dtbe aunt% S eriesOF CARDANDTABLE GAMES.

ByDr. illiam Pole , F.R .S Author of

The Philosophy ot'Whist,”SOLO WHIST. By Robe rt F. Gre en, Author of“Che ss.

”

BILLIARDS. The Art of Practical Bil liards forAmateurs ; withchapte rs onPOOL, PYRAMIDS,and SNOOKER. ByMajorson, Author of Practical Whist.Approved by W. J . Pe allIllm lrah’

om .

By J . P. Buchanan.Will: 36 Diagr am . Second E ditzon,Double vol. 23 .

BRIDGE . By Templar.

CHE SS By Robe rt F . Gre en, Ed itor of theBritishChe ss Magaz ine .

” Will: Illustrations.

and Note s. By I. Gunsbe rg.

DRA UGHTS and B A CKGAM M OIV. By

from . By Be rke le y.

By“B e rke ley.

E CAR TE and E UCHR E . By“Be rke ley.

Berkeley.

R OUNDGAMES, inc luding Poke r, Loo, Vingt-un,Napoleon, Newmarke t, Pope Joan, Spe culation,Spin, Comme rce , Snip-Snap-Snorum, e tc . , e tc .

By Baxte r-Wray.

SKAT. By LouisDiehl . (Skat Scoring Book , to. )

Compi led by Mrs. Laurence Gomme , e tc.

LONDON : GEORGE BELL 8: SONS.

L AW TE N N IS .

H . W. W. WILBERFORCE.

THE ALL-ENGLAND

Small 800. d o“. Illustrated, M a 13 . m t .

CRICKET. By Fu nC. HOLLAND.

LA WN TENNIS. By H . W.W . W ru nnroncn.TENNIS. RACR ETS . and RIVE S. B Jun/m Mu rmu r,

MAJOR Su ns, and Re v. J. ARNAN arr.

SQUASH -RACR E 7 s AND SQUASE TENNIS. By'

Ensu e s H . Mums. %Double volume , a n]

H OCKE Y. By F. S. Cu swm %Enlarge d editiom]R0WING ANDSCULLING. ByW. B. WOODGATl.

R0WING ANDSCULLING. By GUY R txou.

SAILING. By E. F. KNIGHT. %Double volume .CANOEING WITH SAIL ANDPADDLE . ByDr. J.D.

SWIMMING. By M . and J. R. Conan-r.

BOXIN G. By R . G . M ANSON-WINK,

WRESTLING. By WALTER ARus'rnono. %New edition. ]FEN CIN G. By H . A. Contour. DUNN.

EROADs WORD AND SINGLESTICK. By R. G .

FOOTBALL—R UG%%Y. By Hum %Vassann.FOOTEALL—ASSOCIATION. By C. W . ALcocx.

CYCLING.~By H . H . Gntnm. L.A.C . %Double volume . 3a]

CYCLE TOURING. By A. W. Runne r , M .A.

ATHLE TICS. By H . H . Gnrrrm , L .A.C.

ROUNDERS, UOITS, BOWLS , ( It . By I. M . WALKERand C . C. arr.

GYMNASTICS. By A. F. 13 1mm. %Double volume , an]

DUMB -BELLS. By F. Gnu .

BASEBALL. By NEWTON CRANE .

RIDING. ByW . A. KERR , V.C. %Double volume . in. )

CAMPING OUT. By A. A. MACDONELL. %Double vol, a n]

LONDON : GEORGE BELL SONS.

L AW N TE N N IS

H . W. W. WILBERFORCE

BARRISTER -AT-LAW , LATE SEC. TO THE

A CHAPTER FOR

MRS. H ILLYARD,u ov cununon, 3886 , 1889, 1894

W ITH ILLUSTRATION S

L O NDO NGEORGE BELL 8: SONS

YORK HOUSE , PORTUGAL ST., LINCOLN ’S INN,

1903

PRINTED BY

WILLIAM CLOWES ANDSONS, LIMITE D,LONDON ANDBECCLES.

PR E FACE .

I HAVE followed in my arrangement of the subje ct-matte rthe same l ine s as Dr. Dwight—which, inde e d, I think arethe only line s compatible with at all systematic tre atme nt.My grate ful acknowledgments are due to the many

ge ntleme n who have be e n kind e nough to assist me by

communicating the ir views on the game . For the historicalpart of the subje c t, I am mainly indebted to Mr . He nry

Jone s and Mr. Danie l Jone s. Me ssrs . Carte r and Co. , thewe ll-known se edsme n, we re good e nough to place at my

d i sposal much valuable information, of which I regre t to

say I have only be e n able to avail myse lf to a ve ry limited

exte nt .

For the omissions and impe rfe ct ions of this work I

apologize : the y have partly be e n caused by the claims of

othe r pursuits more se rious e ve n than lawn tennis. But I

ve nture to hope that what I have writte n may ye t prove of

some inte re st to that great and e ve r- increasing body, thelawn -te nnis playing community.

H. W. W. WILBERFORCE.

2, Hu mor)”Burmmos, TEMPLE, E .C

LAW N TE N N IS .

C H A PTE R I.

INTRODUCTORY.

To that anomalous individual, the thoughtful obse rve r, thesucce ss of lawn te nnis, unpre cede nted alike ine xtent andrapidity, cannot have be e n a matte r of surprise . A pr ior i

i t is j ust the game to fill a want in human nature , or at anyrate in the nature of English menand wome n .

Croque t was al l ve ry we llinits way,but it gave no e xe rc ise

its soc ial advantage s are equally share d by lawn te nnis andit foste re d (and for this re ason principally it fe ll) the ase e nde ne y of the curate .

Cricke t, on the othe r hand, re quire s more t ime thanmany pe ople cangive to a pastime , it take s a large r numbe rof playe rs, and e ve n the be st mancanne ve rbe sure whe the rit willbe his lot to spend the day in the most viole nt e xe rt ionor in lounging in the pavilion . To my mind thise leme nt of unce rtainty is most unple asant the re are time swhenone is posse ssed witha frantic de sire for runningabout

,and the n it is ve ry trying to have to s it still and

watch the activity of othe rs ; e qually annoying is it to becalle d onto go out and fie ld in the hot sun j ust whenonewants to “sport with Amaryll is in the shade .

LAWN 7 E NNIS.

Howe ve r, whe the r the se fe e l ings are share d by othe rs ornot, the re sult has be e n that not only are England, Ire land,and ina le ss degre e Scotland, white with line s of lawntennis courts, but inall the colonie s, inAme rica, in thesouth of France—e ve rywhe re , in short, whe re two or thre eEnglishmen are gathe re d toge the r, the game flourishes andtourname nts abound .

Some place s, in truth, se em to have be e n de signed forthe de le ctation of the lawn- tennis playe r. Le t him go, forinstance , to the Be au Site Hote l at Canne s . The re hewill find the most pe rfe c t courts of sand, whe re the ballbounds as true and as straight as the he art cande sire . H e

canle ave the fogs of a London Christmas be hind him, andfind himse lf in brilliant sunsh ine . H e plays in a love lygarden, surrounde d by a semi- tropical vege tation ; the blue ofthe Med ite rrane an is be ne ath h im, and a few mile s to theWe st rise the he ights of the Este rells. Pe ople say that goodAme ricans whe n the y die go to Paris ; of a ve rity theParad ise of lawn -te nnis playe rs is Canne s .Or ifhe pants for the struggle of a tourname nt, wh e re

canhe spend a more ple asant we e k than at Dublin, i n May%Le thim stay at Kingstown, in a room looking ove r the quie twate rs of the hay, with Howth lifting itse lf ge ntly out of

them inthe d istance . Twe nty minute s by train and five

on a car will bring him to F itz -William Square , wh e re thecourts are a sight to se e . H e will be re ce ive d with trulyIrish hospital ity, and Maste r Courtenay will antic ipate e ve rypossible wish, whe the r it be for re fre shme nt for a th irstysoul or a partne r in the mazy whirl at one of club’s de l ight

fuldance s. The only dange rhe will e ncounte r will be thatof impairing his form by a surfe it of kindne ss . H e willplay surrounde d by hundre ds of Ire land’s faire st daughte rs ;and, whe nhe le ave s, i t will be with the regre t that a we ek

INTRODUCTOR Y.

is so short and that it is so long to ne xt year. And so it isthat lawn te nnis in Ire land is e ve n more popular than inEngland : the re is ve ry l ittle cricke t, the rive rs are unsuite dto boating, and the roads ge ne rally too bad for bicyc l ing ;but

,above all, there i s the gre at advantage of a club l ike the

Fita-William, which occupie s a position and e njoys a re putationin Ire land supe rior e ven to that which the AllEnglandClub has he ld in this country and, in fac t, most of the be stEnglish playe rs are found willing, ye ar by ye ar, to atte ndthe Dublin tourname nt de spite the wave s of St. Ge orge ’sChanne l.Not that the re is any lack of tourname nts on this side

far from it. Why, from the beginning of June to the end of

Se ptembe r the re is a se rie s of the se conte sts at al l the moreimportant towns and wate ring-place s ; at the se aside these ason is incomple te without one and the y are be coming aspote nt in the cause of charity as bazaars and black bishops.Nay

,the re are tobe found pe ople who de plore the fact that

so many tourname nts are he ld,“as be ing like ly to le ad to

profe ssionalism—a tain t from which the game has hithe rtohappily remained fre e—and be tting, which only e xists to ave ry limited e xte nt.

All I cansay is that I se e nothing which warrants sucha conclusion ; undoubtedly the incre ase in the numbe r oftournaments has ve ry much raised, and is still raising thestandard of play, and it would in my view be unwise to

sacrifice so substantial an advantage for what I be l ie vewill prove a me re ly visionary dange r.

CHAPTER II .

THE HISTORY OF TH E GAME.

LAWN tennis, though in its pre se nt form a ve ry mode rnc re ation, has had i ts prototype s in comparative ly d istantage s. In France , in particular, the re e xisted hundreds ofye ars ago, a ve ry similar game called la Bogu s paume . I twas playe d ove r a bank of e arth, 2 ft. high, with a cork ballstruck by the hand. Subse quently, some inge nious pe rsonde vise d an instrume nt of wood and gut, which re ce ived thename of a racke t, and in this shape the game pe ne tratedto England. The scoring was by fifte ens, for some obscurereason which no one

,as far as I know, has be e n able to

d iscove r. So playe d, the game be came ve ry popular in thiscountry, but d ie d out comple te ly some conside rable t imeago, and practically did not re appe ar till the ye ar 18 74,whe n a p astime c lose ly re sembling it was in troduce d byMajor Wingfi eld, unde r the name of sphairistike.

The game , as the major playe d i t, took place in an hourglass court, 60 ft. by 30 ft. , narrowing to 2 1 ft. at the ne t,which was 7 ft. high at the posts and 4ft. 8 in. in themiddle . The se rvice was from a se rvice -box in the middleof the court, and the scoring was the same as in the gameof racke ts. The d isadvantage s of the se rvice -box we re so

'

obvious, that it was shortly abol ished, and the n the gamedaily be came more and more wide ly playe d. But this curiousstate of things arose , that e ve ry playe r made laws for himse lf, and I have be fore me now a se t of laws issue d byGe orge Lambe rt, which, among othe r odd itie s, contains asugge stion that inhandicaps “a cord may be stre tchedbe twe e n the posts at a he ight of 7 ft. or any othe r he ight

THE HISTOR Y OF THE GAME .

agre ed upon”(the normal he ight of the ne t be ing 5“and the give r of odds shall play e ve ry bal l ove r the cord,or lose a stroke .

”

It was not, in fac t, until the ye ar 18 7 7 , whe n the firstchampionship was he ld unde r the auspice s of the All

England Club, that a code of laws in any re spe c t satisfac torywas issue d ; and it was owing to the e ne rgy and fore sight ofone man alone , Mr. He nry Jone s, that the championshipse ve r came into be ing : to him lawn te nnis-p laye rs owe adebt which canne ve r ade quate lybe re paid.

The laws of 18 7 7 we re drawn Up by Mr. He nry Jone s,Mr. C . G. He athcote , and Mr. JulianMarshall (who, for solong and with such succ e ss, manage d the affairs of the AllEngland LawnTe nnis Club), and e stablished the followingimportant change s :

1 . The court was made re c tangular.z . The se rvice - l ine was brought in to a4ft. from the ne t

( it is now c r ft ) .

3 . The ne t was lowe re d to 4ft. 9 in. at the posts and 3 ft.3 in. in the middle .

4. Te nnis scoring was adopted:The se laws, with some few alte rations (se ve ral of which

failed to stand the te st of use ) we re re publishe d in 18 7 8 ,

by the Maryle bone and All England Clubs jointly, ande ndure almost unchanged to this day. The only ame ndme nt which demands anynotice is the lowe ring of the ne tat the posts, in 1883, to 3 ft. 6 in.—a thing which gre atlychange d and, I be lie ve it is gene rally admitted, improve dthe style of play. For this we have mainly to thank Mr

H . F. Lawford.

In addition, the AllEngland Club dre w up “Regulationsfor the Manageme nt of Prize Me e tings,

”which we re unive rsally adopted ; and until almost the othe r day that c lub

LAWN TE NNIS.

was, in right of its se rvice s, the sole arbite r of the game .

I t is not sonow, and I am inde bte d to Mr . Chipp, the ableand e ne rge tic honorary se cre tary of the newLawn Te nnisAssoc iation, for the following account of the ge ne sis andconstitution of that body, which it is to be hoped willpre se rve unimpaired those traditions which have be e nhanded down to it by its predece ssor.

T1113 LAWN TENNIS Assocra'

rroN .

Towards the c lose of the ye ar 18 8 7 , the de sire to se e aLawnTennis Assoc iation institute d begun to assume de finiteshape . The ide a was not a new one . Some ye ars previously an attempt to form anassoc iation had be e n made ,but the time s we re not the n ripe , and i t came to nothing.

Now, howe ve r, i t was fe l t that the game had be come sopopular—one might, inde e d, without e xagge ration say, so

national— that a more truly re pre se ntative gove rning bodythan ye t e xisted was ne eded . The All Englandto whom the game owe s much,had, up to the time re fe rredto, be e n tac itly re cognize d as the le ade rs in lawn-te nnismatte rs ; but the cry now arose for anew king, who shouldbe inve sted with more ample authority and powe r. Accordingly, the first ste ps towards a new orde r of things we retake n inNovembe r, 188 7 , by Me ssrs . H . S. Scrive ne r

(the n Pre side nt of the and G. W. Hillyard.

The se ge ntleme n issued a c ircular inviting support for thesch eme , the re sul t be ing, that on January 26,18 88, a ve rylarge and re pre se ntative gathe ring of playe rs and supporte rsof the game assembled at the Fre emasons’ Tave rn, wi ththe avowed obje ct of forming a LawnTe nnis Assoc iation .

The proposition to carry out this de sign me t with almostunanimous support, and, in spite of a few d isse ntie nt voice s,i t was e vide nt that the obje c t of the me e ting was attained .

THE HISTOR Y OF THE GAME .

A provisional committe e was the n and the re formed, and,be fore the ne xt me e ting was he ld, those who had in thefirst instance Oppose d the ide a we re found to have allowe dbe tte r counse ls to pre vail, and to have joine d the ranksof the Assoc iationists, the comple te succe ss of whose unde rtaking was thus assure d.

