1920s William Tilden Silent Instructional Tennis Vintage Film

Rare 1920s silent instructional tennis film showing William Tilden's instructions for playing tennis. From a 16mm film print. (Transferring films to video and researching the copyrights is very expensive, so please click on the advertisement at the beginning of the video or watch the instream advertisement. All revenue will be used to place more historic films onto KZbin for free public viewing.)

[@swalterstennis]

Bill Tilden was THE GREATEST TENNIS PLAYER the world had ever seen, for many years. He popularized the sport. You can see fantastic footwork, athleticism and precision. Bill Tilden WAS TENNIS to the world in the 1920’s and 1930’s.

[@SearchBucket2]

You know nothing about tennis if you think that. By the standards of today, it's hilariously bad. lol

[@fabioferri4805]

@@SearchBucket2 if you say that you don’t understand anything, if you’re watching nowadays tennis is because of this man

[@SearchBucket2]

@@fabioferri4805 He's as near to a modern player as a coffee house chess player is to a chess grandmaster. And tennis would still have evolved with or without him.

[@fabioferri4805]

@@SearchBucket2 please you’re embarrassing yourself, shut up hahahaha

[@SearchBucket2]

@@fabioferri4805 You've already embarrassed yourself. Objectively there is no comparison to today's game. You have an emotional involvement that clouds your judgement. This is "pit-pat tennis. It compares to the modern game like ping-pong compares to table tennis. Next you'll be telling me Margaret Court is the greatest woman player. There was no depth of field back then. Much like early golf.

[@Bascomblodge]

Thank you for posting this. It is a privilege to see maybe the games greatest mind and greatest innovator of all time playing and showing thoughts from almost 100 years ago!!. Is that the film in totality?

[@urmaddad]

This is the entire film.

[@ericfreeman5795]

OMG! This is so refreshing. 2:45. A somewhat loop backswing, doesn't break the plane of his body on the backswing, hits almost off his backfoot in a semi-open stance, and a slight windshield wiper turnover in his follow through. All this with a heavy wooden racquet. So what we have today isn't new. It was just used less. Occasionally. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?

[@roberthyde5484]

Bill Johnston winner of the US Open 1915 used a full western grip and open stance. The grass court era after the war made more players use the continental grip.

[@SearchBucket2]

In the modern ATP forehand the racquet is prepared by a body turn and an elevation of the racquet to a vertical position. It then loops/falls and is "thrown" at the ball with extreme lag created by a soft wrist. After impact it freewheels across the body or over the shoulder, depending ..... The video shows steering. The strokes are poles apart in terms of feel and execution.

[@ericfreeman5795]

@@SearchBucket2 Excuse me, but the general idea is that classical tennis strokes, like the forehand, are more linear in nature, and not rotational like modern strokes. That classical straight backswing and linear follow through. Here we can see certain stylistic details, like the loop backswing, the wrap around the shoulder follow through, etc., that we identify with modern strokes, used by a champion almost 100 years ago. In no way are we trying to compare in detail a 21st century forehand, hit with a graphite 300 gram feather, with a 95 to 100 square inch polyester string bed, to a forehand hit almost a century ago, with a 400 gram log, with a 65 square inch string bed of natural gut. Technique evolves with equipment. Any skier knows how shaped skiis (carving) has changed ski technique. Tennis the same, so any comparison is futile.

[@SearchBucket2]

@@ericfreeman5795 Exactly. Tell that to those here who claim this is little different to a modern ATP forehand!

[@dbeaton1111]

@@SearchBucket2 It's an odd video because what the vid teaches is not exactly as Tilden hits the ball. at 1:48, you see how Tilden rotates and moves into the ball on his forehand with a fair amount of lag and snap. Still, he is more linear than anything they teach today. His backhand looked even stranger than his forehand with a typical (for the 20's and 30's) movement across the body, often with a semi-open stance. Nonetheless, his was a style that was consistent and it worked. He could hit his forehand hard when he wanted, and his backhand had power and a good bit of topspin (when he wanted). This video isn't the one to watch, anyway, just a few random strokes during a loose practice. The best examples of him are when he's playing a match. How would he do against a D1 player at say, USC or Stanford? Not well, I'd guess, but it's not his technique so much as his athleticism that impresses me. He was known to be "fast as a deer" around the court, and with modern techniques and equipment? Those older players like Tilden, Budge, and Vines, were athletes.

