/ D a1

’
s Bi l l i ard Bo o k
“

I ll us tra ted w i t/z m o r

e Man 4 0 0 D iagra ms ,

d
’

3 0 Te c/ m zca/ P /z o to g p
ra fir a n
“ ”
3 S tra tegy M apr

V By

M A U R I C E p A LY
Wi T W d C h m i hi
nn e r o f h re e o rl a p o ns ps

v E dit e d by William W e lt o n Har is r

M e mb e r of the E xe c t u i mm
ve Co i lA
i tte e of th e N at o na s s o c i ati o n

o f Am B ll i d Pl
ate ur i ar ay e rs

1
V Di agram s an d M a ps b y F d i P M it h ll
re er c . c e

h
P o to gra ph by A lb t H dl y
s er e e

C H I C A GO

A C
. . M c c L U R G 8: C O .

1913
 C OPY RI GH T D E C E M BE R, 19 13

BY

WILL I AM WE L T ON H A RRI S

W F H AL L PRI N T l N G C OM PAN Y . C H l Q AQ- O

 C ON TE NTS

PAR T I
C H APTE R PAGE

I Pur p e os of t he B o o k . D pm
e ve l o en t of Po s t ii on

Pl a y . Fam o u s P ly
a s an d Pl ye a rs

I I S meo Pr m ar i y Po it n s f or B gi e n n e rs

III Di g a ram s f o r Be gi nn e rs

PAR T I I

Som e g l C ide ti s P siti Pl y

en era on s ra on on o on a .

D t D i e ( Sh t H d ) t ill y h e t
on
’
r v or oo ar ou av o .

O the thi g e q l th Sh t D i e i bette th

r n s ua , e or rv s r an

th L ge on

A idvo L g D i e f b th B lls
a on r v o o a

A id vo L g D i e f th e d Obj e t B ll
a on r v o e s co n c a .

Ke p th B ll i th Sh t T ble
e e a s n e or a

A Sh t whi h l o th O B ll f a f m b th
c e ave s e ne a r ro o

O bj t B ll i g
ec lly B d Sh t
a s, s e n e ra a a o

Al gth R il h e th t Sh t Whi h Will le e

on e a ,
c o os a o c av

th C
'

eB ll t id
ue
”
( e e a M i d t bl )
“
f ou s e n ar r -
a e o

t h O bj e t B ll
e c a s

Keep b th B ll h d f y
o
”
a s
“
a ea o ou .

A id le i g C
vo B 11 av nf ze t the C hi
”
ue , a
“
ro n o us on

O h t F l l ws i
n s or d Co m l k tf
o r v e s , an aro s, oo ou or

Li i h f
/

“
T e e
V

‘ ’
p d
ne u -

p s t t m m
an -
u s
’
a co ro

L di g th Se d B ll t
an n on ftly e co n a o o so

A de d D w F ll w
“ ”
a M é i ge e lly
ra ,
o o , or as s s n ra

b tte th
e Li e r an a
‘
v
’
one .

O Op e T bl Sh t if
n n thi g b tte
a eff e t y o s, no n e r o rs
,
r

t l o e t l t O B ll
e av a C hi e as d ne a n e ar a us o n , an

if p i b l e e o ss C n ar a o rn e r
 C ONTEN TS

T
C H AP E R PAGE

Ge ttin g o ut of H o le s( S mi d a e -
a v an c ed ii
Po s t on

l y)
P a . A Co n s id ti f V i
e ra on o ar o u s us e u f l Sh t o s

whi h c are of g t h lp i C
re a e n e rta n i U nu s u a l
P i ti os o ns

PAR T I I I

S e co n ll Pl y d Ba a

Th Ch k N
e e uc -
u rs

T he R b N e “
u -
u rs
’

T he A h N se nc or -
ur
’

Th e R il N e a -
urs
’

The R il N e C ti d ‘
a -
u rs , on nue

R e y
e co v rf P s iti f m th F lty L e i
o o on ro o er au e av s n

ide the F i e i h L i e
s v -
nc n

XXV R e y f P iti f m th F lty L e

e co v r o i os on ro o er au ave s n

ide th F i e i h Li C ti d
s e v -

nc n e, on n ue

XXVI Re e y f P iti wh th O t id B ll g t
co v r o os on en e u s e a e s

ove th F i e i h Li e
r e v -
nc n

T i g th C e sh t
u rn n
”
e o rn r o s .

3
R il N
a -
P i iples apply t th
urs e B lk Li e r nc o e a -
n
’

Turn ing B ack with the L in e Nu s e ’

r

Gettin g the Lin e from ce tain fre quent L e ave s

” “
r

Gettin g the R ail Nurse Po s itio n

” ‘ -

Go o d Po s itio n Sho ts fro m b ad L eave s

“
Go in g T hro u gh an d othe u s e ful Po ints on
” r

cl o s e M an ip ul at io n

Useful Po in ts o n Certain Fre quen t L e a e s v

On the Value o f the I n ch

C o m p ara t i e T h e o ry f S t ai ght R ail B alk L in e
v o r , ,

an d Cu s hi on C aro m s .

X X X V II Do n ts, Do ’ ’
s , an d Po i n ts o n Pract i ce
D al y Bi l l i ard Bo k
’
s o
CH APT E R I

PURP OSE OF T HI S B OOK WI T H SO ME I N TE RE S TI NG

,

FA C T S C ONC ER NI NG T H E DE VE L OPM EN T OF POS I

T I ON PLAY T O I TS M ODE RN F OR M A N D T H E ,

S HARE TA KE N THE RE I N BY FAM O U S PLAYE RS

N E who really desires t o excel in any department o f
human endeavo r must un less he be o f that quality
,

o f genius which is a guide unt o itself seek o u t in print ,

th os e things which o ther men have learned and thus ,

easily and quickly add them to his o wn equipment I n .

this lies the greatest value o f p rinting .

In astro n o mical stu dy f o r instance o n e tak es his

, ,

basic mathematics as devel o ped in turn by Assyri an ,

A rab Greek R o man m o nks o f the M iddle Ages and

, , , ,

all the o thers d o wn to the present day exp o sit o r o f the

-

mysteries o f the c alculus and o f the fo urth dimensi o n .

B o o k S tudy o f Gam e s In gam es t o o the wise man

.
, ,

takes advantage o f the experience o f o thers The whist .

student reads H o yle E lwell o r F o ster The go lfer

, , .

studies Vardo n Tayl o r B raid o r Travers be sides takin g

, , , ,

less o ns fr o m his club pro fessi o nal .

S trangely en o ugh in light o f these admitted facts

, ,

each billiard player who w o uld learn the re all y m o dern ,

game is fo rced to traverse alm o st the wh o le gro und anew .

Po s i ti o n Pl ay N eg l ec te d by Wri ters The writer has

.
2 DALY S B ILLIA R D B OOK
’

had the pleasure o f examining such b o o ks o n the tech

nique o f the game as are o btainable and s o me that are
ra re and o ut o f prin t — this b o th in E nglish an d French .

”
Only o n e M o dern B illiards an e xcellen t wo rk and
,

well w o rth whi le — i s at all easy to find . It is issued by

the B runswick B alke C o llender C o mpany
- -
.

And while giving these writers credit f o r their pains

taking e ff o rts it was the fact that in n o t o n e o f all o f
,

these b o o ks is the matter o f p o siti o n play in its m o dern

niceties entered in t o except as to the firs t s ho t that
, ,

caused the writer t o attempt the task o f presentin g in

print that single thing that every billiard player m o st
needs — a helpful p resentati o n o f
”
p o sitio n play That .

i s the o n e thing that makes the game a n ever ending -

study and jo y .

“ —
S e q u en tial new o
f S h o ts
. The r e 1s 111 n o o ther

available w o rk any suggesti o n that cert ain br o ad p rinc i

p l e s o f play may be devel o ped t o guide the player t o a

s o luti o n o f his p o siti o n play pro blems ; n o suggesti o n o f

arranging sho ts m general catego ries ; n o indicati o n o f
—and perhaps n o thi n g i s o f m o re i mp o rtanc e —what
tempting sh o t to avo id —tempting by reas o n o f the
certainty o f the immedi ate c o unt o f o ne p o int tre aizh ,

e ro u s l
y deceptiv e becaus e it adds t o that certainty the

p ro bability o f n o m o re In o ther w o rds the s e que n

.
,

tial n e t s
-
’
is n o t the thi ng emphasized but the c o un t in
, ,

nearly every diagram in all billiard b o o ks up to this

time .

R ig ht ) Of
“
S e c o nd B al l Pl ay L andin g .

sec o nd ball play — that refinement o f p o siti o n w o rk

that marks o n e o f the greatest diff erentials between the
 DALY S BILLIA R D BOOK
’
3

o ld game and strictly m o dern billiards — o f that a

not
“ ”
w o rd C ushi o n sho ts ! Y e s !
. B al l to ball system
play n o thin g !
,

Given an average player o n e who can play simple

,

” ”
caro ms understands the d raw an d fo ll o w sh o ts
, ,

can average s ay aro und o n e ( that i s can make 100

, , ,

p o ints in 100 innings at straight three ball billiards ) -

-
where in p rinted fo rm can he find any explanati o n o f
the baffling fact that he who can execute single sh o ts as
,

well as the m an who can average five o r m o re and Who ,

runs s o metimes fr o m twenty fi v e t o fifty cann o t mak e

-

these co ntrary ivo ry balls behave f o r him It is this want .

that circumstances alm o st by aco l de n t led M r D aly and

, , .

the edito r o f this v o lume to try to fi ll .

N e e ds o f the Averag e Pl ay er It is the p o int o f

.

vi ew o f the average player that i s in this v o lume regarded

as o f the greatest imp o rtanc e and which has been c o n
s tan tl
y k ept in mind .

I n thi s manual the maj o r attenti o n is given n o t the ,

reader will n o tice t o descripti o n o f fancy sho ts n o r

, , ,

except in a small degree to directi o ns f o r the acqui rement

,

o f that delicacy o r extremely fine calculati o n which the

highest class pro fessi o nal must undertak e but t o the ,

pr o ducti o n o f an easily underst o o d guide to the acquire

ment o f the billiard kn o wl edge which fr o m a g o o d o rdi , ,

nary leave ( the kind th a

“ ”
t every player is c o nstantly
getting ) will enable this average player to r o ll up runs
,

o f at least 5 o r 6 o r 8 o r 10 p o ints instead o f 2 o r 3

, , , , . .

M AU R ICE DAL Y , TH E T E ACHE R

L et us h o pe it will no t be to o pers o n al to tell abo ut
4 DALY S B I LL I A R D BOOK
’

the chain o f circumstances and the decidi ng reas o n that

led to the writing o f this b o o k .

It s o happened o n e winter that the edito r o f th1s vo l

ume put in an aftern o o n playing bill iards with M aurice
D aly in his N e w Yo rk academy M r D aly c o uld n o t . .

help tho ugh he said n ever a wo rd while playing but

, ,

teach H e teaches f o r l o ve o f the game and many o f

.
,

o u r best amateurs yes and pro fessi o nals o we to him

, , ,

much o f their equipment and skill The teaching .

instinct i s in him .

