Dallinger/Dallinger

"Tennis is a mutual cocktail of very high kick." We might suppose this to refer to the effect of the temperaments of the players on each other. With anyone but Mr Tilden we might sacrifice the aroma of the apothegm, and emend "mutual" by "mental". But to Mr Tilden tennis is a matter of psychology. It is a question, he says, of understanding the working of one's opponent's mind, of gauging the effect on his mind of one's own play and of the effect on one's own mind of external circumstances. The chapter in which he develops this theme is one of the most interesting in the book, and it includes also a classification of players according to his theory. As we should expect he makes Mr Brookes appear of the first class, he can propound an answer to every query you put him. Next to him come players like Capt. Wilding. They are too much concerned with their plan of action to consider their opponents' minds. Your hard-hitting, net-rushing player is a creature of impulse. The steady base-line player is no more scientific really; if he were he would not adhere to his base-line.