BILLARDS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 845, 13 December 1929, Page 12

BILLARDS

WHAT CONSTITUTES GOOD CUEINtj

By

RISO LEVI

Author of "Billiards: The Btntr. the Game." and "BilUar'd, fl* The Million.’ ICOFrRIGHTI Jn my last article 1 stated that tn cueing consisted in not only sl yk' the cue backward and forward »i out the slightest deviation to the rirt or left of the line of aim. but Zi without any trace of an up-and-d 0 »I movement. Let us deal, to begin with, with it, first of these requirements, it i. „ ' easy for a player to find out wheth,. he is sliding his cue backward w forward without any deviation fro! the line of aim. All that he ha do is to place a ball on tile of the D line, and, after taking,;! at its centre, hit it straight u n table. If he uses the spot ball t can place it with the spot halfway k and exactly facing him. There ■ then not tho slightest difficulty £ taking aim at the dead centre of th ball, for the point of the cue can hi placed so close to the ball that exactly covers its spot. Having dor this, it is quite clear that if the n is made to slide exactly on the p," of aim it will strike the ball at J centre, and that as the result „r this central striking the ball will h . given no side at all. Thus, if j t .. sent so straight up the table tbit travels over the centre, pyrasiiiand billiards spots— and even a novice can send a hall straight the table—its line of rebound from the top cushion will he over th« spots. This striking of a ball at its deafi centre seems such an easy thing t„ do when you talk about doing it b- ■ alas! when you try to do it on a table how quickly its simpl city v w . ishes. In all probability, when you essay this seemingly easy stroke, more especially if you strike the ball with any force, instead of the line of re bound coinciding with the ball’s o«. ward line of travel, it will be widek divergent from it. Instead of its re turning to the point of its departurs.

it will very likely cross the D lice ?. foot or IS inches from it, and occasionally perhaps a good two feet, cr even more, from it. , THE BEST PRACTICE FOR TRU£ CUEING There is no better practice for tire cueing than this hitting of a ball op and down the table. Even great pr fessionals put in some time, every now and then, at this seemingly el'mentary stroke. And they are n ' satisfied until they can bring the ball back, time after time, practically the point of the cue, even whenusir: quite a fast stroke. Try this stroke and see how yc fare at it. Your cueing is very good indeed, if in, say, a dozen fast stroke : the ball is never more than six inch*' from its starting point as it cross*' the D line after its rebound from tie top cushion. If, however, it is fr* quentlj r half a yard or more to the right or left of this point as it cross* the line your cueing is faulty. The second requirement for good cueing is that the cue is sliding on? even keel as it is delivered at tl cue ball. Many players keep the' cue reasonably well on the line <• aim as they move it backward at. forward, but instead of sliding it c: an even keel—that is parallel wi‘the bed of the table—they give it up-and-down movement. This raisir : and lowering of the butt of the cv. is absolutely fatal to good billiard It is, if possible, a worse fault tiu' that of not keeping the cue on ttline of aim when addressing theci ball previous to hitting it. Play the long in-off from the D fro a ball on the centre spot. If the trball is spotted correctly for the ord; ary plain half-ball stroke, you can ? the in-off even though you hit the bt well below its centre, but only if . T ‘ use quite a slow' stroke. A slow stre.allows forward rotation to set almost at once, and so by the timed object ball is reached, the cue ball rolling forw'ard just as freely as wot have been the case had it been stra- • at its centre. But play the stroke the fast pace which is necessary drive the object ball round the tab into position for centre-pocket play a*' see what happens. If the cue ball ® been struck as low dowm as befo and the object ball has been good half-ball, the pocket will missed by two to three feer. And ev« if the cue ball lias been hit only f eighth of an inch below its centre tt pocket will be missed by a good s inches, if not more. The player who fails to slide his con an even keel almost imvana_ raises its butt as he pulls his cue d*; for the last time when playing half-ball in-off from the D. Ttfc ** ing of the butt of the cue of neces •_ depresses its point, with the re >■ that though he may have aimei the ball above the centre he though unconsciously, strikes it its centre —sometimes well below sometimes only slightly below p hitting the cue ball even * raC P£!jiJ below the centre is always * a -^ rc r the fast long in-offs. Until a P)*->. can rid himself of this had I* will never make much headway " ! game, no matter how long he P Next Article: PROFESSIONALS AND TION BALLS