[@syvadcram]

I'd love to see Federer playing with one of those racquets.

[@FLYBOY-eh5th]

I don't think he could handle it. My dad used to tell me Tilden used a 5 inch grip. That was all wood too. I wonder if they used to get splinters.

[@swalterstennis]

I own one of his Davis Cups. Sterling silver, 1925, given to each winning team member.

[@Radnally]

The head looks pretty big for that era

[@paoloantunes1283]

1:35 the movement on court is spellbinding

[@jupytr1]

That footage casts considerable doubt on the notion that the modern ATP forehand is so modern after all

[@g2tennis]

This is far from the modern forehand apart from a little loop motion he had

[@michaelgarza8271]

I was expecting him to hit with backspin! It's not that terribly different from today's forehands.

[@SearchBucket2]

..... then you know nothing about the ATP forehand? For one the wrist isn't firm; it needs to be soft to develop lag. Nadal even has his base finger off the racquet to encourage loose wrist movement. This is like the difference between the straddle and the Fosbury flop in high jump!

[@SearchBucket2]

Title should be "Defunct Fundamentals of Tennis". I won't mention the footwork. lol

[@coerfjoe1]

The so-called 'modern-era' player would not beat him if he gets on the court with two-handed strokes and his singles-only fitness level. Ball boys attended to the balls and not the toweling or selection of best ball to use and other stalling ploys. Players did not sit down changing courts. Tilden wrote the best tennis strategy book "Match Play and the Spin of the Ball" long before Rafa. But he was banned from competition for a year because he published a pamphlet about his strokes! So, if you think guys who have power can dominate him, you would be wrong. Tilden could beat any player on a given day into his 40s. He had victories over Budge in his 40s. He had consecutive singles victories and Davis Cup triumphs, not matched in the modern era. And he played in long pants. He could attack or stay back.

[@gufo_tave]

Comparing players from a century ago to odiern one is useless: different equipment (including the court), different rules, different training. Even the way the player hit the ball has changed, partly because of the evolution of the equipment.

[@dadalotetelotete1903]

Tennis TV Broooo

[@salmanrashid6679]

PRO TENNIS

[@Nleezie33]

I would love to see an in his prime Tilden vs an in his prime Lendal. And they both got to use modern racquets.

[@markmauk8231]

Would not look good for Tilden....

[@TennisLegends-j7k]

Yes I know that too, but I wouldn't them to explain it in their own words idiotic words.....

[@nathanmorton7728]

The game looks almost the same.

[@g2tennis]

It's completely different

[@Huskylonghorn]

A modern player would completely crush him. Sports evolve so much it is unbelievable that this is even “pro” tennis, let alone an “all-time great.”

[@sebastianmaddonni7548]

6-0 6-0 6-0 it would be

[@ken-mb5cp]

he’d spank you

[@ml4898]

True, but disrespectful. Anyway, around midway through this we can see at least one commonality between Tilden and great modern pros - Tilden’s beautiful timing on that first half volley. This is great footage.

[@darrinburkowske5162]

You can't compare you would still only have the equipment and training they did in tennis in that era. One thing you can't say is they wouldn't be as good as today's players if they had the same training.

[@swalterstennis]

Bill Tilden and Suzanne Lenglen INVENTED pro tennis. Bill Tilden WAS Tennis. He is THE All-Time Great who popularized the sport and brought tennis to a mass audience. Bill Tilden was one of the most famous athletes in the world. The First Tennis Champion. He won EVERYTHING.

[@SearchBucket2]

Geez .... by today's standards he looks like s park player ..... but no doubt the romantics here will say he was great. lol

[@MrPernell27]

Every generation builds upon the previous generation. And we needed him to get the game to where it is now! For his time he was the very best in the world.

[@danielhkhk7283]

Technically perfect!

[@wendellroden7037]

Hey look - racket lag at 1:49! :)

[@theoriginalthinker9199]

Forehand form is decent, but the backhand form not very good.. He doesn't get his shoulder into it. He hits it with an open stance!

[@siberiantiger8553]

If tilden play vs federer , lose 6-0 6-0