SERVICE-THE
OPENING GUN OF TENNIS.
Service
is the opening gun of tennis. It is putting the ball in play. The old idea was
that service should never be more than merely the beginning of a rally. With
the rise of American tennis and the advent of Dwight Davis and Holcombe Ward,
service took on a new significance. These two men originated what is now known
as the American Twist delivery.
From
a mere formality, service became a point winner. Slowly it gained in
importance, until Maurice E. M'Loughlin, the wonderful "California
Comet," burst across the tennis sky with the first of those terrific
cannon-ball deliveries that revolutionized the game, and caused the old-school
players to send out hurry calls for a severe footfault rule or some way of
stopping the threatened destruction of all ground strokes. M'Loughlin made
service a great factor in the game. It remained for R. N. Williams to supply
the antidote that has again put service in the normal position of mere
importance, not omnipotence. Williams stood in on the delivery and took it on
the rising bound.
Service
must be speedy. Yet speed is not the be-all and end-all. Service must be
accurate, reliable, and varied. It must be used with discretion and served with
brains.
Any
tall player has an advantage over a short one, in service. Given a man about 6
feet and allow him the 3 feet added by his reach, it has been proved by tests
that should he deliver a service, perfectly flat, with no variation caused by
twist or wind, that just cleared the net at its lowest point (3 feet in the
centre), there is only a margin of 8 inches of the service court in which the
ball can possibly fall; the remainder is below the net angle. Thus it is easy
to see how important it is to use some form of twist to bring the ball into
court. Not only must it go into court, but it must be sufficiently speedy that
the receiver does not have an opportunity of an easy kill. It must also be
placed so as to allow the server an advantage for his next return, admitting the
receiver puts the ball in play.
Just
as the first law of receiving is to, put the ball in play, so of service it is
to cause the receiver to fall into error. Do not strive unduly for clean aces,
but use your service to upset the ground strokes of your opponent.
Service
should be hit from as high a point as the server can COMFORTABLY reach. To
stretch unnecessarily is both wearing on the server and unproductive of
results. Varied pace and varied speed is
the keynote to a good service.
The
slice service should be hit from a point above the right shoulder and as high
as possible. The server should stand at about a forty-five degree angle to the
baseline, with both feet firmly planted on the ground. Drop the weight back on
the right foot and swing the racquet freely and easily behind the back. Toss
the ball high enough into the air to ensure it passing through the desired
hitting plane, and then start a slow shift of the weight forward, at the same
time increasing the power of the swing forward as the racquet commences its
upward flight to the ball. Just as the ball meets the racquet face the weight
should be thrown forward and the full power of the swing smashed into the
service. Let the ball strike the racquet INSIDE the face of the strings, with
the racquet travelling directly towards the court. The angle of the racquet
face will impart the twist necessary to bring the ball in court. The wrist
should be somewhat flexible in service. If necessary lift the right foot and
swing the whole body forward with the arm. Twist slightly to the right, using
the left foot as a pivot. The general line of the racquet swing is from RIGHT
to LEFT and always forward.
At
this point and before I take up the other branches of serving, let me put in a
warning against footfaulting. I can only say that a footfault is crossing or
touching the line with either foot before the ball is delivered, or it is a
jump or step. I am not going into a technical discussion of footfaults. It is
unnecessary, and by placing your feet firmly before the service there is no
need to footfault.
It
is just as unfair to deliberately footfault as to miscall a ball, and it is
wholly unnecessary. The average footfault is due to carelessness, over-anxiety,
or ignorance of the rule. All players are offenders at times, but it can
quickly be broken up.
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