THE ART OF LAWN TENNIS
by
WILLIAM T. TILDEN, 2D

To
R. D. K.
AND
M. W. J.
MY "BUDDIES"
W. T. T. 2D

INTRODUCTION

Tennis is at once an art and a science. The game as played by
such men as Norman E. Brookes, the late Anthony Wilding, William
M. Johnston, and R. N. Williams is art. Yet like all true art, it
has its basis in scientific methods that must be learned and
learned thoroughly for a foundation before the artistic structure
of a great tennis game can be constructed.

Every player who helps to attain a high degree of efficiency
should have a clearly defined method of development and adhere to
it. He should be certain that it is based on sound principles
and, once assured of that, follow it, even though his progress
seems slow and discouraging.

I began tennis wrong. My strokes were wrong and my viewpoint
clouded. I had no early training such as many of our American
boys have at the present time. No one told me the importance of
the fundamentals of the game, such as keeping the eye on the ball
or correct body position and footwork. I was given a racquet and
allowed to hit the ball. Naturally, like all beginners, I
acquired many very serious faults. I worried along with moderate
success until I had been graduated from school, beating some
fairly good players, but losing some matches to men below my
class. The year following my graduation the new Captain of my
Alma Mater's team asked me if I would aid him in developing the
squad for next year. Well, "Fools rush in where angels fear to
tread," so I said Yes.

At that point my tennis education began.

The youngsters comprising our tennis squad all knew me well and
felt at perfect liberty to ask me as many questions as they could
think up. I was besieged with requests to explain why Jones
missed a forehand drive down the side-line, or Smith couldn't
serve well, or Brown failed to hit the ball at all. Frankly, I
did not know, but I answered them something at the moment and
said to myself it was time I learned some fundamentals of tennis.
So I began to study the reasons why certain shots are missed and
others made. Why certain balls are hit so much faster though with
less effort than others, and why some players are great while
most are only good. I am still studying, but my results to date
have resulted in a definite system to be learned, and it is this
which I hope to explain to you in my book.

Tennis has a language all its own. The idioms of the game should
be learned, as all books on the game are written in tennis
parlance. The technical terms and their counterpart in slang need
to be understood to thoroughly grasp the idea in any written
tennis account.

I do not believe in using a great deal of space carefully
defining each blade of grass on a court, or each rule of the
game. It gets nowhere. I do advocate teaching the terms of the
game.

1. THE COURT.

The Baseline=The back line.

The Service-line=The back line of the service court, extending
from side-line to side-line at a point 21 feet from the net.

The Alleys=The space on each side of the court between the side
service-line and the outside sideline of a doubles court. They
are used only when playing doubles and are not marked on a single
court.

The Net=The barrier that stretches across the court in the exact
centre. It is 3 feet high at the centre and 3 feet 6 inches high
at the posts which stand 3 feet outside the sidelines.

2. STROKES (Two General Classes).

A. Ground strokes=All shots hit from the baselines off the bounce
of the ball.

B. Volleys=Shots hit while the ball is in flight through the air,
previous to its bound.

The Service=The method of putting the ball in play.

The Drive=A ground stroke hit with a flat racquet face and
carrying top spin.

The Chop=An undercut ground stroke is the general definition of a
chop. The slice and chop are so closely related that, except in
stroke analysis, they may be called chop.

Stop Volley=Blocking a hall short in its flight.

Half Volley or Trap Shot=A pick up.

The Smash=Hitting on the full any overhead ball.

The Lob=Hitting the ball in a high parabola.

3. TWIST ON THE BALL.

Top Spin=The ball spins towards the ground and in the direction
of its flight.

Chop, Cut, or Drag=The ball spins upwards from the ground and
against the line of flight. This is slightly deviated in the
slice, but all these terms are used to designate the
under-struck, back-spinning ball.

Reverse Twist=A ball that carries a rotary spin that curves one
way and bounces the opposite.

Break=A spin which causes the ball to bounce at an angle to its
line of flight.

4. LET=A service that touches the net in its flight yet falls in
court, or any illegal or irregular point that does not count.

5. FAULT=An illegal service.

6. OUT=Any shot hit outside legal boundaries of the court.

7. GOOD=Any shot that strikes in a legal manner prescribed by
rules of the game.

8. FOOTFAULT=An illegal service delivery due to incorrect
position of the server's feet.

9. SERVER=Player delivering service.

10. RECEIVER or STRIKER=Player returning service.                 
                  
                     W. T. T. WIMBLEDON, July 1920

PREFACE TO NEW EDITION

The season of 1921 was so epoch-making in the game of tennis,
combining as it did the greatest number of Davis Cup matches that
have ever been held in one year, the invasion of France and
England by an American team, the first appearance in America of
Mlle. Suzanne Lenglen and her unfortunate collapse, and finally
the rise to prominence of Japan as a leading factor in the tennis
world that I have incorporated a record of the season's
outstanding features and some sidelights and personality sketches
on the new stars in the new addition of this book.

The importance of women's tennis has grown so tremendously in the
past few years that I have also added a review of the game and
its progress in America. Not only has Mlle. Lenglen placed her
mark indelibly on the pages of tennis history but 1921 served to
raise Mrs. Molla Bjurstedt Mallory to the position in the world
that she rightly deserves, that of the greatest match winner of
all women. The past season brought the return to American courts
of Mrs. May Sutton Bundy and Miss Mary Browne, in itself an event
of sufficient importance to set the year apart as one of highest
value.

The outstanding performances of the two juniors, Vincent Richards
and Arnold Jones, must be regarded as worthy of permanent
recognition and among the outstanding features of a noteworthy
year. Thus it is with a sense of recording history- making facts
that I turn to the events of 1921.                               
WILLIAM T. TILDEN 2D
GERMANTOWN,
      PHILADELPHIA

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION PREFACE TO NEW EDITION

PART I: TENNIS TECHNIQUE--STROKES AND FUNDAMENTALS OF THE GAME

CHAPTER  
I FOR NOVICES ONLY
II  THE DRIVE
III SERVICE
IV  THE VOLLEY AND OVERHEAD SMASH
V   CHOP, HALF VOLLEY, AND COURT POSITION

PART II: THE LAWS OF TENNIS PSYCHOLOGY
VI GENERAL TENNIS PSYCHOLOGY
VII THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MATCH PLAY
VIII THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PHYSICAL FITNESS
IX THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SINGLES AND DOUBLES

PART III: MODERN TENNIS AND ITS FUTURE
X THE GROWTH OF THE MODERN GAME
XI THE PROBABLE FUTURE OF THE GAME

PART IV: SOME SIDELIGHTS ON FAMOUS PLAYERS INTRODUCTORY