“
E ven as F rank Ives came t o be kn o wn as The Na
p o leon
”
o f billiards a s Jac o b S chaefer
,
“
T h e Wizard ”
,

”
Ge o rge S l o s s o n “
The S tudent M aurice D aly sh o uld ,
”
“
be kn o wn as The Teacher And who sh all s ay that
.

this o l d W inn er o f three w o rld champi o n ships who still ,

”
has the fam o us diam o nd cue alt ho ugh less than T he
,

Nap o le o n ” “
The Wizard o r The S tudent in fame
,
” “
,
”

as maest ro has n o t the greater gift !

,

And as an example o f hi s pro gressive ideas let me

remark in passing that it was M r D aly who first s u g .

gested and put in p ractice in a t o u rnament in 19 18 the

“

”
rule o f separating fro zen balls by a card H e i s
“
.

ever experimenting .

Added to the aftern o o n with M r D aly abo ve men .

,

tio n e d o thers f o ll o wed and then m o re

, , Th o se winter .

aftern o o n s began with the pupil j ust the o rdinary player

fo und anywhere t o wh o m a run o f fifteen was a rare
,

delight In c o mparatively f ew weeks averages o f better

.

—
than five at eighteen inch balk line and runs o f better
-

than thirty we re frequent and o ccasi o nally the fi f ty ,

mark was passed One happy day he averaged sixteen

.
 DALY S BILL I A R D BOOK 5
’

”
in two hundred p o ints A straight rail run o f o n e .
-

h undred and n inety t w o a n d a balk line run

-
o f seventy -

fo u r still later lent cheer t o the heart and an exhilarati o n ’

that i s still n o t dead Blessed by these happenings o f .

kind Fo rtune the writer dete rmined that o thers sh o uld

s hare such o f his instructi o n as he c o uld make clear by

diagram and printed w o rd .

N o w let it be said that the credit f o r this manual is

“
M r D aly s E very w o rd o f its technical text o n p o si
’
. .

ti o n play pro per has passed under his exceedingly strict

blue pencil M any o f the diagrams he pers o nally drew
. .

All were pers o nally su ggested and pers o nally super ,

vised and many redrawn several time s to meet his strict

,

demands All are taken fro m the st o reh o uses o f his bil
.

liard informati o n The writer had the advantage and

.

ple asure o f co o perati o n in the w o rk d o ing as it were , , ,

the secretarial lab o r and attendi ng to the many detail s

necessary to publicati o n in b o th n ewspaper and bo o k
fo rm The three maps al o n e are s o lely o f the edit o r s
.
’

inventi o n but they came fr o m M r D aly s explicitly

, .
’

stated views s o the credit f o r them is his

, .

S o u rce s o f I n fo rma ti o n The edit o r must assume .

resp o nsibility f o r the intro duct o ry chapter and f o r the

chapte r o n p reliminary w o izk f o r the beginner in bil
liards They are fo unded up o n a playing experien ce o f
.

m o re than twenty —fi v e years a pers o nal and billiard ,

playi ng acquaintan ce with o r careful o b servati o n o f the

meth o ds o f such masters as M aurice D aly Frank Ives , ,

Jac o b S chaefer Ge o rge S l o s s o n Ge o rge S utt o n Ora

, , ,

M o rn ingstar Albert Tayl o r Jo s é Ortiz Calvin D e

, , ,

marest L o uis Cure o f France Th o mas J Gallagher

, , .
,
6 DALY S LL I A R D B OOK
’
BI

Albert Cutler L e o nard H o wis o n E ugene Carter H arry

, , ,

C line Ko j i Yamada o f Japan Timo thy Flyn n and

, , ,

Alfred de Oro am o ng the pro fessi o nals and o f J F erdi , .

nand P o ggenburg E dward W Gardner M artin M ullen

, .
, ,

Wils o n P F o ss O rville Oddie Jr C harles F C o nklin

.
, , .
, .
,

M o rris D Bro wn L ucien M R e ro ll e o f France E do uard

.
, .
,

B o udil o f France and Albert Po en s g en o f Germany

, ,

besides numero us lesser lights .

It s o happens that with the excepti o n o f —at this

date 19 8
, 1 — Ge o rge F S l o s s o n and Th o mas J Galla . .

gher M aurice D aly i s the o nly pro minent player

,

living in Americ a wh o se span o f playing years is co in ci

dent with the c o mplete devel o pment o f the m o dern game
o f car o m billia rds H is pro fessi o nal career has put him
.

as o pp o nent t o practically every master o f the o n e in all

the years fro m the sixties beginning with M ichael ,

Phelan d o wn to the p resent day And while his active

, .

c o mpetitive c areer clo sed with the decade o f the nineties ,

befo re the days o f Willie H o ppe Ge o rge S utto n and , ,

Ora M o rn ingst ar yet he helped devel o p their play and

, ,

has had the o pp o rtunity o f studying their style system , ,

and meth o ds to the m o st intimate detail .

With M r D aly t o watch was to study to co mpare to

.
, ,

analyze t o assimilate and to make o f value to o ther

, ,

students .

M aurice D aly was b o rn in New Yo rk City April 2 5 , ,

18 49. H is m o ther s c o usin D u dl ey Kavanagh the first

’
, ,

Americ an pro fessi o nal champi o n had several billiard ,

r o o ms in the city an d thus it was that at the age o f thir

,

teen he began hi s billiard career Yet while leaving .

,

s ch o o l thus early y o ung D aly never ceased bein g a

,
 DALY S BILL I A R D B OOK 7
’

student H e has traveled extensively in E uro pe and

.

elsewhe re and has widely read and in his t rips ab ro ad

, ,

with o ther playe rs his kn o wledge o f French has o ften

served the enti re party .

E arl y Bi l l ia rds an d Play e rs B eginning himself .

t o play publicly in the later sixties he has had the o p p o r ,

tu n ity t o study the play o f all the expe rts in that fo rm a

ti ve peri o d o f the game In th o s e days billiards was .

gene rally played o n the big 6 by 12 o r 5 % by 11 p o cket

table with fo ur balls It was n o t until the seventies that
, .

the pure caro m game o n a 5 by 10 table became stand , ,

ard and the number o f balls reduced t o th ree In th o se .

“ ” “ ”
days the rail n urse the balk line nurse etc we re , , .
,

unkn o wn The massé sh o t had j ust appeare d I t came

. .

fro m France and M r D aly s rec o llecti o n i s that M

, .
’
.

B erger first sh o wed it he re as a standard sh o t .

“
M ichael Phelan s o metimes called , the father o f bil
”
lia rds a fine player who fl o u rished in the fo rties fifties
, , ,

and sixties and who g o t the startin g capital f o r his

,

billiard table manufacturing career by winning a $15 ,

000 match in 185 9 fro m J o hn S eere it e r wro te a b o o k o n ,

billiards which is curi o us and inte resting at the present

,

“
day Of the massé sh o t he said; N o ne but an expert
.

will attempt this sh o t The cue 1s held v ery up right

'

.
,

an d care must be taken n o t t o let the cue tip t o uch the

”
cl o th o r a tear will result Go o d advice it is still . .

Ap p earan c e o f the T hre e B al l Gam e The three ball -

.
-

caro m game while n o t bec o ming standard until the s e v

,

enties began to be p layed to s o me extent by the e Xp e rts

,

in the later sixties but still o n the 6 by 12 p o cket table

, .

H o w en o rm o us o n e l o o k s to us n o w !
8 DALY S B I LL I A RD BOOK
’

play as we kn o w it was unkn o wn to even the

Po siti o n , ,

best o f them .

It is curi o us indeed to n o te the sc o res in class

,
“
,

games In 18 63 o nly two m o nths after D udle y Kava

.
,

nagh had bec o me champi o n he play ed a match with Isi ,

d o re Gay rau d f o r $100 a side and beat him 15 0 t o 141 , ,

averaging with a high run o f 11 Funny .

,

’
is n t it ! M r D aly was marker in that game In 18 6 8
. .
,

A P R udo lphe in a match with Jo hn D eery ( b o th after

. .
,

wards champi o ns ) wo n with 15 0 to 100 av e rag m g 5

, , ,

and 3 0 was his high run And that was t o p n o tch bil .
-

liards at that time And it must be remembered that the

.

multiple system o f c o unting p revailed caro ms c o unting ,

two o r m o re acc o rding t o the balls struck and p o cketing

, ,

the balls als o co unted in multiples .

F irs t Champ i o n s hip T o u rname n t — The first to u rn a v

ment in Ameri ca at the three ball game f o r the cham -

l o n s hi o f the w o rld was held in New Y o rk in 18 7 3

p p ,

and M aurice D aly tied f o r first place with Albe rt

Garni er an d Cyrille D i o n the Can adian Garn ier the , .
,

Frenchman wo n the play o ff

, Kn o wledge o f the game -
.

had pro gressed s o that the winner ran 113 in this t o urna
ment and o n e player g o t up to an average o f .

It was in this year that Ge o rge S l o s s o n and Jac o b

”

S chaefer had the first o f their alm o st c o untless matches .

S l o s s o n wo n with an average o f but S chaefer

had the high run o f 435 N o balk lines then , remember . .

I speak o f these rec o rds merely t o sh o w the pa rticular

stage o f the devel o pment o f systematic p o siti o n play
that marked the billiards o f that time Yo ung D aly .

'

was there t o s e e it to n o te the vari o us p o s iti o n plays as

10 DALY S B I LL I A R D B OOK
’

o
’
o —
S utt n s impr vements in the balk line nurse n o later
playe rs have devel o ped anything that ranks as an im
o rtant disc o ve ry o f system in play
p .

B eginning in the later sixties with M ichael Phelan , ,

he has studied the billiards o f the fo ll o wing champi o ns

D udley K avanagh ( June 9 18 6 3 t o M ay 16 , , ,

L o uis F o x Jo hn D eery ( 18 6 5 and Jo

s e h D io n
p ( 18 6 6 and J o hn M c D e v itt
A P R ud o lphe
. . F rank Pa rke r C y rille
D i o n ( 18 7 1 Albert Garnier M au rice
V ignaux William S ext o n Jac o b
S chaefe r Ge o rge F S l o s s o n . Frank C .

Ives
E ach o f these had his pers o n al e x cellencies his idi o ,

s n c ras i e s and each has c ntributed t o the fund o f bil

y , o

liard info rmati o n whi ch has led to the game as it is t o day .

“ ”
In D aly s billiard c o llege the faculty has 1n cl u de d
’

eve ry fam o us pro fess o r o f the last fo rty years .

In the sixties the game began to be to o fast as played

by the experts and an e ra o f limitatio ns s et in F i rst .

the two side p o ckets were dispensed w ith Then all the .

