Dear Tom
Many thanks for your excellent magazine that seems to improve with age. Unfortunately, it has always been a great effort for me to put pen to paper. However, strong feelings bring this package to your door. Being of a rather conservative nature (some of my friends describe me as being somewhat to the right of Attila the Hun,) I tend to resist and sometimes detest change in anything concerning our traditions. With regard to our game, it started for me when real balls were superseded by plastic ones. Then much later on the Professionals being made to play games of 150 up. This I liken to the Open Golf Championship being played over six holes. Did you notice the multi-spot white being used in the Blue Arrow Masters? Now the new baulk line rule and the latest ignominy, a yellow cue ball. Not only three different colours but, according to Ron Lamsdon's letter (BQR. April '95.P21) "Slightly bigger and just a bit heavier" - and foreign made to boot. I wonder if any consultation took place with the top players prior to this incredible change. (See piece from Colin White on P.7.) I mustn't get carried away. The real reason for my letter concerns the enclosed video. Jack (Karnehm) and I have exchanged tapes from time to time since I moved away from the UK. These are, of course, very private and freely express our personal thoughts to one another on matters of concern. I have never shown one of these to anyone before but feel that what Jack has to say is too important to keep to myself. I received this tape just after the World Snooker Championship. There is nothing on it that would embarrass either of us but I do not think that Jack would offer his views as freely to any enquirer. I shall, of course, inform him that I have sent you an edited copy. It is important to me that you see this tape, and I feel that someone like the Marketing/Promotions Manager of ITC would be very interested in what he has to say. I assume that the only voice and opinion that they hear is that of the WPBSA.
I have left some of the play which Jack films for me for your personal enjoyment. I only wish that I possessed more skill in order to put the lessons to better use. For a man approaching eighty years of age his enthusiasm never ceases to amaze me and fortunately infects me. Enough now. I hope that you find this of some interest. More power to your fine effort.
Thank you for your kind remarks Roger. I'm very glad that in the early part of your letter you didn't allow yourself to get carried away! I'm sure you will be interested in the letter from Colin White on the subject of the new balls.
I found Jack Karnehm's discussion most interesting and will try to make a digest of his remarks for a future issue.
I agree with you that the last part of the tape was quite remarkable - and would have been remarkable for anyone - let alone a man in his eighth decade of life. For the benefit of readers this part of the tape is a film of Karnehm playing at the top-of-the-table. I haven't counted how many but it is something approaching two hundred points. It is a sequence of floating white play - two pots to the cannon - which displays cue ball control of such accuracy that, from the pot red, the cannon to the object white is never left at anything other than the perfect angle. It is a wonderful demonstration of this type of play. The sequence is quite hypnotic, it is, in fact, almost too accurate, I am quite sure that in an exhibition Karnehm would have deliberately moved the object white around a little more, and maybe played a cross loser or two. Thanks again Roger for letter, tape, and kind remarks.
The report about Geet Sethi's outstanding 1,000,000 plus break amused me. Another outstanding feat occurred recently in a New South Wales country town. A report of the Parkes Open Snooker championship showed that in the quarter-finals, Geoff Miller, former Australian Champion, defeated both Paul Balzer and Wayne McKenna at the same time and on two different tables. As if this feat were not sufficient, in the semi-finals, he played Stuart Lawler and Danny Love, again both at the same time and on two different tables. Unfortunately he lost. I say unfortunately because it would have been interesting to see what he would have got up to in the final. It must have been quite an effort performing this great feat.
I agree with the comments regarding professionals and amateurs. If professionals are allowed to play in amateur tournaments, will the amateurs be automatically allowed into professional events? I doubt it. However If players want to compete in amateur tournaments, why did they become professionals? As you stated, "How to have your cake and eat it."
I considered the latest, "You are the Referee," a good one. Playing that last stroke (fair or foul) certainly condoned the previous foul when he made the shot in diagram 1. Now, what happens to the plain white? Since it is off the table it remains out of play until it is played from hand. When the stroke in diagram 2 is played and the in-off made, the player has effectively used a ball off the table for a purpose, namely to disguise the foul and to continue scoring. It could be said that the foul was made when playing the stroke whilst the plain white was on the table. However, striking the spot white is not a foul at this stage until such time as the plain white is hit to make the in-off. If the player had played at the red and ignored the plain white, then what could be done? He would have used the correct ball for such a shot and would not have involved the plain white which is basically still in hand. One final thing, if this actually happened rather than being a hypothetical situation, an eye should be kept on that chap. Billiards is supposed to be a gentleman's game.
