73.—"Could not some word be invented to describe the class of billiards that is played when only the red ball is used? It has been called the Gray stroke, the all-red route, the losing hazard game, and many Other things, but there seems to be a need for one good descriptive word. Meanwhile, there are those who say that red ball play is only a part of billiards." Then why not reddiards?
74.—"In an exhibition match with Mr. A. Wood, at the Burley Conservative Club, George Nelson, to finish the game, played rather a funny shot. He wanted one for game, and the white ball was hanging over the very brink of the pocket with the red 'dead safe.' As they had not played 'the strict game' he did not like to pot the white. They were playing on a table with the old-fashioned big brass pocket plates, so he decided that if he could jump the cue ball on to the woodwork of the cushion it would run on towards the pocket plate, which should then cause it to drop on the far side of the object white and complete an in-off. This came off, but his opponent then claimed a foul because the cue ball ran on to the woodwork of the cushion. Was he entitled to do so?"
There was no foul. A ball is only off the table when it "comes to rest otherwise than on the bed of the table or in a pocket." See B.C.C. rules, page 17.
We do not like the idea of such a pronounced colour as blue, but think that one ball might, perhaps, be white and the other cream. This idea was taken up some years ago by a follower of the game (Mr. Brand) but nothing appears to have come of it. We have sometimes known a red ball with nearly all the colour worn off to be used for spot.
76.—"Will you please say exactly where the spots on the billiard table should be placed?"
The positions are as follow:— Billiard spot, 12¾ inches from face of top cushion to centre of spot; pyramid spot, where two lines cross from centre of middle pockets to centre of corner pockets; centre spot, half-way between top and bottom cushions and exactly between middle pockets.
The baulk line is a line 29 inches from, and parallel with, bottom cushion, and the half circle, with a radius of 23 inches, is exactly centred between the side cushions.
77.—"Sometimes a ball appears to go right into a pocket— usually a middle one—and jumps out again. What is the reason of this?"
Hard play, as a rule, and especially when unaccompanied by top or the correct side. "Top" highly develops rotation on the horizontal axis and side on the vertical axis. A top-laden ball repelled from a pocket will even return to it, and a side-laden ball will cling to, and drop into, the pocket.
78.—"A shot that usually floors me is the straight run-through cannon when the three balls are only a diameter out of the straight line. I find that I invariably get too great a throw-off. What is the remedy?"
Dead central aiming with top and side has sometimes the desired effect, the side diverting the cue ball after the object ball has been struck. A good plan for obtaining certainty with the run-through stroke is to practise with two balls only, as follows: Place cue ball on corner spot of baulk and object ball mid-way between it and centre pocket on the same side of the table at such angles as represent 7/8, ¾, and 5/8 run-throughs.
The ¾ run-through aim is half an inch inside the edge of the object ball and the other two are respectively ¼ inch fuller and finer than this. Shift the object ball until you find that with one of these aims and contacts you run through into the pocket.
Then chalk the positions and practise until you are certain.
When you succeed in making the 7/8 run-through you will know why you miss the nearly straight ones, as the 7/8 plain aim is not full enough for this.
79.—" Can a ball be screwed more than a right angle when the contact is not thicker than half-ball? I was contending that this was impossible with a friend the other evening, as I had never been able to do it, but when he tried he seemed to make it."
We should doubt it, always provided that the two balls were not less than a foot apart. Perhaps your friend made a slightly fuller contact than half-ball. Suppose you apply the following test: Put the red ball on the centre baulk spot and the cue ball at the back of the D, so that a line drawn through its centre parallel with the side of the table would be in alignment with the right side of the object ball. Standing in position for screwing along the baulk line (which is the half-ball screw throw-off), let the eye travel from a point mid-way between the right edge and the centre of the red ball towards the top left corner pocket and mark the cushion at that point. Now see whether you can screw to below the baulk line without driving the red ball to the right of your chalk mark.
80.—"In playing the long jenny into a top corner pocket would you recommend very slow strength only bringing the object ball to the centre of the table or a rather smarter stroke to bring it there from off the opposite cushion?"
This depends upon where the cannon ball is, but if you have only one ball to consider the very slow stroke is both the better and the safer one. It is more difficult at first, but not appreciably so after practice.
Lovejoy does the very gentle long jenny as attractively as anyone that we have seen and is well worth noting in regard to that essential. A point to commend the very gentle play is the greater certainty of making the pocket as well as the retention of middle-table position. The slower a side-laden ball travels the more closely it hugs the cushion should that be encountered before the pocket it reached.