BILLIARDS.
THE TABLE. The standard American billiard table for championship games is ten feet by five; but that in common use is nine by four and a half. The old tables for the four-ball game had only four pockets, but all modern pool tables have six. The English billiard tables are all twelve feet by six, with six pockets, which are used for both billiards and pool. The head of the table is the end from which the players make their opening shots, and the foot is that on which the red ball is spotted. The baulk is the space at the head of the table behind a line drawn from the second diamonds or “sights” through the white spot. The “D” is the semicircle on the baulk line on English tables.
American tables are made more difficult for championship games by drawing baulk lines 8 or 14 inches from the cushions, barring the rail nurse and the anchor shot. The English game is made difficult by making the cushions higher, the pockets narrower, and barring the spot stroke. The push shot is allowed in the English game, but in America it is permitted only in pool; never in the carrom game.
The American carrom game cannot be played on an English table on account of the pockets. If the English game is played on an American pool table the red spot should be only nine inches from the bottom rail, and the “D” should be drawn with a radius of eleven inches from the white spot on the baulk line. The D is never marked on an American table, but the opening shot in the three-ball game must be made from within a semicircle of six inch radius from the white spot. In the four-ball game, and in all forms of American Pool, the player may place his ball anywhere within the baulk line.
THE BALLS. The American standard balls are 2⅜ inches in diameter, while the English are only 2-1/16. Billiard balls should be carefully protected from sudden changes in temperature by being laid away in bran or sawdust in cold weather. It is a mistake to soak the balls in oil; all they need is to be wiped off with a damp cloth, and polished with chamois skin. The three balls employed in both the English and American games are known as the red, white, and spot white. In play they are distinguished as the cue ball, which is the one struck by the player; the object ball, which is the one that the cue ball first comes into contact with; and the carrom ball, which is the second ball struck by the cue ball in making a carrom.
THE SHOTS. There are three shots common to billiards: The carrom or cannon, in which a count is made by the cue ball striking both the other balls on the table. The winning hazard, in which the object or the carrom ball is driven into a pocket. The losing hazard, in which the cue ball goes into a pocket after contact with another ball. There are five ways of making the principal shots at billiards, and they should be thoroughly mastered by every player. These are: The force, the follow, the draw, the massé, and the side stroke.
The first great principle in billiards is that the cue ball will always travel in the direction in which the cue is pointed. Holding the cue upward, downward or sidewise makes no difference; the line of travel will be a prolongation of the line of the cue. In the three ways of striking the cue ball shown in the diagram in the margin, the ball will go in the direction of the arrow in each instance.
If the cue is held nearly level with the surface of the table the ball will be pushed or rolled along; but if the cue is held perpendicularly, and the ball is struck directly on the top, the ball will be pinched to the table, as in the first figure in the margin, and will not move. If the ball is struck off the centre, as in the second figure, it will travel only a short distance, as a result of the cue’s being forced past it toward the cloth, and will then return with a very strong retrograde motion after touching the object ball. If the cue strikes too near the top, the pinch will be too strong for the cue ball to reach the object ball, and if the cue is not held perpendicularly, the ball will not return. If the cue points toward the centre of the ball, as in the third figure, the ball will be driven forward, without any tendency to return after striking the object ball. The latter shot is useful in making a “close follow,” to avoid making a foul.
The Force Shot. The beginner at billiards should strike his ball always exactly in the centre, until he learns the angles. With moderate strength the effect of the stroke is to cause the ball to roll naturally along the cloth until it reaches the object ball, after which it will be deflected from its original course according to the angle at which the object ball is struck. If the cue ball is struck very hard, however, and very slightly below the centre, it will slide for a certain distance before beginning to roll, and if it reaches the object ball before this sliding motion ceases it will simply come to a stop, or go off at a right angle if the object ball is not struck exactly in the centre. This method of forcing a ball to go off at a right angle is called “screwing” in England.
The Follow Shot. If the cue ball is struck above the centre, the rolling motion is set up at once, no matter how hard the ball is struck, and the effect of contact with the object ball is simply to check the motion for a moment, after which the cue ball rolls forward again, deflected only by the angle at which the object ball was struck. The great art in making follow shots is to let the cue follow the ball, the tip passing at least three inches beyond where the ball stood, as shown by the dotted lines in the diagram. When the balls are very close together the cue must be lifted, and the ball struck very much on one side, the cue being behind the centre, as shown in the third position in the diagram of pinch shots.
