THE HALF-BALL ANGLE
Fig. 38
A piece of wood of about the thickness of half a ball (say 1¹⁄₃₂ in.), as shown in fig. 38, is to be bought, and will be found exceedingly useful to beginners. The idea of this invention is that by its means the angle by which a ball (fairly struck in the middle without side, No. 1 strength) is deflected from its course by colliding a half-ball with another is accurately shown (fig. 39).
Let A be the striker’s ball, and let it be required to hit the ball B exactly half-ball. Clearly the line of progression of ball A will be along the line A D. At D it is deflected in the direction of the arrow F; and the angle between F D and E D, the original course of the ball, is the amount of deflection due to collision. This will be found to amount to 33°.
Suppose, then, it is required to find the proper place to spot a ball, so as to go into a pocket half-ball off another (fig. 40).
Let O be the object ball, P a pocket. It is required to spot a player’s ball somewhere near the line A B to go into the pocket off O. Place the angle A of the instrument against the ball O in such fashion that the side A D points for the centre of the pocket. Then a ball with its centre upon the line A E produced will, if it strikes the ball O half-ball, proceed towards the centre of the pocket.
Fig. 39
The course of the player’s ball will not be along A D, but converging upon it from a point half a diameter distant from the ball O. Hence the angle of deviation as shown by the instrument is made slightly greater than that described by the ball; that of the instrument being about 35°, the real angle being about 33°.
Of course it cannot be mathematically correct at all distances, but it is near enough for practical purposes, and will help to train the eye to estimate half-ball angles.
Fig. 40
The two lines marked upon the upper surface of the instrument, if produced through the angle A, will give the direction taken by the object ball after collision, according as the shot is played from B or C.
An Outside Billiard-room
CHAPTER III
ELEMENTARY: ONE-BALL PRACTICE
Before commencing the manual of instruction in billiards, it is desirable to address a few words of advice to the beginner, and to explain some of the technical terms used. Others will be described in future chapters.
It is clear that before playing, the room must be entered; and hence we commence with the mode of doing so. The operation seems so simple as to be too trivial for notice; but, far from that, there is nothing short of actual play which shows more clearly the difference between a well-trained, well-mannered player and a novice or a careless and discourteous visitor. The door of a room should always be approached quietly, for the table may be occupied; if it be so, wait for the stroke. When the stroke is played, open the door quietly, and walk straight to a seat. Avoid everything likely to distract the attention of the players from their game, and recollect that for the time being the room, its light, fire, and so forth, belong to them. Persons who smoke should wait for the stroke before scratching a match, and when extinguishing it should not do so by waving it before the eyes of the player. In short, ordinary courtesy is nowhere more important than in the billiard-room, for if men can play, their nerve and attention are strained; interruption may prove fatal to the chance of one of them, and is sure to be resented, even though it may pass without remark.
In the previous chapter the terms employed respecting the table and implements have been detailed; these are now supplemented by others in common use during play.
Angled.—A ball is angled in respect to that part of the table to which it cannot be directly played.
Ball.—In billiards three balls are used, white, spot-white, and red. The player’s or cue-ball will usually, in this volume, be called ball 1; the object ball, or ball played on, ball 2; and the third ball, ball 3. A line-ball is one resting on the baulk-line.
Baulk.—The space between the baulk-line and the bottom cushion. A ball within that space is in baulk; when a white and red ball are in baulk and the other is off the table, the situation is termed a double baulk.
Break.—The term is applied to a continuous score, or one made in unbroken succession.
To break the balls is to play as at the opening of a game.
Bridge.—The player’s hand which rests on the table, and which serves as a guide to the cue, is so-called.
Coup.—If a player fails to hit another ball, and by the same stroke causes his own ball to enter a pocket, he is said to have run a coup.
Cover.—A ball is said to be covered when it cannot be directly hit by player’s ball because of the interposition of another ball; in other words, when ball 1 cannot directly strike ball 2 because of ball 3, ball 2 is said to be covered by ball 3.
Foul.—A stroke made in contravention of the rules.
In hand.—When a player’s ball is off the table it is termed in hand.
