victor.

Please do not think I am advocating "pat-ball." I am not. I
believe in playing for your shot every time you have an opening.
I do not believe in trying to win the point every time you hit
the ball. Never allow your concentration on any game to become so
great that you do not at all times know the score and play to it.
I mean both point score and game score. In my explanation of
match play in a later chapter I am going into a detailed account
of playing to the score. It is as vital in tennis as it is in
bridge, and all bridge players know that the score is the
determining factor in your mode of bidding. Let me urge again
concentration. Practise seriously. Do not fool on the court, as
it is the worst enemy to progress. Carelessness or laziness only
results in retrogression, never progress.

Let me turn now to the first principle of all ball games, whether
tennis, golf, cricket, baseball, polo, or football.

KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BALL!

Just a few statistics to show you how vital it is that the eye
must be kept on the ball UNTIL THE MOMENT OF STRIKING IT.

About 85 per cent of the points in tennis are errors, and the
remainder earned points. As the standard of play rises the
percentage of errors drops until, in the average high-class
tournament match, 60 per cent are errors and 40 per cent aces.
Any average superior to this is super-tennis.