THE HOUSE AND ITS EQUIPMENT 



203 



HARD COURTS FOR LAWN TENNIS. 



1 ennis a 1 / the Yt tn- Round -The Influence uf llnnl Courts on cm Improved finnie- -Detailed 

 Instructions i&amp;lt; the M&amp;lt;ikinx &quot;/ Hard Courts. 



IN an eloquent lecture on tin- advantages of being an Englishman, .Mr. ( ,. \\ . E. Russell include ! 

 among them our climate, on the ground that, bad as it might he for Annies, it was good, in that it 

 made us N irtherners able to play the supreme game of give and take. It is precisely our climate 

 th.it has invented the hard tennis court, and our love of Barnes the necessity tor having it. 1 hen- 

 can he no doubt that lawn tennis would be much more played than it is il one could only depend 

 on the \\eathei ; but with many wet summers it becomes a hazardous business to rely on tin: ordinary 

 grass court. As most people are out to get a game, rather than to practise patience under difficulties, 

 it bennies a question how it can be played without reference to the weather. I his is answered by the 

 hard court, upon which play is possible unless it is actually raining, or after a frost, when the surface is 

 apt to kick up. It gives us lawn tennis (or, rather, hard court tennisj for twelve months in the year. One 

 of its effects is the possibility of exercise during the winter, and its general adoption would bring a general 

 improvement in the game. A good many men play badminton now for practice in the oil-season ; and 

 inasmuch as lawn tennis is only an adaptation of badminton, as first played in India, there may be 

 sometl ing in the idea. There is, however, no comparison between the games the one played in the fresh 

 air, with all the consequent exhilaration, the other in a stuffy hall in a dust-laden atmosphere. Also, there 

 is a very fundamental difference between the line of flight of a tennis ball and that ol a badminton 

 shuttle. -ock, so that an eye trained to take the shuttlecock may miss the ball. If. then, our lawn tennis 

 players could play the game all the year round, there would be a marked increase in their numbers, 

 consequent on tlu greater certainty with which fixtures may be made. Players \\ould improve their 



23O. A HARD TENNIS COURT. 



