Billiards

Hitherto the theory of the game and the strokes recommended for practice have been such as are required in learning to play a sound and perhaps old-fashioned game, that of an amateur in distinction to that of a professional player. But in dealing with the spot stroke a wholly new field is entered; much more severe and constant practice is needed if any real measure of success is to be attained, and if this cannot be bestowed the amateur would act wisely in never sacrificing an opening at the ordinary game for the sake of the spot. If he does so he will assuredly verify the truth of the old saying, that the spot has lost far more games to ordinary players than it has ever won. Still, it stands unrivalled as practice in winning hazards combined with getting position for another similar stroke; and even moderate familiarity with its variations and their results is of much advantage to the average player who cannot give the time and attention needed for their complete mastery. Hence he is recommended to practise the stroke as much as possible, and when some certainty in its execution is reached to take advantage of his knowledge and skill when favourable opportunities present themselves in games; but cautioned not to neglect ordinary openings for the sake and on the chance of making a few spots. It is difficult to say when that stage is reached at which it may be sound policy to throw up an ordinary for the sake of a spot break. Circumstances vary so much (and prudence must take them all into consideration) that what is wise in one case may be foolish in another, whilst it should never be forgotten that, as a rule, failure to make the hazard results in an easy break for the adversary. Taking a considerable class of amateurs, those who can occasionally make breaks of thirty, and who perhaps once or twice in a season make fifty, their average score is probably nearer four than five—that is, they take nearer twenty-five than twenty innings to score a hundred. Now at first sight it would seem that as soon as a player of this class was fairly certain of making three or four hazards he might reasonably discard the ordinary for the spot game, because such a break would be double or treble his average; but he would scarcely find it advantageous to do so; for, having made say four spots and failed at the fifth, he would leave the red ball over a pocket, so that an equal opponent was nearly sure of three, and might get six, in addition to the chance of making his average four. Hence the advantage is largely discounted, but very little more than four hazards as a measure of spot play will give the man who can make them a distinct superiority. He does not play the all-round game worse because he can make from six to ten spots; quite the contrary, and soon experience will act as a safe guide when to make use of them and when to play the ordinary game. If an amateur improves on this and becomes capable of making ten spots commonly and twenty occasionally, he passes into a higher class; the average of such a player would probably be seven or eight, and he has reached a stage to maintain which constant practice is required. Beyond this the amateur becomes gradually so merged in the professional that it is difficult to define the differences in their play, the excellence of which mainly depends on their state of training. This is specially true in respect to spot play; the late William Cook, whose delicacy of touch was unrivalled, has recorded that if he ceased to practise even for a week his execution suffered. So it will be readily understood that an inferior player, whose practice is much less, soon loses touch, and is very apt to hurt his game rather than benefit it by too persistent employment of this particular stroke.

On the other hand, the general game is greatly assisted by improvement in making winning hazards, and hence practice of spot play, though wholly insufficient for producing a spot stroke player, may yet vastly improve the all-round game. Without it the modern game played at the top of the table is impossible; that being, in fact, merely a development of spot play into which the element of cannons has been introduced, whilst the number of consecutive winning hazards is limited.

Again, of all breaks made on the table none is more genuine, none owes less to chance, than a series of spots; and it is far from impossible that its monotony, as it is called, does not in a great measure arise from the absence of luck. Partly, at any rate, from this, and partly because the complaint of monotony was judiciously fanned by those whose performances at this stroke were not of the highest order, spot play fell out of fashion, and in the present state of public knowledge and education in matters concerning billiards it is not likely to resume the position it legitimately held for many years. As has happened to the spot stroke, so in course of time and with far more reason will cushion nurseries of cannons be in turn abandoned; but what will take their place it is difficult to say. It may, however, be safely affirmed that the former, having genuine value, will continue to influence the game, and consequently will be practised; whilst the latter, being made by trick, of little service beyond the continuation of the series, will when once discarded perish for ever.

