The cue cannot be held too lightly for the great majority of strokes, and it should (except when necessarily and purposely raised) work as parallel with the bed of the table as possible, and with a straight, even, and flowing motion.
The act of grasping or pinching the cue alters the stroke entirely. In the same way, the habit of delivering the cue with a sort of curved motion—perpendicular in plain strokes and horizontal in side strokes—is destructive of anything like accuracy or certainty. In all horizontal strokes the cue should be carried through the ball as far as it is drawn back, and vice versa. The extent to which the cue is drawn back should be regulated by the intended length of travel of the ball or balls, and the bridge hand may be similarly advanced or retired, as the right hand may also be on the cue.
There is some difference of opinion amongst amateurs as to whether, at the moment of striking, the eye should rest on the cue or object ball. What should be done in billiards is what is done in rifle-shooting. It should be a case of: Make-ready; present; fire. To make ready is to fix the line of aim; to present is to address the cue ball at the part of it that is intended to be struck; and to fire is to deliver the cue straight along or parallel with the line of aim, the eye now, as in firing at a target, being fixed upon the desired objective.
The really vital matter is the direction in which the cue is actually pointing, as distinguished from the direction in which it is supposed to be pointing, and accurate aim can only be taken when the right foot, the elbow, the centre of the face, and the bridge are in a dead straight line with the desired movement of the cue.
In the manipulation of a cue there are certain essential motions which are difficult to describe on paper, but the value of which is instantly recognised by a player when he falls into the right method. Approximately, the necessary cue motions are as follow:—The exact nature of the stroke to be made having been decided by means of a glance directed through the centre of the cue ball to or about the object ball, the player settles to his stroke and takes aim!
He then fixes his eye on the exact part of the cue ball which he intends to strike with his cue; gives a brief backward and forward movement to his cue by way of addressing the ball and putting life into his stroke; and, finally, draws his cue well back and sends it right through the ball (as it were) with an easy, flowing motion, in the course of which the cue either lies upon his fingers, as upon a loop, not grasped at all, or is just touched by the thumb. To prove the value of this light holding of the cue, try a few strokes with the cue held (at the moment of its contact with the ball) sometimes lightly and sometimes tightly, and judge of the result.
The best practice, for all purposes, is up and down the centre of the table with the cue working over the spot on the bottom rail and the arm, body, and bridge, aligned as before described.
From the commencement of his practice the student should accustom himself to play with either hand. This is not nearly so difficult as may be imagined, and soon becomes so natural that one instinctively uses the hand that affords the most body-room and gives the most comfort. Precisely the same sort of bridges should be made with one hand as with the other, and the student must devote his sole attention to the movements of the cue, which must be as parallel as possible with the bed of the table and free from all tendency to deviate from the perfectly straight line of action.
A good way of securing straight cue action with the left hand is to place the right hand on the rail and work the cue to and fro along the line that separates the woodwork from the cloth of the cushion. The student should begin by working the cue slowly, taking care to draw it back and send it forward equal distances. He should then gradually increase the speed of the movement, and when he finds that he can keep the cue parallel with the rail and straight along its centre, he need have no hesitation in introducing ambidextrous work into his regular practice.
Another thing to be cultivated from the outset is the use of the rest, the half-butt, and the long rest. To raise both feet from the ground in making a stroke is to proclaim yourself an inexact player. There is really something very graceful in the use of the rests, although they have sometimes been described as "necessary evils." It would, of course, be an advantage if the rests could be dispensed with, but, as they cannot, the thing to be done is to master them.
In using the short rest the following three main principles should be observed:—(1) Advance the head of the rest to within a suitable distance from the ball; (2) allow the other end to lie on the table, held in place by the hand; (3) place the thumb beneath the cue, hold the elbow away from the body, horizontally extended, and, after the usual preliminary movements, deliver a clean stroke on the precise portion of the cue ball that ought to be struck.
In using the half-butt and long rest, it is better to place the cue tip on the cloth two or three inches from the ball before placing the rest beneath it, and, in striking, the student must remember that less power is required than with the ordinary cue.