LESSONS ON BILLIARDS

IN my last article I endeavoured to explain what is meant by the term "natural angle."

In making losing hazards into the middle pockets, th» true natural angle is often varied for the sake of position, the object ball being comparatively so much nearer the pocket, and the distance the striker's ball has to travel being so much less than in the case of the losing hazard into the top pockets, that this can often be done with safety without any fear of missing the stroke altogether.

The losing hazard into one of the top pockets, when the ball is in the centre of the table, is, as I have said before, very easy as long as the striker knows at once where to spot his ball.

The mistake generally made is in not making the angle wide enough, and the stroke is far more often missed owing to the striker's ball hitting the side cushion than it is by striking the top cushion. The proper place to spot the ball in baulk, if the red ball is exactly on the middle spot, is about 7½ inches from the centre spot in baulk, on the same side as the top corner pocket into which the hazard will be made.

Another very common position for the balls to be placed, in which the natural angle occurs, is when one of the white balls is placed exactly over one of the top pockets, and the red ball is on the spot. A losing hazard into the other top pocket ought to be a certainty, and it can be played with just sufficient strength to bring the red ball down the table over the middle pocket.

I have purposely avoided entering into the subject of what is generally known as dividing the balls, as I believe any such direction to be practically useless.

The half-ball stroke is, however, an exception, and it should be borne in mind that the object ball must be struck at the half-ball stroke in order that the hazard should come off' at the natural angle. In taking aim for the half-ball stroke the point of the cue must be aimed at the extreme edge of the object ball.

It has been sometimes noticed, even by good players, that when the ball is in position for the natural angle— say, for instance, the ball is over one of the middle pockets, and the red is on the spot—that if the ball be moved gradually nearer and nearer to the red ball the hazard becomes impossible at the natural angle. The reason of this is that persons move the ball along the line drawn from the centre of the red instead of the outer rim. The line the striker's ball would traverse if struck would not be dead full on to the red, but in a line drawn to the rim of the red. If the white ball be advanced gradually along this line the hazard will be found practical at almost any point along the line.

When playing for the hazard when the ball is dead over the top pocket, into the opposite pocket, the red being on the spot, beginners should remember that they must hold their cue considerably farther away from the butt when the ball is close to the cushion or brass work of the pocket, as otherwise they will obtain very little mastery over the balls.

"We will now proceed to discuss what is generally known as "side."

I do not know, nor indeed do I think it is known, who may fairly claim the honour of having discovered the side stroke at billiards. Probably after the introduction of leather tops for cues, a good many persons at once found that the ball could be struck in other places than the middle. Indeed, it is said that the knowledge of side existed even before leathern tops were used, but it must have been of an exceedingly feeble order and barely have deserved the name.

"Side" may be defined as causing the ball to spin in a pertain direction required, which causes the ball to take, after contact with the cushion, a direction different to that which it would otherwise do. Side is at times also exceedingly useful in making losing hazards, as by its means the pocket may be said to be made larger, or in other words, the ball travelling in a certain direction would enter the pocket under influence of the proper side, but fail to enter the pocket did no such side exist.

I will proceed to give instances of both, but before so doing would warn beginners of the importance of the way in which they put on side. First, great care should be paid to the position of the cue. The cue must be kept horizontal in the act of striking. The effect of striking a ball downwards, and at the same time putting on side, is to cause the ball to travel in a curved line. For instance (vide diagram), suppose I place my ball on the C—that is, the centre spot in baulk— the other white ball on M, and the red on the spot.

By striking my own ball hard, downwards, a little on the left, I can cause it to follow the dotted line on the diagram—i.e., make it run to the right of the white and yet hit the cushion on the left of the red.

Now beginners, when they put on side, will find that they sometimes miss the ball altogether. This stroke may help to explain the cause of this.

In French billiards the stroke called the "Masse" is on this principle, the tops of the cues being considerably larger than those used in the English game, it is easier to hit hard downwards.

A first-class French player would have no difficulty in making the cannon, suppose the balls were placed in the position in the diagram of 1, 2, 3, even if they were out in the middle of the table. He would strike his own ball, No. 1, and cause it to run along the dotted line and cannon on to the other two. I would not, however, recommend these strokes to be ever attempted at English billiards, as it is almost certain to result in a cut cloth. The French cloths are stronger, coarser, and far inferior to the English cloths.

Suppose now the opponent's ball is situated at W, the red ball on the spot, and the player's is in hand. To make the cannon properly, side is necessary. The cannon should also be played off the white, though many beginners would think it easier off the red. It is possible to play the cannon off the red, but then the balls would be probably separated, and the probability of a score being left the next time very doubtful.

Should, however, the stroke be played off the white slowly with side, the object ball and the red will be almost certain to be left near each other and near the top left-hand corner pocket.

The player must place his ball on the right-hand corner spot in baulk, and strike it on the left-hand side about half an inch from the centre of the ball and a trifle lower than the centre. The effect of striking the ball thus will be to cause it to spin rapidly in the direction shown by the curved dotted arrow. The object ball at W must be struck at a half-ball. The player's ball will strike the top cushion at the point indicated in diagram; were no side on it, the ball would rebound in the direction A, but the effect of the side causes the ball to take the direction A¹ and thus make the cannon. The dotted lines show the probable direction of the balls after the stroke.

As an instance of the value of putting on side in order to make a losing hazard, the stroke illustrated in the diagram is one very much to the point, as it is one that is almost sure to occur in any long game. Suppose the object ball is at T, about a couple of inches away from the cushion, and the player is in hand, the only method of scoring with any degree of certainty is by playing for the losing hazard into the top pocket. Now when this stroke is played, the striker's ball is almost certain to strike against the top cushion close to the pocket—in fact that part which is generally called the shoulder of the pocket. The ball, however, owing to the manner in which it has been struck, is spinning rapidly; the moment it touches the shoulder, this spin takes it into the pocket. Had the ball been made to spin in the contrary direction— or, in other words, had the other side been put on the effect would be to keep the ball out of the pocket.