CHAPTER II 



THE VALUE OF OBSERVATION 



SEVERAL years ago I was looking on at a 

 tennis match between the champion of America 

 and one of the best men England ever sent to 

 this country, and as I watched their play I 

 could not help but marvel at the accuracy with 

 which the players placed their shots. Their 

 drives were wonderful for direction and speed. 

 On nearly every return the ball barely cleared 

 the net and was seldom more than a few inches 

 above the top as it passed over. A friend who 

 knew many of the experts told me how they 

 attained to their remarkable precision. It was 

 the custom of many of them, he said, when pre- 

 paring for the big matches, to practise for ac- 

 curacy by driving the ball against a wall. He 

 said this was particularly true of the American 

 champion, and that it was not unusual for him 

 to use up a dozen or more balls in a day's prac- 

 tice. The wall had painted across its face a 

 line of contrasting colour at a height from the 

 ground equivalent to that of the top of a regu- 



22 