—
p o ckets In the early seventies the th ree ball game s u p
.

planted the fo ur ball game as the p ro fessi o nal test

-

”
Bi rth o f the R ai l N u rs e Auth o rities di ff er as to
“
-

”
the exact details o f the birth o f the rail nurse Jo hn -

“ ”
A Thatcher in B illiards Old and N e w h o lds that a
.
, ,

nurse played by R udo lphe may be c o nsidered the germ

o f the idea M aurice D aly rather gives the credit t o a
.

nurse played by Jo seph D i o n R ud o lphe with the balls .

,

“ ”
fro zen clo se t o gether o n the rail as sh o wn i n Plate ,

N o 1 w o uld o ften make quite a ru n s ay fro m a d o ze n

.
, , ,
 DALY ’
S BILL I A R D B OOK 11

p o ints to twenty befo re breaking them D io n s plan o f

,
.
’

o perati o n was di ff e rent in that he sta rted with o n e ball

o u t fro m the rail a bit ,

s 1m il ar to the an

”
ch o r as we kn o w it
,
.

H e w o uld cro ss the face

of the balls with a
car o m and o n co ming
,

back f o r an o ther caro m

w o uld wo rk the balls
back t o o r near the
o riginal p o siti o n This .

is als o sho wn o n Plate

No 1. .

S e a to n an d the
”
R ail N u rs e
-
B ut it .

must be n o ted that

bo th thes e plans c o n
t e m p l ate d ho lding the
bal ls in o n e p l ace o r
near it It was a s ta
.

ti o n ary n urs e no t a ,

”
ru n n i n g nurse PL A T E 1 .

William S ext o n ao ,

c o rding to M r D aly ( o the rs s ay Jac o b S chaefer th o ugh

.
,

the pro babili ty i s that b o th men wo rked it o ut ab o ut the

same time ) g o t the idea o f carrying the balls al o n g the
,

rail as a running n urse an d in their han ds it re a ched its ,

”
perfecti o n The rail was speedily mastered by o ther
.

expe rts until run s int o the hundreds and e ven the th o u ,

sands b ecame matters o f rec o rd M aurice D aly was

, .
12 DALY S LL I A RD B OOK
’
BI

the fi st cr ss the 2 00 m ark in an imp o rtant c o mpe

to
‘

r o -

titi o n and g o t a warm kiss fro m an enthusi as tic F rench

,

pro fessi o nal f o r the feat .

The balk line nurse t o o is a running nurse ; indeed

-

, , ,

it is an adaptatio n o f the rail nu rse played at l o nger ,

” ”
range fro m t he cushi o n The anch o r and chuck
“
.

nurses are stati o nary n urses A runn in g nurse leads fro m

.

a gi ve n p o siti o n thro ugh a series o f steps to a ren ewal

o f that o r1 1n al p o siti o n and s o o n ad i n fi n itu m
g , .

fully as imp o rtant devel o pmen t o f the tim e was

” But
the mastery that thes e early players attain ed in g e tting
the rail fro m vari o us p o siti o ns S ext o n S chae f er D aly .
, , ,

o r H arvey M cK e nn a w o uld get the rail p o siti o n in a f e w

sh o ts j ust s o surely as they go t the balls at the end o f

the table They w o uld get the rail where the o rdinary
.

player w o uld n o t s e e the chan ce And as the m an who .

o t it first was alm o st sure t o pile up a big ru n they

g ,

p ractice d g e ttin g the rail by h o urs fro m co untles s

p o siti o ns in the end o f the table j u st as later Ives prae ,

“ ”
ticed getting the anch o r p o siti o n o r as n o wadays ,

e xperts practice getting the lin e .

A fuller exp o siti o n o f s o me o f these devices will be

f o und in Part III u n der chapters devo ted especially to
advanced play .

M arvel ou s R u ns o n the R ail On M ay 15 187 9 .

, ,

Jac o b S chae f er in a champi o nship match with Ge o rge

,

S l o s s o n ran o ut the
, p o ints in three innin gs
( 5 , 6 9 0 , an average o f On April 10 ,

in Paris M aurice Vignau x made an 80 average in a

,

-
p o in t match with Ge o rge S l o s s o n and made a run ,

of S l o s s o n made a run o f S uch w o rk p ut

 DALY S ’
B I LL I A R D B OOK 13

s traight rail billiards t o sleep a s a c o mpetitive test f o r

-

p ro fessi o nals .

It may be n o ted in p ass m g that in 188 7 at B o sto n , ,

Harvey J M cK en n a made an average o f 416% in

.

p o ints and ran

, and I n S an F rancisc o ,

M ay 2 9 3 0 and 3 1 18 9 0 Jaco b S chaefer ran

, , ,

p o ints unbro ken S o it came ab o ut that schemes had to

, .

be devised to handicap the skillful players .

T he D ay o f Cu s hi o n C ai o ms All thro ugh the late .

seventies and well into the eighties the fav o rite plan
, ,

was to c o nfin e the play t o cushio n caro ms and a grand ,

g ame it w a s U nf o rtunately it i s t o o little played t o day

. .

Never a better game M r D aly h o lds f o r the develo p , .

,

m ent o f billiard skill ! It was at cushi o n car o ms that

M aurice D aly and William S ext o n attained w o rld pre
eminen ce and their greatest fame They were re garded .

in the later seventies and early eighties much as S chae f er

and Sl o s s o n were in the late eighties S chaefer and Ives ,

in the nineties M o rningstar S utt o n and H o ppe in the

, , ,

first decade o f the twentieth century They were the .

king pins o f the billiard w o rld .

”
T he Champ i o n s Gam e ’
It was in the 18 7 4: three .

ball t o urn ament wo n by M aurice Vignaux that a balk

, ,

l in efirst appeared It was a line d rawn diag o nally acro ss

.

the c o rners fro m p o ints o n the side rails inches fro m

”
the c o rner This was to preve n t cro tching the balls
.

in the c o rner an d t o st o p the pro gress o f a rail nurse -

.

Afterwards the triangular space was increased by m ak

ing the beginning p o ints o f the balk line further d o wn -

the side generally

, inches o n the end rail and 2 8 o n
the side rail as sh o wn in Plate N o 2 This was termed
, . .
14 DALY S BI L L I AR D BOOK
’

the champi o n s game and it was at this game that

’ ’

Ge o rge F S l o s s o n first wo n a champi o nship

. .

Its riddles were easy to masters o f the rail nurse It -

.

had sh o rt v o gue S chaefer quickly sh o wed ho w to nurse

‘

the balls al o n g the rail t o the c o ntact p o int o f the balk

“ ”
line and turning the balls nurse them back again
, , .

”
Or he w o uld turn the c o rner and start do wn the side
“

PL A T E 2

rail The C hampi o n s game as a vehicle f o r public co m

.
’ '

petiti o n began in 18 79 and clo sed in 18 8 4 .

—
Ap p e aran c e o f T ru e B alk L in e M any plans f o r .

balk lines have been suggested and s o me tried but all

-

have been discarde d f o r the plan familiar at the present

day The lines are n o w drawn parallel to the side and
.

e n d rails 18 inches fro m the cushi o n

, At first 8 inch .
-

lines were trie d then 12 then 14 and n o w 18 is the

, , ,

standard It was o ver 14 inch lines that Ives did p rac

.
-

tically all his gre atest playing in c o mpetiti o ns alth o ugh ,

he made rec o rds at 18 in ch The 18 inch line became

-

.
-
 DALY S BILL I A R D B OOK 15
’

st andard after his p remature death fro m c o nsumpti o n

in M exico .

In the balk l ine game Wi th lines drawn o n the cl o th

-

as sh o wn in Plate N o 3 the re are eight r ectangular

.
,
’

spaces a ro und the table near the rail and a mid table -

space In the middle the player may make all the p o ints
.

he can with o ut being call ed up o n t o drive a ball o utside

”
the balk space as it is called But he must in the
, .

game o n e sh o t in whenever b o th o b j ect balls are

within any o n e o f the balk spaces al o ng the rails drive
'

at least o n e o f the o bj ect balls acro ss a line o n the very

first sh o t It may g o o ut and c o me back but it must at

.
,

any rate g o o ut .

”
In the game two sh o ts in he must drive at
least o n e o f the o bj ect ball s acro ss a line n o t later than
the sec o nd sh o t after the o b j ect balls are in balk ”
i

‘‘
.

M r Thatcher in
. Billiards Old and N e w credits
, ,

Benj amin Garn o a n o ted writer o n o l d time billia rds

,
-

with the suggesti o n o f the c o ntinu o us line aro und the

who le table terming it a balk line H eiser suggested
,
-

that the lines intersect and the balk line as we kn o w it -

, ,

had its first public t o urnament in 18 8 3 at 8 inches Vig .

e

n au x s average o f 4 4 5 / 6 in p o ints the f o l l o wm g

’

year caused the l ines to be s e t o ut t o the 12 inch p o sitio n -

and this was tried briefly in 18 8 5 The 14 inch line b e .

-

came p o pular that year and the extensi o n to the 18 inch

,
-

p o sitio n was n o t fo und necessary by reas o n o f added ,

skill o f the playe rs till the nineties , .

”
In 18 9 3 the full p o ssibilities o f the anch o r were first
realized and dem o nstrated by Jac o b S chaefe r even as he ,

had been a p i o neer with the rail Great indeed he was .

, , ,
16 DALY S ’
BI LLIA R D BOOK

and many h o ld him to have been the greatest player o f

all master o f the best o f t o day
, .

It i s t o be n o ted here that F rank C Ives invented n o .

standa rd nurse They had be en disc o vered when he ap

.

e are d B ut he mastered them all T o him billiards was

p . .

distinctly an intellectual pro blem ; t o S chaefer the gam e

was a vehicle f o r the manifest ati o ns o f inspired gen ius .

”
The run s at the an ch o r by thes e two the o nly
“
,

PL A T E 3

players who ever really mastered it brought the bo x,

—
at the c o ntact p o ints o f the balk l ines to lim it it C harles .

“ ”
Parker o f C hicag o suggested it and Parker s b o x
, , ,
’

with the anch o r p o siti o n are sh o wn in Plate N o 3 T he .

same plate sh o ws als o the 18 inch balk lines

- -
.

The secret o f the anch o r play is to kiss s o ftly from

the first ball j ust grazing the glisten o f the sec o nd
,

ball with o ut mo ving it fro m its place then playi ng back

,

t o the o riginal p o siti o n j ust grazing the first ball and

,
 18 DALY S LL I A R D B OOK
’
BI

“
ho u r . The pianist w o rks o n his scales o the r h o urs ,

“ ”
on fingering And s o the billiard player t o a cquire
.
,

mastery o f his game sh o uld pay attenti o n to the ,

fundamentals .

I n this w o rk Frank Ives st o o d supreme If as s o me .

,

”
o n e has said , Genius is the capacity f o r hard w o rk ,

then Ives had genius H e w o uld spend fro m fo ur t o s ix

.

