muscles displayed by Miss Brough at Wimbleton when she was winning her third Singles Championship. She, with Margaret Osborne DuPont, won the Doubles Championship nine times. (Courtesy of American Lawn Tennis Association.)