BILLIARD ART.

Otago Witness, Issue 3801, 18 January 1927, Page 56

BILLIARD ART.

POSITION PLAY. “THE BEST EVER.”

By

J. R. Hooper.

I show in the diagram what I consider to be the best positional cannon I Rave ever seen on the billiard table. The obvious shot to play would be a cannon off the side cushion with left-hand side, but if this were done all position would be lost, as the red would double up the table towards the right-hand centre pocket and the object white would be moved along the top cushion about 9in, and both balls would be safe. If played, however, according to the -diagram by driving the red ball right round the table, and running through it for the cannon, the angle is such that the red must come oack to the corner pocket, and beautiful position will be obtained, with all three Lails close together. The most difficult part of the stroke is to “stun” the cue ball, so that it runs slowly through the red fc the cannon, and does not move the object white more than a few inches, which insures having all three balls close ' > the corner pocket after the cannon is made.

This “stunning” of the <.ue bail is done by striking it about the centre or a shade below and hitting hard. I first saw this stroke over 30 years ago, when the late John Roberts played it in ah exhibition game, when I happened to be bis opponent. Needless to say, I grasped it immediately, and can safely say that, through all the intervening years, I hive never seen a stroke that I consider compares with it for beautiful positional effect. THE MASSE STROKE.

No series of articles on billiards would be complete without reference to the Masse stroke, so I will endeavour to enlighten my readers a little on this point. To get a correct “bridge” for these strokes the main principle is to stand as “high” as possible on the endg of the fingers, so as to get the greatest hitting power downwards on to the top of the cue ball. The second, third, and little fingers are used to stand on, and are spread about an inch apart with the third finger about half an inch in advance of -the other two, forming a triangle. The first finger is bent at the middle joint and forms the “bridge” for the cue to run on with the assistance of the thumb. Having now got all four fingers and the thumb in position, twist the hand to the left until it, and all the fingers, become edgewise on to the body. This twisting of the hand is ibsolutely necessary to give the maximum 'f power over the stroke, but will be found to make the hand ache badly at first. Having the bridge complete, then, raise the cue to the perpendicular, and shorten down the grip with the right hand until you reach a point on the butt, which feels comfortable and enables you to strike "a free blow downwards without being overreached.

At this stage I would advise practising merely swinging the cue and striking downwards until the player feels able to control the cue in this position, and strike a. good hard blow if necessary. Having mastered this, then, the player is now in a position to play Masse strokes. Remember, in the case of cannons, the closer the three balls are together the more per-’ pendicular the cue must be held. Similarly, as the balls get farther apart so the cue is brought down‘a l: ttle from the perpendicular to a slanting position. The'cue ball must be struck a little in advance of the centre and on the edge towards the nearest object ball. Here, again, this varies slightly according to the closeness or otherwise of the balls. When very close together and a quick curve has to be made, the cue ball must be struck right at the top, but as the second object ball gets further away so you must strike a point a little lower down, and still on the side next the object ball. When the cue ball has only a little distance to travel, strike it gently, in fact, a golden rule is, never hit harder than is necessary to make the stroke, as the harder you hit the more difficult the stroke becomes.

_ The secret of avoiding mis-cues in this difficult stroke is tq have a perfectly clean set of balls, with no grease on the surface, and similarly to have a clean tip on the cue, .which is also devoid of grease. When practising Masse strokes I recommend placing the balls close up to the cushion, so as to get the extra height of the cushion above the cue- ball, which naturally makes it easier until the player

becomes proficient enough to play them at any part of the table. (Concluded.)