“ ”
h o urs a day o n the ancho r f o r instance o r the , ,

”
chuck t rying in vari o us ways to g e t these co n v en
,

ti o n al p o siti o ns fro m vari o us leaves Other h o urs he .

spent o n single cu shi c m sh o ts o r o n massés o r o n cl o se

-
’

,
,

1“
manipulati o n t o g o thro n g the balls .

In 18 93 befo re his celebrated match with J o hn R o b

,

e rts o f L o nd o n o n e o f the really great billiard players

, ,

o f the w o rld Iv e s spent an average o f fo ur h o urs a day

,

p racticing o n a big E nglish game table ( 6 by 12 ) with

the small balls perfecting the anch o r and the rail nu rses
,
-

with these t o o ls It was his great run o f

. in a p o si
ti o n near o n e o f the c o rner p o ckets similar to the ancho r
n urse that enabled him t o defeat the great R o berts at

the E nglish game and win tho usands o f d o llars f o r him

,

self and many friends H e made the run at the anch or .

,

but he had t o use the rail nurse t o get the balls t o the -

place where they became anch o red .

R o be rts an d the R ail N u rs e R o berts was to E ng

-

land what M aun ce V ignaux was to France what ,

S chaefer and Ives were to America But he did n o t .

kno w the rail nurse Afterwa rd when under Ives

-
.
,
’

instructi o n he mastered it he d o ubled and t rebled his ,

p revi o us rec o rds .

“
In patient practice Ives o utdid even S l o s s o n The ,
 DALY S ’
B ILL I AR D B OOK 19

”
S tudent . the r great playe r spent such time o ver
No o

the details unless perhaps we except the w o rk o f Ge o rge

,

S utt o n o n the line nurse at which in his best day he

-

,
'

led all the rest .

 C H APT E R II

SO M E PRI MARY P I O NTS F OR B E GI NNE RS

AL F the battle if n o t m o re than half is in begin
, ,

ning well A player will have twice the chance o f

.

devel o ping a really go o d game o f billiards if at first

he acquires a go o d style .

And what is go o d style ! I use the term to indicat e

the p o siti o n at table and a meth o d o f st ro ke which leads
t o mechanical accuracy and ease The re may be grace .

as well but that is in large part a questi o n o f the phys

,

ical att ributes o f the pl ayer It w o uld be diffi cult indeed

.
, ,

f o r Albert Po e n s g e n the great Ge rman am ateur t o ao

, ,

qui re grace with his s ix feet two inches o f height his ,

lo ng legs and arms and sh o rt b o dy N o am o unt o f

,
‘

practice c o uld ever make his attitude and stro ke l o o k

like that o f Jac o b S chaefe r Yet his str o ke i s o n e o f the
.

mo st accurate .

H o w M as ters D fl e r in S h aka
i
'
— Great artists di ff er .

Jac o b S chaefe r Willie H o ppe and M aurice D aly we re

, ,

n o t blessed with height They learned billia rds in b o y

.

h o o d when even sho rter than in later years Naturally

, .

they learned to h o ld the cue o ff t o o n e side and rather

high They c o uld reach the balls in n o o ther way
. .

M aurice V ignaux Ge o rge S l o s s o n M artin M ulle n

, , ,

C alvin D emarest Tho mas J Gallagher Alfred de Oro

, .
, ,

and E d o uard B o udil stand f o r o rdina ry sh o ts m o re

20
 D ALY S BILLIA R D B OOK 21
’

directly ver the cue the fo rearm hanging d o wn and

o ,

s wm
g g m like a pendulum fr o m the elb o w as an alm o st

m o ti o nless piv o t This i s the style that gives least o f

.

the side to side o r teetering ( up and do wn ) m o

“ - -
” “

ti on in swinging the o n e back and f o rth F o r all e x cept .

sh o rt m e n this is the style which b e g m n e rs will do well to

acquire .

E ven as the vi o lin ist practices b o win g the p i anist ,

”
fingering and the g o lfer the swing s o sho uld the
, ,

beginner learn a go o d style o f str oke at the very sta rt .

Then n o bad h abits are f o rme d which it is alm o st im p o s s i

ble thereafter to break .

If this style be o rtho d o x it is true that S chaefer

, ,

D aly and H o ppe have bec o me great artists with u n

,

o rtho d o x styles
‘
.It I S a questi o n h o wever if thei r meth
, ,

o ds o f str o ke have n o t n evertheless bee n an impediment

, ,

rather than a help .

The imp o rtan ce o f a go o d style i s urged n o t because ,

it i s a s ine q u a n o n o f success but because it i s o f very

imp ortant assistance Pers o n ally the writer o f this
.
,

chapter is o f the o p 1n 10 n that these m en have bec o m e

great players in spite o f their cueing style .

Calvin D emarest under the tutelage o f his early day

,
-

teacher L ansing Perkins and later by himself has car

, , ,

ried thi s study o f cueing style fu rther perhaps than any

o ther pr o minent player o f the day and the hints here ,

a fter fo ll o wing are al o ng the lin es he fo ll o ws in in s tru c

ti o n f or beginners
S ty l e fo r Ol de r Play ers T o players o f l o ng stand
.

”
ing with meth o ds already s et I w o uld say : D o n o t ,

attempt to change unless y o u are prepared t o learn bil

22 DALY S BILLIA RD BOOK
’

liards all o ver again and to p ractice the n ew style f o r at

,

least three afte rn o o ns a week f o r a m o nth befo re again

”
playing a c o ntest game Y o u may n o t think that
.

w o rth the tr o uble th o ugh the writer did and experienced

, ,

a m o st pro n o unced benefit in his game as a result .

T he C u e N o pro fessi o nal o r amateur o f n o te t o day

.

uses a cue lighter than 2 0 o unces and 2 2 o unces is the ,

weight used by m o st playe rs Willie H o ppe uses 2 0 and

.

2 1 o unce cues
-

Frank Ives used a 2 3 o unce cu e and

.
-

M iss M ay Kaarl u s the fancy sh o t player us ed a 2 4

, ,

o unce cue .

T he T ip —U s e o nly the best French tips L e t them .

be n o t to o small medium in hardness and o f fair thick

, ,

ness B etter t o o thick than to o thin

. .

T he Gri p It is imp o rtant to cultivate a go o d fi rm

.
,

”
grip that will give a sm o o th yet s o lid stro ke and , ,

c o mmand o f the delivery o f the tip to the cue ball D o .

n o t take the o n e t o o far f o rwa rd ( S e e Plate .

The ve ry l o o sely held cue has a special use m o re par

ti cu l arl y in making l o ng o r quickly acting draw sh o ts ,

but f o r o rdinary w o rk it is better t o err o n the side o f

h o lding the cue t o o firmly rather than to o li ghtly ,
.

B ette r in the full hand than in the tips o f thumb and

finge r o nly ( S e e Plate
.

D o n o t take h o ld at the butt end This will give a .

“
teetering str o ke ” —
that is the u p and d o wn m o tio n
,
-
.

( S e e Plate

T he R i g ht Way to Grip a C u e L e t the cue sink .

-

s o lidly into the curve between the first finger and the
“ ”
thumb the maj o r part o f the squeeze o f the hand
,

being d o ne by the r o o ts o f the thumb and base o f the

Sh o wi n g gr ip to o f ar f o rw a r d

PL T A E . 5

A p oor
“
g ri p , in th e fi n g e r ti p s
24 D ALY S BILLIA RD BOOK
’
’

to the line the cue ball i s go ing to g o o n the sh o t .

face the cue ball itself H eels fai rly cl o se to .

( S e e Plate

S tep 4 L e t the tip o f the cue ( the hand still

.

o n the hip
) j ust reach t o the t o
p o f t he cue ba l l ,

any sensati o n o f leaning fo rward t o reach that

Yo ur distance n o w fro m the cue ball is exactly
, ,

f o r all o rdinary sh o ts in the o pen table ( S e e Plate 11 .

N o te at this p o int : y o u are n o w facing squarely f o

ward directly in the lin e o f play The cue p o ints
, .

straight line fro m the hip al o ng a c o urse the

fo ll o w B ut n o te this pa rticularly : y o u are n
.

the cu e bal l But y o u will feel in y o ur arms and b o dy

.

the aim o f the sh o t j ust the feel the pitcher has in hi s

,

muscles when abo ut to pitch the baseb all o r that the ,

archer has when ab o ut t o let g o with his arro w o r t h ,

b o y ab o ut to thr o w a st o ne They do n o t sight with th

.

eye as the marksman d o es ; they feel it all in the

,

S tep 5 — Advance the left fo o t ( o r ri ght fo o t f o r a

.

left handed player ) a m o dera te step , dire c tl y f o rward

-
.

N o t to o l o ng a step n o t to o sho rt a n d d o n t straddle o r

-

, ,
’

sp rawl ( S e e Plate.

S tep N o w turn the to e o f the rig ht f o o t a l i t tle

o utward D o n t turn the HEE L inward but the T OE o u t
.
’
,

ward (.L eft f o o t f o r a left handed player -

) ( S e e .

Plate
S tep 7 Pla ce the bri dge hand s o lidly an d we ll
.

s re ad o u t o n the table f o r y o ur brid g e

p Next arch th e .

hand and then rest the o n e o n the V between the thumb

,

and first fin ger as sh o wn in detail o n Plate 19

, .

S tep 8 S ettl e b ack !

. That i s as it were , ,
 DALY S BILLIA R D B OOK 25
’

down ”
athe sh o t Y o u are n o w in a pe rfect cue
bit to .

p o siti o n ( S e e Plate
.

Yo ur eyes are n o w di rec tl y o ve r the l in e o f the cu e

an d the b all Y o u are l o o king straight ahead th ro ugh
.

b o th eyes n o t o u t o f the c o rner o f the eyes o r sidewise

, .

ee Pl ate l 5
( S )
‘

In Plates 16 and 17 y o u see c o mm o n but ext remely

faulty p o siti o ns where a g o o d sight at things is much
,

m o re diffi cult .

In the po s iti o n adv o cated the natural pendulum swing

o f the fo rearm hanging fro m the elb o w the u e r arm
, pp ,

m o ving little if any gives a cue swing freer fro m side

, ,

st rains than is p o ssible fro m any o ther p o siti o n In .

this p o siti o n there i s n o tendency t o ward ro cking teeter ,

ing o r j e rking In this p o siti o n having o nce go t s et

,
-

.
,

f o r the stro ke y o u m ay s hu t y o u r e y es and still make

,

the finest hai rline sh o t acro ss the table .

L ike the pendulum which always swings in the same ,

arc y o ur swinging cu e arm swings where it o ught to

,
‘

because the re is n o thing to pull it aside .

L e ft H an d S ho ts M ade E as y
-
And it will alm o st at .

o nce give u the p o wer invaluable in g o o d billiards o f

y o , ,

making left hand sh o ts alm o st as easily as right Y o u

-

can even make left handed mass és if they are n o t t o o -

diffi cult .

