Lawn Tennis for Ladies

ell-made racket. Fortunately there are now so many good makers that it is a player's own fault if she is not suitably equipped. It may be a little more expensive to buy

racket, preferring their make to any other;

and may be condemned. If you use a racket that is too light, it means that the maker has not been able to string it as tightly as it ought to be strung-the frame would not stand the tension. I do not think a racket should be lighter than 13-1/2 oz., which is the normal weight for ladies. Myself, I prefer and always play with a

all ladies to fight shy of the handle that is abnormally large. I am quite sure it is a mistake; it tends to tire and stiffen the hand. Endeavour to standardize your requirements. Find out by careful trial what weight, what size of handle, and what stringi

variable weather, it is necessary to play in the rain, or at any rate on a wet ground, and with sodden balls; and the very best gut in the world cannot stand rough usage. It is a go

en not in use. A warped frame is fatal. If you do not use a tennis bag, your racket should be protected in a waterproof case. It is a good pla

ir clothing. But the less experienced are wont to appear in a "garden-party" trailing skirt, trimmed hat and dressy blouse-a most unbusiness-like costume for the game. It is essential to remember that you want, above everything else, free use of all your limbs; physical action must no

careful that the hem is quite level all round; nothing is more untidy than a skirt that dips down at the back or sides-dropping at the back is a little trick a cotton skirt cultivates when it comes home from

colour to wear. It washes well and does not fade, and looks very much neater on the court than a coloured material. I prefer white shoes and stockings, for I think it looks nicer to be in one uniform colour. But this is a matter of tas

o me a great mistake. A white skirt will wash well, and it does not matter how dirty it gets; so long as you do not have it trailing in the mud it cannot come to much harm. It looks as neat as anything can look that is

et, it is a good plan to wear a pair of men's thick shooting stockings or socks over your tenni

lower in court and are not as comfortable as the "gym" shoe. Some people say the thicker sole is less tiring to the feet, but I find I am much less foot-weary after a match when playing in the thin shoe-there is less weight to car

safeguard against sunstroke. A long warm coat is a very necessary article of wearing apparel, especially for girls who are playing in tournaments. It should be put on immediately after a strenuous match, however hot

attached. Putting up her hand to adjust a hairpin, the owner did not know that the chain had caught on to her fringe-net, and, bringing her hand down quickly, the fringe-net and most of the hairpins were dragged from her hair. The result was that the player, who might easily have left the court and fixed up h

"; not to have to alter your habits before a match is the secret. To change your diet and mode of living suddenly, as some players do, is more calculated to upset you than to make you fitter for the ordeal. Common sense must of course be used. For instance, you should not eat a heavy meal just before playing. I generally prefer bread-and-cheese, a milk pudding of some sort, and perhaps a little fruit for lunch if I have a match, in the afternoon. I find this diet very satisfying and sustaining, and of course much lighter than meat. Bananas or apples go very well with the cheese. As I like this sort of lunch at any time, I do not have to change my diet materially before a match. After the day's play is over, I make absolutely no difference, eating for dinner in the evening whatever is going. Lunch is the chief meal over which care should be exercised, for important matches generally begin abou

grass court is the ideal surface for lawn tennis. The sensation of playing a genuinely hard match with evenly balanced players on a good grass court, under ideal weather conditions, has only to be experienced to be appreciated. It is then you realize what great enjoyment

one or two really good courts. Can it be ignorance, or is it a want of necessary energy and constant attention? Lawn tennis seems to suffer in this respect more than most games. There are hundreds of splendid golf greens and cricket pitches all over t

half-thirty better than his usual game. The moral is that if other players had the opportunity of playing regularly on a true and fast court they must essentially improve. On bad courts you can never be sure what the ball will do; it is a toss-up whether you get a false bound or not. A player once told me that he thought it a good thing to have these bad courts at your house or club to practise upon. When you went to tournaments, he argued, you would not mind what you found there, as the conditions could not be worse, and might be better, and you would always be in the happy fr

ass courts which are not of the best. These covered wood courts are very scarce, and it is a thousand pities there are so few of them. Would that this winter game were in the reach of everybody! On the other hand, you can overdo

g, and Dinard. The bound of the ball on these courts is absolutely uniform, the surface being hard sand. One great advantage they possess-we should welcome it over here-is that when it rains play is quite out of t