For this re sul t the lawn-te nnis world i s mainly indebtedto the Pre side nt of the Hyde Park Mr. Danie lJone s, who is also a promine nt membe r of the AllEnglandL .T.C. This ge ntleman, whose name , in conne c tion with

the game , is “familiar in our months as household words,by his influe nce and tact was e nabled to bring to a succe ssful issue that which, in the hands of any one e lse , wouldprobably have prove d a we ll-nigh hope le ss task . Much asMr. Jone s has done for the game in ye ars past, i t may we l lbe doubted whe the r any se rvice he has ye t rende re d itcanbe looke d upon as so e ntire ly be ne fic ial to all partie sconce rne d as th is, his succe ssful re conc iliation of what at

one time appe are d tobe dive rge nt inte re sts for that whichwould almost ine vitably have e nsue d—a d ivision of thelawn~ te nnis world into two hostile fac tions—was the rebyhappily ave rte d. All lawn- te nnis playe rs are unde r ade e p debt of gratitude to h im for having pre se rve d themfrom such a state of things

, and by none is the debt morefre e ly and fully acknowle dge d than by the write r of the sel ine s. Furthe r, be it he re re corde d, insimple j ustice to themembe rs of the premie r club, that they, having once madecommon cause with the assoc iation, lost no time inpromoting the succe ss of the movement by making ove r to thegove rn ing body any claim the y posse sse d to the copyright ofthe laws and re gulations of the game—a not inconside rableconc e ssion.The first work of the counc il was to issue a se tof rule s, and

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CHAPTER III.

THE DEVELOPMENTOF THE PLAY.

FOR the first few years that lawn te nnis was playe d, andbe fore i t had time to originate a style of i ts own

,those

pe ople who e xce lle d at the kindre d game of racke tsnaturally found the new game came comparative ly e asy tothem

,and had things more or le ss the ir ownway. Mr.

Gore,champion in 18 7 7 , Mr. Hadow, championin18 7 8 ,

Mr. Hartle y,champion in 18 7 9 and 1880

, Mr. Lawfordand Mr. Gould we re all accomplished racke t-playe rs.At that time the only obje ct of a playe r was to re turn the

ball ove r thene t, andhe ne ce ssarily remaine d ne arlyentire lyindiffe re nt to conside rations of pace or plac ing. Volle ying was a thing we ll-nigh unknown ; in fact some pe opleconside re d i t an unge ntlemanly thing to do ; and I we llremembe r playing in a c lub match in the comrtrywhe re oneof the playe rs threw down his racke t and re fused to go onplaying against a low fe llow who insiste d onvolleying hisbe st stroke , a he avily cut te nnis stroke , which had up to

the n be e n regarde d by his fe llow c lub-menas unre turnabl e .

The re sult of this was that a match re solve d itse lf into atrial of pati ence and e ndurance ; the re sts we re of e normousle ngth : in particular I re call a match at Prince ’s be twe e nMr. Lawford and Mr. Lubbock in which the re occurred are st of no le ss than e ighty- thre e stroke s. -With the ne t 4ft.9 in . at the posts, the re was, of course ,not much opportunityfor se ve re stroke s of% the ground, but when, in 18 80, thehe ight was re duced to 4ft. the play be came much faste r.That ye ar was a m emorable one in the annals of lawn

te nnis . I t marks the adoption of the volle y as a winning

LAWN TENNIS.

stroke— first,I think by Mr. Woodhouse , and thenby the

Me ssrs . Re nshaw, wi th whose name that stroke has be e nchie fly and de se rvedly assoc iate d : and i t also marks thebeginning of that rivalry be twe enthe style of the Me ssrs.Re nshaw on the one hand and that of Mr. Lawford on theothe r, the re sult of which canhardly ye tbe e stimate d .

The e ssential diffe re nce be twe e n the se style s may besummed up in this way the re is always a spot inthe courtwhe re a playe r is most at e ase ; a point from which hethinkshe canbe st attack and a lso de fe nd ; a sort of stronghold to whichhe invariably re turns as soon as possible afte rhaving for the mome nt be e n compe lle d to le ave it. Thespot se le cted by Mr. Re nshaw was about a foot be hind these rvice -l ine , that chose n by Mr. Lawford about the base l ine .

I t follows that one style was forme d princ ipally on volle ying and the othe r onback play, and from that time lawntennis playe rs we re d ivide d, broadly spe aking, into two

c lasse s, one adopting one style and the othe r the othe r ; andi t became a matte r of controve rsy as to which style was thewinning one .

For some l ittle time i t se emed as if volle ying from these rv ice -line would be the game of the future . The he ightof the net at the posts (4ft. ) pre ve nte d the base -l ine playe rfrom making anything like a ce rtainty of passing the volleye ralong the side l ine s :he was obliged to hit so ge ntly that thechance s we re gre atly infavour of the volleye r reaching andre turning the stroke . If no change had be e n made in thelaws of the game , i t appe ars probable that hard back playwould have gone out e ntire ly ; and I, for one , think thatthe game would have lost imme nse ly in inte re st and varie ty.

Fortunate ly, howe ve r, as I have alre ady state d, in 1883the ne t was lowe red at the posts to 3 ft. 6 in. The e ffe c tof th is al te ration be came manife st in a ve ry brie f space , and

i t shortly wa'

s pate nt .to e ve ry one that volle ying from these rvice - line could not by itse lf stand against good backplay. The proof was supplie d by the succ e ssion of victorie sobtained by Mr. Lawford ove r Mr.

‘

Erne st Re nshaw in thefirst rank of playe rs, and by the supremacy ofMr. Grinste adin the se cond c lass .That Mr. Will iam Re nshaw ma intaine d as he did his

position is owing to his appre c iation of the changed conditions ; he succe e de d in acquiring a stroke Off the ground,hardly, if at all, surpasse d by any one , which in combinationwith his, at that time , unrivalled powe rs of volle ying made

him the fine st al l-round playe r we are l ike ly to se e for some

time to come . His unfortunate acc ide nt the year be forelast was a loss to the game , and it is to be hoped that thee ffe cts of i t which we re still traceable in his play last ye armay now have vanished.

I t is a curious c ircumstance that for some years the re wasa group of playe rs—Me ssrs . W. and E. Renshaw, Lawford,Richardson, and Browne—who could conce de the Odds offifte e n to any othe r playe r. The re is much le ss diffe re ncebe twe e n, say, the be st twenty playe rsnow, and matche s aremuch more ope n things than the y use d tobe . The e ntrie sfor the championship, at one t ime , I think in 1880

, asnume rous as sixty-four, shrank to about twe nty a couple of

ye ars ago, but are again incre asing in numbe r ; and the reare se ve ral playe rs

,notably Mr. Lewis and Mr. Hamilton,

who have rise n to the first c lass.The game is, in fac t, i t se ems to me , in rathe r a transi

tional state at the pre s ent time . The re is the pre se ntchampion, Mr. Erne st Re nshaw, who re ally, I think, at

taine d his place by his wonde rful skill intossing. The reis Mr. Le wis, now, in the Opinion of many, the fine stvolle ye r of the day ; his game is volleying from quite close

LAWN TE IVNIS.

to the ne t, a position from whichthat stroke is mostde adly.Again, the re is Mr. Hamilton, who re lie s on his great

activity and c e rtainty to re turn ne arly e ve ry ball.Now, whe the r any of the se style s, and, if so, which, is tobe the style Of the future ,no one canve nture to say. For

my own part I shallbe ve ry sorry if it turns out that tossingis to be come a predominant fe ature , as the game must inthat e ve nt prove much le ss attractive both to playe rs andspe ctators.Furthe r on I propose to e xamine more in de tail what I

conce ive to be the advantage s and d isadvantage s of thevarious style s he re alluded to .

CHAPTER IV.

THE COURT.

ONE thing is absolute ly ne ce ssary for a good court, and thatis sufficient space .Not only do the playe rs actually run ve ry far beyond the

l imits of the court, and re quire ple nty of e lbow- room for

that purpose , but the imagination must also be takenintoaccount. Whe n a manis running towards, say, a wallwith his he ad turne d partly away from it

,he is ve ry apt to

fancyhe is much neare r than he re ally is. One Ofte n se e sin a cove re d court a playe r putting outhi s le ft hand to savehimse lf, as he thinks, from dashing against the back wall,whe n, in fac t, he is pe rfe ctly safe ; and this fe e ling Of inse curity is re sponsible for the loss of many stroke s .The large r margin the re i s round the court the - be tte r ;

but at le ast the re should be 12 ft. cle ar on e ach side , and-2 1 (L at e ach end .

BACK-HAND sr aoxz acnoss r uncouar . Page ar.

Dlgmz ed by ( 300316

THE COURT.

Ope n-air courts should runnorth and south, so that thesun maybe as much as possible across the court.The back-ground is a thing not to be negle cte d. The

be st thing to have is a wall of some colour not l ighte r than

the grass, or e lse a de nse mass of shrubs. High tre e s areve ry obj e ctionable ; the y cast shadows ove r the court

, andthe l ight come s through the leave s and branche s in patche s,which is most trying to the e ye s.It is hardly ne ce ssary to say that the court should be

pe rfe ctly le ve l, with no suspic ion of slope ; hard ope n-aircourts—that is, of asphal te or othe r similar mate rial—are

ge ne rally made with a crown to allow for drainage , andthis I pre sume is unavoidable ; but with grass i t is not so.For purpose s of drain ing, a foundation of about a foot ofCinde rs, grave l, or chalk answe rs ve ry we l l ; above this,about six inch e s of soil and the n the turf.It is we ll to remembe r that i t is far be tte r to have turf too

dry than too we t ; the re isno d iffi culty about wate ring a dryground, but if it is insuffic ie ntly drained the re is nothing to

do but to take it up .

I t would be be yond my province to e nte r into de tailsabout laying down courts, but a few words about ke eping

the ground in orde r may notbe out of place .

Playing on a court is far be tte r for i t than me re rolling,but

the re should be no he sitation about re sting it if it begins toge t worn ; trifl ing ine qual itie s maybe re dre ssed by rollingwhe n the ground is damp. Plantains and othe r we e dsshould be cut out with a knife . In the e arly spring thegrass will be much stre ngthe ne d by spre ading some kind of

manure ove r the ground ; if stable manure is use d i t shouldbe thoroughly rotte n .

If worm-casts appe ar they shouldbe bush-harrowe d, which

is much pre fe rable to rolling.

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joists the re sult be ing that the bound of the ball is untrue ,and cannot be re l ie d on . On the othe r hand, howe ve r,wood doe snot swe at.”

The newQue e n’s Club Courts are e ve rything that couldbe wishe d for in the way of spac e and l ight . The onlydoubt with regard to them is whe th e r the floor canbe madequite true . At. pre se nt the woode n blocks of which it iscompose d stick up in place s—slightly, i t is true . but enoughto make a diffe re nce in the bound of a ball hitting one of

the se proje c ting edge s. If this d ifficulty canbe surmounte d,the re will, I think, be no fault at all to find .

CHAPTER V .

THE IMPLEMENTS or THE GAME .

THE ingenuity of man has be e n e xe rc ised to an alarminge xte nt in de vising various kinds of posts. I have no wishto say anything against any of them e xce pt this : I wouldadvise e ve ry one to ste e r cle ar of posts which re quire guyrope s : the y are , it is true , cheape r than othe rs, but the diffe re nc e in price is de arly purchase d at the e xpe nse of constantlyhaving to adj ust the ne t. Anothe r point that should beatte nde d to is that the posts must stand upright in anysoil. One often se e s inwe t we athe r the posts le aning ove r,owing to the pegs, or whate ve r e lse the y are se cure d by,nothaving a firm e nough hold on the ground. Lastly, theposts should not be more than the re gu lation he ight, viz.3 ft. 6 in . One doe s se e occasionally little ornamentale re c tions onthe top of the posts, which, though pe rhapsple asing to the eye , may cause a stroke to be lost by inte rce pting the ball .The re are two sorts of posts of which Ihavehad a good

LAWN TENNIS.

de al of e xpe rie nce , and both of them have satisfied e ve ryreasonable e xpe ctation . The y both have the most convenient contrivance for adjusting the ne t, name ly, thehandle and ratche t, the cord of the ne t passing ove r agroove or pulle y at the top of the post.One is called the Cave nd ish post (made by Ayre s), and

has a long foot on the inside of the post i t is ke pt fast bye ithe rT- shaped pins, or, what is be tte r for a light soil, a bigscrew with a ve ry thick worm .

The othe r, Gardine r’s c lub post, has a socke t, l ike a

pie ce of gas-piping rathe r ove r a foot long, in’

the ground,and the bottom of the post fits into this. One advantageis that the post may be l ifte d out and the ground mownwithout moving the socke t.The ne t should be tarre d to ke e p it from rotting, and it

is most e sse ntial that the re should be along the top a binding of white canvas about two inche s broad.

The re should be a stay in the middle to ke e p the ne tat the right he ight (3 ft. ) the be st kind, I think, is a bandpassing ove r the top. Iron rods we re forme rly used, butnot only did the y te ar the ne t, but a bal l hitting the topwould go in all sorts of d ire ctions.I t is most important to have the ve ry be st balls : to play

with a bad ball isno prac tic e at all, e xce pt for the tempe r,and ce rtainly no ple asure : and ye t it is the commone stthing in the world for pe ople at lawn- tennis partie s toproduce without a blush article s which canonly bycourte sy be called balls at all. I confe ss, I fe e l somewhat strongly onthis subje c t, and I penthe se l ine s withthe hope that the y may me e t the e ye s of some of the se , fromwhose malpractice s so many lawn-te nnis playe rs havesuffe re d , and may stir up re solutions to sin in this wayat any rate no more .

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THE IMPLEME NT% OF THE GAME .

Balls must be tre ated with some conside ration ; the ymust not be ke pt in cold damp cupboards, and if the yare once touched by the frost, the y are use le ss. As a rule ,balls of a pre vious season are no good. The only ballsnow use d are unde rsewn, and i t is only just to say he rethat the cre dit of e ffe c ting this improvement is due to

Ayre s. The re has . late ly be e n a controve rsy as to thecomparative me rits of the balls of various make rs, intowhich I do not propose to e nte r ; I me re ly re cord my owne xpe rie nce , which is that I have ne ve r tried any balls whichI liked so we ll as Ayre s’.Uncove red balls are an abomination .

As regards racke ts the re are many snare s cunninglybaite d for the unwary purchase r. The re are rac

‘

ke ts withdoubly or e ve n trebly twisted gut ; with square he ads andoblong heads ; with flute d handle s

,cork handle s, and

le athe r handle s ; with grips for the hand, and with littlemachine s for marking the score . Le t him e schew all such.

It is e sse ntial that the gut should be good, the handleplain wood e ithe r round or oc tagonal , the splice we l l fitting,and the hoop fre e from knots, with the grain going allround. Just above the spl ice is whe re a racke t ge ne rallygoe s first, and i t is wise to se e that that part is not too thin.

The n some tim e s one se e s , inste ad of the splice fitting e xactly,the re is an inte rval be twe e n it and the body of the racke t,fi lled up with some thing which looks like putty. Such aracke t will be nearly c e rtainto spring afte r the first few

hard stroke s . A racke t should not be strung too tightly ;one cange ne rally te ll at onc e whe the r the stringing is tooloose , but it is ne c e ssary to play with a racke t half a doze ntime s or so be fore one canfe e l whe the r the re is suffic ie nt“give ”in the strands to make i t a good drive r. The re isone make r inparticular I have in my m ind— it would be

C

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hardly fair to me ntionhis name—whose racke ts are andremainl ike boards, so tight are the y, and notanounce ofdrive canone ge t out of th em.