The Draw Shot. This is exactly the reverse of the follow shot, the ball being struck below the centre, and the cue passing at least three inches beyond where the ball stood, as shown in the diagram. This gives the cue ball a retrograde motion, similar to that imparted to a child’s hoop by spinning it backward while throwing it forward, so as to make it return. If the object ball is reached before this retrograde motion is exhausted, the effect will be to stop the forward motion of the cue ball, and to give what is left of the retrograde motion full play, making the cue ball return. The two great mistakes made by beginners in playing draw shots are that they pull the cue back, instead of driving it clear through the ball aimed at, and that they strike so hard that the forward motion of the cue ball is too strong for the retrograde motion to overcome it, or the object ball to stop it. It is never necessary to strike harder than sufficient to reach the object ball and get back to the carrom ball, unless one is playing for position.
When the balls are so close together that to run the cue through the ball would make a foul shot, the draw may still be made by pointing the cue off to the side, and pushing it past the cue ball, instead of through it. This will secure the retrograde motion, but accompanied by a great deal of twist, which must be calculated for if the cue ball is to strike a cushion. A short draw may also be made by using the pinch.
The Massé. Most players imagine this to be a very difficult shot, but it is extremely simple if the principle of the direction of the cue and the effect of the pinch are kept in view. If we place the three balls in a straight line, about four inches apart, we have the simplest form of the massé. To find the exact spot at which the cue ball must be struck, join the centres of the cue and object balls by an imaginary line A-B. At right angles to this will be a line A-E, and no matter which side of the ball B you wish to massé upon, your cue must strike the ball A somewhere on the line A-E. Suppose you wish to massé to the left, as shown in the diagram. The pinch must be made on the ball about a quarter from the top, the cue being pointed in the direction in which you want the ball to go, which will be to the extreme edge of B, on the line C-D. The cue must be held at an angle of about 70 degrees. A firm but light blow with a well chalked cue will pinch your ball toward E; but the direction of the cue will propel it toward D. If the cue has been held at the right angle, and you have not struck too hard, the ball will feel the effect of these two forces equally, which will make it move toward a point half way between D and E, which will be F. The retrograde motion being stronger than the propulsion of the pinch, will gradually overcome it, and the ball will return toward G. Contact with the ball B will cause it to lose all but the forward motion, and it will roll easily toward H, making the carrom.
The Side Stroke. It is a popular delusion that the only way to change the course of a ball is by giving it “twist,” “English,” or “side.” Side has little or no influence on the cue ball until it touches a cushion. Striking above or below the centre is all that is necessary. If it is required to vary the angle at which the object ball is to be struck, the distance below the centre will change the angle of direction in the cue ball without any side stroke. The art of accomplishing this is called compensation, an illustration of which is given in the diagram, A being the cue ball, and B the object ball. This is a half draw or force shot, the ball being struck about half way between its centre and the cloth. If we draw imaginary lines connecting the centres of A-B and B-C, and bisect the angle, we get the point D, which the cue ball must strike to make the carrom. This will drive the object ball in the direction D-E; but if it is desirable that the object ball should go more in the direction G-F, so as to secure a better position for the next shot, the cue ball will have to strike at G, which will make a draw shot, bringing it back in the direction H, securing the position, but missing the count. In this position the ignorant player puts on side, but all that is necessary to compensate for this deviation in the point of impact is to approach the point of the cue toward the centre of the ball the exact distance that the point G is from the point D. The higher the point of the cue is raised, the further the ball will go from the line D-H. If struck much above the centre, it will follow through the object ball, passing beyond the ball C altogether.
When side is put upon a ball, it spins in that direction. If it is struck on the left, and then goes to a cushion directly in front of it, it will tend to fly off the cushion toward the left, making the angle wider. If a ball spinning to the left goes to a cushion on the left, it will tend to make the angle smaller, and the effect so produced is called reverse English, which tends to slow the cue ball.