British Tennis

Instructional film offering tips on a variety of tennis strokes, from serving and volleying to backhand and the smash.

This 1924 instructional film by John Betts features tennis players GRO Crole-Rees, CG Eames, and HW Austin demonstrating a variety of shots and tactics needed to become a match player. Betts’ photography is stunning, using a combination of slow motion, repetition and sometimes pithy intertitles to show how - and how not - to play.

Director John Betts made many instructional sports films in the 1920s. Several others are available to watch on BFI Player, including Diving and Swimming (1926), Tennis; The Most Democratic of Games for Both Sexes (1924), Rowing (1926) and Football; The Most Popular of all Games (1924).