“Too much speed, Miss Burrell. Try that again. There, that is much better. Now, Miss Thompson.” She, too, did better this time.
Hazel and Jane were next given a chance. While they were learning the tricks and twists of the service, Harriet and Tommy were practising it by themselves just beyond the court, Disbrow now and then offering a criticism or a suggestion.
Nearly two hours were spent on the service stroke alone. Then, after a brief rest, they took up the half-volley, which Disbrow explained was the art of trapping the ball with the racquet, blocking it—not striking it—just as it rises from the ground. The girls worked faithfully all that forenoon, declining to halt for any long period of rest until their instructor finally insisted upon it. How much progress they had made they could only guess, for Mr. Disbrow did not commit himself. During the luncheon, of course, the talk was on tennis. The very air was charged with tennis. The Meadow-Brook Girls, the Tramp Club, the guardian and the English champion breathed in the atmosphere of the game as they did the fragrant air of the pines that surrounded the clearing where the court had been laid.
Now that he was not playing, Mr. Disbrow walked with a more noticeable limp than before. He denied, however, that his two sets on the court had had anything to do with this. He said inactivity, sitting about and doing nothing, was responsible for the stiffness of the muscles of the injured ankle.
After luncheon the girls were eager to get at their practice again, but the instructor said they must digest their food first. In the meantime he gave them some detailed instruction regarding the importance of holding the racquet correctly.
“One principal reason why you appear to play so awkwardly is that you do not know how to hold your racquets,” he said. “Before coming to that I am going to give you three things to store away in your minds and think of whenever you are not thinking of anything else. That’s an Irish bull, isn’t it?” he smiled.
“An Englishman couldn’t make one,” retorted Jane quickly.
“The three things are how to hit the ball, where to hit the ball and when to hit the ball. Just think that over, young ladies. To return to the best way of holding the racquet; remember that the grasp on it should always allow the greatest possible freedom for the muscles of the wrist. Always avoid a cramped position. The full length of the handle should always be used, the end of the handle resting against the fleshy part of the palm. That isn’t difficult to remember, is it?”
Each girl replied by adjusting her racquet to the right hand.
“For forehand play the grip of the hand should be along the handle with the first finger separated from the others and extended an inch or two farther along the racquet. The finger nails when at rest on the handle should face the direction the ball is to go. In making the backhand stroke, which you will learn this afternoon, the fingers should be closer together and the thumb extended out along the handle behind the racquet. The second or middle knuckles should face in the direction the ball is to be driven. I think that will be enough lecture for the present. Do you all thoroughly understand?”