Hazard.—When a player with his ball pockets another ball he is said to make a winning hazard; when he pockets his own ball after contact with another ball he makes a losing hazard.
Kiss.—Ball 2 is said to kiss when it comes a second time in contact with ball 1. The kiss is generally made off a cushion.
This term is used with much laxity in the language of billiards, and includes what the French call coups durs, when ball 2 is touching a cushion, and rencontres, when balls 1 and 3 meet, the former having been set in motion by the cue and the latter by the impact of ball 2. When ball 2 has an unforeseen collision with ball 3, and thereby prevents a cannon, the failure is attributed to robbery by a kiss.
Miss-cue.—Failure in the delivery of the cue on player’s ball; usually a slip from want of chalk or from defective striking.
Plant.—When two balls touch and an imaginary line through their centres if prolonged terminates in the centre of a pocket, a dead plant is said to be on. If the ball further from the pocket be played on and struck almost anywhere, the ball nearer the pocket will inevitably be planted or go into the pocket. The plant is still possible when the line through the centres falls slightly to the right or left of the pocket.
Strength is the measure of force used to make a stroke, which is said to be soft or hard according to the strength.
Stringing
To string is to play from baulk to the top cushion so as to leave player’s ball near the baulk-line or bottom cushion as may be selected. Before a match the players string simultaneously for choice of balls, and for the option of commencing the game.
After these preliminaries, the first matter of importance is that players should try to acquire an easy attitude. For its attainment precise rules like those for military drill cannot be given, because what are suitable for a tall spare man are wholly impossible to one who is short and stout. Therefore, advice must be general. The learner should go to a proficient of about his own make, whose style is admitted to be good, and be shown the best attitudes to reach a ball placed in various parts of the table, first from baulk, and afterwards from other and more cramped positions. If this be neglected, he is apt to contract faulty habits, which become more difficult to abandon the longer they have been entertained.
An Easy Attitude
In playing an ordinary stroke from baulk, a right-handed player should stand so that his body shall be on the left of the line of stroke, which is, in fact, the axis of the cue; the left foot should be advanced so that the toe shall be just below the cushion, and pointing in the direction of the stroke; the right foot retired more or less according to the stature of the player, and pointing at a right angle to the left foot. The right leg should be straight, the left more or less bent; the right hand should hold the cue near the butt, the elbow being nearly vertically above the hand, whilst the left hand should be extended in the line of stroke, so that the cue resting between the thumb and forefinger shall lie as nearly as possible horizontal. For a left-handed player the same advice holds good, save that throughout the word ‘left’ should be substituted for ‘right.’ For all players that attitude is best which is least stiff or constrained, and which combines the greatest measure of steadiness with freedom of action.
The formation of a good bridge is essential to accurate play. Its object is to supply a rest for the cue at the height of the stroke to be delivered, and this ordinarily is the centre of the ball. Just as for the right hand, which puts the cue in motion, freedom is the chief necessity, so for the left, which acts as the guide and support, stability is of the first importance. That is best attained by bringing some weight to bear on the base of the thumb, and consequently by somewhat raising the knuckle-joint of the little finger. As hands vary in shape and size, no precise rule or measurements for the formation of a bridge can be laid down. A competent instructor will show how a bridge is made, and an intelligent learner will soon acquire the habit of making one which suits himself. The general mode is to place the hand flat on the table, elevate the knuckles about two inches or rather more, keeping the fingers rigid or unbent, so as to form nearly a right angle with the palm, raise the thumb, and press it moderately just above the joint against the forefinger, forming with it the rest or point of support of the cue, spread the fingers slightly so as to widen the foundation, so to speak, of the bridge and increase its stability, and by means of raising or lowering the little finger, bring the point of support so that the cue shall lie level with the point of the ball to be struck. These directions, perhaps, seem complicated; but if the prescribed movements are gone through once or twice before the learner by a competent person, all difficulty will disappear. The final movement whereby the height of delivery of the cue is regulated, is one of much importance, which we do not recollect to have seen mentioned in previous manuals.
Preliminaries.