The positions and their variations from which the spot stroke should be practised have been defined in most books on billiards, amongst which the treatises by Bennett, Cook, and a small volume by Mr. J. P. Buchanan may be mentioned. There is no new position to illustrate, and even the modes of play do not greatly vary, though where one player will elect to get position from two cushions, another will obtain it from one. And it is well to remark here that perhaps in no strokes do the different qualities of ivory and bonzoline balls make themselves so evident; whilst with ivories in a certain position a following stroke off two cushions would be the preferable mode of playing, with bonzoline balls it would undoubtedly be better to play a stab from one cushion only. In some strokes the advantage clearly lies with ivory, in others as clearly with bonzoline; and so it may be said than on the whole the merits of either sort of ball are about equal. But bonzoline is cheaper, and can be got more uniformly accurate in shape and weight, hence it is not unlikely to supersede ivory in a great measure; therefore, a mention of the differences of behaviour as a warning to players is not out of place in this chapter. It is of course understood that some sets of bonzoline balls are more like ivory in behaviour than others, and then the warning is scarcely required; but in other sets the difference is marked and cannot safely be neglected. When playing it is better to adhere to one or the other sort of balls, and to practise with the kind selected. It is also desirable to practise each position and variation separately till confidence is acquired, and then gradually try to make breaks. It will often be found that, after certain positions have been fairly mastered, the work at a new one will cause the student to forget what he has learnt, and to fail when an old position recurs. For this there is no remedy save practice. The same thing occurs in other strokes, and those whose memory is retentive have no doubt a great advantage over those who soon forget, and the only way in which the latter class can at all compensate for their defect is by working harder and longer at each stroke. By resolute labour they may bring themselves on a par with their more fortunately constituted brethren. It is an ordinary experience that at one time a player excels at winning hazards, at another he succeeds with every follow, whilst he fails with every screw; again, he will find much certainty in playing fine strokes one day, whilst the next he can do none but the simplest of that sort. So it is with the spot stroke, and against failure there is no remedy but hard work, involving not improbably a return to the simplest one-ball practice to correct inaccurate delivery of the cue. In playing or practising the spot, the cue should be constantly chalked, or the requisite delicacy of touch will be lost, and miss-cues will result; side should never be used when the stroke is possible without it, for the actual hazard is by its use at once made a difficult stroke. Stab or screw are much safer because the cue is delivered on the central vertical line of ball 1, and they can in a great measure supersede side, but there are strokes in which the latter is obligatory. Again, contrary to what is often recommended, a free style of stroke is, we believe, to be preferred to very great delicacy. The latter is often the result of timidity or nervousness, which is sure to be soon fatal to accuracy; it also places the player far more at the mercy of untrue balls or table. Readers whose experience dates from the early seventies will understand precisely what is meant if they recall the play of William Cook and John Roberts, junior. When balls, table, and player were all that could be desired, Cook’s delicacy of play gave him a distinct advantage at the spot; but let any little disturbing element intervene, and Roberts’s freedom of stroke carried all before it. It was a far better style for lasting, and rendered him far less dependent on absolute perfection of implements. It is just the same in other strokes—trying to be too clever, too delicate in strength, is not to be recommended; in nursery cannons it results in leaving the balls touching after every third or fourth stroke, whereas a firmer delivery of cue will result in a far longer break. No doubt the general fault of beginners is to play too hard, and the reason is obvious; brute force in all things precedes science. But excessive strength is found often to cause disaster, and when that is realised, and the student has learnt how to compensate for strength, he is very apt to fall into the opposite extreme, and to play in too slow and hesitating a manner. Of two players, there is more hope for the one who strikes rather too freely than for the other who just fails from want of strength, for the man who is too quick rather than for the man who is too slow.

The limits within which it is prudent to confine spot play may be roughly ascertained from the accompanying figure. S is the spot, S P and S P′ being the paths which the red ball should travel, in order that the pocket, which is somewhat blind, should be enlarged as much as possible by directing the red ball to the shoulders of cushions 2 and 6, thereby avoiding the dangerous shoulders of cushion 1. A A′ is a straight line passing through the spot parallel to cushion 1. S B and S B′ are prolongations of the paths of the red ball, so that if ball 1 be placed on either line, the hazard is played full ball, S C and S C′ are each 60° from A A′, leaving an angle of 60°, C S C′, in which the spot cannot be played. Within the remaining angles, A S C and A′ S C′, the stroke may be considered possible, but the practical limits are much smaller. It is unwise to attempt to lay them down dogmatically, for those which are right for one man are wrong for another, and therefore advice must be general. Perhaps the simplest definition is to recommend that play be confined within the dotted lines S D and S E on one side and S D′ and S E′ on the other; D, D′, it will be seen, are but very slightly below the line A A′, and S E, S E′ are at angles of 50° with A A′, the arcs D E, D′ E′ being 18 in. from S. Within these limits endeavour should be made to leave ball 1 after each stroke as nearly as possible on the lines B S or B′ S, and from six inches to a foot distant from S. It is just as bad a fault in spot play to get too near the red as to get too far from it; in fact, of the two, it is, in the same way as the extremely soft play already referred to, the more objectionable, for a very slight error of strength will result in the loss of position.