Thank you Geoff Williams. The piece was sent to me by Phil Davis and I think that he dreamed it up.
Levi was a self-opinionated, cantankerous, repetitive, old know-all. I can tell you that he and Willie Smith were a well-matched pair. Having said that, Levi is nevertheless fascinating to read, and that is why billiards enthusiasts like myself return to his work again and again. Some of his writing shows him to have lived in a different world to nowadays. Remember the bit where his wife sent the maid to tell him that the soup was getting cold. When he resumed his break after dinner he was really niggled to break down when a near double century, and blamed this lapse of concentration on being disturbed and having to entertain his guests at dinner. When my dinner was ready, my mother couldn't be bothered to send the maid down to the billiard hall! When he got married he went on an eight months holiday - but it was ruined because he wasn't able to teach his new wife how to play billiards. I seem to remember my own honeymoon as a weekend in Blackpool. He also liked fanciful titles for his books. If these were to be updated then what about, "illiards for the Million, "ecoming, "illiards for the Couple of Dozen. "Billiards for All Time, "ould have to be, "illiards for a Half-Hour or So. "Billiards in the Twentieth Century, "ould become, "illiards in the Twenty-First Century, " but it wouldn't be a very thick book - something like, "How to win the the World Snooker Championship", by Jimmy White.
Well, get that! I know who Billiards Onlooker is but will use his nom-de-plume as requested. I think his letter is rather amusing but BQR will not publish anonymous letters.
I feel I just have to take Phil Davis to task for the information he gives in this month's magazine, when he informs readers that it is perfectly in order for cushions to be recovered with the nap of the cloth going in any direction.
Having run a Billiard Table business, I can tell you with certainty that there are actually only two variations to the direction of the nap when re-covering cushions - as follows:-The Traditional Method Stand facing the No. 1.cushion which is the baulk cushion. On this one the nap should go from right to left, the in the same direction on the two left hand side cushions, continuing in the same direction on the No.4 cushion - commonly known as the top cushion. Still standing facing the baulk cushion, the two right hand ones should have the nap running towards the top cushion. Alternative method Again facing the baulk cushion, this cushion is re-covered with the nap going from right to left and all the other five cushions are re-covered with the nap going in this direction.
When brushing a strange table one should always check to see which method has been used as, if you brush the cloth on top of the cushions against the nap, it is inclined to, "Bobble," and whilst this does not affect the play it looks unsightly.
As to having the cushions re-covered with the nap of the cloth going up and over, or down and under, my advice to anyone having their cushions re-covered in this way is to refuse to pay the bill, as the cloth used would have been wastage cloth. When we receive a roll of cloth, we cut it into running lengths to enable bed and cushions to be recovered correctly. Eventually, when we get towards the end of the roll, there is invariably about 18 inches or so remaining which is discarded as wastage.
Take it from me, with the high cost of cloth, we, and all other firms, wouldn't discard pieces of cloth unless we knew that it was absolutely necessary to do so. Should this cloth be used it would have to be cut against the nap which makes it impossible to fit correctly, and the stretch would become more uneven over a period of time. In fact, it could be a factor in making balls bounce when striking cushions. I say a factor, as it is not necessarily one thing that causes a ball to bounce. It may be a combination of reasons. Worn cushions can be a factor, as can badly re-covered ones i.e. the nose being pulled down too tightly or unevenly. Other factor may be the nose of the cushions or the balls being greasy, deteriorated rubbers, rubbers no longer correctly glued to the blocks, or blocks that need renewing.
On a full sized table balls should be 2 and 1/16 inches diameter, and to make for the best playing conditions, the height of the cushions from the table bed to the top of the nose should be exactly land 1/2 inches throughout the entire length of the cushions.
When checking the bounce, always use a cue, never throw it by hand, because cushions that allow a ball to bounce when sent by hand may not do so when the cue is used. Never clean the balls with a detergent. If the proper billiard ball cleaner isn't available then use a baby soap because this is very gentle.
Never use anything other than a billiard table cloth cleaner on the cloth, and if you are cleaning the nose of the cushions, be extra careful because the cloth is always rather fragile at this point. Regarding cushion rubbers, the worst enemy of these is excessive heat, yet I often see people when ironing the table, start by placing the iron touching the baulk cushion and then not stopping until it rests upon the top one. This is completely wrong, unnecessary, and damaging to the cushions.
