Lawn-tennis, though still in its youth, may with some justice lay claim through its prototypes, Longue paume, Pallone, Tennis, etc., to an illustrious ancestry; the connection between the modern and the older games being sufficient to establish a relationship. It is not necessary here to trace this connection step by step, beginning perchance with the game which Louis X. of France played in the forest of Vincennes to the championship fought out on the Wimbledon Club grounds in 1897. The greater part of such a history would of necessity belong to tennis proper, which, as we know, has been a popular English game for many ages. So in the 15th century we hear of a tennis court at Windsor Castle, and the present one at Hampton Court was originally built by Henry VIII., in whose reign it was that Sir Thomas More, in his "Utopia," stigmatised tennis along with "dice, cards, tables, bowls and quoits" as "a naughty and unlawful game."

The first authentic record we have of lawn-tennis as we know it dates back no further than 1874, when Major Wingfield patented a certain pastime by him named "Sphairistike." It was not I believe claimed to be an invention, but merely an adaptation of a sport almost as old as the world itself. A sub-committee of the Marylebone Cricket Club was asked in 1875 to bring order into chaos, everyone for the twelve months of its existence having chosen to play "Sphairistike," or lawn-tennis, as it was now called, as it best pleased them. A code was drawn up, issued and quickly superseded, but at least there was a recognised length and breadth of court and height of net, which prior to this, as I have said, depended entirely upon the taste of the players. In 1875 lawn-tennis took up its headquarters at Wimbledon, being admitted to form part of the "All England Croquet Club" there. The game was introduced at Prince's Club in the same year. In 1876 tennis scoring was adopted, and it was the general opinion that lawn-tennis had come to stay. In the following year the "All England Croquet Club" determined to include the name of the new game in its title, and it became known as the "All England Croquet and Lawn-Tennis Club." In another twelve or eighteen months the visitor had pushed the host out of house and home, the club becoming henceforth headquarters of lawn-tennis alone.

It was in the July of 1877 that the first lawn-tennis championship meeting was held at Wimbledon, a silver challenge cup being offered for competition by the proprietors of The Field. There were twenty-two entries, Mr. Spencer-Gore carrying off the championship and the all-comers prizes. The principal results of the first tournament was to show up a serious defect, viz.: the great preponderance of games won by the server against those gained by the striker-out; the proportion being about five to three. This defect was remedied in 1878 by bringing the service line four feet nearer the net, from twenty-six feet to twenty-two feet. The net at the same time was lowered from five feet at the posts to four feet nine inches, and from three feet three inches at the centre to three feet. In 1879 two more championships were instituted, those of the Oxford University Lawn-Tennis Club, and of Ireland. The latter meeting was of particular importance to lady players, owing to the fact that it was their first competition ground. This pioneer of women's lawn-tennis championships was carried off by Miss M. Langrishe, who was also successful in securing the Irish prize in 1883 and 1886. The first occasion on which ladies competed at Wimbledon was in the year 1884, when Miss M. Watson secured the All England Championship, to which she joined the double victory of Ireland, where she defeated Miss M. Langrishe.

In 1885 the manager of the Buxton Tournament instituted a ladies' double championship, carried off by Mrs. Watts and Miss Bracewell. The championship of England and Ireland was again held by Miss M. Watson. It was during this year that Miss L. Dod first began to be known in the front ranks of lady players, though it was not until 1887 that she held the championship of England and Ireland, since when she has held the English Championship four times. In 1886 Miss Bingley, now Mrs. Hillyard, shot to the fore, defeating Miss Watson at Wimbledon. Her victory, though coming as something of a surprise, was magnificently earned, her extreme accuracy and power creating a good deal of enthusiasm.

