Billiards

by William Broadfoot

Fig. 8

CHAPTER V
PLAIN STROKES, WINNING AND LOSING HAZARDS, CANNONS: THREE-BALL PRACTICE

By the practice already recommended, the beginner should have become fairly able to strike ball 1 in the centre, and familiar with the divisions of ball 2; he may therefore with advantage proceed to play natural or plain strokes. We prefer the term plain, partly because, ball 1 being struck in the centre, no rotation beyond that which is self-acquired or spontaneous is communicated by the cue, and partly because one stroke deserves the name natural as much as another. It is as natural for a ball struck on its side to rotate round its vertical axis as it is for a ball struck in the centre to have no such rotation.

In billiards plain strokes cover a vast field; most of the certainties, or strokes which should seldom be missed, come under that definition. Their number is infinite, and it is impossible to give diagrams of more than a few typical examples. The student can, without great effort, multiply and vary them at will, and it is desirable that he should do so, altering the strength and noting the behaviour of each ball after the stroke. He will thus learn more than he can possibly acquire from any book, however excellent, and will profit much if his practice is occasionally supervised by a competent instructor.

Let us begin with winning hazards. Place ball 2 on the centre spot; it is then opposite the middle pockets. Choose one of them into which the ball is to be played. From what has already been explained, it is known that the ball should travel on a line drawn from its centre to the centre of the pocket—that is, from C to A (fig. 1); also that the point of impact must be where that line prolonged meets the circumference at B, and that the centre of ball 1 must therefore, at the moment of striking, be at P, B P being equal to B C, or the radius of the balls. No matter where ball 1 may be situated, its centre has to be played on P in order that the winning hazard may be perfectly made.

Set ball 1 on the prolongation of A C, which is the line of the cue’s axis. The player must place himself accordingly, and aim full at ball 2. The stroke is precisely similar to that recommended for practice over the spots, but easier, as the distances are shorter. It should be played with various strengths. With a soft No. 1, ball 2 will roll into the pocket, ball 1 following a few inches on the same path. If it diverge there is error in the stroke, and endeavour should be made to correct it. That is, the player should not be satisfied with the mere winning hazard, which is very simple, but should by watching the path of the balls, satisfy himself that the stroke was true. With No. 2 strength, or a free No. 2, ball 1 will follow on, and eventually drop into the same pocket.

When tolerable certainty has been acquired, ball 1 may be moved to 1′, 1″, &c., either to the right or left of the original position. No good can result from giving precise measurements for the various situations of ball 1; it does not, indeed, greatly matter where it is set, so long as the player can reach it with comfort; what is obligatory is that its centre must pass over the point P. The limit of the stroke is when the position 1ⁿ is reached; thence, if correctly played, point B will just be touched, and no motion to ball 2 be communicated. Hence, when the path of ball 1 before impact is at right angles to that which 2 must travel, the winning hazard is impossible. In other words, a right-angled cut is impossible; such strokes sometimes seem to be made, but the explanation will, on examination, be found in the size and shape of the pockets. These winning hazards should be practised into both middle pockets till a tolerable certainty or confidence is acquired. Some persons will make the full, whilst others will play the fine strokes best; and again, it will often be found that, when playing into the right-hand pocket, there is a tendency to error on one or other side, but when playing to the left-hand pocket the mistake is just reversed. If the strokes are taken too full to the right, they will be made too fine to the left. The proper procedure is obvious: by making a very small allowance each way the mistake will be corrected, the eyes will become educated, and the tendency to error will diminish. It need scarcely be added that the kind of stroke in which one has least confidence should receive the most attention; failure indicates where practice is required.

Fig. 1