The correct way to iron is to start at least one inch from the baulk cushion and stop at about the same distance from the top cushion. You will see that the iron will reach the complete area of the table that the base of the ball touches by ironing in this manner. Always make sure that the plug fitting is facing the centre of the table when ironing, and by holding the iron at a slight angle to the table a wider area of cloth is covered and you also have the leading edge on the iron which can act as a guide.
The following maintenance tip shouldn't be necessary for keen players who have their own table because we can assume that they look after it and keep it free from excessive amounts of dust. If you ever brush and iron a strange table and find that the cloth is very worn and thin which allows the dust to go straight through, and when you start to brush, more and more dust comes to the surface, then, when you have brushed you must get a bar towel or something similar, immerse it in water and then wring out until almost dry, wrap it round the brush and start again. All the dust will adhere to the material leaving the table looking very nice. Make sure that the cloth is rinsed and wring it out every time before use. After this you can iron the table as usual and you will find that, besides doing a good job, a lot of time will have been saved.
There has recently been articles whereby, on the evidence of mainly one table, generalisations have been made as to the merit of having the cloth stretched or new rubbers fitted. I could write a lot as to how you can tell when a cloth should be stretched, the advantages, and how to make sure the job has been done properly. There is a lot I could say about other aspects of billiard table maintenance, but no doubt the subject would bore the pants off the average billiards player.
Thanks a lot Ernie Sanders. I don't think that the average billiard player would be bored at all by having expert advice. I, for one, would very much like to know how you can tell if a cloth stretching job has been done properly.
It is evident, even to a newcomer to Billiards and Snooker that the distance the ball will travel, when hit with a constant pace, can vary enormously from one table to another. There are three controlling factors which determine the overall speed of a table:-
A) The degree at which a ball decelerates when rolling over the bed of the table. How quickly, or how slowly, does it come to rest when just rolling along.
B) The amount of speed a ball loses when rebounding from a cushion - the pace of the cushions.
C) The degree to which a ball reacts when spin is applied - how easy, or how difficult, is it to play screw shots.
In the case of C, the newer the cloth the easier it is to play screw shots because of the way the cue ball reacts with a fresh nap. A new cueball will also react more than a worn cueball because of its shinier surface gripping the cloth. Anyone doubting this should try polishing an old ball with silicone polish (Mr. Sheen) and see how incredibly easy it is to play spectacular screw shots which would raise even Jimmy White's eyebrows. These effects do not however constitute a fast-playing table as they have the properties of slowing the cushions down and increasing what is termed, "ushion slip, " ball travelling towards a cushion will nearly always have forward rotation; when the ball rebounds, this forward rotation momentarily becomes back spin, and the more the ball grips the cloth, the greater amount of pace it loses.
The biggest factor controlling the speed of a table is the temperature of the table itself. My own table runs at just over four lengths when not looked after, and is at normal household temperature. Beneath the table is a 1500 Watt, 8ft heating bar (The type used in clothes shop display windows) suspended on two chains 1ft below the slates and fitted with a thermostat. Switched on at full power for 6 to 8 hours, the speed of the table increases to six lengths even before brushing and ironing.
One very important factor here is the type of heat used. Electricity produces very dry heat, whilst at the other extreme, a free standing gas fire would greatly increase the humidity of the room and cause the cloth to become slightly damp and sluggish. The facility described is seldom used unless I want to practice on a very fast table for the reason that the speed of the table can be increased from just over four lengths to five lengths even when the room is at the normal household temperature of 63°F. Brushing and ironing will increase the speed of the table, but to get the best effect from this, the brush needs to be worked hard into the bed. Before ironing, a piece of spare cloth should be wrapped round the brush and firmly rubbed over the cloth in the direction of the nap. This procedure will increase the pace by as much as three-quarters of a length.
The pace can be increased still further at normal temperatures. The cloth wrapped round the brush can be made wet (damp) before rubbing over the bed cloth. This has the effect of making the nap lie very tight to the bed after ironing. Finally, the pace of the cushions can be increased by turning the iron on its side, taking care not to damage the bedcloth, and ironing the face of the cushions.
Thanks Phil. I'm sure that you will be interested in the views of Ernest Sanders (P. ) - and I'm sure that he will be interested in yours!