Formal and systematic gymnastics are essential for the development of the body and the correction of its defects; out-of-door exercise is excellent, but the solitary walk, climb, swim, or row leaves much to be desired, while in walking especially the mind is free to pursue the same trains of thought which with it was occupied at the desk, and so it fails to be properly refreshing to the mind and body. Whereas in all athletic sports the ego has to be pushed into the background, with all its interests; the day’s work left behind, and the entire attention concentrated on the play. This is a very distinct advantage to the individual.
Women at all ages take themselves and life too seriously. This is in all probability due to a defective early education; between the long school hours, home study, housework, and sewing, they had neither time nor opportunity to cultivate a love for play and games, and so the play instinct was not developed, and if not developed in youth, the chances are that it never will be. In middle and advanced age, when the stress and storm are at their height, nothing is so sure a restorative to overtaxed brains and overwrought nerves as games, sports, and a love of fun.
As a result of our unnatural mode of life in youth, it has come to pass that American women especially have been defrauded out of their birthright of the love of games and sports. Athletic games and sports are as essential to a scheme of education as are reading, writing, and arithmetic.
Other distinct advantages accruing to athletic games are that here the individual becomes acquainted with her powers and weaknesses. In formal gymnastics the movements follow each other in a regular sequence, through lines already carefully laid out; in games, on the contrary, no two plays or combination of plays are exactly alike. One can never tell what her opponent is going to do, and yet what one’s opponent does is so vital to the success or failure of the game that the player must decide quickly and accurately how that move in the game can best be met, so that intense concentration, quickness, alertness, prolonged attention, self-control, and even self-sacrifice are called for, for in the team game the individual interests must be submerged, in order that the side may win; and so the individual power, sense of responsibility, and an esprit de corps are developed, in a manner almost impossible in the same degree in any other way.
The principal outdoor games for women are croquet, lawn-tennis, hockey, golf, hand-ball, basket-ball, baseball, boxing, and fencing.
Croquet.—Of all these games, croquet is the mildest, and for that reason is a good beginning game for a woman who has always led a sedentary life, or for a woman who has become enfeebled through serious illness. It is also an excellent game for old age.
To be beneficial and not detrimental, the exercise must be very gradually increased, both in the length of time occupied and in the vigor of the movements. The muscles must be slowly built up and improved in tone, the lungs developed, and the heart strengthened.
Another advantage of croquet is that it is inexpensive and requires a limited amount of ground.
Lawn-tennis.—Tennis is a much more violent exercise than croquet, and is a game for young people and youth. Now, as to just what constitutes youth: it is altogether a question of the condition of the arteries, heart, and muscular system, and is not a question of years per se.
The game is moderately expensive; played with four, it is not at all violent. It is an excellent game for social purposes, and can be kept up until late in life, but it cannot be begun late in life. It has just the proper amount of variety, activity, and endurance to suit hundreds of people for whom croquet would be too mild, and for whom ball-games would be too severe.