Spot hazards may be conveniently divided into those above the full ball strokes on the lines B P′, B′ P and those below. Of the former there are two classes, the drop stroke and the stab follow. The limits are marked as before, D, D′ and E, E′.

Commence with a stroke on the limit line from D to S, and place ball 1 about eight inches to a foot from the spot, ball 2 (the red) on the spot.

Play ball 1 rather below centre, a gentle No. 1, the strength being just sufficient to carry ball 2 into the pocket; ball 1 after the stroke will rest in a position near 1′.

This stroke can be played in a variety of ways, but the plain stroke is unquestionably the best. If there is much nap on the cloth, right side may be used in the hope that the ball’s path will curve towards cushion 1, and if there is little nap the reverse or left side will have a tendency to keep ball 1 up the table; but in either case the difficulty of making the hazard is greatly enhanced by the use of side, and the advantage is microscopic in the extreme.

The next stroke is an easy one, consequently the position is good for play. Instead of placing ball 1 on the limit line from D to the spot, place it above, between the lines D S and B S. This is also a plain drop stroke, but as ball 2 must be struck fuller, it may be played with greater freedom. Place ball 1 as directed, eight inches to a foot from the spot, ball 2 on the spot.

Play ball 1 centre, a gentle stroke on ball 2; the former will follow through and come to rest about 1′, a position somewhat similar to that played from, but on the other side of the table.

The first point to ascertain is the correct division of ball 2, and the next is so to regulate the strength that ball 1 should remain within a foot of the spot.

The stroke shown in fig. 4 is played differently from the preceding ones, and requires a little making. Ball 1 is placed between its position in the last stroke and the line B P′ for a full ball. It is, indeed, only so far from that line that a screw back would cause position to be lost.

Place ball 1 as directed at the same distance from ball 2 as before. Play a gentle stab on ball 1 rather below centre; ball 2, being struck nearly full, will acquire most of the velocity, whilst ball 1 will follow slowly through and obtain position on the other side of the table. The further ball 1 is from 2 the harder must the stroke be played, and the nearer the softer; indeed, when ball 1 is within six inches the stab is scarcely required; a medium No. 1 strength one-quarter low will suffice. The stab or screw corrects the tendency ball 1 has to follow straight after ball 2. If it did so position would be lost.

When ball 1 is moved further down the table than the position described in the previous example, so as to be on the line B P′, the stroke is evidently full, as the hazard is perfectly straight. Position is retained by screw back.

Place ball 1 as shown eight to ten inches from ball 2, and in direct line for the corner pocket. Play ball 1 one-half low, a medium No. 1 strength full on ball 2, which should be pocketed, whilst ball 1 should return on the line S B.

Though this stroke seems very easy, yet no position for the spot requires longer and more careful practice. At first, beginners will find that they cannot make two similar hazards in succession; either ball 1 will have left the line S B, or it will have travelled on it too short or too great a distance from the spot. These errors can only be cured by practice. If the screw back is not straight, ball 2 has not been struck full, and for correction it is as well to remove ball 2 to another part of the table, say the pyramid spot, where there is no question of making a hazard, and there playing solely for trueness of screw back. After delivery, keep the cue exactly in position; it should then point absolutely to the centre of the pyramid spot, and ball 1 should return to the tip. Strict practice in this way is not wasted; the power of regulating the screw to compensate for strength is most valuable, and in time the student will find, to his satisfaction and profit, that with a very gentle stroke he can screw far enough back for another chance, and that the certainty of the hazard is greater as the strength decreases. As in other similar strokes, the further ball 1 is from ball 2 the more strength is necessary. When by misadventure ball 1 remains on the straight line, but very near ball 2, play may be continued by a piqué; struck gently down, the cue’s axis being 60° or more with the surface of the table, ball 1 will return as before along S B or sufficiently near that line to leave another spot stroke. Again, if similarly left very close to ball 2, but slightly out of the straight line for the pocket, the hazard may be made and position even may not be lost by use of the plant stroke described at p. 246, and exhibited on Diagram XII. (p. 245). We do not think this has ever been mentioned in any treatise on spot play, and many persons who can make a considerable number of spots would consider the position lost were ball 1 left as described and give a safety miss. Yet a little practice will prove that the hazard, at any rate, is not very difficult; it is less easy to retain position, for freedom of stroke, amounting to double strength, is generally required.