I do n o t declare that this plan i s o n e witho ut which

y o u cann o t succeed I put it fo rward a s o f the highest
.

value f o r learne rs and f o r established players if they ,

ca re to dev o te the time n ecessary to unlearning o l d but ,

“ ”
less efficaci o us meth o ds and t o acquire the feel and
in cidental mastery o f the new This will take s o me .
26 DALY S ’
BI LLIA R D B OOK

weeks perhaps but the steps ab o ve will give any o ne a

, ,

perfect p o siti o n at the table .

Po we r in a Go o d Po s i tio n Great p o wer o f stro ke i s

.

p o ssible to nearly any player with this stance and stro ke .

Nine cushi o ns can be struck a feat f ew players can ,

perfo rm .

A sixteen year o l d caddie bo y with a g o o d swing c an

- -

drive a go lf ball further than the stro ngest man with a

bad swing All his p o wer is applied in direct li nes and
.
,

n o muscular energy i s l o st L ittle M iss K aarl u s the

.
,

fancy sh o t player n o w retired c o uld make sh o ts hardly

, ,

p o ssible to any o ther player Ye t she was a mere slip .

o f a girl in her teens weighing say 12 0 p o unds It i s

, , , .

n o t m u s cl e ; it i s pr o perly directed f o rce .

Co n tro l o f F o rc e — With thi s p o siti o n a highe r de

.

gree o f c o ntro l o f fo rce i s re adily attain able The .

p o wer o f the stro ke i s t o a greater d egree than in o ther

styles c o ntro lled by the length o f the swin g rather than
by the fo rce o f the punch .

T he Bridg e But n o w to an o ther imp o rtant p o in t

.
,
“ ”
the bridge A s o lid bridge i s o f very great imp o r
.

tance I advise the u s e o f two styles o f bridge o n e f o r

.
,
”
dead ball sh o ts an d f o ll o ws and caro m s wi tho ut
”
E nglish ,the o ther f o r draws But I do n o t advise .

this to the exclusi o n o f the o n e style bridge s o much -

~

used by m o st g o o d players The usual bridge is the .

l o cked fi n g er bridge ;
-

S e e A in Plate
It i s used in al l styles o f sho ts The slight fault s .

with it are these : that f o r sho ts where the cue tip hits
the ball at center o r abo ve the hand n aturally curls
”
up s o m e to mak e the bridge higher and thereby be ,
 T THE HAN DS
Ll O N TH E
.

S PR EAD

B AQC H THE HAN

.

THE FINGERS WE
C
A PAQ T) PRES S I N G
FI N GER TI PS

CR ES T
V BETWEEN
TH UM B AND
FI R S T FIN GER
,

PL T E
A 19
 DALY S ’
B ILL I A R D BOOK 27

c omes less s o lidly fo unded o n the table The bridge .

hand r o cks m o re easily .

F o r draw sh o ts it d o es n o t ea sily get l o w en o ugh .

Therefo re I advise a slight mo dificati o n o f the o rdi nary

,

l o cked fi n g er b ridge f o r draw sho ts by s imply tucking

-

the l o ng middl e fin ger under the palm It will surpris e .

o u t o s e e what a help this i s S e e B i n Plate

y .

This bridge i s used when the tip hits the ball bel o w
“ ”
center The o pen hand bridge is used f o r dead ball
.
-

fo llo w and caro m sh o ts when the tip strikes center o r

abo ve center But it must be made right and this is the
.
,

way to do it S e e Plate 19 A B an d C )
.
, ( , , .

S tep 1 Place the who le hand wide o pen finger well

r , ,

“ ”
s p re ad ap art flat o n the table , L e t the heel o f the . ,

alrn re s t firmly
p ( S A in Plate
’

e e .

S tep 2 N o w draw up the fingers pressing the tips

.
,

firmly against the cl o th K eep the fi ngers well S pre ad .

-

apart . S e e B in Plate
S tep 3 L e t the thumb p o int slightly upward mak
.
,

ing a V between the thumb and the base o f the finger .

S lide the cue in this V which is s o made that the ro o ts ,

o f the thumb and f o refinger can even squeeze the cue .

( S e e C in Plate

T he S tro k e N o w y o u are in p o siti o n t o let the f o re

.

arm swing easily like a pendulum fr o m the elb o w L et, , .

y o ur cue hand k eep firm ho ld o f the cue D o n o t cramp .

up the hand o r curve the w rist The fingers are p o inting .

t o ward the fl o o r but j ust naturally curved a trifle aro und

,

the cue The cue m o ti o n will be partly in the wrist and

.
‘

partly in the fo rearm j ust as the m o ti o n o f a g o o d pen ,

man is partly in the fi ngers and partly in the fo rearm .

28 DALY S LLIA R D BOOK
’
BI

The bridge hand is say eight to ten inche s fro m the cue
, ,

tip f o r o rdinary sh o ts back stro ke n o t to o l o ng , .

T he F o ll o
“
w—T hro u g h
”
—
W hen a g o o d billiar d .

stro ke is made it is as Tho mas J Gallagher happily

, , .

phrases it a measure d stro ke That is it has n o

“
,
”
.
,

“ ”
j e rk The cue fl o ws sm o o thly fo rward Th o ugh
. .

checked o f c o urse by the weight o f the ball never

, , ,

the l e s s it do es n o t s to p whe n the tip s trik e s the ball .

The tip seeks to g o o n thro u g h the ball as a go lfer w o uld ,

term it ; that is it go es o n well bey o nd the p o int where

,

the ball lay ( S e e Plate . And while the cue is

checked in speed it is n o t by reas o n o f the player in
,

t e n ti o n all y sl o wing the str o ke .

L e C o up S ec In passing the re is a sh o rt sharp

.
, ,

“ ”
sh o ck o f a stro ke that the French call l e c o up sec
rtain cases ; f o r in
d
( y r str o ke
) which is
, useful in ce
stance when the cue ball is against a cushi o n and y o u
,

wish to get a sharp wid e angle caro m sh o t , L e c o up -

.

s ec is a str o ke with the least p o ssible fo ll o w thro ugh -

Cen er B ll S tro ke o G t a D d B
t a -

t e e a al l
”
— In a
“
.

cente r ball stro ke ( i e cue tip striking the ball in the

-

. .
,

c enter ) the o n e tip when it p a sses the p o int where the

,

ball lay ha s a tendency t o seek the cl o th Fo r as the

, .
,

cue c o mes fo rwa rd the cue butt c o mes up into the palm
,

o f the cue hand which cl o ses aro und the butt ( S e e

,
.

Plate
“ ”
The fo ll o w thro ugh o r the feeling that the cue
'

is g o ing to fo ll o w thro ugh is the s in e q u a n o n o f a go o d ,

d raw o r fo ll o w sh o t T he g o o d stro ke is n o t ( except.

in special cases ) the hammer tap ( l e c o up sec ) In f act .

,

if y o u have tro uble in making draw sh o ts y o u find help

 PL ATE 2 0

Sh o w i n g h o w th e ti p i n a go o d s t ro ke go e s t h ro ug h th e b a ll

PL T E
A 2 1

S h o win g h o w in a
“
ter b ll ”
ke
t ro for a d e a d b a ll t h e ti p
seek s th e
cen
l
c o th
a
afte r
s
“
go w g t h rou g h t h e b a ll
”
cu e
 DALY S BIL LIA RD BOOK
’
29

in trying to make the tip o f y o ur cue push the cue ball

against the o bj ect ball Y o u cann o t p o ssibly do it but
.
,

”
ou will get the f o ll o w thr o ugh and a beautiful
y
-

”
draw e ff ect It c ann o t help but draw if the tip
.

strikes the cue ball bel o w cente r but n o t s o far bel o w as ,

t o cause a miscue .

Caus e o f M is cue s In passing it may be said that

.
,

miscues c o me almo st invariably fro m o n e o f two things

striking the cue ball t o o l o w o r elevating the butt ,

us t as the s tro k e i s de l i ve re d in an e ff o rt t o strike l o w

j
‘

PL A T E 22

at the last instant A g o o d draw sh o t can be made

.

with a tip which has n o t even been chalked if the stro ke

is delivered p r o pe rly Ninety nine times o u t o f a hun
.
-

dred the tip was n o t to blame when y o u made a miscue ;

it was y o ur faulty stro ke M o st miscues c o me either in
.
,

massé draw o r fo ll o w str o kes fro m striking the ball to o

, , ,

n ear the edge e e Plate

.
( S
S tro ke s C res c endo an d D i m in u e n do N o w an o ther .

“
imp o rtant p o int A go o d stro ke must be made cres
.

”
cend o as the musicians say ; that is increasing in speed
, ,
30 DALY S BILLIA RD BOO K
’

until c o ntact If the cue is traveling at an in creasing

.

rate ( o r at any rate n o t lessen i ng ) when the tip meets

, ,

the cue ball the e ff ect will be o btained If y o u spare

, .

the stro ke as the go lfers put it o r flinch o r

,
“
let up , ,

o n it, the speed o f the str o ke bec o ming diminuendo

( lessening in speed ) the sh o t will fail in e ff ectiveness
, .

M an y an intended wide caro m by reas o n o f a fi in chin g , ,

diminuendo stro ke degenerates into a sicken ing fo ll o w

, .

Timidity f o r fear o f driving the o bj ect ball t o o far

, ,

”
will cause y o u to spare the sh o t with a resultant ,

”
fo o z l e .

T o Gain Accuracy in D raws an d Fo l l o ws An imp o r .

-
z

tant p o int abo ut draws and fo ll o ws is accuracy f o r o ften ,

it is o f the m o st vital imp o rtan c e to land o n the sec o n d

ball in a certain sp o t o r o n the edge T o o l o ng a bac k
, .

s wing tends to s zce rvi ng o f the cue with resultant in

'
,

accuracy S o do n o t o verdo the back stro k e

. Better .

to err o n the sh o rt side in making the back stro k e than

in bringing the cue to o far back An d this is true als o .

o f fo ll o w sh o ts .

I m p o rtanc e o f Co n cen trati o n The i mp o rtan ce o f.

mental c o ncentratio n o n the sh o t can hardly be o v ere sti -

e

mated M r D aly in a series o f billiard articles in the

. .
,

“
N e w Yo rk H erald ”
wro te as fo ll o ws and it is perti
, ,

n e n t at thi s p o i n t o f the discussi o n :

“
First make up y o ur mind what sh o t y o u are go in g
,

t o attempt befo re addressin g the ball ( takin g cue

‘ ’

p o siti o n ) C o ncentrate y o ur atten tio n o n the sp o t o f

.

the firs t o bject bal l which y o u are g o in g to hit Care .

fully avo id letting the ey e s wander while deliverin g the ,

stro ke away from that sp o t t o the caro m ball H alf o f

, .
 CH APTE R III

D I AGRA M S F OR B E GI NNE RS
writer will tak e it f o r granted that the re ader
H E
—
already kn o ws the rudimentary s ho ts at b illiards 7
the plain caro m the f o llo w the draw and the plain angle d
, , ,
-

PL T E
A 23

cushi o n caro m But he will p resent here s o me phen o m

.

