Example A. Balls as shown. Play ball 1 a gentle piqué, the cue at an angle of about 60°, inside, i.e. to the left of the centre of ball 2; ball 1 will return and cannon on ball 3; ball 2 will be left in the neighbourhood of the left bottom pocket. If it be desired to move ball 2 very slightly, the stroke may be played massé, the cue being nearly vertical, and ball 1 struck slightly to the right of the centre, nearer ball 3 than the centre. This mode of play gives greater rotation but less forward motion to ball 1.
Example B. Balls as shown. Play ball 1 piqué, cue from 50° to 60° according to the distance it is desired to make ball 2 travel; aim at ball 2 about three-quarters right, a clean gentle stroke, say equal to a medium No. 1. Ball 1 will make the losing hazard.
Example C. Balls as shown. Play ball 1 piqué 45° to 50° nearly full on ball 2, which will cross the table and return or remain near the spot as may be desired. The strength employed should be almost entirely communicated to ball 2, whilst the rotation will make the cannon. If ball 2 be the red, it may be as well to bring the balls together for the next stroke; if it should be the adversary’s ball, it would be better play to leave it near the spot and pocket the red next stroke.
Example D. Balls as shown. Ball 1 is too near the top cushion for a screw in the ordinary way, whilst ball 3 is so placed that a ball cannot pass between it and the cushion. Play ball 1 piqué 55° to 65°, so as to bring it well on the right or cushion side of ball 3, which is by its situation what is termed in billiard language greatly enlarged. A few remarks respecting this term will be found a little further on.
Respecting massé proper, it is not proposed to write in detail. Those who desire more information are referred to ‘Le Billard,’ by M. Vignaux,[[16]] from which excellent work, though on the French game, much may be learnt by players of the English game. Two of his remarks may be quoted:—‘No stroke is more difficult. Good players hesitate to attempt it, for the slightest inadvertence causes failure. The fault of amateurs is always to play too hard, a stroke which requires the greatest delicacy and the lightest possible touch.’
This chapter may be suitably closed with a few remarks on what are called precautions and compensations. In certain situations we have already frequently remarked that a pocket was blind—that is, was more or less narrowed by one of its shoulders, and as a precaution, if a hazard is desired the player has been warned to avoid the dangerous shoulder. Sometimes it is sufficient to play inside the other shoulder; at other times, when the pocket is more blind or less open, reverse side has to be added in the case of losing hazards to induce the ball to enter the pocket after contact with the far shoulder. The side so used is said to enlarge the pocket, and the expression is appropriate, for if the ball struck the part of the shoulder which is exposed and had no side it would simply rebound and remain on the table; the side overcomes this tendency and the hazard is made. Again, in case of cannons, a cushion or two cushions, if judiciously made use of, similarly enlarge the size of a ball. When ball 3 is near an angle of the table so placed that another ball cannot pass between it and either cushion, a very large target is presented, and there is room for much inaccuracy without imperilling success. The thoughtful player will avail himself of this when it is of paramount importance to make the stroke, as, for example, when it is the game stroke, and so aim as to have the widest margin for error on either side. This is an instance in which there are many chances whereby a cannon may be made direct or off either cushion, so that ball 3 has for practical purposes a size equal to three or four balls.
Similarly, when a ball is within a diameter of a cushion, it may be enlarged by judicious precaution.
Fig. 2
Thus, in fig. 2, C C is the cushion, 1, 2, 3 are the balls. If it were the last stroke of the game, and therefore the cannon were of chief importance, the stroke should be played to make ball 1 after impact with ball 2 travel towards a point P between ball 3 and the cushion, and not direct on that ball. If ball 1 should strike the cushion anywhere from P′ to a point opposite the centre of ball 3, the cannon is certain; hence, aiming at P, a convenient spot between P′ and ball 3, a margin for error is left on either side.