The next epoch of importance in ladies' tennis—and the last possible variation of the game—was the institution, in 1888, of the "All England Mixed Doubles Championship," won by Mr. E. Renshaw and Mrs. Hillyard. During the same year the "Lawn-Tennis Association" came into existence, the want having for long been felt of one recognised authority, under whose rules all championship matches should be played. In 1890, the Association made important alterations in some of the previously recognised laws. The change of sides under the new regime was fixed at the end of the first, third and every alternate game of the set, instead of at the end of each game. Bisques were abolished, and the quarter system of receiving odds was instituted, more of which hereafter. Subsequently the distance of the service line from the net was fixed at 21-ft., and the height of the net at 3-ft. 6-in. at the posts, and 3-ft. at the centre.

The strides made in lawn-tennis since its first institution as a game are remarkable indeed, when we consider that the first and only tournament in the land was held in 1877, and that in 1897, the list of tournament dates issued by the Lawn-Tennis Association comprised sixty-two fixtures in the United Kingdom, and seven on the Continent. I must not forget to add that in 1885, the first Covered Court Championship was held, Mr. Lawford carrying off the prize. The Ladies' Covered Court Championship was not inaugurated till 1890, when Miss Jacks secured the coveted title, Miss Austin being the holder in 1897.

The Ladies' Championship of 1897, was very closely contested, Mrs. Hillyard playing Miss C. Cooper (the holder). The first set was won by the latter lady, but owing to the severity of Mrs. Hillyard's returns, Miss Cooper was unable to maintain her advantage and was finally beaten, the sets standing at 5-7, 7-5, 6-2. Mrs. Hillyard also carried off the Ladies' Singles, defeating Mrs. Pickering by two sets to love—6-2, 7-5. The Irish Championship was also gained by the Wimbledon victor, who beat the Irish candidate, Miss Dyas, by two sets to one—7-5, 2-6, 6-3,—thus proving herself the best lady player of the year.

With many lawn-tennis players the choice of a court is unfortunately apt to exemplify the old saying that "the coat must be cut according to the cloth," though in these days of plenty when every town in the United Kingdom possesses at least one lawn-tennis club, it should not be so difficult to secure the best advantages for practice. It is a different matter of course with a private court, the formation of which may, for many reasons be a difficult task; though the advantages of a ground upon the premises is too obvious to need demonstration. In the first place the court should be chosen lengthways from N. to S., to provide for obtaining the best possible light; secondly, if the process of levelling cannot be indulged in, let the ground chosen be at least as level as possible; and thirdly, let my foregoing remark apply equally to drainage. The absence of any obstacles such as overhanging branches, or the too close proximity of shrubs, is also to be carefully thought of, and avoided. An ample margin all round being allowed for, according to the first "recommendation" in the handbook of the Lawn-Tennis Association. "There should be, if possible, a clear margin of at least 12-ft. on each side, and 21-ft. at each end of the court."

The preparation of the court should be, as far as possible, the player's individual care. Even when the turf is coarse or weed grown to begin with, the careful application of a mowing machine, a roller and a knife, will soon work wonders. Should plantains prevail, cut them off close to the soil, whenever they appear—I have known a promising court spoilt by an attempt to dig these weeds out, root and all, with the result that when play commenced, the balls shot at obtuse and unexpected angles. The mowing machine and the roller must be kept in constant use, the former should do its work every day if necessary, after the grass has finished growing, during the process once a week will be sufficient—this, perhaps, is more applicable when grass has been sown. Old turf should never be allowed to look even slightly ragged. The energetic use of a roller helps the grass roots to spread out and obtain the mastery over the decapitated weeds.

I quote from the Lawn-Tennis Association handbook for the dimensions of the court.

When a double court is required, the base-lines must be prolonged 4-ft. 6-in. in each direction, when by joining the four new points, the side-lines of a double court are obtained; it will not now be necessary to prolong the inner side-lines further than the service lines.