As far as we ight goe s, I think myse lf r4% oz . to r4% oz.is heavy e nough for any one ; ve ry few good playe rs playwith a racke t he avie r than r4% oz. Of course it is le ss e xe rtionto hit a ball hard with ’ a h eavie r racke t, but the e xtrastrain onthe wrist inwie ld ing it, and the d ifficulty in manipalating it quickly turn the scale the othe r way. A racke t l ighte rthanr4% oz. would not stand the te st of se ve re play.The balance is an important fac tor ; a badly balanced

racke t has the disadvantage s of a much he avie r or l ighte rracke t without its advantage s. Some playe rs l ike the irracke ts to balance at the screw, but as d iffe re nt make rs(and some time s e ve n the same make rs) put the scre w ind iffe re nt place s, this is not an infallible te st. The wayI have always found to work we ll, is to hold the racke tloose ly by the but, and je rk or swing it up and down ; ifi t come s up with d ifficulty

, the he ad is too heavy ; if tooe asily, it is too l ight.This may be conside re d rathe r a rule -of-thumb me thod,

but I am re ally unaware of any be tte r plan.

A racke t ought to be ke pt in a pre ss in a dry place , ifpre se rving it is any obj e c t ; for my own part, although itmaybe fancy, a racke t of the pre vious season ne ve r se emsto me to be quite what it should be .Inshape , racke ts have changed wonde rfully in the past

few ye ars ; and nowadays racke ts are ge ne rally straight orve ry nearly so. A curve onthe inne r or lowe r side of theracke t may pe rhaps assist the swing and ke e p it steady, buti t must be ve ry slight, so as not to mate rially change theposition of the middle , which is always the part that shouldm e e t the ball.

LATE BACK-HAND sr aoxe . Page ar.

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THE STROKE .

For the las t nin e years the be st playe rs, almost withoute xce ption, have got the i r racke ts from Tate ; and I ambound to say that, having tried racke ts from many othe rmake rs, I have ne ve r found any as good. At the same time ,the re are make rs, whose racke ts are sound, se rvice ableartic le s, who do not charge so much for them .

Most pe ople on a dry ground or a“hard”court use

brown le athe r or buck-skinshoe s with thick, smooth , redrubbe r sole s. The y last animme nse time , give a surefoothold, be side s be ing not uncomfortable . I must own apre fe re nce for the ordinary canvas shoe with a ribbed sole ,onaccount of its e xtreme l ightne ss. It is, howe ve r, notorname ntal, and some pe ople find it too thin .

If the grass is at all we t or e ve n damp, ste e l points shouldbe use d. The y are short nails drive n in so that only thesquare he ads protrude . With ste e l points some find itpre fe rable to we ar boots, as be ing le ss tiring to the ankleandnot re ally ve ry much he avie r than shoe s.The '

remaining article s of attire may be le ft to thed iscre tion and taste of the individual playe r.

CHAPTER VI.

THE STROKE.

THE importance of posse ssing a good stroke cannot e asilybe ove rrated ; a man may have great agil ity, powe rs of

endurance , and a good eye , and ye t ifhe has a bad strokehe may ne ve r be come anything more than a mode rate playe r.The first thing

,of course , is to know how to hold the

racke t. Dr. Dwight,inhis work on lawnte nnis, has

e xpre sse d the Opinion that it is ve ry ne ce ssary so to hold

the racke t that the grip maybe the same for fore hand and

LAWN TENNIS.

backhand stroke s. In this I am bound to say I do notagre e with him. The time take n up by changing the gripis infinite simal , and with practice be come s pure ly me chanical.The re is, I think, only one we ll-known playe r who doe snotchange his grip ; and I am firmly pe rsuaded that with anunchange d grip the re is le ss powe r of hitting, and more ove rthe racke t is pre vented from me e ting the ball full, that is tosay, without causing a twist. To put twist on a strokeis to sacrifice powe r without obtaining any corre spondingadvantage , those stroke s only e xce pted whe re i t is de siredthat the ball should drop clOse to the ne t.For the se re asons I strongly re commend that whe n the

racke t strike s the ball i t should do so without any horizontalmoveme nt from side to side and, with this vie w, the wayI would sugge st that the racke tbe he ld is as followsTake the racke t in the le ft hand by the splice , the blade

be ing verticaland the handleliorz

’

zontal the n, for thefore hand stroke (the figurebe ing a ve rtical se ction Of

the handle ), the base Of theright hand will just ove rlap

B the but ; the knuckle of thethumb will be at A, theknuckle of the fore finge r atB, the be nd of the firstjoint of the forefinge r atC, and of the se cond joint.at D ; the first joint will

slope towards the blade , the othe r joints away from theblade the thumb will slope ve ry slightly towards the blade ,i ts last joint jutting out from the handle ; the first joints Ofthe othe r finge rs will lie across the handle at right angle s.

BACK-HAND STROKE DOWN THE SIDE-LINE .

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THE STROKE .

For the backhand stroke , the knuckle of the thumb willbe at a ; the knuckle of thefore finge r atb; and the be ndof the first joint at c : theslope of the finge rs will bee xactly the same as inthe forehand stroke : in fac t the changefrom the forehand to the backhand stroke is simply turningthe hand back in the d ire c tionOf the body, through rathe rmore than a right angle .

The racke t shouldbe graspe das firmly as possible if it i sinte nde d to make a se ve re stroke : i t may be he ld moreloose ly for a ge ntle one .

Whe n about to make a fore hand stroke , the fe e t shouldbe apart, the le ft foot be ing slightly in front ; the racke t isswung back be hind the shoulde r to an e xte nt varying withthe stre ngth of the stroke inte nde d to be made , the we ightof the body be ing on the right foot ; in the act of strikingthe we ight is transfe rre d to the le ft foot, the body is be ntforward, and the le ft kne e is be nt. Some time s a ste pforward is take n with the le ft foot, but I am incl ine d tothink that the stroke is more accurate without it.For the backhand stroke the right foot is in front ; the

body is turned sideways to allow a cl e ar swing for the armthe we ight is first on the le ft foot

,and the n transfe rred to

the right.The le ft arm should be ke pt quie t, and not wave d about

in the air.The ball may be , and some time s must be take n at all

sorts of diffe re nt he ights, but the one which lends itse lf

LAWN TE NNIS.

be st to a good stroke is from about two fe e t to a foot anda half from the ground, whe n the ball is falling. Theposition of the arm and racke t will, of course , vary with

the he ight at which the ball is take n .

I think it was Mr. Lawford who inve nted the form of strokenow most in vogue and which give s the happie st re sults for thestrike r. The ball is struck at such a he ight that the head ofthe racke t is not above the shoulde r ; and inste ad of a plainblow be ing give n to the ball, the racke t, as i t we re , take shold of the ball by moving al ong its surface in a ve rticald ire c tion . This is done by a sl ight turnof the wrist.The re sult is two-fold. The ball re volve s forward on a

horizontal axis, thus leaving the ground at a gre ate r ve loc ityand an acute r angle than if i thad re ce ived an ordinary blow.

Also i t is possible to strike the ball with much more force ,and to drive i t much ne are r the top of the ne t.In making this stroke , the arm mustbe rathe r stiff.Afte r knowing how to strike the ball, the ne xt point is to

acquire what is known as a good length—that is to say, thepowe r of prope ll ing the ball to a '

point as ne ar the Oppositebase - l ine as possible .

The advantage s of this are e normous .If a ball struck with a ce rtain force drops, say, within a

foot of the bas e - l ine , it is almost impossible for a man tomake a stroke Off i t which his oppone nt will be unableto re turn not only is the re the d iffi cult task of making theball trave l a long d istance , but the time which must e lapsegive s the Oppon e nt a ve ry good chance of re aching hisr e turn . One may ofte n se e a playe r who goe s plodding on,re turning e ve ry ball into the back of the opposite court,de fe at anothe r whose style is far more brilliant and takingto the eye , but whose stroke s fall comparative ly short.Good le ngth is the most important branch of the art of

THE STROKE .

plac ing ; which consists of putting the ball in that part ofthe court which is most inconve nie nt for the opponent tore ach, and whichhe le ast e xpe c ts .And now arise s the que stion, What is the be st way to le arn

the stroke %Fortunate ly or unfortunate ly the re are no profe ssionals at

lawn te nn is, or at any rate the y are so few in numbe r thatthe y may be le ft out Of account, so that the re is no chanceof regular te aching of the game and in a ge ne ral way it ispicke d up at haphazard . The ine vitable re sult is that habitsare forme d which it will take much trouble and more t imeto ge t rid of.

The truth is, that if any one wants to do a thing we ll ,hemust make up his mind to unde rgo a ce rtain amount of

drudge ry and discomfort ; and lawn tennis is no e xce ptionto th is rule .

Some pe ople , whe n the y begin the game , find it d ifficul tto hit the bal l with the racke t at all. Insuch e xtremecase s I agre e with the advice that has be e n give n be fore bywrite rs on the game , name ly, to play against a wall untilthe re is no more me re be ating of the air. I do not,howe ve r, think that, be yond this, much advantage canbe gotfrom this re c ipe , and I attach much importance to thefamiliarity with the le ngth of the court and the he ight ofthe ne t, which canonly be obtaine d by actual play orattempts to play. The whole some fe e ling of emulation, too,which is cause d by playing some one be tte r is a conside rablestimulus ; but i t is we ll to be ar in mind that it doe s notfollow that, be cause the othe r playe r is be tte r, his style ispe rfe ct or one which cansafe ly be copie d. Watching re allygood play is a gre at assistance , and also inviting c ritic ism ,

(which wil lbe fre e ly give n) from pe ople who unde rstand thegame .

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FORE-%ANDVOLLEY DOWN THE SIDE -LINE.

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THE VOLLE Y.

faste r than the hand, and a stroke l ike an ove rhand off-theground stroke is made . This I should call a hit-volle y.

With the se push-volle ys a great accuracy of plac ing canbe Obtained both along the l ine s and across the court

,but

Occasion for them arise s comparative ly se ldom . Allvolleyswhich are made with the blade of the racke t be low theshoulde r are much e asie r backhand than fore hand, e xce ptthose which are ve ry low down infront of the body, andthe re is no time to step aside . Ge n e rally spe aking, the re isa longe r re ach backhand than fore hand. Whe n taking alow volle y backhande d it is ne ce ssary to stoop conside rably,othe rwise i t i s impossible to l ift the ball ove r the ne t.Pe rhaps the most use ful volle ys at the pre sent day are

those short across the court from c lose to the ne t, e ith e rfore or back-hande d . The blade of the racke t is a l ittleh ighe r thanthe hand, and by a sharp turn of the wrist me e tsthe ball at an angle . The y are ve ry diffi cult stroke s to ke e pin court, but whe n succ e ssful are most de adly. Any onewho wishe s to se e them done to a nice ty should watch theplay of Mr. Lewis.A form of volle y which is pe culiarly assoc iate d with thename of Renshaw is the smash. I t consists of volleying ah igh ball with a ve ry fre e arm and a conside rable swing ;the whole motion of the arm is ve ry like that which take splace in throwing a cricke t-ball. It is a ve ry showy stroke ,but canonlybe use d with any safe ty quite c lose to the ne t.Some time s i t is ne ce ssary to le ap into the air with both fe e tOff the ground, and strange ly e nough whe n this is done thestroke is ne arly always succe ssful, though I hOpe it w il lnotbe infe rre d from this that I me an to sugge st le aping into theair as a pol icy to be vague ly adopte d in gene ral . Butcommonly, inde e d, an e qually good stroke canbe madewithmuch le ss e xpe nditure of stre ngth and far le ss risk

LAWN TE NNIS.

by volleying the ball to one side - line or the othe r fairlyhard and within the se rvice -line

‘

if the oppone nt is at theback of the court, or far back ifhe is close up. The sehard ove rhand stroke s are ve ry difficult to make backhandedwith any de gre e of ce rtainty.Anothe r ve ry use ful form of volle y, but which one ve ry

se ldom se e s, is an unde rhand volley from the back of thecourt of a fall ing ball. The ball is struck ve ry hard, thearm be ing stiff, just as in the unde rhand drive . The wristmust be ke pt ve ry stiff, othe rwise the force of the blow willforce the blade of the racke t down . I t can, I think, onlybe attempte d fore hand with any hop e of succe ss.The re is anothe r somewhat unusual volle y, but one ve ry

use ful onan eme rge ncy or to save time , which may becal le d lob-vol le y. The ball is volleye d ge ntly up into theair e ithe r whe n the oppone nt is close up to the ne t or whe ntime is re quire d to ge t back into position .

Lastly must be me ntione d a volle y which was e xte nsive lyused by that ve ry fine playe r, Mr. Chatte rton, now unfortunate ly lost to the ranks of lawnte nnis. It may becalled the drop-volley. I t is made within thre e yards of thene t, and, if succe ssful, the ball drops de ad just on the othe rside . The blade of the racke t is ve rtically upwards , andimm ed iate ly be fore contac t with the bal l it is drawn back,the wrist be ing pe rfe ctly stiff. I have n e ve r se e n it donee xc e pt on the fore hand, but the re is no re ason that I canse e why it should notbe done onthe backhand also.

BACK-HAND HALF NEAR THE NET.

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CHAPTER vm .

THE HALF-VOLLElf.

To half-volle y a ball is to take i t just as it i s le aving theground. It ’ is a somewhat unce rtain not to say fluky stroke ,and the re fore gre at care must be take n in using it. As aru le i t is be tte r e ithe r to go forward and volle y the ball orto ste p back and take i t off the ground ; some time s,howe ve r, the re is e ithe r no time for e i the r of the se course s orthe advantage to be obtaine d by a s ucce ssful half-volle y isso gre at that it is wise r to run the risk. If i t is de sire d tose nd the ball up high—for instance , if the Oppone nt is at thene t—the blade Of the racke t should be in front of the hand ;that is, the racke t should le anfrom the ground away from .

the ne t : but if i t is wished to ke e p the ball down , the reshould be a ve ry slight slope the othe r way.If a ball has passe d the playe r on the forehand side ,he

may re turn it with ahalf-volle y by stooping down low,

balanc ing himse lf on his le ft foot with arm outstre tche d andracke t horizontal ; i f on the backhand side ,he should ste pacross with his right foot, turn ing his back to the ne t. Theposition of the racke t will vary with the place whe re theball strike s the ground (ti e . e ithe r some d istance from, or

c lose to the body) from hori zontalto ve rtical, the latte r be ingane xce e dingly d ifficult stroke .

The half-volle y, too, is ve ry use ful occasionally in a re stof volleys whe re one drops short a quick low half-volle y toone l ine or the othe r will ofte n win the stroke .

Akin to the half-vol le y is the rising ball—also a stroke notentire ly tobe re l ie d upon . The ball must almostbe allowedto me e t the racke t if it is going hard, as if more than a

28 LAWN TENNIS.

slight impulse be give n the ball w ill infallibly fly out Of

court. This is a use ful stroke some time s, as it take s theOppone nt by surprise . It is not quite so unce rta in as thehalf-volle y, for, the bal l having comple ted part Of i ts bound,its dire c tion may be more accurate ly conje cture d. No

rule cansafe lybe laid down as to how to hold the racke tfor e ithe r of the se stroke s : the position of the finge rs andthe tightne ss or loose ne ss of the grip must be le ft to theinspiration of the mome nt, and will be gove rne d by theattitude which the playe r will find himse lf oblige d to assume .

At time s, inde e d, to gain an e xtra inch of re ach in a half

volley, the l ittle finge r will be outside the but, and thehandle will only be graspe d by thre e finge rs and the thumb .

In such c ircumstance s, howe ve r, the stroke is e vidently a .

sort of forlornhOpe .

CHAPTER IX.

THE LOB.

THE lob is stric tly spe aking a slow stroke , and i t followsthat to trave l any d istance it must rise highe r in the airthana fast stroke .

