9-Ball Pool - A Healthy Option
Many readers will remember that my former club, The Harrogate Leisure Centre, hosted several Mini-Prix events, but they may not have noticed that I was early to introduce American Pool to the centre. In the same room that many well-attended finals were played lay a full-size, "diamond," table which I still use for practice today. The table has a blue napless cloth, and the cushions are pointed-nosed, both features encouraging side to take effect cushion after cushion unlike the traditional English napped table. The pocket openings are generous and this encourages players to be brave in their shot selection and to attempt combination shots.
Many games are played on the American table, but for me 9-ball reigns supreme. It has features which attract the snooker player, but it is interesting to note that many successful players also have an aptitude for billiards. Perhaps a brief explanation of the rules will help clarify this. The game starts with nine different coloured balls being placed in a diamond formation. The 1-ball faces the player to break, and the 9-ball is at the centre of the diamond surrounded by the other eight balls. The player must always play at the lowest numbered ball on the table and the eventual winner is he who pots the 9-ball. There are two routes to this end which may I broadly classify as the snooker route and the billiards route.
The snooker player will usually try to pot the balls in sequence trying to manipulate the heavy two-and-a-quarter inch diameter balls. Conversely, the billiard player uses the rules to the utmost and these allow any other ball to fall after the initial contact on the lowest numbered ball on the table, hence a plant from the 1-ball to the 9-ball could win the game in one stroke. More importantly, from the billiard player's point of view, a cannon from, say 1 to 9, which put the 9-ball down would win the game.
I become fascinated trying to play what are in effect screw-losers to manipulate this large, heavy, cue-ball, and win games against players who could pot me out of sight. Although my competitive best at billiards this year has been a break of 73, I am lured more and more to the American game of 9-ball, as are my boys, both of whom were introduced to billiards and snooker at an early age. For other than the top billiard players, potting is a bit of a chore. The American table with its generous pockets leaves the billiard player to concentrate on manipulating the cue-ball and spotting short cuts to winning the game. There is obviously much more to the game than I have been able to describe here. This has been a very brief description, but I would be pleased to write more on the subject - always provided that I am not accused of heresy and burned at the stake.