In delivery, what is known as the follow-through should be carefully cultivated, otherwise the stroke will not "finish well." Follow-through means that there should be no checking of the cue after impact with the cue ball, but it should follow right on. Nobody understands this better than Gray, who finishes the stroke with the splicing of the cue in the bridge hand. It is worth spending a good deal of time and pains to master this, for with the follow-through delivery the ball will run with an amount of life that it is impossible to communicate to it if the delivery is jerky.
On paper it may seem very difficult to locate these imaginary points and lines from ball to ball in the mind's eye; in practice, however, it is not so. I proved this to a player not long ago. I had given him all the instructions about the proper way in which to take aim, but, though he understood them, he could not carry them out. His trouble, I discovered, lay in looking at the point he wanted to hit on the red ball, and neglecting the imaginary line from the centre of his own ball to that point. He could get a halfball hazard without even seeing the red if he would only fix this line in his mind first I told him. I then made him take a careful aim, and, after this I put my hat over the red ball, and directed him to strike. Not until he had struck did I remove my hat, and, to his astonishment, he could, as I told him, make the hazard every time without even seeing the object ball.
In taking aim it will be noticed that some professionals point at the bottom of the ball. This is because the point where the ball touches the cloth gives the centre. Many people suppose from this that the ball is struck below the centre, which is not the case. In ordinary shots the ball should be struck just above the centre. But there is one class of shot (leaving aside screws) that presents itself rather frequently where the ball ought to be struck low.
Suppose the two object balls, for example, are close together, near the spot, and, playing from baulk, you want to keep all three balls close together. If the cue ball were hit above the centre it would have to be struck very gently, so as just to make its objective, and nothing more. It is not easy to judge the exact strength for such a shot, and, besides that, a ball rolling so slowly is apt to run off. The better way is to strike it well below the centre. It can be hit fairly hard in this way, for the drag communicated (it will be revolving backwards) will act like a brake, and its speed will be sharply checked.
It is the long hazard into the top pocket that I rely on very largely in making hazard breaks. It is just a plain half-ball shot, and anybody with a little practice may hope to attain a useful facility at it. The cue ball should be struck freely and well above the centre. The red, if hit hard enough, will always leave position for a middle pocket or for another long loser.
The half-run through into the centre pocket is a shot at which Gray has attained extraordinary proficiency. Though much has been written about the efficacy of these run-through hazards, I cannot see what advantage they have over natural angle shots into the pocket. The run-through is harder, and I have not discovered that it ensures position better than the half-ball contact. Using alternate pockets, whether for the long or short hazards, helps to give variety to this game, and it does not impose such a strain on the player as bringing the ball back to one position does.
In regard to sharp screw shots, I may say that, instead of the cue being delivered horizontally and held lightly, the butt should be raised, and at the moment of impact it should be gripped firmly.
In making the masse stroke the cue just drops on to the ball. Anything like a punch will destroy the shot, and it will bruise the cloth.