BACK-HANDED STROKE.
The "Lob" claims Mr. Haslow as its discoverer. This gentleman, chiefly owing to the agency of the stroke, succeeded in defeating the champion, Mr. Spencer-Gore, who first practised volleying tactics, in 1878. The "lob" is a useful invention against net play, being merely a stroke lifted high over the opponent's head, thus preventing a volleying return. The counter tactics to this stroke are technically known as the "smash," to which reference has already been made, and the "lob volley." The former of these two strokes consists in getting the racket—either by reach or springing into the air—above the ball and smashing it with all the strength at the player's command, to the confusion of the opponent, and the alarm and consternation of the bye-standers. The "lob" volley consists in catching the dropping ball with a vertical drive similar to the ordinary forward drive played off the ground.
Lady players will, as a general rule, find the back game quite as effective, and a good deal more graceful than forward or volleying tactics, which owing to various circumstances, such as the necessity for extra reach and freedom of movement—are more suited to a man's play than a woman's. The back game with the aid of judicious "placing" will always prove hard to beat, a few well-worn maxims for its successful issue being: to hit as hard, and to keep the ball as low as possible. Neither to court nor to avoid volleying, but to take it as it comes. To thoroughly master the art of "placing." Never to relax good style by slovenly play, and finally to follow in all cases the advice of a well-known authority, "To start at once, to arrive in time, and never to be in a hurry."
M. Marshall.
FOOTNOTES:
[7] Lawn-Tennis, Chap. VII. Badminton Library. C. E. Heathcote.
[8] Lawn-tennis, Chap. XVI., Badminton Library.