Till within the last two ye ars it was only use d for twopurpose s— e ithe r to pass ove r the he ad of the man at the ne t,in which case it was not ne ce ssary that i t should go ve ryhigh into the air, or, se condly, to gain time whe n ina difficulty in the latte r case the highe r the ball is se nt, ofcourse ,the more time is gaine d, and, be side s, the more d ifficult is itto volle y.Highlobbing ina wind re quire s e xce ptional j udgme nt.If the sunis inthe opponent's e ye s,he will ge ne rallybe

oblige d to take the ball off the ground. As it is much more

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THE SER VICE . 29

d ifficult to volle y a high lob backhande d than fore handed,whe re the re is a possibility of choosing, i t is be tte r tovolle y into the backhand corne r. Some pe ople find ite asie r to lob forehand, and some backhand.

As I have me ntioned be fore , howe ve r, the re i s now ad istinc t lobbing game . If the Oppone nt is a man who playsback ve ry we ll, ifhe has a se ve re stroke off the ground, thetactics the lobbe r follows are simply to ke e p on re turningthe ball gently to the back of the court. The Oppone ntmay, pe rhaps,be making ve ry fine stroke s, but if the lobbe rhas, agili ty and ce rtaintyhe will be able ge ne rally to re turnthem,

and the re sult, too ofte n, as I think, is that the hardhitte r kills himse lf, so to spe ak, by h itting the ball into thene t or out of court.This form of game was rampant dur1ug the se ason of

1 888 . I t has be e n said, and i t maybe so, that this arosefrom the ve ry we t and de ad state of the courts throughoutthe summe r, and that this game would not succe ed onafast dry ground. Time alone cante ll. Possibly

,too,

anoth e r remedy could be found in volle ying the lobhardunde rhand—a stroke which, I be l ie ve , will some day beconside rably deve lope d.

CHAPTER X.

THE SERVICE.

ITis a curious thing that the se rvice ge ne rally is so ve ry bad.

The numbe r Of playe rs who have a good se rvice canbec ounte d on one ’s finge rs, and e ve n to them it is ve ry ofte na disadvantage to se rve : the ir se rvice varie s far more thanthe re st of the ir game . One day a playe r may re ally makemany stroke s by his se rvice , and the ne xt dayhe will hardly

30 LAWN TENNIS.

have one first se rvice which is not a fault. And, inspiteof this admitte d fac t, one he ars of some pe ople who wantto abolish the first fault. The y forge t that, nominally e ve n ,the re is only about a quarte r of the court to se rve into, andthat in fac t the space whe re a fast se rvice candrop is limite dto a strip of ce rtainly not more than two fe e t broad alongthe se rvice -l ine . Fortunate ly, howe ve r, the re doe s not se emthe le ast chance Of such a change be ing made in the laws ofthe game .

No doubt the fe e l ing that if one fails with one ’s firstse rvice one has anothe r to fal l back on, tends to make onesomewhat care le ss, and to le ad one to attempt a muchharde r se rvice than the re is much probabili ty of succe e dingwith : and also the pre sent system cause s a ce rtain e xpenditure of time ; but the n the re is no occas ion for playing thegame at railroad spe e d, and e ve ry one who has playe d ase ve re match remembe rs how, at some pe riod of the game ,he snatche d at e ve ry e xcuse for a short pause . I confe ss thatIdo not myse lf think that the re is the smalle st ground ford iscontent with the pre sent state of things, nor have I he ardany single playe r of any e xpe rie nce e xpre ss a d iffe rentview .

The form of se rvice almost unive rsally used is the ove rhand se rvice ; but . l ike most othe r stroke s, i t maybe

’

playe dina varie ty of diffe rent ways . Some playe rs se rve with atwist, othe rs without ; some with racke ts raise d to the ful lstre tch of the arm, othe rs with the arm half bent ; some swingthe ir racke ts up and downbe fore striking , afte r the manne rof a pump-handle . Infac t so much doe s taste in se rvic evary that doubtle ss a philosophe r could te l l from a particularse rvice what manne r of manhe was who de l ive re d it .By the new law both fe e t must be k ept behind

the l ine whe n se rving ; a running start is not allowe d, but

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THE SE R VICE . 3 1

only one foot ne e d be actually onthe ground at themome nt the ball is struck .

Some li ttle pre l iminary swing is ge ne rally ne ce ssary be forethe racke t is brought back to strike . The ball is the nthrown up to the he ight at which it is de sired to strike it

,

rathe r to the right of the body and on a le ve l with itthat is to say, not in front of i t. If one analyze s one ’smotions while se rving, i t appe ars that the we ight of thebody passe s from one foot to the othe r se ve ral time s,swaying as if in a balance until just be fore the mome nt ofstriking, whe n it is finally thrown ove r to the le ft foot to giveimpe tus to the blow ; the right foot is the n ge ne rally lifte dup, the re be ing now no rule to pre vent this .I t is a moot point whe the r a playe r will find i t worth

his while to se rve with all his strength or not. My ownide a is, that the vast majority of playe rs ne ve rge t a suffic ientnumbe r of ve ry fast se rvice s ove r the not all right, that iswithout be ing faults, to re pay them for the trouble ande xe rtion be side s which the y, having to re cur to the se condse rvice , start the re st at a disadvantage in most instance s .What I would the re fore sugge st is, that any playe r whohone stly fe e ls that his chance of se rving a ve ry fast se rviceright is sle nde r, should try and cul tivate a mode rate se rvicewith a good le ngth, a quality which is as important inse rvice as in othe r stroke s. The re sult willbe that althoughhis se rvice will ne ve r be suchthat a good playe r ought notto re turn it, ye t i t will be comparative ly d ifficult to make astroke off, andhe will find his se cond se rvice imme asurablyimprove d, owing to the gre ate r s imilarity the re will bebe twe e n them . I t will be found advisable to strikethe ball from as high a point as possible , so that it maybound far back into the court . Also it is be tte r to se rve ,as a rule , to the oppone nt’s back hand, e spe c ially from the

32 LAWN TE NNIS.

backhand court ; from the othe r court a fast se rvice inthe forehand l ine drive s the Oppone nt some way out of thecourt, and give s a chance of plac ing the ball out of hisre ach down the othe r line at the ne xt stroke . A se rvic e

down the middle of the court some time s may take theoppone nt unaware s, and thus win a stroke .A form of ove rhand se rvice which is re comme nded by

Dr. Dwight, and which I have he ard favourably me ntionedby some playe rs, is called the re ve rse se rvice . The ball isnot thrown up to an appre ciable e xte nt, but he ld at thehe ight of the face , slightly to the le ft and infront : theracke t strike s i t with a twist from le ft to right. Theadvantage s claime d for i t are that i t doe snot bound so highas othe r se rvice s, and that it is e asie r to se rve against thesun . This se rvice is hardly e ve r se e n, and, although it mayshow a gre at lack of ente rprise , I must confe ss to ne ve rhaving trie d it ; but I cannot say I am fully alive to theallege d difficultie s of re turning it.The unde rhand se rvice , which may be e ithe r fore oi back

hand, is ve ry little used nowadays, but it is some time s agood thing as a change . On the fore hand

, the racke t ishe ld with the he ad downwards, and swung obl ique ly fromright to le ft, me e ting the ball—which is droppe d to the rightand in front of the body—so as to impart a twist from rightto le ft. At the mome nt of striking, the racke t is incl ine dto the ve rtical at an angle of about forty-five de gre e s.The backhand se rvice is similar. The fore hand se rviceshould be from the backhand court to the opposite corne r,and the backhand se rvice from the fore hand court. Theadvantage the se se rvice s posse ss is that the twist carrie sthe ball onthe bound Outside the Oppone nt

’s court, and,to a ce rtaine xte nt, d isturbs his position. But, as I havealre ady said, they must only be use d as a change , as a continuance the y are too fe e ble for words .

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THE SINGLE GAME . 33

As to the se cond se rvice , l ittle more ne edbe said thanthat it should on no account be a fault. The care withwhich it must be de live red pre ve nts inmost case s anyre fineme nt of plac ing ; but, as far as possible , it is we ll tose nd it to the oppone nt’s backhand, and as ne ar the se rvicel ine as it is safe to try for.

CHAPTER X'

I.

THE SINGLE GAME.

1 Sales of Play .

I t is ve ry much a matte r of chance with most playe rswhat style of play the y take up. In part, no doubt, i t isde te rmine d by natural inc lination and capac ity, but, e xce ptwi th pe ople of suffic ie nt original ity and inde pe nde nce tostrike out a l ine for themse lve s, the persons a manhabitually plays with in practice to all inte nts and purpose sform his game . Of course the be st way is to play withpe ople Of as many d iffe re nt style s as possible , if the obje c tis to be come a good all-round playe r ; but as many of usplay, partly at any rate , for ple asure , we naturally playmore with our frie nds than withpe ople we only knowsl ightly, and in conse que nce faults and pe culiari tie s be comeste re otyped. A gre at reme dy for stagnation of this de scriptionis to play as much as possible in tourname nts ;one me asure s one ’

s . self against playe rs of e ve ry hue andshade , and one alwayshas the satisfaction of knowing, whatve ry ofte n is not the case in pract ice game s, that both side sare playing the ir le ve lbe st.I have alre ady adve rted, brie fly, to the d iffe re nt style s of

play in vogue just now, and I he re re pe at that i t is no usefor a manto re ly sole ly onvolle ying, or sole ly on back-play

D

34 LAWN TENNIS.

-he .mustbe able to do both ; but whe the r h is back-play isto be hard or lobbing, and whe the r h is volleying is to befrom the ne t or the se rvice -line , are questions which cannotbe d isposed of in an e qually summary manne r. The advantage s of lobbing are that it is le ss risky, and, be ing slowe r, give smore time to run up to volle y whe n the Opportunity occurs .Again, the playe r, not be ing oblige d to stand so firmly onthe ground (what has be e n called “fix”himse lf ) , he isbe tte r able to start inone d ire ction or the othe r. Thisgame , howe ve r, re quires ane xce ptional amount Of ac tivity.Hard back-play, no doubt, ve nture s more ; but, the n, the reis more chanc e of a positive win, not me re ly by the Oppone ut’s mistake , but by the e xce lle nce of the stroke itse lf ;e ve n if the stroke is re turned, i t will be comparative lyge ntly, and may give an e asy chance for a winning stroke .Furthe r, i t is a more inte re st ing game to play ; but, the n,i t is impossible to play it with any succe ss unle ss theground is in almost pe rfe ct condi tion—ou a we t court

,for

instance , it i s hope le ss, or ne arly so.

My own view, for what i t is worth, is that the latte r gameought to be the winning one ; that is to say, a manwhoplayed it as we ll as it could be played would be at a manwho was as good a game as possible in the othe r style . I toccurs to me that I should he re say that whe n, in a pre viouschapte r, I stated that Mr. Erne st Re nshawhad a ttained tothe position of champion mainly by the lobbing game , Idid not me an to sugge st—as it would be contrary to thefact—that he had not a ve ry fast off-the -ground stroke ; al lI me an is that, in the c lose st matche s he has playe d in thelast two ye ars,he has found the lobbing game pay be st toadoptAs be twee n the two '

forms of volleying, the case standsthus : i t is e asie r to ge t to the se rvice -l ine than to thene t,

THE SINGLE GAME . 3 ;

but,whenthe re , the re is not so good a chance of killing the

ball ; at the se rvice - l ine i t is le ss l ike ly that a bal l should betosse d ove r the playe r’s he ad, andhe is not so l ike ly to takea ball which is going out of court : on the othe r hand

,

the man at the ne t cove rs far more of the court, and is not

so l ike ly tobe passe d, but the latte r game is a more e xhausting one . On the balance of probabil i tie s my own impre ssionis that the se rvice -l ine volleye r doe s not stand such a goodchance as a volleye r some way ne are r the ne t. I cannotflatte r myse lf that my views on the se que stions are l ike ly tohave much we ight, but i t se emed to me that it would betimorous to shrink from e xpre ssing them .

The conc lusionI come to, the n, rs this—that the be stgame is that which combine s hard back-play with volle yingat the ne t. To put the matte r in a more concre te formcombine Mr. Lawford

's back-play with Mr. Lewis’s volle ying and you willbe fad/epr inceps.

I t i s ve ry difficult to dogmatize about the be st place tose rve from,

but,ge ne rally Spe aking, I should be incl ined to

say about a yard from the middle of the base l ine . Some of

the fine st playe rs, howe ve r, se rve with gre at e ffe ct fromne are rthe middle ; othe rs se em to like the forehand corne r. If aplaye r is se rving with the wind, i t i s a good thing to se rvefrom the corne r, othe rwise he will be apt to se rve faultson the othe r hand, if the wind is against him, se rving fromthe middle willbe be tte r, as the ball will not have to trave l

If the first se rvice i s a se ve re one and come s off,he maype rhaps be able to volle y the re turn ; but he should notstart running to the ne t, as a rule , until he has some ide awhe re the ball i s coming to. Having de l ive re d a hardse rvice , i t take s him a mome nt or two to re cove r his balance ,

36 LAWN TENNIS.

so thathe will be unable to ge t e stablished ina favourableposition to volle y be fore the ball is struck by his oppone nt,and he wil l probably e ithe r be passed outright or make apoor stroke and lose the n e xt. If, on the othe r hand,hewaits, then, if the re turn is in the nature of a lob,he mayvolle y it e ithe r into the backhand corne r or sharply acrossthe court whiche ve r side ofhim i t come s. Eithe r Of the sestroke s would be difficul t for the oppone nt to make muchof. But if the re turn is too low to volle y, supposing i t come sto the playe r’s fore hand, he may e ithe r re turn it in thed irec tion it came but at an acute r angle (which is a ve rye ffe ctive stroke , e spe c ially if short though fast), or e lse downthe opponent’s backhand l ine , following it up to the ne t.Supposing the ball has come to the playe r’s backhand, hemay

, if the oppone nt has come up to volle y, pass him downhis forehand l ine . This stroke , howe ve r, is a ve ry d ifficul tone , and ge ne rally it will be e asie r to pass him across thecourt . If the playe r canstrike the ball so as to drop withinthe se rvic e - l ine and close to the side l ine , so much the be tte r,onlyhe must remembe r that if his re turn is not cross e noughhe is ce rtain to lose the stroke and, for my ownpart, I wouldalways rathe r se nd the ball out of court than give my Oppone nt a ce rtain winning stroke . Of course , if the playe r fe e lsdoubtful about doing e ithe r Of the se stroke s, he may alwayslob. I have he re assumed that the oppone nt has come up

to volle y : ifhe has not, the re turn, though of the same nature ,would notbe so difficult.

If the first se rvice is a fault, afte r se rving again the bestplace to go is

,

about a yard outside the middle of the backl ine , the re to await e ve nts . Ona fast court with a hardback-playe r against one i t is safe r to go e ven furthe r back,as it is much e asie r to run forward than back, be side s which

“SMASH (no.

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case s should, follow up his stroke to the ne t to volle y there turn ; if i t take s the form of an attempt to pass himon his fore hand,he should volle y it across the court so asto drop as ne ar the ne t as possible , unle ss he canse e theoppone nt running that way, in which case it is some time swise to volle y back down the same l ine ; always, howe ve r,remembe ring that if the cross volle y is made at a suffic ie ntlyacute angle to the ne t, i t is practically unre turnable .

Similarly,if the re turn of his first stroke is across the court

to his back hand. If, howe ve r, this re turn is a good onethat is, quite c lose to the corne r of the ne t—the volle y downthe backhand l ine should have the pre fe re nce , and if i t hastobe l ifte d ove r the ne t, it must e ithe r be hard e nough tore ach the back of the court or soft e noughonly just to dropove r the ne t. Lastly, if he has to deal witha lob, heshould volle y it as hard ashe caninto the opposite corne r,howe ve r far backhe maybe whe n he hits it . I be lieve tohit a lob hard, whate ve r its he ight has be e n, is me re ly aque stion of practice and de te rmination. Of course , if thelob is a bad one , it i s wise r to e conomize one ’s stre ngth ,provide d the re is a re asonable ce rtainty of plac ing the ballout of the opponent’s re ach .