The Bridge
Exceptional rests or bridges have to be made to meet exceptional cases. Thus, when a ball is under a cushion, the tips of the fingers form the sole support; in other instances the thumb is lowered and the forefinger bent so as to form a ring or hook through which the cue is passed. The French call this bouclée.[[12]] There are, in fact, many variations which it would be a waste of time and space to describe; some, indeed, have to be invented as the necessity for their use may arise.
The attitude and method of making a bridge having been acquired, the next point is to deliver the cue freely and horizontally. It should be lightly held near the butt and repose on the bridge, so that ordinarily from 9 to 12 inches project towards the ball. Considerable differences in the distances between the bridge and the ball occur during the variations in a game, but it is generally true that the nearer they are the greater the accuracy with which the ball can be struck, and the further (within reasonable limits) they are apart the greater the power. What is gained in power is, to some extent, lost in accuracy.
A little practice with the cue without a ball is useful to familiarise a beginner with the necessary action, that is the horizontal backward and forward motion; a slow withdrawal followed by a faster forward stroke. When this is attained practice with one ball should be commenced. It is of the highest importance; for by means of it alone can the rare qualification of a true delivery of cue be acquired. And this applies not merely to beginners, but to persons who are out of practice, for the commonest of all faults, and the secret of most failures to score, is that the player’s ball is not truly struck. It may seem strange, but it is nevertheless true, that many persons who play what is held to be a fair game cannot truly strike a ball.
Let us then suppose a ball placed on the spot on the centre of the baulk circle, and that the player has assumed a suitable attitude in order to play up the table over the billiard spot. The tip of his cue should be about half an inch from the centre of the ball, and the axis of the cue should be as nearly as possible parallel with the surface of the table, and in the same vertical plane as its central line, because the path travelled by a ball truly struck in the centre is, till after impact with a cushion or with another ball, invariably a prolongation of the axis of the cue. Having aimed carefully over the spot, he should draw the cue slowly back three or four inches and then bring it forward, giving the ball a smart tap, in contradistinction to a push, in the centre; the strength of the stroke to be such that the ball shall return into baulk. If ball, table, and stroke are true, the path travelled will lie precisely over all the spots in the central line; and after impact with the top cushion the ball will return to baulk by the same route. Herein is manifest the excellence of this stroke for practice; because if the ball be struck either right or left of the centre, it will return to the right or left of the central longitudinal line of the table. The nearer the return path is to that line the better the stroke, and the further it is from it the worse; so that an infallible measure of the truth or accuracy of hitting the ball is supplied by the result. It is impossible to overstate the value of this test, and by the time that a person can play this stroke up and down the table with varying strength and fair accuracy he has gone far towards mastering the first step at billiards. To secure striking the ball in the centre, as soon as aim is taken the player should fix his eyes on the ball and try to the best of his ability to deliver the cue truly and as horizontally as possible so that the tip does not see-saw up and down. The tap on the centre of the ball should be sharp and clean, the cue being permitted to follow it for a few inches; less when the stroke is soft, and more when it is hard.
It may probably appear in course of practice that the striker has a tendency to hit the ball either right or left of the centre; he should correct this by striking on what seems to him slightly the other side. Thus, if he, whilst aiming truly, brings the ball back to baulk invariably to the right of the central line, he should strike at what seems to him slightly to the left of its centre; if by doing so he brings the ball back over the spots, he may be assured that he has found the true centre of the ball, and by continuing the practice his eye will become educated, and the tendency to strike on the side will diminish or disappear. The stroke should be repeated till it is mastered at every possible strength, or, say, hard enough to cause the ball to travel four lengths of the table. When confidence in the power to strike a ball in the centre has been acquired, further practice should be made. Place the ball on one corner spot of the Ｄ, play to the centre of the top cushion immediately behind the spot, and the ball should return over the spot on the other corner. This, too, is very useful practice; it familiarises the eye with the general truth of the axiom that the angle of reflexion is equal to the angle of incidence; and variations from this stroke (which need not be defined here, as any person of ordinary intelligence can multiply them indefinitely) will prove of constant use when it is necessary to play at a ball protected by baulk.
For the sake of clearness, one other example may be cited.
