ing the
dreary, monotonous affair it is now, especially for the base-liner,
would be varied and instructive. I am sure referees would welcome the
change with avidity. The much-dreaded, interminable ladies' double event
would be a thing of the past. If we played the double with the new
formation, perhaps we should succeed in re-establishing the event at
Wimbledon! But it is very difficult to get ladies to volley at a
tournament. They think they have more chance of winning from the back of
the court. Perhaps they have. But they have much less chance of
improving their game and learning a variety of strokes.

Miss V. Pinckney started a great work in 1908, organizing a ladies'
volleying league, in which all ladies who entered a ladies' doubles
event at any tournament were obliged to volley. A most successful
experiment took place at the Beckenham tournament. Miss Pinckney and I
played together at the Reading tournament, and although we were both
base-liners, we determined to go to the net. We found at the end of the
event (which we won, owing fifteen) that we had both much improved our
volleying. Of course we made endless mistakes and were frequently in the
wrong place, but it was experience so badly required. Unfortunately Miss
Pinckney, the pioneer, did not play much last season, and I think the
ladies have rather gone back to their old ways. It seems a thousand
pities.

In _Mixed Doubles_ a girl has a very important part to play.
Practically speaking, she has to work for all the openings for her
partner, who comes in and kills. And very often if in watching a mixed
double you are inclined to think the man is doing little work, or that
he is playing badly, it is because his partner is getting him no
"plums." She is playing a poor length, or not keeping the ball out of
the reach of the opposing man. It is a good plan to keep your head well
down, and of course your eye glued on the ball, until the very last
moment, so that it makes it difficult for the opposing man at the net to
tell in which direction you are going to hit the ball. The late Miss
Robb, who was a magnificent mixed doubles player, used to play in this
way. Men have told me it was impossible to anticipate her returns.
Keeping your head down will also help you from getting flurried or put
off, however "jumpy" the opposing man is, or however much he is running
across. You can always have a mental vision of him to tell you where he
is without looking at him.