bagged netting; but avoid dry, hard cat-gut, as it not only cracks on bending, but renders your catching unnecessarily difficult. Soft cat-gut deadens the bounce, and enables you to manœuvre the ball with more grace and promptness, than when it is hard.
The simplicity of catching is to catch slow balls thrown from a short distance; the high art is to catch long or short swift balls, especially when you run out to meet them, whether thrown to you or to an opponent: also the variety of quick catches occurring in close quarter play. Preliminary practice is of the greatest importance, and the best and surest way of learning the rudiments, as well as the high art in catching, is to practise quietly with some one or two players, or even alone. Your very first lesson must be learned alone, and I would suggest the following series:
First—The perpendicular throw and catch; beginning at a low altitude, and increasing as you find you perfect yourself in each successive height. Next throw the ball from different distances and to different points of a high wall or fence, catching as it rebounds. Next, stand alone, and throw upwards
