For the purpose of training the eye, it is no bad device to place a ball on the spot where the service is intended to drop and take aim at it. The satisfaction of hitting the mark will not be frequent, but the practice will at least impart some idea of locality. In service when one fault has already been made, it is wonderfully easy to drop into the bad habit of sending an easy catch to represent the second stroke; neither is this reprehensible custom entirely confined to beginners who might, perhaps, be excused for exercising a certain amount of caution over their last chance. Over and over again I have seen ladies, who did not by any means count themselves tyros, indulging in this defective style of play. They appear to think that one ball either "smashed" into the net, or sent a dozen yards out of court absolves them from further effort; their second stroke being as harmfully innocuous as their first was mistakenly vicious. And in this case again, nothing but practice will give equality. To obtain a twist the ball should be struck first with the left side of the racket—which will be held in a more horizontal position than for the regular forward stroke—and as it were run across its face, or in other words the racket is twisted round the ball from right to left.
To receive a service the striker-out should, generally speaking, stand near the base-line, opposite the centre of the service court, a position which commands either a fore or back-handed stroke. Of course her position must naturally depend upon the style of service given, and here again, nothing but experience will impart the intuitive consciousness of the exact spot on which the ball is likely to drop. Through excess of zeal and over anxiety to make a correct return, the non-proficient player will nearly always commit the error of rushing at her stroke and hitting the ball while it is yet rising, instead of waiting to catch it in the fall and lift it with a nearly vertical racket over the net. The ball should so to speak be allowed to meet the player half way for an ordinary stroke. Of course in the case of a cut or a screw, which may bound backwards instead of forwards, it is advisable to approach the stroke more closely, but even in such a case it is better to wait and see the angle of rising before striking. Any undue hurry will cause the ball to perform the feat known as "going through the racket." For the fore-handed stroke, the racket should be held in a firm grasp (as in Fig. C), great care being taken that the position of the fingers is correct from the first, the ball being struck with a full racket. For the back-handed stroke, the grip is changed (see Fig. D). This change may at first appear a serious difficulty, but after a little practice at fore and back-handed strokes alternately, the change will become both unconscious and mechanical.
The back-handed stroke is a weak point with many players, for which reason extra attention should be bestowed upon its cultivation. Any attempt to run round the ball, or to take it "with both hands," should from the first be severely discouraged. Practising for the back-handed stroke against a blank wall is advised by many competent authorities as a useful means of overcoming preliminary awkwardness.
Figure C.
FORE-HANDED STROKE.
The position of the feet and body in lawn-tennis is of the utmost importance. The player should await her stroke standing facing the net with the feet a little apart, and the weight of the body resting on the toes. In the case of a fore-hand stroke the left foot should be brought quickly across the right, by way of turning the body sideways, while the racket is swung back in readiness to receive the stroke. When the ball is struck, the weight of the body is shifted from the right foot to the left. For a back-handed stroke the right foot is brought across the left, and whilst striking the weight is shifted from the left foot to the right. The Volley has ever been a subject of controversy in lawn-tennis annals. We all know what an instrument of defence the stroke became off the rackets of the Messrs. Renshaw; but at present we are considering lawn-tennis from a woman's point of view, which is a very different thing. The ordinary variety of the volley is employed to save change of position necessary in taking a ball off the ground. This stroke resembles a "lob," and should be so placed as to obviate the chance of punishment. The volley from the net is an overhand stroke and may be played with either a bent or extended arm, according to the force employed. The latter variety, known as the "smash," is given with an uncontrolled swing of the racket. In the former stroke, where the force used is not so great, an excellent effect may be obtained by a quick turn of the wrist, either to right or left, at the moment of striking the ball, causing it to drop near the base of the side line. The volley from the service line is played with a horizontal racket, which may be held either below the bend of the shoulder, or almost close to the ground, when the player is obliged to stoop for the purpose of "lifting" the ball over the net.
The half volley is a stroke as difficult to attain as to describe. Briefly it consists in blocking the ball—roughly speaking—within the first half-foot of its rise from the drop. The difficulty of the stroke lies in estimating correctly the exact spot on which the ball will drop, and in having the racket ready just behind that spot. The stroke is chiefly used in cases where retreat is impossible, or at least likely to be attended with ill-success, and when the reach is too short for a volley; but it is a stroke which should be indulged in with caution, as, unless in the case of exceptionally good players, it is likely to prove a dismal failure. That it can generally be dispensed with by either a step forward, or a few steps back is consoling to the medium performer.
Figure D.