Of the straight screw back there are two variations which require great delicacy of touch and accuracy of appreciation, for side has to be used in compensation for a minute division of ball 2. They occur when ball 1 is left at a suitable distance from ball 2, say, from 4½ in. to 9 in., not precisely on the straight line B P′, but very near it. Being off the line, it is clear ball 2 cannot be struck full, but impact must be slightly to one side or other of the centre according to whether ball 1 is above or below B P′. The divergence of return due to this slight division of ball 2 may be counteracted by a minute allowance of side, and the straight path may thus be regained. Or the screw back may be made without this compensation, in which case ball 1 will return either above or below the line B S, whence, though position for screw back may be lost, spot play may be continued. It has generally been usual to dismiss this straight screw back spot stroke somewhat contemptuously, as too easy to require much comment, an assumption which cannot be conceded. The stroke has to be played harder than many other spot strokes, and, therefore, greater accuracy is required. The slightest inaccuracy or imperfection of balls is fatal unless the player is a master of no ordinary capacity, and can, by his skill, apply the required compensations. What can be done with it alone has been conclusively shown by the best performers of the day, some of whom exhibit a marvellous power of retaining position directly behind the spot. The writer has seen Roberts do so with great ability; but his performances at this special stroke have been eclipsed, notably by Sala, who has made 186 consecutive screw backs, Peall, who has made 184, and we believe Memmott to have wonderful skill, and to have made a much greater number of these strokes than any other player.^[17]

When ball 1 is below the line B S, and just so far from it that position cannot be retained by screwing back, the stroke must be differently played. Place ball 1 as shown below B S, and distant a foot or so from the spot. If the stroke were played full, ball 2 would just hit the dangerous shoulder of cushion 1. That will suffice to give alignment, which is of considerable importance for this hazard, as freedom of stroke is required. Play ball 1 one-half high, free No. 1 strength or No. 2, on ball 2; ball 1 should follow through, and, returning from cushions 1 and 2, regain position on or near the line B′ S. That is the simplest form of the stroke, which is never an easy one, and seems decidedly more difficult with bonzoline than with ivory balls; the former requiring a stronger stroke to recover position, and therefore endangering the success of the hazard. When even thus but slightly out of the straight line, some of the best players use side to compensate for strength, an advantage, doubtless, if the hazard striking be very perfect. Yet for ordinary persons nothing is more difficult than to strike ball 2 truly when ball 1 is played with side; hence we counsel practice of this position with follow, but without side.

A very small variation of the stroke, however, makes the use of side imperative. If ball 1 is near ball 2, sufficient follow cannot be got on, and position can only be retained by the use of direct side—that is, playing from cushion 6, right side; this causes ball 1 to shoot from cushion 1 with increased velocity, and at a different angle from that of incidence, thereby impinging on cushion 2 at a point above or nearer the pocket than it would otherwise have done. The compensation for the side is a reduction of strength.

Again, if ball 1 is a shade further from B S than the position shown and described for the plain follow, the use of side becomes obligatory. As ball 1 is further from ball 2, follow is less necessary, or rather it becomes unnecessary to strike above the centre, as developed rotation supplies the necessary follow. This stroke, and specially the variations which demand the use of side, require long and constant practice, and are always difficult.

The position indicated in fig. 7 shows ball 1 further down the table, or from B S, than that exhibited in the previous figure. Here, with ivory balls it may still be possible to play off two cushions with a great deal of side; but it is generally better, certainly with bonzoline balls, to obtain position from cushion 1 only, by means of a stab. Place ball 1 as shown about eight to twelve inches from the spot; play a stab through the centre downwards, the angle of the cue being ten or fifteen degrees with the bed, a free No. 1 strength. Ball 1 will impinge on cushion 1, and return in the direction indicated. This stroke is not easy and requires considerable practice. It is also difficult to determine when it should be played as a follow off two cushions and when as a stab from one. No exact rule can be laid down; one player will adopt one way, another will choose another method. It is clear that where follow with side off two cushions ends stab begins, and therefore there is one position exactly between the two which may be played either way. One’s first impression or impulse is often a good guide, with the reservation that ivory favours the follow, whilst bonzoline favours the stab.

