A Social History of Tennis in Britain (Routledge Research in Sports History)

Winner of the Lord Aberdare Literary Prize 2015- from the British Society for Sports History.From its advent in the mid-late nineteenth century as a garden-party pastime to its development into a highly commercialised and professionalised high-performance sport, the history of tennis in Britain reflects important themes in Britain's social history. In the first comprehensive and critical account of the history of tennis in Britain, Robert Lake explains how the game's historical roots have shaped its contemporary structure, and how the history of tennis can tell us much about the history of wider British society.Since its emergence as a spare-time diversion for landed elites, the dominant culture in British tennis has been one of amateurism and exclusion, with tennis sitting alongside cricket and golf as a vehicle for the reproduction of middle-class values throughout wider British society in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Consequently, the Lawn Tennis Association has been accused of a failure to promote inclusion or widen participation, despite steadfast efforts to develop talent and improve coaching practices and structures. Robert Lake examines these themes in the context of the global development of tennis and important processes of commercialisation and professional and social development that have shaped both tennis and wider society.The social history of tennis in Britain is a microcosm of late-nineteenth and twentieth-century British social history: sustained class power and class conflict; struggles for female emancipation and racial integration; the decline of empire; and, Britain's shifting relationship with America, continental Europe, and Commonwealth nations. This book is important and fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in the history of sport or British social history. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication 6 Table of Contents 8 Acknowledgements 10 List of abbreviations 12 Introduction 14 1 ‘A highly Christian and beneficent pastime’: the emergence of lawn tennis in late nineteenth century Britain 20 2 Pat-ball and petticoats: representations of social class and gender in early lawn tennis playing styles, etiquette and fashions 37 3 Social aspiration, social exclusion and socialites: clubs, tournaments and “pot-hunting” in pre-war lawn tennis 54 4 The LTA’s struggle for legitimacy: early efforts in talent development, coaching and the retention of amateurism 70 5 British tennis as an imperial tool: international competitions, racial stereotypes and shifting British authority 82 6 Reconciliation and consolidation: early struggles for British lawn tennis in the aftermath of war 105 7 ‘New people’ and ‘new energy’: advances for women and children amidst British decline 119 8 ‘Demand for the game was insatiable’: interwar developments in club/recreational tennis 135 9 “The Goddess” and “the Monarch”: Lenglen, Tilden and the “Amateur Problem” in lawn tennis 147 10 Developments for professional coaches and the early (failed) push for “open” tournaments 163 11 New British success and renewed issues of amateurism in the 1930s 175 12 ‘We must face the hard facts that confront us’: early post-war recovery efforts in British tennis 190 13 Shifting attitudes toward talent development, coaching, commercialism and behavioural etiquette in post-war British tennis 204 14 The enduring amateur–professional dichotomy and the new struggle for authority in world tennis 226 15 “All whites” at Wimbledon? The achievements of Gibson, Ashe and Buxton amidst shifting race relations in Britain 250 16 ‘Particularly concentrated upon the boys’: persistent struggles for women in post-war tennis 260 17 ‘A sporting event as much as a social phenomenon’: nationalism, commercialism and cultural change at Wimbledon 278 Conclusion: Continuity and change in the social history of tennis in Britain and future directives for the LTA 301 Index 311 Winner of the Lord Aberdare Literary Prize 2015- from the British Society for Sports History. From its advent in the mid-late nineteenth century as a garden-party pastime to its development into a highly commercialised and professionalised high-performance sport, the history of tennis in Britain reflects important themes in Britains social history. In the first comprehensive and critical account of the history of tennis in Britain, Robert Lake explains how the games historical roots have shaped its contemporary structure, and how the history of tennis can tell us much about the history of wider British society. Since its emergence as a spare-time diversion for landed elites, the dominant culture in British tennis has been one of amateurism and exclusion, with tennis sitting alongside cricket and golf as a vehicle for the reproduction of middle-class values throughout wider British society in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Consequently, the Lawn Tennis Association has been accused of a failure to promote inclusion or widen participation, despite steadfast efforts to develop talent and improve coaching practices and structures. Robert Lake examines these themes in the context of the global development of tennis and important processes of commercialisation and professional and social development that have shaped both tennis and wider society. The social history of tennis in Britain is a microcosm of late-nineteenth and twentieth-century British social sustained class power and class conflict; struggles for female emancipation and racial integration; the decline of empire; and, Britains shifting relationship with America, continental Europe, and Commonwealth nations. This book is important and fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in the history of sport or British social history. From its advent in the mid-late nineteenth century as a garden-party pastime to its development into a highly commercialised and professionalised high-performance sport, the history of tennis in Britain reflects important themes in Britain' s social history. In the first comprehensive and critical account of the history of tennis in Britain, Robert Lake explains how the game' s historical roots have shaped its contemporary structure, and how the history of tennis can tell us much about the history of wider British society. Since .. From the palace courts of Henry VIII to the perennial glorious failures of British players on Wimbledon's Centre Court, the history of tennis in Britain reflects important themes in Britain's social history. In this comprehensive and critical account of the history of tennis in Britain, Robert Lake explains how the game's historical roots have shaped its contemporary structure, and how the history of tennis can tell us much about the history of wider British society Robert J. Lake. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.