I have assumed that the playe r will be able to take these rvice on the forehand, but the same remarks will applyto the backhand stroke down the line , with this addition,that, with a high-bounding se rvice ne ar the ne t, i t ispossible j ust to drop the ball ove r close to the l ine . Thisstroke is more e asily e ffe cte d with a twist, and the playe rmust bear in mind that an attempte d short stroke whichgoe s too far is practically making the opponent a pre sent ofa stroke .

(5) Ac ross the court. A ve ry diffi cult but e xce e dingly

de adly mode of doing this stroke use d tobe d isplayed by

TIIE SINGLE GAME . 39

Mr. William Re nshaw. The se rvice was re turned hardto the Opposite side l ine , if anything rathe r ne are r to thene t than the se rvice -l ine . For this, i t i s ne ce ssary to put agre at de al of what is some time s called stuff on the ball,Othe rwise it will fly out of court. The more usual strokeis to drive the ball to the Opposite side l ine be twe e n thebase and se rvice -l ine s. I t . may be made with the fullstre ngth as it passe s ove r the lowe st part of the ne t. Theopponent will ofte n be drive n too far out of the court tore turn down the side - l ine , and he must e ithe r attempt theve ry difficul t stroke across the court or e lse lob . The reonly remains the cross drop stroke , to which additionale ffe ct may be give n by a pre l iminary flourish

,which Ofte n

le ads the opponent to imagine that a hard stroke is abouttobe made . A forme r champion, Mr. Hartle y, still posse sse sthis stroke to pe rfe ction, and I have myse lf time and againbe e n the victim of his subtle artific e .

From the backhand court the re turn willbe of the samenature , and only two remarks ne e dbe made ,which are the se .

The fore hand stroke down the backhand l ine is an e xce ed~

ingly use ful one , and ve ry de ce ptive , as it is freque ntlyimpossible for the oppone nt to te ll until the ball is struckwhe the r it is going down the l ine or across the court. Alsothe cross~ drop stroke is conside rably easie r to make backhand from the backhand court, and a ve ry de l icate accuracycanbe attaine d in plac ing this stroke .

4. Generally.

Whe n not ac tually e ngaged in a stroke , the racke t maybehe ld loose ly tO ‘

relax the muscle s, the le ft hand hold ing i tround the splice . I must he re re pe at that the position of

the playe r in the court is most important : the ne t is theplace to volle y from, the base l ine to play ofl

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the ground,

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the Space be twe e n the se rvice line and the base l ine is onlythe plac e to lose from. It is we l l to play on the ofl'ensiveas much as possible ; i t give s confide nce to the playe r, andflurrie s the oppone nt, ashe will probably notbe able to playhis own game .

Occasionally one must play a waiting game ; for instance ,against a ve ry se ve re back-playe r it maybe ne ce ssary just toke e p on re turn ing the ball, waiting for his mistake .

Ce rtainty is an indispe nsable quality. In fact,’

I th inkwhat e spe c ially distinguishe s first-c lass play from infe riorpe rformance s is that e asy stroke s are so se ldom missed of

course the re is, be side s, gre at bri ll iancy, but c e rtainty is thefoundation on which it is buil t. The Oppone nt’s movementsshould be care fully watched, and from them it is Oftenpossible to te l l whe re he inte nds to place a ball be fore e ve ri t is struck.

I t is ge ne ral ly e asie r to pass a se rvice - l ine volle ye r acrossthe court than down the side l ine s, and on his forehandthan his backhand. Stroke s shouldbe started for, as soonas the d ire c tion of the ball is asce rtained. If the oppone ntstarts be fore one has struck the ball, the re turn may profitablybe to the place from whichhe started ashe is runningthe othe r way it will be d iffi cul t for him to stop and runback again. Stick to a sore place is sound advice by thisI mean, suppose the playe r has se nt a fairlyhard stroke tosome point which the oppone nt has shown d ifficulty inre aching, a good plan is to re turn the ne xt ball back the reagain ; not only will ,

the se cond stroke be probably e ve nbe tte r than the first, but the surprise will also aid, as theusual and e xpe cted stroke wouldbe into the othe r corne r.Any we akne ss which the oppone nt shows shouldbe take n

advantage of for instance , ifhe has not a strong backhand,opportunitie s should

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be give n tohim for practising the stroke .

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TH E FOUR HANDED OR DOUBLE GAME . 41

One should ne ve r allow one ’s se lf to be , as it we re , caughton the run if the playe r is running up, and findshe cannotge t into position be fore the ball is struck by the oppone nt,le thim stand still, othe rwise he is in pe ril of having theball put in the opposite dire c tion to whichhe is running.

A good-lengthed ball should be followe d up, unle ss theplaye r is ve ry far back, whe nhe may notbe able to ge t upin time .If the oppone nt is at the ne t, it is ge ne rally wise r to lob,

unle ss the playe r is as far up,say, as the se rvice -l ine , wh e n

the re will be a good chance of passing the volle ye r i tsome time s pays to hit straight at h im, hard and low, whe nhe is in this position .

CHAPTER XII.THE FOUR -HANDED OR DOUBLE GAME.

THE standard of play in the double gam e is much lowe rthan in the single game . The re is noth ing like the difl'e rencebe twe e n we ll-known combinations that the re is be twe e nthe playe rs singly ; and, unle ss this is a de fe c t in the gameitse lf, which I do not be l ie ve , the re is gre at room for

improvement.Lawn te nnis is, pe rhaps, rathe r selfishe ve rybody fights for

his ownhand and as the laure ls are e qually d ivided be twe e na succe ssful pair, that may partly account for pe ople notplaying the double game wi th so much e ne rgy, or studyingi t so care fully as they do the single ; and, of course , i t ismore trouble to ge t four playe rs toge the r than two. Again

,

to find a man whom you canplay with isnot the e asie st thingin the world. Still, if two re ally good playe rs could be ihduced to practise pe rsistently toge the r for a le ngth of time , I

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be lie ve we should se e an exhibition of double play whichwould astonish us . Not that the re is much to improve inthe the ory of how the game should be played, at least ini ts broad outline s. It is now admi tted that one man upand the othe r back cannot win against both menup, andfor th is we have to thank the Messrs . Re nshaw but e ve nin the ir game one cannot he lp se e ing the re is a great wastesomewhe re . It is not suffic iently re cognize d, i t se ems tome , that e ach partne r must play not for himse lf alone butfor the partne rship, and that i t is ofte n far be tte r pol icy toforce one of the oppone nts to se nd a ball to one ’s partne rwhichhe cankil l than to try to kill the ball one ’s se lf if thelatte r stroke is a more risky one .

A c ircumstance which hashad a pre j ud ic ial influe nc e i sthat an und iscriminating public is lavish of i ts applause of

a brill iant “smash”or a fluky half-volle y, while a use fulbut unassuming stroke , pe rhaps re quiring far more skill andknowledge of the game , is too oftenre ce ived in chill ingsile nce . Lawn- te nnis playe rs are only too human, and the yare conse que ntly led to adopt a“galle ry”style of play.In many re spe cts the four game diffe rs from the single

game i t re quire s le ss e ndurance , but e ve n more e quabili ty,and the volle y plays a much more important part in truth

,

as it is at pre sent playe d, it is prac tically all volleying.The se rvice is a d istinc t advantage .

The se rve r will probably find i t conve nie nt to standmidway be twe e n the corne r and the ce ntre of the base line ,or eve n ne are r the corne r. His be st se rvice willbe into theopposite corne r

,as that will le ave a ve ry small portionof

the court into which the Oppone nt canre turn the ballwithout the risk of the se rve r’s partne r be ing able to volle y i t.The se rve r should follow up h is se rvice , and e spe c ially

the se cond se rvice , to the se rvice -l ine or a l ittle be yond i t

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the se rve r should runfor i t, but not both ; the re should beno he sitation in calling yours or mine ”incase of doubt,as long as the call is soon e nough .

The great thing is to make up one ’s mind ; few things aremore aggravating to one

’s partne r than to go for a stroke ,change one ’s mind, and call“yours”whe n he i s, natural lye nough, quite unpre pared.

If e ithe r man se nds a short lob, both should run rightback, the furthe r the be tte r, to try and take the hard strok ewhichwill follow.

The strike r-out take s the -se rvice in the ordinary positionin re turning it, howe ve r, he cannot afford to“go for thestroke ”as much as he would do in a single game : in thelatte r case he has only himse lf to conside r, and may re ckonto make up for a miss late r on ; but in the double gamethe chance maybe inde finite ly postponed. From the righthand courthe may e ither (if the se rvice be fairly e asy) placethe ball in the angle be twe e n the se rve r and the ne t close tothe far side line , e ve n if the se rve r is running up, orhe mayput it be twe e n the two playe rs if the re is a gap—and thismay tempt both oppone nts to try for i t, e spe c ially if the ballis cunningly placed just within the re ach of the se rve r’spartne r ; or, again, they may both leave the stroke aloneor he may take the chance of disconce rt ing the se rve r’spartne r and hit straight at him, if the re i s not (as the reprobably will notbe ) room to pass him he may lob ; or,lastly

,he may try the drop-stroke across the court.

The stroke at the serve r’s partne r is particularly e ffe ctivefrom the backhand court forehand : on which side , too, the reis a ve ry fair chance of passing the oppone nt by the forehandstroke down his forehand l ine , for whichhe may ve ry like lybe unpre pare d. This should onlybe trie d as a change afte rre turning the balls habitually some othe r way.

THE FOUR -HANDED OR DOUB LE GAME . 45

The strike r-out’s partne r should be a foot or so behindthe se rvice -l ine , and not more than two yards from themiddle line .

H e should watch the first re turnve ry care fully,as if the

se rve r’s partne r manage s to cut in he willmost like ly se ndthe ball e ithe r at him or down the middle whe re his partne rcannot ge t i t.The following obse rvations are of ge ne ral appl icationIf possible it is be tte r to play down the middle of the

court.One strok e which should be Spe c ially avoided is a cross

stroke which re ache s one of the Oppone nts at the inne r linehighe r than the ne t ;he is almost ce rtain to pass the playe r’spartne r down the side l ine .

This leads up to anothe r remark : if a man is in a holeand must make a stroke which will ve ry l ike lybe scored off,

i t is much be tte r to play so that the d ifli cult re turn willcome to him and not to his partne r ; no man like s tohave an impossible shot give n to him through his partne r

’smistake .

Not only is it prude nt not to give one ’s partne r cause foroffe nce , but i t is we l l to e ncourage him as much as possibleI don’t me an by saying We ll playe d”in an inane manne rwhe ne ve rhe ge ts a ball ove r the ne t ; but by showing apprec iationof his good stroke s, and, above all, no d isgust at hisbad one s: Swe aring at one ’s partne r, whate ve r e lse it maydo, ce rtainly won

’t make him play any be tte r.Anothe r thing that may put one ’s partne r Off his game is

running across and taking his balls. The re are time s, i t istru e , whe n no one would he sitate to take a ball in his partne r’s court ; for instance , an e asy volle y whe n the othe rmanwas at the back of the court : but the se time s are fewand far be twe e n. If, howe ve r, a playe r doe s run across le t

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him take good care to ge t back to his own place againbe fore the re turn.If a ball is doubtful, i t is a hard thing to say ve ry often

which man should take i t. Dr. Dwight quote s the authori tyof Mr. William Re nshaw for saying that inthe middle Of

a re st the man who played the last stroke should play thene xt . This, I may say, I he artily agre e with. If, howe ve r,it is the beginning of a re st, my own fe e ling is that thepartne r to whom the ball come s fore hand should take i t ifi t is h igh the othe r if i t come s low : be cause i t is e asie r tovolle y a high ball fore hand and a low b i l l backhand .

I t is unne ce ssary to say that the we ake r of the opposingpair shouldbe made to be ar the brunt ofthe battle but tothis maybe added that, e ve n if both playe rs are about le vel,i t i s ve ry d isconce rting to one to have most of the ballsplaye d at him nor is it agre e able to his partne r, e spec iallyif a ball is sudde nly launched athim whe nhe le ast e xpec ts it.If one partne r is not taking the ball,he isnot the re fore

to remain stock-still he shouldbe always pre pared to takethe next ball ; ne ithe r his eye nor his atte ntion shouldwande r ; he should always be on the ale rt and ready to

I should me ntion one stroke which is re ally not difficul t and ye t ve ry e ffe ctive . If the se rve r, having runup,

finds the se rvice re turned to him across the court, le thimre turn it at anacute r angle with the ne t e i the r fore or backhanded. It is astonish ing how ofte n this stroke willwina re st. And al though I me ntioned the se rve r particularly,be cause he has more opportuni tie s of making the stroke ,ye t the re are othe r chance s at othe r time s which should notbe passed ove r.

CHAPTER xi i i .

LaDtEs’AND GENTLEMEN ’

S DOUBLES.

LADtEs’

and ge ntleme n’s double s, or mixe d pairs as the yare some time s called, are no doubt ve ry ple asant andcharming from a soc ial point of view, but looking at thegame sc ie ntifically the y are not of much value . A fourgame in which two good playe rs are l inke d to two badone s is at be st a poor pe rformance , re solving itse lf as itmust do into a se rie s of assaults upon the we ake r playe rs .Fortunate ly, howe ve r, sc ie nce is not e ve rything e ve nnowadays

,and the re are few nice r ways of whiling away an

afte rnoon than playing mixed pairs . So much I maype rhaps be allowe d to say, although a disquisition uponthe moral advantage s to be obtained from female soc ie tywouldbe rathe r outside the scope of this work .

As m e re e xe rc ise most menwi ll find playing with afe e ble partne r against a strong pair pe rfe ctly satisfying, e ve nif it doe snot improve the ir game to any appre c iable e xte nt.In the system tobe pursued, this game be ars no particular

re semblance to e ithe r the single or double game s.It is be tte r to take the se rvice , the lady’s re turn of a good

se rvice be ing ge ne rally not quite what it should be . Thesort of calculation a man goe s through in one of the se game sis rathe r of this nature : his ownse rvice and the ladyoppone nt’s service he re ckons on winning :he is re signe dto the probabil ity of los ing his male oppone nt’s se rvice : hispartne r’s se rvice the chance s are e ve n about : any stroke hese nds to the lady on the othe r side he is disappointed ifhedoe s not win.

Of course this is not stric tly logical, but I be l ie ve repre

48 LAWN TE NNIS.

sents ve ry fairly what passe s through the minds of manymen.I should ask the lady to take the right-hand court ; she

is probably not ve ry strong on the backhand, and the righthand court is d istinctly e asie r to play out of. The drawbackis that One is ge ne rally one stroke be hind, but I do notthink this is so ve ry important, and, be side s, i t make s oneplay more care fully. Add to which’

the fac t that the onlystroke most ladie s have is across the court from the righthand court.It is no use running up afte r the se rvice if i t is to the

man, as in a double court the re is so much room to plac e a

stroke , e xce pt in the rare case s whe re one ’s partne r canvolle y. If she can, of course he r be st place willbe at thene t, and only about two yards Off. If she cannot volley,the e xtreme corne r of the court will be the be st place forhe r.If the se rvice is to the lady, it will ne arly always be safe

for the se rve r to run up and volle y. While he must takecare not to allow himse lf tobe passe d onhis ownside , i t i ssome time s a good thing to go rathe r far ove r, that is to themiddle of the court, ke e ping himself prepared to springback in this way the lady may think she se e s a chance of

passinghim, and may be dive rte d from re turning the bal l tohis partne r. If the se rve r doe s not ge t the chance of volle ying

,and the ball goe s to his partne r,hehad be tte r, unle ss i t

is a ve ry e asy stroke , or his partne r a ve ry good one , runback to the base l ine out ofhis dange rous position .