The measuring of a court is always apt to be tedious work, but with a little method, a measuring tape, a reel of stout string, some small wooden pegs and a fair supply of patience, the difficulties are soon overcome. The first necessity is to fix the posts in position—I have always found it simplified matters to represent the net by a piece of string from post to post—then measure off a distance of 3-ft. from each, inwards of course. From the point now obtained, measure the side-lines, 78-ft. which gives us 39-ft. each way from the posts. From the side-lines now measure 4½-ft. inwards, and 21-ft. each way from the net string for the service-lines. It now only remains for these lines to be joined along their base by four others running parallel with the net, two on each side of it, respectively termed the base-lines and the service-lines. Half-way between the service-lines and parallel with the side-lines, a line is next drawn to form the half-court-line, which accomplishes the task. Each point as it is measured should be marked off with a peg; then when all the dimensions are taken, a piece of string should be pulled taut from peg to peg, serving as guide to the marker. As a last word on the subject, I may say that I have never heard a low price in markers, nets, posts, or indeed in any implement of the game, recommended as being really economical.

As to balls they can be obtained in many makes, but "Ayre's Championship" stand first in the list of excellence. By the laws of the Lawn Tennis Association the weight of a ball shall be not less than 1-1/8-oz., or more than 2-oz. In 1877, the year of the first Championship, the minimum weight was 1¼-oz., and the maximum 1½-oz.

The Racket. On the fortunate choice of a racket, depends literally at least half the success or failure of any battle fought with it. Writing of rackets, Mr. C. A. Heathcote says: "The essential points are—a good hoop, free from knots, with a well-marked and continuous grain, plain wooden handle, round or slightly octagonal, fitting the hand of the player, attached to the middle piece without any perceptible interval, and good strong gut."[7] It is an essential point that the racket should not be too heavy; on the other hand an over-light racket is far from desirable, except perhaps for a volleying game. From 12 to 13-oz. is usually considered a good weight range for a lady's racket, though I have frequently met with ladies who never touched anything under 14-oz. Indeed, in a matter of this sort, the choice must rest very much with the player herself, who will soon find from experience what weight suits her best. And so long as she confines her selection to the first makes, she cannot go very far wrong.

Scoring. The only satisfactory manner in which lawn-tennis scoring can be dealt with on paper, is by quoting once more from the laws of the Lawn-Tennis Association, thus:

Odds. In the year 1888, bisques—which had been borrowed from tennis—were abolished. A bisque is one stroke which may be claimed at any time during a set. The principal disadvantage of this system lay in the difficulty of employing it judiciously, thereby causing a certain mental strain, possibly injurious to the player's form. The bisque gave place to the "quarter" and the "perfect" systems, which in their turn were superseded by the "sixth system" in 1894, now in universal use. Roughly, the sixth system of handicapping is to receive odds of one, two, three, four, or five strokes in every six games of a set; each given stroke being respectively described as one-sixth, two-sixths, three-sixths, four-sixths, five-sixths, fifteen. For complete and detailed tables of the system of handicapping, the reader is referred to the handbook of the Lawn-Tennis Association.

On the subject of suitable clothing much might be written. For any form of outdoor exercise, the two chief requisites of costume are warmth and lightness. A thin flannel shirt is more useful than anything, worn with a short light skirt. I have seen such terrible and distressing results arise from the wearing of skirts which, though short in front, dropped at the back that I cannot too strongly emphasise the need for all-round shortness; loss of temper and dignity being among the lesser evils accruing from neglect of this particular. The shoes worn should be strong and [Pg 327]
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[Pg 329]serviceable, usefulness never being allowed to give way to the merely ornamental; but now-a-days it is an easy matter to combine the two qualities. For play in damp weather it is permissible to wear shoes with a leather sole into which short nails, known as steel points, are fitted. These are allowed on all grounds. In the matter of hats a straw sailor with a widish brim is the most workmanlike form of head gear possible. It is perhaps scarcely necessary to add that perfect looseness of every garment is a sine qu non for the freedom of movement necessary in lawn-tennis.

Good form is as much an essential in the pursuit of any sport or pastime as it is in the manners and usages of polite society, and the cultivation of style is not an achievement purely confined to the wayfarer in the paths of literature. In lawn-tennis, as in everything else, a good beginning makes a good noontide; and really, when one comes to think about it, it is as easy to learn well as badly. Therefore it is never advisable for a beginner to be content with another beginner as her opponent. No doubt a certain diffidence may be felt by the inexperienced player in throwing down the gauntlet to a more practised hand, because of the lack of interest and excitement for the latter in the game. But this consideration should never be allowed to deter the seizing of an opportunity of playing against an opponent from whom something may be learnt. There are plenty of good-natured people in the world, and an ounce of practical demonstration, is worth a ton's weight of written explanation as to the different actions necessary for playing the varied strokes, which go to compose the game of lawn-tennis.