—
ena witho ut any attempt at to o exact and scientific an
explanati o n — which have a direct bearing n o t s o much ,

up o n the sin gle c o unt A S U P ON P OS I T I ON P LA Y p o s si

,

b i l it i e s .

S im p l e An g l e s
In Plate 2 3 is sh o wn the way t o
.

dete rmine usually the p o int o n the o bj ect ball t o hit

, ,

f o r a plain simple caro m a simple draw o r s im p l e f o l l o w

, , , ,
.

32
 DALY S BILLIA R D BOOK 33
’

These will serve as bases and variati o ns fro m these must

,

be learn ed by e xperien ce .

Fo r instan ce n o te the sp o t indicated o n the o bj ect

,

ball in Plate N o 2 3 diagram N o 3 f o r a fo ll o w sh o t

.
, .
, .

That mean s hitting y o ur cue ball ab o ve center If y o u .

hit the same o bj ect ball in the same sp o t with y o ur o n e

ball hit bel o w center y o u get a draw sh o t .

Pl ain Caro m s. First let us take up the plain car o m

and n o te s o me o f its peculiarities due to fricti o n o f the
cue ball o n the cl o th o n its c o urse to the o bj ect ball ,

these p o ints o fte n having a great bearing o n p o siti o n

play p o ssibilities .

In Plate 2 4 are sho wn three plain caro m sh o ts stro k e ,

delivered at m o de rate speed In diagram A the cue ball

.

PL A T E 24

is hit center and the cue ball travels fro m o bject ball to
caro m ball in p ractically a straight line .

In diagram B the cue ball is hit bel o w center The .

slight hackward spin o f the cue ball tends to draw the

34 DALY S BILL I A R D BOOK
’

ball back in the directi o n o f that backward spin o n ,

acc o unt o f fricti o n with the cl o th

In diagram C the cue ball is hit ab o ve center The .

PLA T E 25

slightly accentuated fo rward spin ten ds to c urve the

ball fo rward fro m the same causes
, .

An in crease o f the speed o f the stro k e tends to acce n

tuate the curves fro m the direct path These facts are .

frequently o f imp o rtan c e in ch o o sin g sh o ts f o r p o siti o n

p lay
.

T he E fl ec t o f D rag
'

. I n Plate N o 2 5 i s sh o wn a .

o siti o n in which the drag o r sh o wing e ff ect o f the draw

p
s tro ke ( bel o w ce n ter ) is illustrated The player s o bj ect ’
.

is to hit the two balls s o ftly s o as n o t to scatter them

, .

There n ever was a ge o metrically perfect ivo ry sphere

( all have p o ro us centers ) n o r a pe rfectly flat billiard
,

table A slo w ball go ing the full length o f the table will
.

ro ll o ff the direct line S o if the ball is hit harder with

.
,

“ ”
drag it keeps its lin e sl o ws d o wn fro m the e ff e ct o f
,
 DALY S BIL L IA RD BOOK 35
’

the fricti o n o f the cl o th and lands s o ftly A sl o w fo l lo w

, .

made fro m a distance is sho wn in the same plate dia ,

gram B The e ff ect o f the drag is l o st j ust befo re the

.

o bj ect ball is hit the cue ball has started r o lling f o rwa rd
, ,

and a fo llo w sh o t results .

Ang l es o f I nci de n ce an d R e flec ti o n N o t E qual It .

wi ll be seen that the angle o f incidence against a billiard

table cushi o n i s n o t always equal to the angle o f re
fl e cti o n
. A ball cued o n to p tends to reb o und at a
wider angle A ball cued o n the bo tto m tends to a
.

sharper angle ( S
. e e Plate
A ball hit hard sinks int o the cushio n and c o mes o u t
at an angle m o re acut e With a lively cushi o n the phe
.
)

n o m e n o n i s e ven m o re marked N o two tables are e x .

actl y alik e as to cushi o n speed f o r rubber is a fickle

‘

PL A T E 26

”
thin g Then t o o a tight clo th is
.
, , f aster than a cl o th
under less tensi o n .

D i ff eren ce in E l as tic i ty o
f I v o ry . Again ,
simila r
36 D ALY S
’
B I LL I A R D B OOK

PL T E
A 27
 DALY S BILLIA RD
’
B OOK 37

pheno mena are o bserved with reference to varying iv o ry .

An o l d cracked ball is less resilient than a n ew ball A

,
.

c o ld ball is less resilient than a warm o n e R ubber to o .

, ,

is less resili en t when chill ed E very ivo ry ball has a .

p o ro us c o re and the centers o f gravity o f n o two b alls

,

are exactly alike B alls expand and c o n tract under

.

changing temperature alm o st as readily as mercury .

And they expand m o re in o n e dimensi o n than an o ther ,

due to the grain o f t he ivo ry .

This sh o ws why it is futil e to attempt to give dia

grams with exact angles n o tatio n s o f exact degrees o f
,

fo rce etc We can sh o w general p rinciples o nly and

, .
,

practice an d experience must guide the player .

N o w as to varying resiliency o f iv o ry in its e ff ect o n

caro m sho ts ( S e e Plate
.

Bal l o n a Cu rve d Co u rs e The pupil will al s o n o te

.

that with a draw str o ke the cu e ball ( striking o bj ect ball

,
.

in the center ) co mes back in a strai ght line If the line .

back be n o t directly back but o ff at an an gle the cue ball

, ,

in c o ming back s o metimes describes m o re o r less o f a

c urve. This is due to the fact that the c o ntact between
c u e an d o bj ect balls n o t being full center the cue ball ,

passes the sp o t where the o bj ect ball lay befo re the

draw spin takes full e ff ect ( S e e Plate .

Plat e 2 8 illustrates these tendencies t o ward increased

cu rvatu re o f path increasing as to angle o f a direct line
,

back is increased .

T o p E n g lis h — I n gene ral remembe r that a cue ball,

”
ab o ve the center tends to swerv e f o rwa rd ( in
parallel to its c o urse fro m the cue tip t o o bj ect
either a ball o r a cushi o n .
38 D ALY S B I LL I A R D B OOK
’

A cue ball struck bel o w the center and havi ng a bac k

s in a t the tim e o
p f co n ta c t tends t o swerve b ackwa rd ,

”
and a cu rve ( called the swell )
results after a co ntact with either a
ball o r a cushio n .

A ball struck int o a cushi o n at

speed with to p b o tt o m o r side
, ,

spin tends t o c o me o ut fro m the

,

cushi o n m o re a ff ected by the E n g

lish than a ball struck s o ftly Only .

in the case o f a ball struck very

s o ftly and with o ut E nglish is the
angle o f incidence equal t o the
angle o f reflecti o n .

S ide E n g lis h . N o w let u s e x

amine an o ther very imp o rtant
phen o men o n having a he arin g at
al l times up o n p o siti o n play as well
“
as o n the c o un If a cue ball
be struck by the cue tip t o the
right o r left o f its center ( o n the
“
side if there can be said to be
”
,
‘

a side to a sphere ) the ball will ,

g o n o t o nly f o rward but it will,

PL A T E 28 als o rev o lve at a great er o r less

‘

—
s peed ar o und its u p an d d o wn a xi s ,
-

t o right o r left depending up o n which

,
“
side the
” ”

ball was struck with the cue tip When this sp i nn

.

ball strikes a cushi o n and settles in to it the spin by, ,

fricti o n in gripping the cushi o n cl o th tends to thro w

,

the ball o n its reco il away fro m the n atural an gle

, , .
40 DALY S B I LLIA RD BOOK
’

the p o int o f c o ntact is hardly m o re than a pinp o int in

size But when a ball at speed strikes an o ther b o th
.
,

balls being extremely elastic flatten o ut s o me and the

, , ,

p o int o f c o ntact is larger ( M r C C C urtis by e xp e ri . . .

,

ment has calculated that it i s s o metimes o n e fo urth o f

,
-

an inch ) j ust f o r an instant Go lfers o ften n o tice the

, .

same thing after a full sh o t the print o f the go lf ball ,

o n the face o f the club is o ften as la rge as a twenty fi v e -

cent piece .

N o w the spinning cue ball rubs o n the o bj ect ball

,

and tends to make it spin ; but n o te ! in the o p p o s i te

di re c tio n The am o unt o f that transfe rred E nglish
.
,

th o ugh slight is quite o ften en o ugh to a ff ect the re

,

b o und o f the o bj ect ball fro m the cushi o n to a degree

very imp o rtant in p o siti o n play This acti o n is sh o wn .

in diag ram A ( N o s 1 2 and 3 ) o f Plate N o 2 9 .

,
l
, . .
’e

D i re c t and R e ve rs e E n g l is h R ight E nglish o n the .

cue ball when the latter is aimed at the right side o f the
“ ” “ ”
o bj ect is called natural di rect E nglish
ball (
o r , , .

But left E nglish o n the cue ball the latter being aimed ,

to hit the o bj ect ball o n the right side is calle d reverse ,

”
E nglish .

“
I n o ther w o rds reverse mean s E nglish o n the side
,

i
M r C 0 C urt s , o f N e w
. . . Y k
o r , h as m a e ma n y i
n te re s t n g i
d
p i i h billi d b
e x er m e n ts w t ar ll
a s , an d c o n t e n s t at t he S d h
n o f th e pi
cu e b ll
a pp
i s n o t t o an y a re c a e i bl d g
e re e tran s e rre t o an o f d e ct bj
b ll gh
a , n o t en o u hto “
t ro w ”
t he o e ct a bj b ll
OR a t ru e an e ro m gl f
hi
the cu s o n i
T he wr t er i s co n v n ce
. he i s r i d igh
t , an d t at w at h h
lly h pp
re a a h
e n s i s t at the cu e a b ll k d
ta e s a cu rv e c o urs e t o the
obj b ll
e ct iki g
a , s tr n i t at a o n t OR the o n e a m e atpi i d
B ut f or .

p i lp p
ract ca b illi
ur o s e s o f ar s t he s tu e n t w d d ill
ge t th e e fi e ct s he
wan ts if k id
he ta e s the e a o f th e Di g
a ram A , i n P ate N o l
2 9 , as .

actua lly Th y
t ru e e s e rv e t o s o w the o nt in h pi
racti ca p
u s e , an d l
—
.

i pl
are s m d d
e t o u n e rs tan , an d e n ce are u s e d h
TH E D OR E IT .
 DALY S ’
BILL I ARD B OOK 41

opp o site to the side o n which the Obj ect ball is hit by
the cue ball be it right o r left ( S e e Plate
, .

“
R e ve rs e on the
C u s hi o n — W h e n a
ball with right E n g
lish strikes a cushi o n t o
the right o f the direct
lin e it tends to thro w
the ball o n the rec o il
s t i l l f u rt h e r — an d
wi th adde d s eed — to
p
the right . This i s
o ften o f great imp o r

tance in p o siti o n play .

L eft E nglish o n the

”

same sh o t is called
“ ”
reverse and tends
to s l o w th e ball
after its re c o il fro m
the cushi o n and p re
vent it go ing s o far t o
the right in its rec o il .

