Billiards
OF all indoor games, billiards ranks highest. It is without doubt the king, and reigns triumphant over chess, backgammon, parlour croquet; and since those delightful miniature billiard tables have been introduced, it is rapidly superseding bagatelle as a parlour game. These miniature tables possess all the advantages of the larger and more aristocratic tables. The same principles operate, the practice is similar, and the laws which govern the play are alike; need it be a matter of wonder that billiards is fast becoming as popular and universal as it is excellent?
When a boy first tries his hand at billiards, he is generally confounded by the apparently erratic conduct of the balls. They are apt to diverge into the strangest places, and somehow manage to remain precisely in those spots where a practised player can make a good break from them. This arises first from the want of a knowledge of the laws which regulate moving bodies, the general principles of billiards, and an acquaintance with the various "strokes," and the effects they produce. Thus to become a good billiard-player requires a nicety of touch, a good eye, and sound judgment. These are to be acquired if the player attends to the following principles and points of the game. Most boys are aware that billiards is played on an oblong table twelve feet long by six feet wide, inside the cushions: the smaller tables preserve these general proportions. In France, for instance, the table is some four feet by eight feet, and without pockets, it being used solely for the cannon game; but English tables have invariably six pockets, one at each corner and two at the sides. No good table is now made without a slate bed, perfectly level, and covered with fine green cloth. The old list cushions are now superseded by those made of vulcanized indiarubber, which not only resists the deteriorating influence of the weather, but increases the "speed" of the table. The surface of the cloth is marked with three "spots." The first "spot" is placed about twelve inches from the upper end or top of the table, and is known as "the spot." The second is placed two feet six inches from the top, and the third is in the centre of the table. Two feet six inches from the bottom of the table is the "baulk line," on which is inscribed a semicircle, called the "striking point," shown on figs. 4 to 7. The position of the semicircle is also marked by three spots, one at each end and one at the centre. The moveable adjuncts to the table are cues, balls, butt, and a rest or jigger. With respect to these one or two words of advice. See that your cue is well balanced; beware of fancy cue; slet the leathered tip be moderately broad, and keep it always well chalked. The balls are perfect spheres turned out of the centre of the tusk. It may be mentioned that the ordinary length of a cue is four feet nine inches, and the diameter of "match balls" is two inches and a sixteenth. The "butt" is a stiff, thick cue, well leathered at the butt end, and is used occasionally for pushing the ball when it is necessary to come off a cushion at an exact angle. The uses of the "rest" and long cues are obvious.
Ere touching on the game itself, there are a few essential points which claim the attention of a young player. They are these: 1. The attainment of a good position. 2. The making of a firm "bridge." 3. The acquirement of a good, easy, but firm, stroke. The last two essentials depend in a great measure on the first. It is obvious that the billiard player requires an easy play for his right arm, and firmness in his left to give solidity to the "bridge." To ensure this he must stand firmly on his right leg, so that it supports the weight of his body. The left leg should be placed slightly in advance, and pressed gently to balance the body only. This will throw additional weight on the left arm, which rests on the table, and leave the right arm free. If the position is a good one, the left leg may be lifted from the floor without disturbing the body. To form the "bridge," the left hand must be first extended on the table, and the fingers drawn up straight towards the wrist, so as to elevate the knuckles. If well done, the tips of the fingers, the wrist, and ball of the thumb will touch the table. The point of the thumb must be then kept slightly apart from the fingers to form a groove, in which the cue can rest, as shown in fig. 1.
The bridge should be formed almost six inches from the ball. To strike well, surely, and firmly, the cue must be held in the grasp of the right hand. This is essential, for unless the cue is so held it will be impossible to make a good, and therefore a sure, stroke. All fancy modes of holding the cue by the tips of the fingers should be avoided. The cue may be laid on the groove of the bridge, and drawn back, and then firmly and steadily send it forward in a straight line, keeping the right hand well down behind you, so that the force of the blow comes from the shoulder, not the elbow. The eye must be educated to guide the hand, and, hit or miss, the stroke should be given at once. There should be no hesitation, no see-sawing of the cue to and fro, and no violent motions whatever. The body should be so placed as to give firmness to the bridge, ease to the right arm--which should be kept straight, with the point of the cue slightly above the surface of the cloth--and a general freedom from constraint, which is lightly essential to success.
