Billiards

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 713, 12 July 1929, Page 7

Billiards

TWO GATHERING STROKES

By

RISO LEVI

A.uthur of “Hilliards .* The Strokes of the Game,” anti "Billiards For the Million.” tCOPTRIGHT) A really good player has seldom to play a stroke the result of which, aregards the after-positiou, is entirely relegated to chance The ordiuarv Player, on the other hand, has often to so out for the shot itself without bothering about what the next is going to be. because if the stroke is extremely difficult for him. lve must concentrate on the shot itself, aud hope for the best as regards the leave from it. if he succeeds in scoring. When, however, the stroke is easily within his compass, he should never play it aimlessly, but always try to get it in such a manner that something good may be left for the next stroke. The poor player who is always trying to set up good positions from soni more or less simple stroke will experience many failures and disappointments. not only as regards the after-

position, but frequently as regards the shot itself whereas if lie only played for the score itself without bothering about the resultant position, he might be quite sure of getting the shot. But if. quite undaunted by his numerous failures, he still perseveres in his attempts to play for position, his game will steadily improve.

Diagram 7 shows position for a runthrough cannon which is easily within the compass of the moderate player. A medium-pace run-through is. however, of very little use here, for as the result of such a stroke the object white will generally come to rest somewhere near the top cushion, and thus if the cue ball takes the red at all badly, or remains too close to it. the resultant position will nearly always be more or less bad. The correct way to play this runthrough cannon is with sufficient pace to bring the object white right down the table as far as the centre pocket, attempting at the same time to cannon full on to the red. The intersected lines on the diagram indicate the excellent position which may be set up as the result of a well-played stroke. If you are an ordinary player, the odds are that you will not get the desired result at your first, second, or third attempt, but if you keep at it for a little while you will find that this positional stroke is not nearly so difficult as it may have appeared to you when you first essayed it. And if you coutinue playing this stroke until you can set up a good position nearly as often as not. or even once out of every three attempts at it, you will appreciate the difference of playing a shot of this nature with some specified idea as to the kind of leave to be set up from it, from your previous method of playing it with the mere idea of just scoring two points. Always remember that when playing a runthrough cannon with a fair amount of pace the contact with the first ball should be somewhat fuller than when playing the same stroke at medium pace.

Diagram 8 illustrates a gathering stroke for the capable amateur. The cannon is here a screw, but although it must be played with sufficient pace to cause the red to travel as indicated by the intersected line on the diagram, the cue ball must travel to the white with very little pace, otherwise this ball may enter the pocket or travel anywhere after striking the baulk cushion. A fullish contact with the red and a heavy handling of the cue will deaden the speed at which the cue ball travels from the red to the white. Care must be taken that the red strikes the side cushion well away from the angles of the pocket. Naturally very exact strength is required to cause the red just to travel the required distance and no more, and thus a player who causes ail three balls to come to rest fairly close to one another as the result of this stun-screw cannon has played a high-class stroke. Next article: —“The Difference between Professionals and Amateurs."