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REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



up the point without a struggle. This 

 player, however, attempted a bit of 

 strategy. But appearing to start on a 

 mad rush to cover his unprotected court, 

 he induced the other player to antici- 

 pate his false move and play to his 

 other side, whereupon he promptly 

 turned about and met the ball for a 

 successful shot. Obviously, the next 

 time the opportunity for the " fake open- 

 ing " is presented, the driver would re- 

 fuse to be caught by the same trick. 

 The volleyer, however, anticipating this 

 fact, this time makes a genuine dash 

 toward his uncovered court and meets 

 his opponent's drive on his forehand. 

 The driver, having been thus twice an- 

 ticipated — the first time by deliberate 

 strategy and the second time by care- 

 ful deduction — loses confidence to such 

 an extent that several additional points 

 are scored against him. 



Anticipating an opponent's move is 

 always gratifying to a player, but Mr. 

 Little warns against indicating too 

 quickly to your opponent txiat you have 

 discovered " his game." 



There is danger, also, in over-acting. 

 For instance, one of our best players 

 usually fails to make a successful 

 " fake opening " because his pretended 

 rush toward his unprotected court is so 

 unnatural in its movements that it is 

 easily detected. Then there is that 

 other common case of over-acting in 

 doubles, where a player plainly adver- 

 tises his intention to drive down his 

 opponents' alley by making a great 

 show of looking off in some entirely 

 different direction. These transparent 

 strategies defeat their purpose. 



It is when both opposing players are 

 facing each other near the net, however, 

 that the quickest thinking, or guessing, 

 must be done. 



Watching the racket of his opponent as a 

 cat would a mouse and springing forward 

 the instant that the other man indicates by 

 the slightest move to which side of the 

 court he is going to' drive, a quick thinker 

 may be able by his forward jump to meet 

 the ball, and of course he will gain the ad- 

 vantage of leaving little time for the driver 

 to recover. 



Mr. Little has something to say also 

 about upsetting the strategy of the man 



who does not think carefully and accu- 

 rately, the player who tries one dodge 

 after another, only to find himself made 

 ridiculous by being beautifully passed 

 owing to the superior work of the thor- 

 ough strategist. Such a man discovers 

 that instead of being quick, he is simply 

 being thoughtless. 



The primary ride of anticipating— watch- 

 ing the other man's racket — is capable of 

 being followed with different degrees of keen- 

 ness. There is the man who knows the rule 

 and follows it fairly well, and the other 

 man who watches at the rate of 100 per cent., 

 the man, for instance, who knows when 

 MciLoughlin is going to serve swiftly, and 

 when his service is going to break. This 

 man is not fooled by the concealed racket. 

 He does not decide because he sees a racket 

 moving toward the ball with the face ready 

 to cut the ball extremely that the ball will 

 not be hit squarely. He sees exactlv how 

 the racket meets the ball and co-ordinates 

 with this fact every movement made by the 

 server or driver as the case may be. 



And at no time must this keen observa- 

 tion be followed by equally keen deductions 

 so much as when a player is in the position 

 of a volleyer. For then time is limited. If 

 the volleyer is fooled by the concealed 

 racket, he may not, and probably will not. 

 have time to redeem his error. It is not 

 merely a question of seeing where the b;ill 

 is going that the volleyer has to decide in- 

 stantaneously, but he must see what kind of 

 a blow the ball has received. For if the 

 ball has been cut, he will have to volley 

 rather differently than if it had been top- 

 ped. I've known first-rate players to volley 

 into the net simply because they did not 

 watch the other man's racket and see what 

 kind of a twist he gave the ball. . . . The 

 difference then between accurate watching 

 and fair watching is the difference between 

 a miss and a win. 



Saving up your discovery of your op- 

 ponent's tactics for use in emergencies 

 is a good plan, advises Mr. Little, mak- 

 ing use of your knowledge when you 

 really need to gain a point. This is not 

 only beneficial in respect of points 

 gained, but also imDortant for the dis- 

 heartening moral effect on your op- 

 ponent when he loses a point he ex- 

 pected to win. 



'The only way to keep yourself 

 from being constantly anticipated," con- 

 cludes Mr. Little, " is to keep the other 

 man constantly surprised. ... It 

 is in the short court game and in volley- 

 ing that the quick thinker wins his ad- 

 vantage over the man with a slower and 

 less alert mind." 



