LAWN TENNIS FOR LADIES




CHAPTER I


ATHLETICS FOR GIRLS

I hope and believe there are comparatively few people who will deny that
athletics have done much for the health and mind of the modern girl.
Exercise in some form or other is essential, and although I am quite
ready to admit that games of the strenuous type, such as hockey and lawn
tennis, can be and sometimes are overdone, yet the girl of to-day, who
enters into and enjoys her game with scarcely less zest than her
brother, is, I am convinced, better in health and happier in herself
than the girl of the past generation. What are the objections to games
for girls? It seems to me the chief arguments against them are (1) that
they are injurious to health; (2) that they impair the womanliness of
woman; (3) that they mar her appearance. There may be something to be
said for these contentions, but to my mind the _pros_ materially
outweigh the _cons_.

As to the injury to health, I deny that the case is proved. Indeed,
evidence is rarely forthcoming. A delicate girl would probably become
more delicate if she did not play games in moderation and take exercise.
A friend of mine, an old doctor, told me the other day that in his youth