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- Tennis started as a backcourt game, with the players staying near the baseline, never coming to the net. The game was slow because the players waited until the ball bounced very low before hitting it. A lifting stroke with lots of topspin was a favorite, introduced by an Englishman named Lawford, for whom the stroke was named.
- Netplay next developed, and it was found that a player at the net could win over the backcourt player using the Lawford stroke. This resulted in the popularity of net play over the backcourt type of game.
- Next came the players (Tilden is the great example) who were equally at home in the backcourt and at the net. This type of player is called “the all-court” player and could beat either the baseline expert or the net expert.
Types Of Players Met On The Courts (Tilden’s Classification)
Joe Gettum
He returns all balls and keeps them in the court. His form is terrible, but he makes a few errors. His balls lack speed but are very accurate. He plays a defensive game, waiting for the opponent to beat himself by hitting the ball out of court.
Alec Smashem
This player gets great joy from hitting the ball as hard as he can. His form is often beautiful to watch, but the majority of his strokes result in errors and points for the opponent. Alec has sacrificed accuracy for speed, and he seldom gets beyond the first round of a big tournament.
The Tennis Player
He has good form, without being spectacular, and keeps a good balance between accuracy and speed, never hitting a ball harder than he needs to in order to gain the point. He can cope with any type of competition and not let his form degenerate.
Types Of Games
The three-stroke game
This is the sensible game to use when learning tennis, the player realizing that it is better to perfect the drives and the service before going on with the more advanced strokes. This is a backcourt game.
The five-stroke game
By adding the volley and the lob to his stroke vocabulary, the player is able to play at the net and defend himself against the net-playing opponent. Intermediate players, who have used the backcourt game for a few years, should advance into the five-stroke game during the second phase of development, emphasizing the development of a good volley and lob.
The all-court game
The smash, chop, slice, and half-volley are added to finish the education of the tennis player. Now he is at home anywhere on the court and can change the pace of the game by use of different kinds of ball spins.