Whenthe lady is se rv ing to the man, unle ss she has anunusually good se rvice ,her partne r should stand ne ar themiddle of the base l ine , say from a yard to two yards fromit. H e cannot safe ly ge t n e are r the middle , as he wouldthe n le ave too much of his own court e xpose d. If the

LADIE S ’

AND GE NTLEME N ’

S DOUBLE S. 49

se rvice is to the lady the manmay be up about a yardbe hind the se rvice -line .

As for the strike rs-out : if the lady is re turning the se r

vice ,he r partne r shouldbe at the back of the court ; ifhe isre turning it, she shouldbe at the e xtreme corne r : and th ise ve n if she is a good playe r, be cause , unle ss he r partne r i se xtraordinarily bad,he is bound to be be tte r than she is,and the re fore ought to have the large majority of thestroke s.In re turning the lady’s se rvice the ge ntle cross-drop

willbe found e xce e d ingly use ful, as we llas inthe e ve nt of a.poor se cond se rvice of the man’s.As i t should be the obje c t of the man to ke e p the ball to

the opposite lady, so it shouldbe the objec t of the lady toke e p the ballaway from the man .

Some time s, whe n the man is having a sort of due l withthe lady,he will notice the othe r man e dging ne are r andne are r, preparing to cut in to his partne r’s re l ie f ; he maythe n sudde nly place the ballacross the man or down hisline as the case may be , and take him comple te ly by

Many ladie s will be e ntire ly nonplussed by a high unde rhand twisted se rvice , and few cantake them with muche ffec t.Le tme say for the ir be ne fi t that a forehand twist make s a

ball bound to the le ft of the pe rson who has to take i t ,inste ad of coming on ; a backhand twist make s i t boundbackwards and to the right. The way to treat them is,inste ad of wai ting for the ball to come to one , to go upquite close to whe re the ball will bound, and the n nodifficulty will be e xpe rie nced.

so LAWN TE NNIS.

CHAPTER XIV.

LaD1Es’

CHAPTER .

I HAVE be en asked to give a few hints on lawn tennis tolady be ginne rs ; but, be fore doing so, I should like to pointout that more maybe gained by watching good playe rs thanby anything that canbe wri tte n on the subje c t. At the sametime , e ve ry one is not so c ircumstanced as to be able tose e first-c lass play, and it is hope d that the following sugges~

tions may prove use ful to such pe rsons . I am we l l awarethat my own style of play is inmost re spe cts not such asI should hold up as a mode l, notably the manne r in which Iplay the backhande d stroke , which probably arise s from nothaving be e n taught in the first instance the prope r way ofmaking this stroke . And he re I would particularly wish tocal l atte ntion to the imme nse importance of acquiring a

good style at the outse t.The first important point is the holding of the racke t at

the e xtreme end, and not halfway up the handle , asnovice sinvariably do. Gre ate r pace and fre edom of stroke are

gained by obse rving this rule . The racke t should befirmly but not tightly graspe d, and the we ight should note xce ed 1394 oz. Do not move your arm stiffly from theshoulde r, but le arn to use the e lbow and wrist joints. Thisis a matte r of conside rable importance , and by paying atte ntion to it your play will gain in grace no le ss than in e ffic iency.The n, again, the te nde ncy in the play of a be ginne r is to

ge t too c lose to the ball . I t is always e asie r to run forwardthan backward the re fore my advice is, ke ep a good distanceoff the ball. The re be ing at pre sent ve ry little volleying inladie s’ play, as compared with that ofmen, it is of the greate st

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52 LAWN TENNIS.

conside red to have the be st se rvice (hard, ove rhand) amonglady playe rs.It is ge ne rally be tte r to se rve from ne ar the middle of the

back l ine rathe r than from the e xtreme corne r, as is freque ntlydone

,and this for two re asons : first, be cause from the

forme r position the re is a large r portion of the Oppositecourt into which it is possible to se rve , and conse que ntlythe re is le ss l iability to make a fault and, se cond, be causein the middle of the court you will be in a much be tte rposition to take the re turn, which othe rwise your oppone ntcane asily place whe re you willfind it impossible to ge t upto it in time .

Your position in the court is of much importance . I havealready said that you should stand we ll back in the court,near the base line , and for similar re asons you will find i twe llto ke e p rathe r to the le ft than the right of the court ;arid in a double game , if you are in the le ft court, you hadbe tte r stand quite ne ar the outside l ine, othe rwise yourOppone nt will e asily place the ballto your le ft, whe re i t willnotbe possible for you to ge t to it in time . Afte r makinga stroke that take s you away from your ground, do not standto watch the e ffe ct, but always ge t home again dire ctly, tobere ady for the re turn , or you will find, when too late , thatit has gone past you .

I t occurs to me that a few words on the «subjec t of dre ssmay notbe out of place he re . Nothing is more uncomfortable than a he avy narrow skirt ; and Ifind that one made ofthe l ighte st possible mate rial, not le ss than 294 yards inwidth, give s the gre ate st fre edom in ge tting about the court.I assume that the usual shoe s with indiarubbe r sole s willbe worn, as it would, of course , be impossible to play inord inary walking boots. The hat, too, shouldbe one which,while shad ing your face , will notbe inconvenie ntly large .

PRI%E ME ETINGS. 53

In conclusion, the re canbe no doubt that lawnte nnis is amost he al thy and invigorating e xe rc ise for ladie s, and is atprese nt the one game inwhich a girl canto some e xte ntholdhe r ownwith men and I am sure , if only more ladie swould tak e i t up and play regularly, the y wouldbe far morehealthy and strong.

CHAPTER XV.

PRI%E MEETINGS.

1 Management.I only propose to e nte r ve ry brie fly upon this subj e ct,

tre ating i t princ ipally from the point of view of the playe r.About the pre l iminarie s it is unne ce ssary to add anything towhat is pre scribe d by the “Regulations issued by the LawnTe nnis As soc iation, e xce pt this—that in the pre se nt day foranything (or anybody) to at all succe ed, e xte nsive adve rtisement is absolute ly indispe nsable .

I have alre ady alluded to the courts, ne ts, and balls .The latte r should be libe rally if not profuse ly supplied, andshould be e asily acce ssible to all the playe rs ; i t is a gre atnuisance to have to hunt about all ove r the ground forthe particular pe rson in whose charge the y may happe ntobe .

Two ball-boys to e ach court add much to the comfort ofa match , e spe c ially if the y have be e n traine d be fore hand.

Many playe rs dislike playing a single game ona courtmarked out for a double .

The time at which, and the numbe r of the court inwhich, e ach match is to be played should always be fixedthe night before . The se fixture s shouldbe rigidly adhe re dto. And inall case s e ve ry appe arance of favouritism cannot

54 LAWN TENNIS.

be too strongly de pre cate d. The playe r with a world-widere putationand the novice of a first match shouldbe tre ate de xactly alike , and with e ve nhanded justice .

If the same playe r has to play both a s ingle match and a

double match on the same day,he ought tobe allowe d toplay his single first, for two re asons—the single game re quire smore e ndurance , and the re fore he should start fre sh ; and,se condly, i t is d isturbing to the eye to play in a smalle rcourt afte r playing in a large r one .

Sawdust must notbe forgotte n.

Audible be tting at any rate should be d iscourage d. For

my own part, I should l ike to se e no be tt ing at all inthegame . That, howe ve r, I fe ar is a counse l of pe rfe c t ion .

I t is ve ry e sse ntial to have good umpire s . Few things areso distre ssing to a playe r as to have an incompe te nt or pe rve rse umpire and though the y are a much -abused body, my

e xpe rie nce is that the y fully de se rve all they ge t.Anumpire should know the Laws and Re gulations,

and have Copie s in his pocke t. H e should alsobe famil iarwith the conditions of the particular match .

H e ought to atte nd c lose ly to the game , and g ive hisde c isions quickly and loudly. Ifhe has not se e n the strokehe should own it, and have it played again . Some umpire sare shockingly d ishone st in this re spe ct.H e should not argue with the playe rs

,but be firm

, andaltoge the r disregard the remarks of outside rs, who are

ge ne rally wrong and always pre jud iced.

Inthe position in which the umpire is placed i t is re allyimpossible forhim to se e any l ine accurate ly. The re oughttobe as many line umpire s as possible , and they should beput opposite the l ine s they are to umpire ; nowhe re e lse canthe y se e prope rly.It is ve ry unfair to ask a playe r for his Opinion ona stroke ,

PRI%E MEETINGS. 55

andne ithe r the umpire nor the oppone nt should do so. Of

course , if he volunte e rs it against himse lf, or the playe rsvoluntarily agre e , i t is quite a diffe re nt thing, and theumpire , I think, wouldbe right to accept the de c is ion.

Few pe ople e ve r go in for actual training for a match , stil lI t is advisable to live mode rate ly for a we e k or so be forefor e xample , to go to bed not late r than twe lve ; not tosmoke more than, say, five c igare tte s a day (as an emine ntphysic ian once e xpre sse d it to me—one afte r e ach me al andone to c lose and crown the night), and tobe abstemious inthe matte r of drink.I t isbad to play too much. Five se ts thre e time s a we ek

is ple nty for a man in fair prac tice othe rwise one is apt toge t stale .

It is a gre at thing in prac tice to le ave off playing as soonas one begins to fe e l tired. I do not m e an simply blown,but physically weary. It canonly make one ove r-t ired toplay any longe r.Eve ry playe r should make a point of be ing on the ground

re ady to play punctually at the time fixe d the motto of thebe tte r playe rs shouldbe nob/arse oblige, and they should se t agood e xample to othe rs .The anomaly which forme rly e xisted unde r Law 4, by

which the lose r of the toss for choice of courts or se rvicecould make the se rvice come from whiche ve r end he liked,if the players we re changing e ve ry game , has now be e nremove d, and the winne r of the toss may, ifhe pre fe r it,require the othe r playe r to make the fi rst choice . Thisame ndme nthas, no doubt, made the laws of the game morelogical, but any othe r e ffe c t i t might have had has be e nminimized by one of the change s in Law 23 .

56 LAWN TENNIS.

Forme rly, the playe rs might change e nds e ve ry gamethroughout the match on appeal by one playe r be fore thetoss

,or throughout the Odd and conclud ing se t, if the appe al

we re made subse que ntly. This system has, on the whole ,proved unsatisfactory. Obviously, if of two playe rs one hasconside rably the be tte r se rvice ,he may lose a great part ofthat advantage by having always to se rve with the sun inhis e ye s ; similarly with a playe r who has a ve ry good fi rststroke off the se rvice and many othe r like instanc e s sugge stthemse lve s. Now it was fe l t unde sirable inthe e xtre methat the fate of a match should depe nd furthe r than wasabsolute ly ne ce ssary upon the turn of a coin, and toe l iminate the e leme nt of chance as much as possible , anew systemhas be enadopted which has be e n in vogue inAme rica for some l ittle time . Shortly stated, the new ruleprovide s that whe re playe rs would forme rly have changede ve ry game , the y shallnow only change at the end of thefirst, third, and e ve ry subse que nt alte rnate game of a se t,

and also at the end of the se t if, and only if, the numbe rof game s in the se t be une ve n. The re sult is that these rvice ne ve r come s for more than two game s running fromthe same end, and ne ithe r playe r occupie s the same sidefor more than two game s running. The reason for theproviso that side s are not to be change d at the end of a se tif the numbe r of game s be e ve n is that othe rwise these rvice would come from the same end for three game s insucce ssion.

Anothe r change in Law 23 is that e ithe r playe r may 0

Obtain, as a matte r of right, from the umpire the dire ctionto change side s in the way indicated above whe reas unde rthe Old law the umpire had a discre tion to be e xe rcisedwhen, in his opinion, e ithe r side had a d istinct advantage ,owing to the sun, wind, or othe r accide ntal ca use . I

MANDIGAPS 57

should add that if e ithe r playe r wishe s to change throughout the match, he must still appe al be fore the toss forChoice .

The be tte r playe r will now, of course , always insist onchanging throughout, as the advantage to be obtainedby the toss unde r the new rule is infinite simal and e qually,of course , a worse playe r would not dre am of sugge stingto change , as, if the re we re any substantial d iffe re ncebe twe e n the two side s, he might win the alte rnate se ts.This latte r would more e spe c ially be the case if the worseplaye r could last be tte r than his oppone nt, as changingthroughout has the te nde ncy of shorte ning a match, e xce ptbe twe e n e ve n playe rs, whe re i t acts e xac tly the othe r

Ina match moral qualitie s are of almost e qual importanceto physical one s .A playe r should not be come d ispirited ifhe is be hind,

nor unduly e lated if ahe ad. Above all,he should ne ve r losehis tempe r ; ifhe doe s,he will play worse , lose the ple asurehe might othe rwise have had of fe e ling that he has made agood fight

, and will become a laughing-stock to the specta~

tors. Doubtle ss a wrong de c ision at a critical mome nt isve ry irritating, but the playe r must remembe r that it is partof the game thathe should not only win the stroke in fac t,but convince the umpirehe has won it.The playe r should always win while he can. I thoroughly

d isbe l ie ve in the wisdom of saving one ’s se lf for the final se t.

I t too ofte n happe ns that in this way a man le ts his gamedown, and the n, whe nhe wants to play up again, his strokeis gone . Se ve ral matche s I have se enlost in this way ; inparticular I may instance the championship of 1885, whichI am convince d Mr. Lawford would have wonhad he notre laxed his play at one time , fearful of Mr. W. R enshaw’

s

58 LAWN TE NNIS.

be ing fre she r than himse lf in the fifth se t. The result wasthat Mr. Lawford, after be ing a long way ahe ad inthefourth se t, and allowinghis adve rsary to cre e p up too ne ar,found, whe nhe wanted to play up again, thathe was Offhisstroke , and the re ne ve r was a fifth se t at all.I t is just as well to se e some thing of one ’s oppone nt’s

game be fore hand, so that one may know what to e xpe ct.Sawdust is a ve ry use ful thing for ‘ke eping one ’s hands

dry, so that the racke t shouldnot slip, and i t is we l l to se ethat the re is a li ttle he ap at e ach end of the court. I do notknow whe the r it is quite pe rmissible , but i t is a commonpractice for playe rs to have re course to the sawdust whe nthe y are ve ry blown, and in this way ge t a l ittle e xtra timeto re cove r the ir breath. If a playe r canhold thre e balls inhis hand while he is se rving, i t may save him trouble inthee ve nt of his se rving a le t.It is far be tte r not to drink at allduring a match, but

simply to rinse out the mouth with strong brandy and wate r.

CHAPTER XVI.

HANDICAPS.

HANDICAPS are most use ful institutions, which e ve ry playe r,whate ve r his degre e or standing, should patron ize , or, rathe r,take advantage of.