Service. Like everything else worth having, a good service is extremely difficult to acquire. It is always best to ascertain by experiment and observation what particular style of service would seem most within one's power of attainment, and this style should be kept to. There is nothing more detrimental to good play than indecision or constant change of form. Experiments, though doubtless necessary at first, should be discontinued as soon as possible.

The majority of ladies, for a variety of reasons, prefer to serve underhand. Miss L. Dod, in her able contribution in the Badminton Library, is of the opinion that unless in exceptional cases, overhand service tends merely to a waste of strength without making the stroke more difficult to take than the ordinary underhand service.[8] In the face of such competent authority it would be fatuous to advance a contrary opinion; but if any special aptitude is felt for the overhand service, it will probably be found easier to practice with success than the underhand.

The server should stand either in the middle of the base-line, or a few feet to the right or left of it, though she is at liberty to take up any position on the base-line that she chooses. According to Law 7 of the game: "The server should stand with one foot beyond—i.e., further from the net than—the base-line, and with the other foot upon the base-line, and shall deliver the service from the right and left courts alternately, beginning from the right. This law is of great importance and should never, even in the most ordinary play, be disregarded. For the underhand service, the body should be slightly bent and the racket swung well up. I have seen the swing carried high above the right shoulder, the ball being dropped in front of the racket as it arrives near the middle of the downward stroke (Fig. A). In the overhand service, the body should be inclined somewhat backward, and the racket brought well above the head (as in Fig. B) to obtain the utmost possible reach. The ball is held somewhat below the level of the left shoulder, and thrown gently in front of the descending racket. Before a great degree of swiftness is attempted in either of these two services, accuracy should be ensured. In fact a well-known saying might be profitably adapted for the use of lawn-tennis players, both proficient and non-proficient: "Take care of accuracy, and brilliancy will take care of itself."

For the purpose of training the eye, it is no bad device to place a ball on the spot where the service is intended to drop and take aim at it. The satisfaction of hitting the mark will not be frequent, but the practice will at least impart some idea of locality. In service when one fault has already been made, it is wonderfully easy to drop into the bad habit of sending an easy catch to represent the second stroke; neither is this reprehensible custom entirely confined to beginners who might, perhaps, be excused for exercising a certain amount of caution over their last chance. Over and over again I have seen ladies, who did not by any means count themselves tyros, indulging in this defective style of play. They appear to think that one ball either "smashed" into the net, or sent a dozen yards out of court absolves them from further effort; their second stroke being as harmfully innocuous as their first was mistakenly vicious. And in this case again, nothing but practice will give equality. To obtain a twist the ball should be struck first with the left side of the racket—which will be held in a more horizontal position than for the regular forward stroke—and as it were run across its face, or in other words the racket is twisted round the ball from right to left.

To receive a service the striker-out should, generally speaking, stand near the base-line, opposite the centre of the service court, a position which commands either a fore or back-handed stroke. Of course her position must naturally depend upon the style of service given, and here again, nothing but experience will impart the intuitive consciousness of the exact spot on which the ball is likely to drop. Through excess of zeal and over anxiety to make a correct return, the non-proficient player will nearly always commit the error of rushing at her stroke and hitting the ball while it is yet rising, instead of waiting to catch it in the fall and lift it with a nearly vertical racket over the net. The ball should so to speak be allowed to meet the player half way for an ordinary stroke. Of course in the case of a cut or a screw, which may bound backwards instead of forwards, it is advisable to approach the stroke more closely, but even in such a case it is better to wait and see the angle of rising before striking. Any undue hurry will cause the ball to perform the feat known as "going through the racket." For the fore-handed stroke, the racket should be held in a firm grasp (as in Fig. C), great care being taken that the position of the fingers is correct from the first, the ball being struck with a full racket. For the back-handed stroke, the grip is changed (see Fig. D). This change may at first appear a serious difficulty, but after a little practice at fore and back-handed strokes alternately, the change will become both unconscious and mechanical.

