Example B is a good practice stroke, and may be played harder or softer at will. It does not require to be laid down by measurement, and may be set up wherever convenient. Play ball 1 about one-half low and left, medium No. 1 strength on ball 2, about three-quarters right.
Example C, a screw back losing hazard, is often useful, ball 1 being between ball 2 and the pocket; no instruction is required beyond that given in last chapter for playing the stroke. It may be varied by moving ball 2 round ball 1 as far as the cushions will permit; the stroke is always possible, and in trying to make it some practical lessons in the matter of compensation will be learnt.
Example D.—Place the balls as shown. Play ball 1 three-quarters low on ball 2, half-ball or rather fuller, but avoid the kiss. Ball 1 will travel up cushion 2 and make the cannon or hazard, whilst ball 2 will escape towards the left middle pocket.
Example E is a screw off a fine ball, a stroke at which many amateurs fail chiefly because they do not stand properly for it—do not usually align their cue fine enough on ball 2. If played very slowly, very fine, and with the maximum of screw, the stroke is perhaps more certain of execution, but ball 2 will probably be left in baulk. To obviate this, play rather fuller, with less screw, and with more strength. The stroke is conveniently made from the spot, ball 1 being placed variously between the angle at which a losing hazard with side can be made and the vertical, or when the ball 1 is directly above the spot. The position shown in the diagram is a fair one, the stroke being not very difficult; it becomes more so as ball 1 approaches the position above the spot. It may be thus played: Align the cue as shown for a fine stroke, play ball 1 one-half low No. 2 strength on ball 2, one-quarter right. It is difficult in a stroke of this nature to give precise instructions for making it, because it varies with every slight variation of the position of ball 1 and with the power of each player to communicate screw; hence it is advisable at first to get the assistance of a competent person, and then to practise before minor details are forgotten.
Example F is well worth mastering; it is easier the nearer ball 2 is to the pocket. Play ball 1 one-half low and right on ball 2 about three-quarters left a free No. 1 strength. Ball 2 may thus be brought out of baulk, whilst the reverse side carries ball 1 into the pocket. In strokes of this kind care should be taken to avoid the kiss.
Diagram XIII.
Close screws, when ball 1 is so near ball 2 that the stroke cannot be made in the ordinary way, are worth mastering, but as some execution is required, they should at first be played under professional supervision. The chief point about them is to convey to ball 1 a maximum or nearly so of screw and side; the cue has to be delivered with great freedom, and ball 1 passes well beyond the position occupied by ball 2, then the forward force (translation) having been chiefly transferred to ball 2, the screw and side conquer the small balance left and ball 1 returns more or less towards the player. A rather neat example of a close screw is shown on Diagram XIV., and may be set up on the table without measurements. Play ball 1 one-half low and one-half right, a free No. 2 strength on ball 2 between three-quarters left and centre, so as to cause its return after impact with cushion 1; ball 1 should make the cannon off cushion 4 and perhaps cushion 5 as well, and the three balls should be gathered at the left bottom pocket. This kind of stroke is useful for losing hazards also, but should not be practised until the player has acquired much confidence in the delivery of his cue, lest accidents should happen.
Another stroke which must be noticed, though it should be rarely employed, is that known as the leap or jump, whereby ball 1 leaves the bed of the table during part of its course. It is made in two ways: either by laying the cue on the table, aligning it as usual in the direction desired for ball 1, and striking that ball so low that the tip touches the cloth before it reaches the ball. This is practically equivalent to putting the cue under the ball and throwing the latter upwards; but there being at the same time a forward motion, the result is a leap higher and longer in proportion to the strength of stroke. Played in this way there is no danger of cutting a sound cloth, and the ball may be made to jump higher with less strength, and to be better under control than when the leap is otherwise effected.