( S e e Plate
PL A T E 30

An o ther p o int t o remember that is o ften o f great

”
value in p o siti o n play o r in getting o u t o f a h o le is
, ,

that the e ff ect o f E nglish o n the Op p o s i te cu s hi o n is o p

o s i te t o the e ff ect o n the firs t cushi o n Plate N 3 2
p o . .

sh o ws this p o int R emember the ball o nce s e t spinning

.
,

keeps o n spinning in the same way .

H o w M u c h E n g l is h Wil l T ake On e m o re fact is

.

well w o rth n o ting at this p o int It is as to the am o unt

.
42 DALY S LL I A R D B OOK
’
BI

o f E nglish that will “

tak e E nglish is transferred fro m
.
”

the cue ball to the o bj ect ball t o any appreciable degre e

PL A T E 31

PL A T E 32

o nly when the cue ball strikes the o b j ect ball dead in the
center o r n o t far fro m the center E nglish takes
, .
“ ”

o n a cushi o n i n the greatest degree when that cushi o n i s

 DALY S ’
B ILLIA R D BOOK 43

hit m o st directly In f act when the angle o f in cidence

.
,
‘

ti s very acute the angle o f reflecti o n is very little a ff ected

by E nglis h ( S e e Plate
.

”
T he
“
D ead B al l In m o dern billiards the dea d
.
“

”
ball is a term c o nstantly recurring The dead ball is .

”
a ball that lands dead ; that is it m o ves s l o wly when
“
,

PL T E
A 33

it c o mes in c o ntact with the caro m ball and m o ves very ,

little after c o ntact and it do es n o t drive the s e c o n d bal l

,

awa after the c o mpleti o n o f the car o m

y .

T o master the dead ball in all its m o o ds and tenses is

an abs o lute n ecessity in fi rs t class p o siti o n play The
-

dead ball is attain ed by hitting cue ball center an d the

first o bj ect ball F U LL thus giving all the life t o the
,

o bj ect ball and taking it away fr o m the cue ball .

Plate N o 3 4 sh o ws where the cue tip sho u ld strike

.

the cue ball t o get vari o us e ff ects supp o sing in each ,

instance that the o b j ect ball is hit in the center o r ve ry

n early s o . F o r if it be n o t hit full the cue ball will n o t
44 DALY ’
S BI LL I A R D B OOK

be sto pped dead n o matter where the tip o f the cu e

,

struck it.

An o the r qualificati o n must als o be made The distance .

of the first o bj ect ball fr o m the cue ball makes a di ff e r

'

ence If the o bj ect ball be nea r the cue ball a center hit
.
-

cue ball will st o p dead If h o wever the o bj ect ball is

.
, ,

far away fro m the cue ball the latter in traveling the
, ,

length o f the table is a ff ected by the fricti o n with the

,

cl o th and it must be hit a trifle bel o w the c enter to

o verc o me the cl o th fricti o n .

PL T E
A 34

The p o int to be acc o mplished is t o have the cue ball

strike the o bj ect ball j ust when it has neither
ro ll fro m cl o th fricti o n n o r backward spin fro m being
—
hit bel o w the cente r when it is still sliding When .

the cue ball i s ve ry near the o bj e ct ball y o u may hit the

cue ball center and get the dead ball result witho ut all o w
ing f o r cl o th f ricti o n .

Again if the s liding ceases and the fo rward ro ll

,
”

begins ( o n a sh o t the full length o f the table ) the sh o t ,

 DALY S BILLIA RD BOOK 45
’

will be a fo ll o w fro m the fo rward ro ll o btained fro m

”

clo th fricti o n al o ne E xperts o ften make u s e o f this

.

cl o th fricti o n when the cue ball i s far fro m b o th o bj ect

balls and they wish t o make a s o ft caro m sh o t By .

“ ”
hitting the cue ball l o w it drags yet having been , ,

struck with s o me fo rce it ho lds a direct lin e and d o es

,

n o t r o ll o ff t o the side f ro m irregularity o f shape in

the ball n o r fro m pits in an o l d cl o th It sl o ws up and

,
.

c o unts s o ftly .

A M e n tal H e l p o n D ead Ball S ho ts If y o u have .

a right angle o r wide angle caro m which y o u wish to

- -

“ ”
make dead it is frequently o f mental assistance to
,

imagine the caro m ball is o nly two in ches away fro m

the first o bj ect ball and then make the sh o t as if that
we re really where the caro m ball lay Just s o it aids in .

maki ng a draw sh o t to ima gine the cue ball is two inches

farther away fro m the o n e t ip than it really is M ake .

the draw sh o t with that idea in mind and the cue tip
“ ”
go es thro ugh well and the draw takes e ff ect .

D e aden in g o n the Cu s hi o n S o metimes it i s desired .

t o deaden the cue ball o n the cushi o n This is d o ne by .

using reve rse E nglish R everse E nglish o n a ball sl o ws

.

it up after c o ntact with the cushi o n Natural E ngli sh .

“ ”
makes a live ball It is the c o nstant u s e o f the live
.

ball that p revents many go o d players fro m bec o ming

really first class T he g re ate s t di fl e ren ce b e twe en the
'

m e di o c re an d the fi ne b il l i ardis t l i e s in the u se o

f the
de ad bal l .

No ther o n e thing in billiards unless it be the maste ry

o ,

o f speed the subtle app reciati o n o f ho w hard a d rive

,

sh o uld be made and ho w s o ftly has s o much to do with ,

46 DALY S BILLIA RD BOOK ’

the attainment o f excellence as the mastery o f the dead

ball in the sense that the dead ball is o n e that lands o n
,

the sec o nd ball dead o r at least rapidly dying be it , ,

ball to ball sh o t o r cushi o n sh o t

- -
.

Prac tic e Pl an f o r the D e ad Ball S o superlatively .

imp o rtant is the mastery o f the dead b all that I suggest

in Plates 3 5 and 3 6 a scheme f o r e ff ective p ractice .

D raw a twelve inch ( o r smaller ) circle with chalk o r

-

even the m o istened finger tip o n the cl o th P lace the .

balls ( Plate 35 ) as f o r a dead draw Try the sho t .

several times until y o u can c o unt and n o t kno ck the

c aro m b al l fro m t he c irc l e .

Try the same plan f o r the dead f o ll o w and the dead

”
spread ( wide angle caro m ) -

M ake these sh o ts re .

p e at e dl y until y o u are N O T A F R A I D t o hit the o bj ect ball

F U LL e n o ugh t o take o u t all its life and p ro duce the

dead ball At first y o u will n o t hit it full en o ugh in the

.
,

fear that y o u will n o t c o unt but y o u will s o o n get o ver ,

that .

In Plate 3 6 scheme N o 1 is sh o wn a plan f o r trying

, .
,
“ ”
the dead sp read L eave the caro m ball at A
. M o ve .

the o bj ect ball fro m o n e p o s iti o n t o ano ther f arther and ,

f arthe r fro m A In this way y o u will gradually learn

.

t o make the dead sp read at wider and wider distances

with cert ainty S cheme N o 2 is a suggestio n f o r plac
. .

ing the balls f o r a dead d rive m o ving caro m ball to ,

p o siti o ns A B and C and o b j ect b all fro m a , b , c d

, , ,
’ ’ ’
,
’
,

t o the vari o us lengths o f sh o t .

The o bj ect f o r which y o u practic e in this plan is to

“ ”
gather the ball s under the hand S o do n o t be satis .

fi e d with merely the c o unt B e satisfied o nly when y o u

.
48 DALY S LL I A RD BOOK
’
BI

PL T E
A 36
 DALY S BILLIA R D BOOK 49
’
.

land dead and make the drive at j ust speed en o ugh to

gather all three balls in a very smal l spac e This is the .

s o rt o f practice that re all y c o un ts ‘

T he M as s e S tro k e T he massé ( fr o m F rench mas

’

.
,

s er t o knead o r rub )
, first devel o ped by French experts
, ,

is a sh o t indispensable in m o dern billiards n o t o nly as a ,

“ ”
sh o t with which to get o u t o f a h o le but with which ,

o ften t o play p o siti o n t o the best advantage .

T o the ne o phyte it is m o st dazzling and i n co m p re

hen s ibl e . Yet the principles go verning it are easily
underst o o d B ut n o o the r sh o t needs s o much practice
.

”
the exact feel S o me assistance can be gained
.

its mastery fro m the printed p ag e but practice , ,

,

l l y under a teacher is alm o st abs o lutely necessary

,
.

o u remember when as a b o taking a h o o p by the

‘

0
y y , ,

th ro wing it f o rward; but giving it a backward spin

a flip o f the wrist ! The ho o p started fo rward ,

the back spin caught the sidewalk and the h o o p

came r o lling back t o ward y o u with a speed depending
up o n the am o unt o f the back spin That illustrates the .

ip l e o f the massé sh o t The ball acts j ust as the .

acted The back spin is put o n with the cue held

.
,

and striking the side o f the ball in a d o wn

o rtan t ! The cue must n o t be st o pped j ust as the

”
ball is hit . The tip must g o thro ugh n early to the
cl o th .

D o u bl y im p o rtan t ! M o st
beginne rs try to hit to o
near the edge D o n t strike’
near the edge o f the cue
.

ball but nearer the center as y o u l o o k d o wn up o n the

,

”
ball This av o ids miscues The feel o f the sh o t is
.
“
.
50 DALY S LL I A RD BOOK
’
BI

as th o ugh y o u we re tryi ng t o drive the ball d o wn

thro ugh the table bed .

T he M as s e B ri dg e
’
The bridge ( p o sitio n o f the
.

hand at the o n e tip ) f o r the o rdinary massé stro ke is

sh o wn in Plate 3 7 B N o te the p alm o f the bridge h
-
.

turned well f o rward .

P o siti o n A in the same plate sh o ws the bridge f o

, ,

a free hand massé which is used when great p o wer 0

-

a d rive aro und the table is desi red It i s n o t used f o .

exact o r cl o se wo rk if the o ther bridge can be made w

o u t disturbing the balls .

Plates 38 an d 39 sho w s tyles o f bridge used

times to get a fi rm rest when the balls are in an awkw
p o siti o n These ph o t o graphs are o f M aurice D aly H
. .

says these bridges were first used by Frank Ives .

T he M as s e Grip T he cue m ay be gripped in e ithe

’
.

o f two ways They are sh o wn in Plates 4 0 an d 4 1

. .

N o 40 ( A ) the hand i s tu rned d o wnw

. ard ; in 40
it is tu rned upward .

Fo r a massé grip o n e finger and thumb o r two fi n g e

and thumb may be used The latter giv es a firmer ho l .

It is well to h o ld the cue very firmly but a ,

m o ti o n free fr o m j erk s o that the cue tip may g o

, ,

thro ugh the ball is essential When in p o siti o n

”
, .

well t o feel that the wrist is arched a bit ; that makes

fo l l o w thro ugh easier
-

Plate 4 1 ( A and B sh o ws the two grips The .

is hit with the cue nea rly perpendicular the degre

‘

uprightness depending upo n the am o unt o f b ack

“
desired and ho w s o o n y o u desire it t o catch
, ,

whether y o u desire a sh o rt quick curve o r a l o nger ,

FO R FR EE
H AN D
PO WER FUL

S TRO KE .