The best method of practice for a young beginner is to place a ball before his cue and strike it firmly and gently into different pockets, or at different marked points of the cushion, until he can pocket the ball and hit a given point with freedom and precision. The ball must be fairly struck with the tip of the cue, not pushed or jerked forward; and hence it will be necessary to draw back the point of the cue five or six inches ere striking the ball. The stroke, though firm, must not be violent, lest the natural angles of the table should be destroyed. If the ball is watched carefully after it has struck the cushion, it will be found to return at an exactly equal angle to the one at which it was struck. In other words, "the angle of reflexion is equal to the angle of incidence." This is the first and most important rule of billiards, and one that should never be forgotten. The variation of the strength and direction of the stroke will be found to materially affect this law, and enables the skilled player to make those formidable and seemingly impossibly strokes which secure him his victory. This peculiarity of the angles is best illustrated, and the practice of the student advanced, by placing another ball at a little distance before the player, which we will call the object ball. If we place them in a line with one of the marked places on the cushion, and strike the first ball fair in the centre, and cause it to strike the object ball full,--if this is done, it will strike the marked spot, and come off at the same angle as your first ball would have done.
For the purposes of play the object ball is divided thus:-- Fig. 2, No 1, shows the object ball struck full, fig. 2, No. 2, the three-quarter ball, and so on. The half ball is the most important in practice, as by it the natural angle is made, an angle that is of the greatest importance at billiards, though each have their particular uses, which the young player should endeavour to understand. He will find that the balls diverge at different angles, more or less acute, according as the object ball is struck "full" or "fine" the fine ball being precisely the reverse of the three-quarter ball.
There are many ordinary hazards and cannons which can be made by simply dividing the object ball, but the motion which the striking ball obtains after contact with the object ball will be modified by the position of the cue and the manner in which it is struck. First let us take the position of the cue. For the full centre stroke or straight hazard the ball must be struck well in the centre, and produce what is termed the retard, or stop ball, if the object ball is struck full likewise. If the striker's ball is struck considerably above its center, it produces the following stroke. To make the ball jump, it must be struck sharply on the top with a "downward, forward motion," and this, if carefully done, will cause the ball to jump over a neighbouring and intervening ball. When the ball is struck low, it produces the recoil, and the striker's ball will return from the object ball to the player. This leads the beginner to the greatest of all modern improvements is the game, the side-stroke. It is found that it is much easier to divide the striker's ball with accuracy than the object ball, but when both balls are divided with judgment the highest scientific play is obtained. The application of side and twist to the striker's ball is often misapplied by beginners, and is frequently the cause of mischievous results; for all students should remember that "the harder you strike the balls the more rapidly they fly apart;" and frequently a modification of the strength of the stroke will achieve the desired result better than the application of "side," which may fail. It should always be remembered that the ball must be struck on the side on which it is intended to go after contact with the object ball, and that the effect is not produced until after it has come in contact with another ball or the cushion. It is used for the same purpose as the division of the object ball, and accomplishes the same object. In order that it may be properly understood we give in fig. 3 the player's ball divided for the side-stroke. The student can only acquire a knowledge of the effect of the strokes given at these varied points by practice, or from the instruction of an expert teacher; all that a writer can do is to lay down well-defined and easily-understood axioms, rules, and cautions. Thus, if the ball is struck at c c, at the top, it becomes the following ball; at the bottom c c, a recoil; at f f it will give a strong side to the ball at the lower angles, the screw or twist, which causes the balls to twist back; the upper angles will give high right-hand side or left-hand side, according to the side they are struck.