_Net._—The net should be bound along the top with heavy white cotton or duck, to the depth of two or three inches. Without this binding it is very difficult to see the top of the net in a bad light. The most important points in a net are that the meshes should be too small to allow a ball to pass through them, and that the twine should not be so large as to obstruct the view of the opposite court.
_Shoes._—There is little to say about shoes, although one’s comfort depends a great deal on them. They should be a little too large, with the toes square or round, but never pointed. Those made of buckskin, with leather straps over the toes, are the most comfortable. For the soles no rubber compares with steel points—_i.e._, small nails about five-eighths of an inch long, driven into the sole of the shoe, and protruding from it about one-quarter to three-eighths of an inch. Points injure the ground less than rubber, as to a great degree they prevent slipping. For gravel or asphalt the best soles are made of very soft red rubber, which lasts a long time and is very easy to the feet.
_Balls._—Ayres’s balls are used at every tournament of importance in England, and, while this is the case, it is necessary for tournament players to practise with them, though those of some other manufacturers are quite as good for ordinary play.
_Rackets._—The choice of a racket is an important matter, and it is also a difficult one. Young players seem to take pleasure in selecting the most extraordinary rackets in a shop. Let me strongly advise them to avoid all unusual handles, heads, or methods of stringing. All these eccentricities are useless at the best. Nothing is so good as the simplest form of racket, possessing an octagonal handle, and strung in the usual way. Such a racket is used by all the better match-players in England. Opinions differ as to what the exact size of the head should be, but it is certain that there is nothing to be gained by having it square or triangular. Again, the edges of the rim should not be bevelled. It only weakens the frame, while it does not increase the size of the playing face of a racket in the smallest degree. A ball must be hit almost exactly in the centre of the racket to make a stroke at all, for, if hit so near the edge that the bevelled rim can affect it, it cannot possibly go any distance.