CHAPTER V.THE STROKE.Bystroke, I mean the motion with which a ball is returned off the ground. Of course, all balls cannot be played in the same way; that must depend on how they come, and on the hardness of the ground. As a rule, however, a player can choose in which of two ways he will play the ball. He can take the ball at the top of its bound, in which case the head of the racket is held a little higher than the hand, and the racket itself is nearly horizontal. The stroke is made with the forearm and wrist, and the arm is straightened as the ball is struck.The other method is to let the ball fall till within a foot or so of the ground, and then, so to speak, to lift it over the net. The racket is held upright, with the head a little back and the hand forward. The ball is taken beside, and a little in front of, the right foot, and a short step forward is made with the left. In striking, the racket is raised, not from the shoulder, but from the elbow, and the wrist is bent backward. The direction of the ball is given by turning the wrist at the moment of striking, and for this reason it is very difficult forone’s opponent to foresee where the ball will be put. I should explain that the stroke is not meant to be a “slam,” but a quiet, regular stroke, whose strength lies less in its speed than in its accuracy, and in the difficulty of foreseeing its direction.Of the two strokes I much prefer the second one. It gives one’s opponent more time to place himself, but, on the other hand, one gains both in accuracy and severity of stroke, and can also change the direction of the ball at the last moment.On a very hard ground the horizontal stroke is the more common, because the ball rises so high that one would have to go very far back in the court to play it with a vertical racket, and in doing so would lose his position. On a slow ground, the chance for the second stroke occurs all the time.
Bystroke, I mean the motion with which a ball is returned off the ground. Of course, all balls cannot be played in the same way; that must depend on how they come, and on the hardness of the ground. As a rule, however, a player can choose in which of two ways he will play the ball. He can take the ball at the top of its bound, in which case the head of the racket is held a little higher than the hand, and the racket itself is nearly horizontal. The stroke is made with the forearm and wrist, and the arm is straightened as the ball is struck.
The other method is to let the ball fall till within a foot or so of the ground, and then, so to speak, to lift it over the net. The racket is held upright, with the head a little back and the hand forward. The ball is taken beside, and a little in front of, the right foot, and a short step forward is made with the left. In striking, the racket is raised, not from the shoulder, but from the elbow, and the wrist is bent backward. The direction of the ball is given by turning the wrist at the moment of striking, and for this reason it is very difficult forone’s opponent to foresee where the ball will be put. I should explain that the stroke is not meant to be a “slam,” but a quiet, regular stroke, whose strength lies less in its speed than in its accuracy, and in the difficulty of foreseeing its direction.
Of the two strokes I much prefer the second one. It gives one’s opponent more time to place himself, but, on the other hand, one gains both in accuracy and severity of stroke, and can also change the direction of the ball at the last moment.
On a very hard ground the horizontal stroke is the more common, because the ball rises so high that one would have to go very far back in the court to play it with a vertical racket, and in doing so would lose his position. On a slow ground, the chance for the second stroke occurs all the time.