Infe rior playe rs ge t the chance of me e ting th e ir supe riorsupon le ve l te rms, and enj oy the opportunity of fe e ling whatit is l ike to have a good playe r on the othe r side of the ne t.I have alre ady de scanted upon the be nefit to be de rive dfrom watching good play, but playing one match is be tte rthan me re ly watching a dozen. It i s almost impossiblere ally to apprec iate the d ifficul tie s of making a particular

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60 LAWN TENNIS.

which lie be twe e n two individual playe rs ; inshort, it looksuponmenas machine s. This, in my judgme nt, i s a de fe c twhich is inhe re nt inthe system, and no plan is practicableby which it canbe '

removed. In othe r re spe c ts, howeve r,gre at improvements have be e n made by the ame ndme nts toLaw 25. The abolition of the bisque—almost the last ofthe shackle s to remain of those which had be e n impose don the game by its fanc ie d re semblance to tennis—it willnot be d isputed, is an unmixed good. The old me thodse le cted for its constant the bisque

,than which the re we re

few things more variable ; attributed to it a fractional valueof fifte e n, whichwas notoriously inaccurate whe n Odds we regive n, and still more so whe n the y we re owed ; and finallycreated a numbe r of classe s, one -third of which we re utte rly

me aningle ss and unnece ssary.For this is now substitute d a d ivision

‘

of fifte e n intoquarte rs—one -quarte r, two—quarte rs, and thre e -quarte rs of

fifte e n, both give n and owed : one -quarte r of fifte e n givenbe ing one stroke at the beginning of the second, sixth, ande ve ry subse que nt fourth game of a se t two-quarte rs, onestroke at the be ginning of the se cond, fourth, and e ve rysubse que nt alte rnate game ; and thre e -quarte rs, a stroke atthe be ginning of the se cond, third, and fourth game s, andso on : while whe n Odds are owed, quarte r fifte e n is a stroke

at the beginning of the first and fifth game s, and so on ;two-quarte rs

,a stroke at the beginning of the first and third

game s, and so on ; and thre e -quarte rs, a stroke at the beginning of the first, third, and fourth game s, and so on.The diffe re ntial odds be twe e n playe rs with diffe re nt

handicaps are , of course , asce rtaine d by a table as be fore .

Pe rhaps at first some l ittle difficulty may be e xperie nced

inmastering the new law, e spe c ially by umpire s, who, as arule , are not the most inte llige nt of be ings ; but I am con

HANDICAPS. 6 1

vince d that this will be me re ly temporary, and that thechange will cause gre at re l ie f to playe rs at large , andimme nse ly incre ase the accuracy of handicaps. Anothe rre sult is

'

that the re is now ve ry little to be said by way ofadvice as to how a handicap game should be played, asdistinguished from a le ve l game . As all the odds nowwork automatically, so to spe ak, the re is, fortunate ly, nooccasion for an e laborate inve stigation , such as use d to bene ce ssary to asce rtainthe pe riod in the game at which abisque couldbe take n with the most advantage .

I have alre ady pointed out that a mangiving odds willfind it advisable to play more cautiously than he wouldothe rwi se do ; i t follows that a manre ce iving odds canprude ntly play in a more dashing manne r thanhe is wont

,

and ought to go for stroke s whichit would be rash forhimto attempt,hadhe not his points to give him confide nce .

A PPE NDIX.

THE LAWS OF LAWN TENNIS,

Sanctionedby %InLawnTennis Association.

TH E SINGLE -HANDED GAME .

1. For the single -handed game , the court is 27 ft. inwidth,and 7 8 ft. inlength. It is d ivide d across the middle by ane t;the ends of which are attache d to the tops of two posts, A andA,which stand 3 ft. outside the court one ach side . The he ightof the ne t is 3 ft. 6 ih. at the posts, and 3 ft. at the centre . At

e ach end of the court, paralle l w ith the ne t, and at a d istance of

39 ft. from it, are drawnthe bare -liner, CDand E F, the ex

A

tremitie s ofwhich are conne cted by the Silk -lines, CE and DE.

Halfway be twe enthe side - l ine s, and paralle l with them,is

drawnthe Ital/i conrt-Iine , OH , d ividing the space one ach sideof the ne t into two e qualparts, cal le d the r ig/i t and left co ur ts.

One ach side of the ne t, at a d istance of 21 ft. from it, and

APPE NDIX. 63

paralle l with it, are drawnthe serv ice -lines, XX and YY . Themarking of the part of the lzaif-conrl-line be twe enthe ser v icelines and the oasis-lines maybe omitted, withthe e xce ptionofa small portionat the centre of e ach base -line , as indicated inthe plans appended to the se Laws .

2. The balls shall not be le ss than ih.,nor more than

2125in. ind iame te r ; and not le ss than15oz . , nor more than

z oz . inwe ight.3 . Inmatche s, whe re umpire s are appointe d

,the ir de cision

shallbe final ; but, whe re a re fe re e is appointe d, anappe alshalllie to him from the de cisionof anumpire ona que stion0 aw .

4. The choice of side s and the right tobe serv er or Sinke r -oat

during the first game s shallbe de c ided by toss ; prov ide d that,if the winne r of the toss choose the r ight to ser ve r

out the othe r playe r shallhave the choice of side s, andv ersa; and provtde d that the winne r of the toss may, ifhepre fe r it, re quire the othe r playe r to make the first choice .

5. The playe rs shallstand onopposite side s of the ne t theplaye r who first de l ive rs the ballshallbe called the fervor

,the

othe r the str iker -ou t.

6 . At the end of the first game , the strike r- out shall be comese rve r, and the se rve r shall be come strike r-out ; and so onalte rnate ly inthe subse quent game s of the se t.

7 . The se rve r shall se rve w ith both fe e t behind (ti e . furthe rfrom the ne t than) the base - l ine , and withinthe limits of theimaginary continuationof the centre - se rvice and the side - line s.

It isnot a fault if one only of the se rve r’s fe e t donot touch theground at the moment at which the se rv ice is de l ive re d. H e

shall place both fe e t onthe ground imme diate ly be fore se rving,and shall not take a running nor a walking start. H e shallde live r the se rv ice from the right and le ft courts alte rnate ly,be ginning from the right ine achof his se rvice game s, e venthough odds be givenor owed.

8 . The ball se rve d must drop withinthe se rv ice -line , half.court- l ine , and side - l ine of the court, which is d iagonally

ppposite to that from which it was se rved, or uponany. suchme .

9. It is a an]% if the se rvice be de live red from the wr gcourt, or if t e se rv e r donot stand as dire cte d inLaw'7 , o i t

the ball se rved drop inthe ne t or be yond the se rvice -line , or itit drop out of court or inthe wrong court. If the se rv e r, inattempting to se rve , miss the ballaltoge the r, it doe snot count

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a fault but if the ballbe touche d,no matte rhow sl ightly, bythe racke t, a se rvice is the re by de live re d, and the laws gove rning the se rvice at once appl10. A fault maynotbe ta en.1 1. Afte r a fault, the se rv e r shallse rve againfrom the sam e

court from which he se rve d that fault, unle ss it was a faultbe cause se rve d from the wrong court.12. A fault maynotbe claime d afte r the ne xt se rvicehasbe en

de live red .

13. The se rv ice may. not be volley ed, z’

.e . takenbe fore ittouche s the ground, eventhough the ball be cle arly outside these rvice court.14. The se rve r shall not se rve until the strike r-out is ready.

If the latte r attempt to re turnthe se rvice ,but fail,he lose s thestroke . If, howe ve r, the strike r-out signify thathe isnot re adyafte r the se rv ice has be ende live red ,but be fore the ball touche sthe ground,he maynot claim a fault be cause the ball ultimate lydrops outside the se rvice court .

15. Aballis i i i -play from the moment at whichit is de liv e re dinse rv ice (unle ss a fau lt) until it has be envol leye d by thestrike r -out inhis first stroke , orhas droppe d inthe ne t or outof court, or has touched e ithe r of the playe rs or anything thathe we ars or carrie s, e xce pt his racke t inthe act of striking,orhas be enstruck by e ithe r of the playe rs w ithhis racke tmore

thanonc e conse cutiv e ly,or has be envolle yed be fore it has

passe d ove r the ne t, orhas failed to pass ove r the ne t be fore itsfirst bound (e xcept as prov ided inLaw or has touched theground tw ice conse cutive ly one ithe r side of the ne t, though these cond time maybe out of court.

16 . It is a let if the ball se rve d touch the ne t, rovide d these rv ic e be othe rwise good or if a se rvice or fault delivewhenthe strike r-out 15not ready . Incase a playe r is obstructe dby any acc ident not withinhis control

,the ball shall be con

side re d a le t but whe re a pe rmanent fixture of the court is thecause of the acc ident, the point shallbe counte d . The benche sand chairs

cplaced around the court and the ir occupants, and the

umpire an l ine smen, shallbe conside red pe rmanent fixture s .

If, howeve r, a ball inplay strike a pe rmanent fixture of thecourt (othe r thanthe ne t or posts) be fore it touche s the ground ,the po int is lost ; if afte r it has touche d the ground , the po intshallbe counted . Incase of a le t, the se rvice or stroke countsfor nothing, and the se rv e r shal l se rve again. A lot doe s notannul a pre v ious fau lt.

APPE NDIX. 65

17 . It is a good r e turna . If a ba lltouch the ne t or post, prov ided that it passe sove r e ithe r and drops into the court

a If a bal l, se rve d or re turne d, drop into the pro r c ourtand screw orbe blownback ove r the ne t, and tgf: playe rwhose turnit is to strike re ach ove r the ne t and play theball, provide d thatne ithe rbe nor any part ofhis clothe sor rge ke r touch the ne t, and that the stroke be othe rwise

800 3

If a ballbe re tu rne d outside the post, e ithe r above or

be low the le ve l of the top of the ne t, e venthough it touchthe post, provided that it drop into the prope r court

d . If a. playe r’s racke t pass ove r the ne t afte rhe has re

turne d the bal l, prov ided the bal l pass ove r the ne t be forebe ing played and be prope rly re turned

c. If a playe r succe e d inre turning aball, se rved or in play,whichstrike s a ball lying incourt.

18 . The se rve r w ins a stroke , if the strike r-out volle y these rvice , or fail to re turnthe se rvice or the ballih-play ( e xce ptinthe case of a le t) , or re turnthe se rv ice or bal l ih-play so thatit drop o utside any of the l ine s which bound his Opponent’scourt, or othe rwise lose a stroke , as provide d by Law 20.

19. The strike r-out wins a stroke , if the se rve r se rve two conse cutive faults, or fai l to re tu rnthe bal l in-

play ( e xce pt ina case

of a le t) , or re turnthe ballih-play so that 1t drop outside any of

the line s whichboundhis opponent’s court,or othe rwise lose a

stroke , as prov ided by Law 20.

20. E ithe r playe r lose s a stroke , if the ball in-play touch himor anything thathe w e ars or carrie s

,e xce pthis racke t inthe

act of strik ing or if he volle y the ball (unle ss he the re bymake s a good re turn),no matte r whe the rhe is standing w ithinthe pre c incts of the court or outside them ; or ifhe touch orstr ike the ball ih-play w ithhis racke t more thanonce conse cutively or ifhe or his racke t ( inhis hand or othe rw ise ) touchthe ne t or any of its supports whi le the ballis in-play or ifhevolle y the ball be fore ithas passe d the ne t.21. One ithe r playe r w inninghis first stroke , the score is calle d

15for that playe r one ithe r playe r winninghis se cond stroke ,the score is calle d 30 for that playe r one ithe r playe r winninghis third stroke , the score is calle d 40 for that laye r ; and thefourth stroke wonby e ithe r playe r is scored

3

game for thatplaye r ; e xce pt asbe low

If both playe rs have wonthre e stroke s, the score is calledF

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de uce ; and the ne xt stroke wonby e ithe r playe r isscored advantage for that playe r. If the same playe rwinthe ne xt stroke ,he wins the game ; ifhe lose thene xt stroke , the score is againcalle d de uce ; and so onuntil e ithe r playe r winthe two stroke s immed iate lyfollowing the score at de uce , whenthe game is scoredfor that playe r.

22. The playe r who first w ins six game s wins a se t ; e xceptas be low

If both playe rs winfive games, the score is called game sall; and the ne xt game wonby e ithe r playe r is score dadvantage -

game for that playe r. If the same playe r w inthe next game ,he wins the se t ifhe lose the next game ,the score is againcalle d game s-all; and so onuntile ithe r playe r winthe two game s immed iate ly follow ingthe score ofgame s-all, whenhe wins the se t.

NOTE .—Playe rs may agre e not to play advantage -se ts, but to de cide the

se t by one game afte r arriving at the score of games-all.

23. The playe rs shall change side s at the end of the first,third, and e ve ry subse uent alte rnate game of e ach se t, and at

the end of e ach se t,nu e ss the numbe r of game s insuch se tbee ven. It shall, howe ve r, be opento the playe rs by mutua lconsent and notificationto the ump ire before the Opening of

the se cond game of the match to Chane side s inste ad at theend of e ve ry se t until the odd and conclu ing se t, inwhichthe yshall change side s at the end of the first, third, and e ve rysubse quent alte rnate game of such se t.24. Whena se rie s of se ts is playe d, the playe r who was

se rve r inthe last game of one se t shallbe strike r-out inthe firstgame of the ne xt.

ODDS.

25. Inthe case of re ce ive d odds

a . One -sixth of fifte enis one stroke givenine ve ry six game sof a se t inthe positionshownby the anne xed table .

5. Similarly, two-sixths, thre e -sixths, four- sixths, and five

sixths of fifte enare re spe ctiv e ly two, thre e , four, and fivestroke s givenine ve ry six game s of a se t inthe positionshownby the following table

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EXAMPLE .-A playe r owing two-sixths of fifteenwould owe fifte eninthe

fi rst and third games, and nothing inthe se cond , fourth, fifth. and sixthgame s.

NOTE —The table isnot carried beyond the sixthgame . as inthe ne xtand e ve ry succe e d ing six games the odds re cur inthe same positions.

c. The above odds mayhe owed inaugmentationof othe rowed odds.

d . Fifte enis one stroke owed at the beginning of e ve rygame of a se t.

c. Thirty is two stroke s owe d at the beginning of e ve rygame of a se t.

f . Forty is thre e stroke s owed at the beginning of e ve rygame of a se t.

THE THREE -HANDED AND FOUR -HANDEDGAMES.

27 . The above laws shall apply to the thre e -hande d and fourhanded game s, e xce pt as be low.

28 . For the thre e -handed and four-handed game s, the court

APLAN OF COURT.

APPE NDIX. 69

is 36 ft. inw idth. Withinthe side - line s, at a d istance of 4; ft.from them, and parallelwith them, are drawnthe se rv ic e ~ side ~

line s, IK and LM . Inothe r re spe cts, the court is similar tothat wh ich is de scribe d inLaw 1.

29. Inthe thre e -hande d game the single playe r shall se rve ine ve ry alte rnate game .

30. Inthe four-handed game , the pair who have the r ight tose rve inthe first game may de c ide whichpartne r shall do so,

opposing pair may de cide similarly for the se condgame . The partne r of the playe r who se rve d inthe first gameshall se rve inthe third ; and the partne r of the r whose rved inthe se cond game shall se rve inthe fourth so oninthe same orde r inallthe subse quent game s of a se t.3 1. The playe rs shall take the se rvice alte rnate ly throughout

e achgame no playe r shall re ce ive or re turna se rvice delive re dtohis partner ; and the orde r of se rvice and of striking-out oncearranged shallnotbe alte red,nor shall the strike r-out changecourts to re ce ive the se rvice be fore the end of the se t.32. The ball se rve d must drop w ithinthe se rv ice -l ine

,half

court-line , and se rvice - side - line of the court which is diagonallyOpposite to that from which it was se rved, or uponany such line .

33. It is a fault if the ball do not drop as provide d inLaw 32, or if it touch the se rve r’s partne r or anythin thathewears or carrie s. If, howe ve r, the ba ll inse rvice stri e e ithe rthe strike r-out orhis partne r, the se rve r wins the stroke .

34. If a playe r se rve out ofhis turn, the umpire , as soonasthe m istake is discovered by himse lf orby one of the playe rs

,

shall dire ct the playe r to se rv e who onht to have serve d ; butallstroke s scored , and any fault se rve be fore such d iscove ry,shallbe re ckoned . If a game sha llhav e be encomple tedbe foresuchd iscove ry

,thenthe se rvice inthe ne xt alte rnate game

shallbe de l ive red by the partne r of the playe r who se rved out

of his turn and so oninregular rotation.

REGULATIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENTOF LAWNTENNIS PR I%E -MEETINGS, ANDINTER -COUNTYAND INTE R-CLUB MEETINGS.

1. At prize -me e tings promote d by associations or clubsaffi liated to the LawnTennis Assoc1ation, the laws of lawntennis for the time be ing sanctione d by the LawnTennisAssoc iation, and the regulations he re inafte r contained shallbeobse rve d .

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All de tails conne cted with any prize -me e ting shall bese ttled by the committe e of the c lubp romoting the me e ting or

by a committe e constituted for the purpose , of whom two, or

such large r numbe r as the committe e may de te rm ine , shal lform a quorum.

3 . A c ircu lar shallbe issuedby the committe e spe cifying theconditions of the com

dpe titions (se e R e commendation

4. No che que s, or e rs for money,

or cash payments inanyform shallbe givenas prize s, and t e amount actually paid fore ach prize shall inno case be be low the adve rtise d value of thesame .

5. The committe e shallele ct a re fe re e with powe r to appointa substitute tobe approv e dbthem.

6 . The re fe re e , or such 0 e r membe r or membe rs of thecommitte e as maybe se le cted for the u ose , shall have powe rto appoint umpire s, and the re fe re e 5 al de cide any pomt oflaw which anumpire may p himse lf unable to de cide , orwhich maybe re fe rred to him onappe al from the de cisionofanump1re .

7 . The : re fe re e shall,during the me e ting, be ex ofi cz

’

o a

membe r of the committe e .

8 . The courts shallbe allotte d to the compe titors, and thecompe titors shall be calle d it nto play by a membe r or

membe rs of the committe e , to se le cted for the purpose , andincase of disagre ement the committe e shall de cide .

9. The committe e shallhe lp to ke e p orde r onthe ground,and shallconsult and de c ide uponany questionarising out of

the compe tition, if summoned for that purpose by the re fe re e or

by any two of the irnumbe r and the y shall have powe r, whenso convene d, the misconduc t of a compe titorhavmg be enre

porte d to them by a membe r of the committe e or anum ire,

to disqualify the offende r,and furthe r to orde r him 0 the

ground, should his misconduct appe ar to them to justify such

action,but be fore such actionsha be takenanopportunity of

offe ring anexplanationshall be afforded to the compe titorwhose misconducthasbe enre ported to them.

10. It is the duty of anumpire ,To asce rtainthat the ne t is at the right he ight be fore thecommencement of play

,and to me asure and adjust the

ne t during play, if aske d to do so,or if

,inhis Opinion, its

he ighthas alte red(A) To callthe faults (subje ct to R egulation11)(c. ) To call the stroke s whenwon, or whenhe is asked to

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Home A B . owe s fifte enand thre e -

q uarte rs of x5.

APPE NDIX. 7 3

(at) To call the game s and the se ts at the end of each, orwhenasked to call them, and to re cord them ontheumpire ’

s scoring she e t(e . ) To dire ct the compe titors to change side s, in accordance

w ithLaw 23

(ji) Whenappe ale d to, during a re st, whe the r a doubtful ballis “inplay”ornot, to call Play it out,”and at the conclusionof the re st, to givehis de cision(subje ct to R egu lation11) or d ire ct the compe titors to play the strokeagain;

(g . ) To de cide all doubtful or dispute d stroke s, and all pointsoflaw ( subje ct to R egulations 1 1 and 12)

(lz.) Inhand icap matche s to call the odds at the commencement of e ach se t

(12) To signthe umpire ’s scoring she e ts, and to de live r them

at the conclusionof the match to such pe rsonas thecommitte e may authorize to re ce ive them

Provide d, that no omissionof any of the foregoing dutie s onthe part of anumpire shallof itse lf invalidate a game or match .

ll. It is the duty of a line -umpire to call faults and to de c idestroke s re lating to the line for whichhe is appointe d umpire ,and to such l ine only.

12. The de c isionof anumpire shall be final upone ve ryque stionof fact, and no compe titor ma appe al from it ; but, ifanumpire be indoubt as to a point 0 law, or if a compe titorappe al againsthis de cisiononsuch a po int, the ump ire shallsubmit it to the re fe re e , whose de c isionshallbe final .I3 . The re fe re e shall not be t ona match, nor shall an

umpire ona match inwhich he is acting, and if anobje ctionfor this or any othe r re asonbe made to a re fe re e or umpire ,e ithe r be fore or during a match, by a membe r of the committe e or a compe titor, the match, if begun, shall, ifne ce ssary,be at onc e stopped by the re fe re e or two membe rs of thecommitte e , who shall take the opinionof the committe e onthe obje ction, and the committe e shallhave powe r to removeor suspend the re fe re e or umpire so obje cte d to ; prov idedthat the de cisionof the majority of the committe e pre sentsha llbe final, and that the re fe re e or umpire so obj e cte d to

( if a membe r of the committe e ) shall not be at libe rty to voteonthe que stion.

At the end of e achgame the game s shouldbe calle d w iththe name of the playe rwho is inadvance , thus ,“2 e s to r. B . w ins,”or 8 . leads.

”If the game s arele ve lthe score should be ca e d thu 3 game s all,

”or as the case may be . At the

end of e achse t the se ts shouldbe cale d inlike manne r.

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14. No compe titor ma transfe rhis entry to anothe r laye r.15. Compe ti tors shall ve a right, by themse lve s orde putie s,

tobe re sent at the draw.

16. he draw shallbe conducted inthe following manne re ach compe titor’s name shall be writtenona se parate card or

pape r, and the se shallbe placed inabowl orhat, drawnout oneby one at random, and cop ied ona list inthe orde r inwhichthe yhave be endrawn.17 . Whenthe numbe r of compe titors is 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, or any

highe r powe r of 2, the shall me e t inpairs, inaccordance withthe system shownby t e following d iagramrs

'

r ROUND. sunRome o. 33 9 ROUND.

18 . Whenthe numbe r of compe titors is not a powe r of 2,

the re shall be bye s inthe first round . The numbe r of bye sshallbe equal to the d iffe re nce be twe enthe numbe r of compe titors and the ne xt higher owe r of 2 ; and the numbe r ofpairs that shall me e t inthe rst round shall be e ual to thediffe rence be twe enthe numbe r of compe titors an thene xtlowe r powe r of 2. The bye s, if e veninnumbe r, shallbe d1v1de d,as the nam e s are drawn, ine qual pro ortions at

.

the top andbottom of the list, and be low t e pa i rs ; i f uneven1nnumbe r. the re shall be one more bye at the bottom than at thetop . Thus, in

Se ams r .—Faom5TO 8 Com m rroas.

W ith5, the re will be r bye at the top , and 2 byes at the bottom of the“St. thtlsrsr R oom ) . znnRoom ) . 31m ROUND.

8”

MA —t : 8

f, A

X

D D E.

W ith6, the re willbe rbye at the top, and 1bye at the bottom.

W ith7 . r b e at the bottom.

W ith8 ,no ye s.

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19. i f a compe titorbe absent whencalle d onto play, or.

shall0 play, or shallhave givenpre viousnotice to the re fe re e

or a membe r Of the comm itte e thathe cannot play inhisne xtround,his adve rsary shall wininthat round .

20. Inhandicap matche s, the compe titors shall be handicappe d by the comm itte e , or a handicappe r appointe d by thecommitte e .

21. Unle ss any othe r principle of handicapping be adopte d,the hand icap shallbe by c lasse s, as be low

CLASS 0 (scratch).Class Class1 rec e ive s one -quarte r 15. 7 re ce ive s 15and three -quarters 15.2 two-quarte rs 15. 8 30.

3 thre e o

quarte rs 15. 9 30 and one -quarte r 15.4 15. 10 30 and two-quarte rs 15.5 15and one -quarte r 15. 1 1 30and thre e -quarte rs 15.6 15and two' quarte rs 15. 12 40.

Whentwo playe rs ind iffe rent classe sbe low scratch me e t, thesupe rior playe r shall start from scratch, and the odds re ce ive dby the infe rior playe r ar e as shownby the anne xe d table , No. I .To use the table , find inthe d iagonal line of figure s the numbe rre pre senting the class Of the supe rior playe r, thentrave l alongthe corre sponding horizontal columnuntil the v e rtical columnis re ached which bears at the top the numbe r of the class of theinfe rior playe r. The odds spe cified at the inte rse ctionof the twocolumns are the odds re quired.

E xangple .—If class 3has to me e t class 9, start from the figure3 inthe diagonal line of figure s, and look horizontally untiltheve rtical columnis re ache d he ade d by the figure 9. The Oddsgivenat the point of inte rse ctionof the two columns (viz . 15andthre e -

quarte rs 15) are the Odds re quire d .

Whenthe d iffe rence be twe enthe be st and worst playe rsente re d is gr e at (say more than it is de sirable to hand i capthe be st playe rs at ow ed The playe rs above scratch (fie .

owing Odds) should be c lassifie d as followsClass1 owes one -quarte r 15. 7 owe s 15and thre e -quarte rs 15.2 t wo-quarte rs 15. 8 30.

3 thre e -quarte rs 15. 9 30 and one -quarter 15.4 15. 10 30 and two-quarte rs 15.5 15and one -quarte r 15. 11 30 and thre e -quarte rs 15.6 15and two-quarte rs 15. 12 40.

Whentwo playe rs ind iffe rent c lasse s above scratch me e t,

APPE NDIX. 7 7

the infe rior playe r shallstart from scratch, and the odds owed

by the supe rior playe r are as shown by the anne xe d table ,NO . 11.

This table is to be used inthe same way as the forme r, theclass Of the supe rior playe r be ing looke d for inthe horizontal

s at the top, and the class of the infe rior playe r inl ine Of figure s.

class 12 (owe 40) mee t class 6 (owe 15andtwo-quarte rs the forme r must give the latte r the odds of owe15and one -

quarte r 15.22. Inchampionship-matche s and handicaps by classe s, asabove , advantage -se ts shallbe playe d throughout the t i e s.

23. The committe e may, whe the r appe ale d to by any com

pe titor ornot, postpone the me e ting or any match or part of amatch if, inthe ir opinion

,the state of the

.

we athe r, or of thel ight, or the conditionof the ground rende rs 1tadv1sable to do so.

RECOMME NDATlONS.

1. The re should be , if possible , a cle ar marginof at le ast12 ft. one ach side and 21 ft. at e ach end of the court ; or,

be twe enadjacent courts, 18 ft. one ach side ; but, should thecourts be placed end to end, or end to side , the re should bespace s of 42 ft. or 33 ft. re spe ctive ly, and a stopne t at le ast 8 ft.h ighbe twe en.

Should the re fe re e be a compe titor, a substitute should beappointed to act forhim while he is playing.

3. If two or more priz e s be given, the lose r inthe final tieshould re ce ive the se cond prize , and whe re more thantwo prize sare given, the lose rs inthe last tie but one should re ce ive prize sof e qual value .

4. Inimportant matche s it is de sirable to have sevenlineumpire s inadditionto the scoring umpire ,name ly, one for e achbase -line , one for e ach se rvice -line , one for the half- court-l ine ,and one for e ach side -line .

5. The c ircular issued by the committe e should include thefollowing particulars

1) The date , hour, and place ofme e ting ;

(2) The e vents, entrance fe e s, and value of the prize s3) The date , hour, and place of re ce iving and closing the

entrie s ;

8) The time and place of the draw ;The make r’s name of the bal ls tobe use d at the me e ting ;

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(6 ) The shoe s tobe worn, if the re be any re strictioninth isre spe ct

(7 ) The numbe r of se ts tobe played inthe various matche s,and whe the r advantage -se ts ornot.

0

6 . Inhandicap compe titions the handicap should, if possible ,be framedbe fore the draw take s place .

REGULATIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENTOF

INTER -CLUB AND INTER -COUNTY ME ETINGS.

1 . The Laws of LawnTennis for the time be ing sanctione dby the LawnTe nnis Association, and Nos. 10, 11, and 12 of theforegoing R egulations so far as applicable , shall be Obse rve d at

all inte r-cluband inte r-county me e tings .2. A re fe re e shall be a

ppointe dby mutual agre ement.

3 . The balls use d at al inte r-club and inte r-county me e tingsshcitllbe se le cte d by mutual agre ementbe twe enthe compe ting

51 e s.

4. Provisionfor payment for the balls use d at all inte r-cluband inte r-county me e tings shall be made by mutual agre ementbe twe enthe compe ting side s.

5. The hour for the c e ssationof play shallbe fixedby mutualagre ement be fore the commencement of play.

6 . The numbe r of single -hande d or four-handed matche s,or of both, to be playe d at e ach inte r-clubor inte r-countyme e ting, shall be se ttle d by mutual agre ement be twe enthecompe ting side s .7 . Allmatche s shallbe the be st of thre e advantage -se ts.8 .

‘The club or county which wins the greate r numbe r ofmatche s shallbe the winne r at thatme e ting.

9 . Incase all the matche s have not be enplayed outby thet ime fixed for the ce ssationof play, or if playhasby we athe r, the side having wonthe majority Of matchebe conside re d the w inne r ; should the matche s be e qual, themajority of se ts shallde cide , and if matche s and se tsbe e qual,the majority ofgame s.

10. The quahficationto play for a county shallbe birth inthe county, or re sidence the re infor at least two ye ars imme diate ly pre ceding,but no one shall be entitled to play formore thanone county during the same ye ar.11. For the purpose s of lawntennis, the boundarie s Of

countie s shallbe de eme d tobe unaffe cte d by the Local Gove rnment Act, 1888 .

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THE ALL-ENGLANDSERIES.

CLES ANDOYOLIN G .

H . H E W ITT G R I F F I N ,

LONDON 117 3 t cwn,AUTHOR or

“e rcu ts or T1111 se ason,”arc .

FOURTH EDITION, .RE V’

ISEDTo DATE , 1903.

Cfiaplcrs on Tbe Ckaicc qf a Cycle ; it: Care andC. IV. B rown Tfie Motor Cycle andCampbell and on Cy clingfi r Ladz

'

cr,’

“From cove r to cove r it is eminently readable , and muchof thematte r is as instructive as it

.is inte re sting. The pre sent e dition

is far inadvance of the Old one , bothas regards comple tenesshndinte r Cyclist.

M r. Gri ffin’

s long e xpe rience inconnectionwiththe sport make sthis book ve ry valuable ,not only to those de sirous of learning to ride ,but also to the ex

It is a valua le , concise , and comprehensive r'

e cord of the presentprogre ss of a sport that has advance d rapidly inre cent years.”Scotsman.

A thoroughly practical up-to-date guide to cycling and cycles.”c rtcm Morning N ews.

CY CL E TOUR IN G ..

A. W. RUMNEY, M .A.

EXTRACTS FROM PRE SS NOTICE S.

Allphase s of touringhare touched upon. The authorhas a

ple te g a p of eac de tai l dealtwi thinthe fifte enchapte rs. %

tre atise ontouring as distinct from ordinary riding.

Mr. Rumney is a tourist par excellence, and, havmg made th'sphase of bicycl ing his spe cial study and amusement, he writes frompractical expe rience .

—Fr’eld.

Suppl i es a d istinct want. It cove rs a very large fie ld ofne ededinformatton, and wi l l be found of muchvalue to the generaltourist.

Onall points Mr. R umney is a write r of sound sense .

”—Iri thCyclist.“A good l ittle book ona popu lar subject, and cannotbut provewe lcome to many reade rs. ”—Scotsman.

We congratu late Mr. Rumney onhis work, whichaffords thetourist a compendium of valuablehints.

”—B azaar .“We l l written, readable , and dependable throughout.

LONDON : GEOR GE BE LL AND SONS,