Similarly the stab is gradually merged into a perfectly plain stroke. With ball 1 further down the table than in the last example the stroke becomes easier. As it is represented in fig. 8 nothing is required beyond the winning hazard and such regulation of strength as shall result in leaving another hazard from the opposite side of the table. Place the balls as shown; play ball 1 centre, No. 1 strength, on ball 2, so as to make the winning hazard; ball 1 will return to position from cushion 1 somewhat as indicated. If it returns too straight back—that is, too near the spot—in all probability ball 1 has been struck either a little below the centre or slightly to the left. The correction is obvious, and a very small allowance will cause ball 1 to come off the top cushion at a wider angle. The stroke becomes more difficult the further ball 1 is from ball 2, because it must be played with greater strength, which in turn may have to be controlled by delivering the cue rather under the centre.

As ball 1 is placed further down the table, it is evident that the winning hazard becomes finer till a point is reached at which position cannot be got from cushion 1 by a plain stroke. At first all that is required is to play the hazard with a little right side, which causes ball 1 to leave the top cushion at a sufficient angle; but as that ball approaches the line E S (the limit we have proposed for the spot stroke) various modifications of play are introduced. So long as the distance between balls 1 and 2 does not exceed a foot, and the former is within the angle E S D, the fine stroke with right-hand side may be played; when the distance is greater, or ball 1 is on or very close to E S, position is best gained by a gentle stab-screw, whereby the ball returns from cushion 1, as shown in fig. 9. Different persons play this stroke and its variations—which are many—in different ways, and it would be gratuitous to say that one way was right and another wrong. So long as the hazard is made and a good position is left no one can condemn the stroke, though one man may get position on one side of the spot and another man on the other side. Some players habitually use the reverse or left side if the stroke is played from cushion 6, in order to keep sufficiently away from the spot; but for reasons already given the use of side when attempting winning hazards is unadvisable. Sometimes it is obligatory, and then the risk of missing the hazard must be taken, for there is no doubt that even for the most accomplished hazard striker side greatly enhances the difficulty of the stroke.

It is doubtful whether any further drawings are necessary to illustrate the spot stroke; they could no doubt be multiplied almost indefinitely, and one would be found to approach its neighbour so closely that even an educated eye and a much more elaborately drawn set of plates than those possible on the present scale would fail to detect the difference. The stroke must be taught by a master, and should occasionally be practised under his supervision, when much that is difficult to make clear on paper will at once become evident, and the variations of strokes (that is, those which are intermediate between the examples here given) may usefully be set up and played. It may be desirable to say that in each of the figures the nomenclature of fig. 1 has been retained: the letters D, D′ and E, E′ representing the limits within which the stroke lies, and B P′, B′ P are always the straight lines through the spot to the pocket. The lines D S, E S, &c., have been omitted in order that the figures may not be needlessly complicated. It is of course understood that the strokes should be made from both sides of the table, and it will very likely be found that whereas, playing from one side, there is a tendency to strike ball 2 rather full, from the other side the error is just reversed. This may partly arise from physical peculiarity—may be, in fact, an evidence of the personal equation or error of observation which everyone has to some extent—but it will often arise from error in the cue’s delivery, and, if so, will be greatly improved, if not wholly eliminated, by reversion to one-ball practice to secure truth of the centre stroke.

Before leaving the spot stroke the methods usually adopted to continue the break or to obtain safety must be noticed.

When ball 1, failing to regain position, is left above the spot, or nearer to the top cushion than the spot, several alternatives are presented. If for any reason it is wished to continue spot play, the hazard may be made with strength to cause ball 1 to return to position after going round the table and striking at least three cushions. This stroke, though not so difficult as it may at first sight seem, is not to be recommended, chiefly because getting the exact strength must be to a great extent a matter of luck. Also when the necessary strength is used the hazard is very uncertain. It is more or less a fancy stroke which greatly delights the gallery, and is illustrated in Diagrams I. and II.; Peall usually plays off three cushions, whilst Mitchell generally uses five. It is much sounder play, when possible, to drop the red into the pocket and lie near cushion 2 for a losing hazard (see fig. 10); and if that be impossible or very doubtful, then a miss in baulk or a double baulk should be played. The latter stroke, or one of the same type, will be hereafter explained when dealing with safety.

This chapter may be closed—as, indeed, it was commenced—by reiterating the opinion that, whether the all-in game be tabooed as monotonous or not, the spot stroke is, and, as far as can be seen, must remain, of first-rate importance in modern billiards, and its study and practice will well repay such thought and work as may be bestowed on it.