BILLIARDS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 856, 27 December 1929, Page 7

BILLIARDS

HOW TO SCREW

By RISO LEVI j Author of “ Billiards: 1 he Strokes o/ the Game." and “Billiards For The Slillion." (COPYRIGHT] ' Tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds jof thousands, of men have played billiards for years without being ablo to screw back a foot, or even a few inches, from a near object ball. These players manage to get square screwcannons—when the object balls are not very far from each other—by a combination of screw and force, but when the stroke is a screw-back cannon, or a straight or nearly straight recoil into a pocket, they fail dismally whenever they attempt it. As a rule, they do not essay these strokes because although they see other players get them quite easily, time after time, past experience bought by countless failures at these shots has taught them that they are not for them. I sometimes wonder whether these players ever ponder over the question as to how it is that strokes which are so easy to countless thousands of cuemeu should be so utterly beyond them. It we select some very difficult run-through iu-oft that requires the skill of a Willie Smith or a Willie Leigh to bring off, time after time, or some awkward masse stroke that is nearly a certainty only to a Claude Falkiner or a Tom Newman, we can understand why these strokes are utterly beyond the rank and file of amateurs. Strokes that require surpassing execution are the prerogative of great cuemen, but shots that are made daily by countless amateurs all over the country should certainly be well within the compass of anyone who has played billiards regularly for years. The ordinary player cannot, of course, be expected to play screwbacks with the same precision as the very capable amateur. It he could he would no longer be just an ordinary player. There are dozens of other strokes which he cannot get with nearly the same certainty as the very good amateur. But though he may miss these strokes oftener than not, he nevertheless frequently gets them, and there is no good reason why the same should not apply at least to the easy screw-backs which the capable amateur brings off with such unfailing regularity. THE IMPORTANCE OF SCREWS There can be no question that screw strokes rank among the most important in billiards. A big break is but seldom made by a professional or an amateur without frequent recourse to screws. Indeed, even a mere 60 or TO is seldom put together without a screw stroke of some kind or another, and a break of this size often contains several of these strokes. The player, therefore, who is very weak at screws, as a rule gets into difficulties very soon, and big breaks are thus beyond him.

To screw back with correct direction is anything but easy if the second object ball or the pocket is any distance from the hall that is struck by the cue ball, hut just to cause the cue ball to recoil some distance from the objec* ball, after hitting it full or nearly full in the face, is so comparatively simple that anyone who has played billiards for, say a year, or even only for a few months, should experience no difficulty in screwing back from a ball, as soon as he fully understands the fundamental principles which govern the screw-back stroke. I can say, without the slightest hesitation, that I could teach the merest novice how to screw back quite freely, in 10 or 15 minutes at the table.

Next Article: HOW TO SCREW.—II.