23 JULY 1932, Page 11

Now those who were accustomed to play court tennis missed

one of the chief charms—and difficulties—of that aristocratic game. The ball is heavy and comes off the hard surface at a great pace. The momentum of it is such that it is necessary to have a strong, rather narrow-faced racquet ; and it was the first rule of the coaches that the head of it should be held well above the wrist. The laws of the game—though later Eustace Miles introduced a heresy or two—set a premium on the power to undercut the ball heavily, to play what is now called in lawn tennis the chop shot and the drag. The first lawn tennis balls were of plain rubber, the very earliest with a hole in them, though very soon that was closed by means of a heavy wad of rubber which perceptibly altered the true balance of the ball.