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Show ! A Consistent Tennis Player By RONALD GRIDER Did you ever play with a constant con-stant tennis player? He never gives up and he never misses a shot even though his drives have no power behind them. Here is the reason that you see some tennis ten-nis players pull out their hair, burn their rackets, and quit tennis for the rest of their lives. No matter to which part of the court you direct your shot or how hard you hit it, he always returns it. After you have rallied for ten minutes and you're so tired you can just lift the racket, he lobs one over that sets you up for a perfect smash. You come down on the ball with all your might and it's a screaming smash to the extreme ex-treme corner of the. court. He rushes over quickly and with ease makes a perfect "pick-up." The ball comes back at you in one of those familiar lobs. The impossibility impos-sibility of the return in your mind and the sight of that ball in front of you after you have spent all your strength in the smash is usually too much for the human brain, and under such a strain you may do anything. Some people peo-ple sit right down in the middle of the court and sob brokenhearted-ly, brokenhearted-ly, or anger may dominate their feelings. If anger is foremost in their minds you will see the ball sailing up over the tree tops on its way to the next town. If they haven't time enough to hit the ball, they will throw the nearest thing they can get their hands on, which is naturally the racket. If this happens, the racket will usually take the same course the ball would have taken. Sometimes the thought of destruction enters their minds. The nearest thing to destroy is the racket and the nearest place to destroy it is on the court. So down it comes with a force equal to the anger which has been pent up in them for the last ten minutes. The result of such force is a neat little pile of kindling bound up by twine. Their patience has come to an end and so has the game. If you are a consistent tennis player, have pity on your friends. Miss a shot once in a while just for their sakes. Some time you may run up against a player who is not a good sportsman and his main point of destruction may be you; so for the sake of your friends, and your health, don't be too consistent. |