Cue Control in One-Hand Billiards
I have been asked by the Editor of The Billiard Player to explain to his readers how I manage to play billiards with one hand. This is not so difficult as it would at first thought appear—that is, in playing- the plain straightforward shots. The real essentials of playing billiards well with one hand are the same as in the case of playing with two hands—hard practice, a determination to improve, real enthusiasm for the game, and adaptability.
The last-named asset is an important one. Owing to the various types of cushions now in existence, the one handed player must be able to adapt himself to all sorts of conditions which do not affect the two-handed player.
For instance, with the modern up-to-date cushion the cue gets a "grip" on the cushion itself, which makes the striking of the cue ball easier and steadier. But in the case of the old-fashioned cushions, where the "rail" is higher than the cushion (the latter invariably slopes towards the bed of the table), the one-handed player must play his shots by balancing the cue on the "rail," and, in the case of forcing shots, he has to trust more or less to good fortune if he is to hit the object as intended.
What little success I have reached in the billiard world I attribute to the fact that I realized that I must start from the beginning—and I did so. After being wounded and spending four months in hospital, I set to work practising with one ball, striking it up and down and around the table, slowly at first, and gradually faster as I got more control over the cue. Holding my cue lightly with the forefinger and thumb, and with the remaining fingers only just touching the butt, with the head well down and the chin practically touching the cue, I found, as time went on, that I could hit a ball hard with just a natural aim, sending it up the table and back to the tip of the cue. This, in my opinion, is one of the truest tests for a billiard player, and one;hat is not so easy as at first it may seem to be. Let any ordinary two-handed player strike a ball hard up and down the table and note the result. He may he surprised.
In using a cue with one hand, one is apt—in the act of striking—to drop the butt end, and so hit over the top of the ball, especially when the cue ball is 18in. or 2ft. away from the cushion. To avoid this tendency I always aim slightly downwards at my ball, but only when I am some distance away. When my ball is in the centre of the table, I use common-sense—and the rest. I have been much criticized for using the rest, but Tom Reece, who taught me practically all my billiards, urged me to use it even more than I actually do.
My highest break in public since I lost my left hand is 128, and I only used the rest once, but that happened to be the second shot, so the break would not have been recorded had I not used a little common-sense. The most difficult shots in one-handed play are those that have to be taken at a slanting angle along a cushion. It is impossible to "balance" the cue and make a stroke from that position, so I have overcome it by pressing my cue into the cushion with my second finger, but otherwise holding my cue as for my other shots. Another very difficult shot is when the cue ball is tight against the cushion. Then, of course, I have to strike without any preliminary "addressing" of the ball.
I have been shown—and offered—all sorts of rests for one handed players. Most of them are weighted stand arrangements—useless when the ball is under the cushion, and always in the way in the case of a "screw" shot. Another idea is a special cue with a tiny wheel on ball bearings. I have tried this, and for some shots, and for "handiness," it is not bad, but I have found "forcing" shots most uncertain with it, because of the impossibility of getting sufficient "play" on the cue before making contact with the cue ball.
The shot that I get particularly well from the cushion is a "screw" shot. I can easily pull a ball back the length of the table! It is all a matter of cue delivery.
When, a short time ago, I had the honour to appear at Buckingham Palace, His Majesty asked me to repeat one particularly difficult "screw" shot, and I was fortunate enough to get it again. I mentioned to His Majesty that it was a difficult one with only one hand. His Majesty laughingly replied, "I should have imagined it would require three hands!"