SUGGEST TENNIS RULE CHANGES

Lawn Tennis in the years to come will be quite a different game from what it has been in the past if the recommendations of the Executive Committee of the U. S. N. L. T. A. are approved at the annual meeting of the Association this winter. There is little doubt that these changes will go into effect, as the Committee is known to express the sentiments of the entire body. Among the seven men who form the Committee are R. N. Williams '16 and W. M. Washburn '15.

The committee has swept aside the old foot-fault rule, with its numerous interpretations, and proposes the following: "Before commencing to serve the server shall stand with both feet at rest behind the serving line and both feet shall be kept behind the base-line until the ball is struck." The main purpose of the rule is to prevent the server from taking an unfair advantage in getting up to the net.

Another vital change in the code is that which discards entirely the old method of scoring. Instead of the old way, it provides a 1-2-3 method that will make such a score as 15-love only a memory. The proposed change reads as follows:

Wording of New Ruling.

"If the server wins the first point, the score is called 1-in, if the receiver wins the first point, the score is 1-out, when each player wins a point the score is called 1-all. The play is continued in this manner until either player has won four points, when the game is called for that player unless his opponent has three points. The score is then called 4-3 or 3-4 as the case may be, and the game is scored for the player who first thereafter gains a lead of two points." The new system will overcome the complexities of the old and make scoring as simple as counting the runs in a baseball game.

Handicapping Modified.

Another instance of the simplification of tennis that has been proposed by the committee is the revision of the handicapping system. The new method of handicapping will consist of allotting to each player one or more points in a set, and these points will be added to the points made by the player in the entire set. The points won in each game are added together and to this is added the allotted handicap. The player then having the greater number of points wins the set, regardless of the number of games won or lost.

There have been many minor changes in other rules and the effort throughout has been directed toward clearness and directness. There has also been a material shortening of the body of the rules.