The back-handed stroke is a weak point with many players, for which reason extra attention should be bestowed upon its cultivation. Any attempt to run round the ball, or to take it "with both hands," should from the first be severely discouraged. Practising for the back-handed stroke against a blank wall is advised by many [Pg 335]
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[Pg 337]competent authorities as a useful means of overcoming preliminary awkwardness.

The position of the feet and body in lawn-tennis is of the utmost importance. The player should await her stroke standing facing the net with the feet a little apart, and the weight of the body resting on the toes. In the case of a fore-hand stroke the left foot should be brought quickly across the right, by way of turning the body sideways, while the racket is swung back in readiness to receive the stroke. When the ball is struck, the weight of the body is shifted from the right foot to the left. For a back-handed stroke the right foot is brought across the left, and whilst striking the weight is shifted from the left foot to the right. The Volley has ever been a subject of controversy in lawn-tennis annals. We all know what an instrument of defence the stroke became off the rackets of the Messrs. Renshaw; but at present we are considering lawn-tennis from a woman's point of view, which is a very different thing. The ordinary variety of the volley is employed to save change of position necessary in taking a ball off the ground. This stroke resembles a "lob," and should be so placed as to obviate the chance of punishment. The volley from the net is an overhand stroke and may be played with either a bent or extended arm, according to the force employed. The latter variety, known as the "smash," is given with an uncontrolled swing of the racket. In the former stroke, where the force used is not so great, an excellent effect may be obtained by a quick turn of the wrist, either to right or left, at the moment of striking the ball, causing it to drop near the base of the side line. The volley from the service line is played with a horizontal racket, which may be held either below the bend of the shoulder, or almost close to the ground, when the player is obliged to stoop for the purpose of "lifting" the ball over the net.

The half volley is a stroke as difficult to attain as to describe. Briefly it consists in blocking the ball—roughly speaking—within the first half-foot of its rise from the drop. The difficulty of the stroke lies in estimating correctly the exact spot on which the ball will drop, and in having the racket ready just behind that spot. The stroke is chiefly used in cases where retreat is impossible, or at least likely to be attended with ill-success, and when the reach is too short for a volley; but it is a stroke which should be indulged in with caution, as, unless in the case of exception[Pg 339]
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[Pg 341]ally good players, it is likely to prove a dismal failure. That it can generally be dispensed with by either a step forward, or a few steps back is consoling to the medium performer.

The "Lob" claims Mr. Haslow as its discoverer. This gentleman, chiefly owing to the agency of the stroke, succeeded in defeating the champion, Mr. Spencer-Gore, who first practised volleying tactics, in 1878. The "lob" is a useful invention against net play, being merely a stroke lifted high over the opponent's head, thus preventing a volleying return. The counter tactics to this stroke are technically known as the "smash," to which reference has already been made, and the "lob volley." The former of these two strokes consists in getting the racket—either by reach or springing into the air—above the ball and smashing it with all the strength at the player's command, to the confusion of the opponent, and the alarm and consternation of the bye-standers. The "lob" volley consists in catching the dropping ball with a vertical drive similar to the ordinary forward drive played off the ground.

Lady players will, as a general rule, find the back game quite as effective, and a good deal more graceful than forward or volleying tactics, which owing to various circumstances, such as the necessity for extra reach and freedom of movement—are more suited to a man's play than a woman's. The back game with the aid of judicious "placing" will always prove hard to beat, a few well-worn maxims for its successful issue being: to hit as hard, and to keep the ball as low as possible. Neither to court nor to avoid volleying, but to take it as it comes. To thoroughly master the art of "placing." Never to relax good style by slovenly play, and finally to follow in all cases the advice of a well-known authority, "To start at once, to arrive in time, and never to be in a hurry."

M. Marshall.

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