Place the ball on the right corner of the Ｄ, measure a point on the top cushion an equal distance from the right side cushion, that point will be precisely opposite the right corner of the Ｄ; halve the distance between that point and the left top pocket, and at the half set up a mark—a piece of chalk laid on the cushion will do. If the ball be played correctly on to the place thus indicated, it will return to the left bottom pocket. Easier strokes of the same kind can be made across the table into any pocket, and confidence, which is an important factor in the game, is thus acquired. Before leaving the subject of these exercise strokes, it is desirable to emphasise the value to a beginner of acquiring a good style and of cultivating it incessantly till it becomes natural, and then he may, without harm, indulge occasionally in a game; if he begins with games he is certain to contract bad habits, which, becoming more confirmed the longer he plays, must result in increasing his difficulties and may never be wholly cured.
As regards indicating the strength to be used in playing various strokes, the best plan is to refer to the positions of the balls when they are at rest after a stroke; but as some rough guide may save beginners many trials, it has been usual to indicate by means of numbers the approximate strength to be used. Thus Strength No. 1 is a slow, or soft stroke; No. 2 harder, and so on till No. 5 or No. 6 may be taken as the greatest possible strength. Various measures have been adopted by different authorities; for our purposes in this book it is proposed to classify them thus:
Strength 1. From softest possible to that required for one length of the table.
Strength 2. From one length to two lengths of the table.
Strength 3. From two lengths to three lengths of the table.
Using the Rest.
Strength 4. From three lengths to four lengths of the table, beyond which it is probably unnecessary to go. These definitions may be further subdivided as desired: thus a very gentle stroke would be called a very slow or soft No. 1; a less slow one, medium No. 1; a stroke which required the strength to take a ball the length of the table, a full or free No. 1, which it is obvious reaches No. 2 strength; where No. 1 ends No. 2 begins, and so on.
It is clear that the practice prescribed will familiarise the beginner with the various strengths, a matter which he will find greatly to his advantage.
When the ball cannot be comfortably reached by hand an artificial bridge, known as the rest, is employed. A short man requires it frequently, a tall man less often, but both should practise with it assiduously. A competent person will show a beginner the proper way of using it in a very short time. The handle of the rest should be nearly in the same line as the cue, only so far out of it as to permit of free delivery; the cue should be lightly held between forefinger and thumb, knuckles up, the elbow being raised level with the butt. The hand which holds the rest should lie on the table.
These are general rules, but they must on occasion be modified. The practice already defined will serve for strokes with the rest if the ball be placed sufficiently far from the cushion. The half-butt and long-butt should also be used. Before leaving this subject it is well to say that to be obliged to use the rest, and, worse still, the half-butt and long-butt, is at any time a drawback. This can be reduced to a minimum by learning to play with either hand; a most useful accomplishment, by no means very difficult of attainment.
The following memorandum by Mr. Dudley D. Pontifex, who besides being a billiard-player of very high class is an expert at many other games, on the great importance of cultivating an almost mechanical accuracy in delivering the cue, and on the methods which he has followed in order to attain this end, will be read by proficients as well as beginners with both interest and profit. In essentials it agrees with the recommendations already given, and where it may seem to differ the variations are so small as not to require examination and explanation. Some interesting remarks on the styles of leading professional players will be found, and attention is justly directed to Roberts’s admirable delivery of the cue, which is said to appear to be harder or stronger than it really is; but one of the excellences of that great master’s strokes is that they are habitually struck harder than is usual with other professionals; the necessary compensations are, however, applied, and though the ball starts with considerably greater initial velocity than is usual, yet it does not necessarily travel farther or effect more. A heavy drag stroke played the length of the table by Roberts will travel nearly twice as fast as one struck by any other man, yet the object ball will often be found not to be harder hit.
The feat of screwing back to baulk from the red ball on the billiard spot, direct and without trick, is so remarkable that readers cannot fail to be much interested in a well-authenticated instance of the stroke. Besides Mr. Pontifex, William Seymour, (marker in 1895 at the Queen’s Club) was present at the time, and has seen the gentleman do the stroke on many other occasions.