Lawn-tennis

DEDICATION.
To William Renshaw, Esq., Champion of England, this book is dedicated by his friend and pupil the Author.
LAWN-TENNIS. BY JAMES DWIGHT.
PUBLISHED BY WRIGHT & DITSON, BOSTON, U. S. A., AND “PASTIME” OFFICE, 28 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON, E. C.
COPYRIGHT 1886, By JAMES DWIGHT.
There is at present no work on Lawn-Tennis written by any of the well-known players or judges of the game, and it is with great diffidence that I offer this book to fill the gap until something better comes.
It is intended for beginners, and for those who have not had the opportunity of seeing the best players and of playing against them.
To the better players it would be presumption for me to offer advice. I should not, indeed, have ventured to write at all had I not had unusual opportunities of studying the game against the best players, and especially against the Champion, Mr. W. Renshaw, and his brother.


LAWN-TENNIS.
When you begin to play games, do not try all the strokes that you see made. Begin by playing quietly in the back of the court. Try simply to get the ball over the net, and to place to one side or the other, and to do this in good form, i.e. , to hold the racket properly, and to carry yourself in the right way. As you improve you can increase the speed of your strokes, and can play closer to the side-lines. Remember that a volleying game is harder to play, and you should learn to play well off the ground before trying anything else. Above all things, never half-volley. If you can return the ball in no other way, let it go and lose the stroke. This may sound absurd, but I feel sure that most young players lose more by habitually trying to take half-volleys when there is no need of it, than they gain by any that they may make. It is a stroke that should never be used if it is possible to avoid it. If you make up your mind to let the ball go unless you can play it in some other way, you will thus learn to avoid wanting to half-volley. When you become a really good player, you can add this stroke to your others, and you will not have got into the habit of using it too often. It is a mistake to play long at a time. For real practice three sets a day are quite enough. When practising for matches, you can play the best of five sets three times a week. Almost all players play too much, and by the middle of the season many of them are stale. Always try to play with some one better than yourself, and take enough odds to make him work to win. In the same way give all the odds that you can.