B RTD G E

PL T E
A '
37
 PL T E
A 38

Po s i tio n fo r m as s é W i th b a ll s in d ffi c
i ul p
t os i ti o n to re a c h
 P L TE
A 39

A n o th e r m as s é p os i ti o n for f o rc e m as s é , w i th b a ll s d i ffi c ul t to re a c h
A M Q H AR R I S S HOWIN G C UE HAND $
TUR N ED D O WN WAR D I N M AS S E S HOT
6
. .

U PWAR D
PL T E
A
52 DALY S B I LL I A R D B OOK
’

tral iz e d by the back spin ) the first thing t o do is

get y o ur line o f aim Then imagine the cue ball q u
.

t ere d as sh o wn in Plate N o 43 H it the s o uth . .

( l o wer left ) qua rter with the cue

, well up right .

Garn o says 7 8 2 de grees o r nea rly that

-

, H it a g .

fi rm st ro ke an d try to fe el the cu e tip c l in g t o the

,

ball and p u s h the side o f the ball do wnward o r

, ,

it d o wn The sh o t is n o t a sharp hammer

.

clinging sh o t S trike n e arer the m iddl e o f the ball t

.

the edge and feel as th o ugh y o u were pushing the

ball int o the table bed .

The directi o ns here given refer to Plate 43 with ,

sh o rt massé aro und the right o f the two o bj ect ball

If the cue ball i s t o pass ar o und t o the left y o u im ,

the cue ball divided int o quart e rs and hit the l o wer
( s o utheast
) quarter .

L earn this sh o t well It will serve as a basis in

.

lating all o ther massé sh o ts Kn o wing this as th .

massé y o u think o f o thers as departures fro m this

,

make calculati o ns acc o rdingly and executi o n m o re e

Thus if the ca ro m ball be further away fro m the
,

j e c t ball the massé e ff ect ( curvature o f its c o urse ) s ho

n o t take s o quickly and the cue need n o t be held

,

up right o r the cue ball need n o t be hit s o much to

,

rear but m o re to o n e side

, .

A F o l l o w M as s e S o metimes a f o ll o w sh o t may
’

e ff ected by the massé st ro ke as sh o wn in Plate N o 4 , .

diagram A Or a d raw sh o t may be made as sh o wn

.

diagram B o f the same plate .

T he D raw M as s é In making draw sh o ts by ma

.

al o ng the cushi o n hit the cue ball a wee bit o n the s

,
DALY S
’
di m m e r) B OOK 53

PLA T E 44
54 DALY S B I LL I A R D B OOK
’

t o ward the cushio n and the cue ball in c o m ing back , ,

“ ”
will hu g the rail . Plate N o 4 4 sh o ws s everal varie
.

ties o f the massé but they are all applicati o ns o f the

,

s ame basic principle The arro ws sh o w the line o f o rig

.

inal aim the d o ts o n the cue ball sh o w where it sh o uld

,

be struck by the cue tip .

Cus hi o n Caro m s .In playin g p o siti o n billiards the

tyro is tempted to use E nglish o n almo st every sh o t H e .

must learn early never to use E nglish un less there is a

S P E CIA L R E A S ON f o r it In cushi o n sh o ts m o re especially
.
,

in o n e cushi o n sh o ts avo id E nglish if y o u can thus get

-

, ,

“ ”
ting the land much m o re nea rly dead as well as ,

increasing y o ur accuracy o f executi o n .

Hardly an o ther sho t o n the table except the draw is

s o pr o ductive o f g o o d p o siti o ns as the o n e cushi o n sh o t -
.

If the angle is natural it is tru e ab o ut nine times o ut o f

ten that the sh o t sh o uld be played with o ut E nglish The .

cue ball lands lightly and d o es n o t k ick the caro m ball

away .

E nd o
f Part 1.
FI R S T PR I N CI PLE S OF POS I TI ON PL A Y
AT BI L L I AR D S

By M au ric e D aly

1 — Do n t
’
drive until y o u have to .

2 — Othe r things e q u al , the s ho rt dri ve is b e tte r

than the l o ng drive .

3 — A vo id a l o ng drive f o b o th bal l s .

h -

A vo i d a l o ng driv e o
f t he s e co n d o b e c t j bal l .

5 — K e ep b o th b al l s i n the s ho rt tabl e .

6 — A s ho t whic h l e aves the cu e b all f ar fro m

b o th o b ect
j ball s i s g e n e ral l y a b ad s ho t
—Al
.

7 o ng the rai l s c ho o s e tha t s ho t whic h wi l l

l e ave the cu e bal l o u ts i de ( n e are r c en te r

tabl e ) o f the o b ec t
j ball s .

8 — K ee p the bal ls ahe ad o

f y o u .

9 — Av o i d l e aving cu e bal l fro z e n to the c us hi o n .

10 On s ho rt drives , f o l l o ws , an d c aro m s , lo ok out

f or l in e -

up s an d ti e -

up s that c am e fro m
l an din g on the se c o n d ball to o so ftly .

11 — A
”
de ad draw, fo l l o w , or m as s é, i s g en
e ral l b e tte r than a l i v e o ne
y .

12 — Ou p
—
o en tabl e s ho ts , i
f n o thi n
g b e tte r o ff e rs ,

try to l e ave a t l e as t o ne b all n e ar a cu s hi o n ,

an d, if p o s s i bl e, n e ar a c o rn e r .
58 DALY S B I LL I A R D B OOK
’

resul ts as s o o n as y o u s e e it And c o nfidence is o f

.

utm o st imp o rtance in billiards .

D iagrams can indicate general principles o nly ,

n o t always perfectly at that ; f o r let o n e alter the p

ti o n o f the balls the veriest t rifle in many cases and

, ,

wh o le strategic character o f the p o siti o n i s changed

I n n o o ther game d o es such a little di ff erence
” “
such a big diff erence It is a game o f treme
.

”
trifl e s
. S o after reading the p o ints he re mad
,

the balls o n the table and try the sh o ts o ver and

n o t o nly in the places indicated but with vari ,

therefr o m .

H o w F ran k I ves Prac ti ce d The late Fran k C

. .

n o w generally credited — and rightly I think ,

being the finest expo nent o f high class c o mpetiti o n-

liards in the hist o ry o f the game w o uld practice ,

ho urs o n o n e thing ; f o r instance o n wo rking thro u

,

the balls I have kn o wn him to put in a week o n tw

.

three key n o te sh o ts with their variatio ns .

H avi ng learned a given p o siti o n subsequent play ,

sh o w that the principle ruling it will se rve to direct

player in any o ther similar p o siti o n A th o ro ugh u n .

standing o f even a f ew co nventio nal p o siti o n plays

really be an understanding o f a great many which g
o ut o f it
.

Fu n dam en tal E rro rs N o t M any — A playin g e xp

.

ence o f s o m e fo rty years has led me to believe that

fundamental e rro rs o f the ave rage billiard player
n o t many . B ut they a re imp o rtant One fund .

mistake causes erro rs in a great many plac es .

S o me o f the m o st fundamental principles

 DALY S BILL I A R D BOOK 59
’

ng billiard player we take up here The acc o m .

ing diagrams are illustrati o ns o f these principles in

place o n the table and they are made fro m actual
,

M o st o f them a rise in many o the r places Po s

diagrams are innumerable but w
.

ith general p rin

,

ci l e s well in mind o u s o o n apply them instinctively

p y
in c o untless places And y o u will learn t o av o id mak
.

ing the sh o t by the wr o ng plan even th o ugh the right ,

o n e be a little m o re difficult .

It is even mo re imp o rtant that y o u do n o t de l u de

u el f v th u h d o i ti e s u l ts fro m a
y o r s , e e n o g a g o o p s o n r

badl y c ho s en s ho t tha t i t was a g o o d s ho t Fo r it i s n o t

, .

s i n g l e i n s tan c es that tell the st o ry ; it i s the av erag e o al l

f
atte m p ts in like situati o ns .
—
S uch self delusi o ndo es m o re
than any o ther o n e thing I kn o w to prevent impro vem ent
in many players .

There is o nly a slight di ff erence between go o d players

and the best players but it is that little distin g uishing
,

e that is s o difficult o f mastery and s o pro ductive

results .

What I s a Go o d Po s i ti o n S ho t ! —That p o sitio n sh o t

~

m o st pe rfect which gives the widest o pti o n o f play o n

e fo llo wing sh o t and is easiest t o execute perf e ctly
,

f o r the c o u nt ”
Its p o ints o f desirability are
—
.

1 I t sh o uld give the ch o ice o f the m o st cushi o n s .

2 — Th o se cushi o ns sh o uld be near

3 — The cue ball sh o uld be near ( but n o t to o near )
.

the o bject balls which sh o uld als o be cl o se t o gether The

, .

”
balls as the ph rase go es are under y o ur hand
, , .

These p o ints o f desirability are all attained o nly in the

“ ”
sh o rt table ; that is in the part o f the table between
,
60 DALY S LLIA R D BOOK
’
BI

the sp o ts and the end rails In mid table n o matter .

-

ho w well the balls be placed f o r the imme di ate c o unt the ,

player is always in danger if the balls act the least bit ,

badly o f l o sing c o ntro l at o nce H e may make the

, .

c o unt but being at mid—

, , table has little ch o ice o f sh o t , ,

must make l o ng drives and gene rally is in danger T he, .

s am e l e ave n e ar the e nd rai l wo u l d have no dang e rs t o

s p e ak o
f T.h e l
p y a e r has at l e as t 100 p e r c en t the b es t
o
f i t in the s ho rt tabl e .

It is related that an enthusiastic billiard tyr o up o n ,

seeing Jac o b S chaefer The Wizard make a l o ng run

”
, ,

“
o f easy caro ms exclaimed Anyb o dy can make th o se
, ,

”
sh o ts . T o s o me extent this illustrates the di ff erence
between go o d and bad billiards It may cause the bl o o d .

t o thrill at times to o bse rve the pyr o technical display the ,

l o ng massé the unnaturally angled cushio n sh o t the

, ,

spectacular draw but such things persis ted in as a s y s

,

tem o f play never win champi o nships

, .

As a matter o f fact o nce the balls are o u t o f ,

tro l it is me rely a matter o f executi o n and luck to

the single sh o t ; and nearly any g o o d amateur has as
go o d a chance ( f o r the c o unt ) as the be st p ro fessi o nal .

Go o d billiards lies in av o i din g the n e c e s s i ty o f m akin g

hard s ho ts That s why great players sacrifice
.
’

clusters in mid table to get A T ON C E back to the

-

Fancy sh o ts are a separate department o f the game .

 C H APTE R V

1—DON T DRI VE ( O S H OO T H ARD ) TI LL

’
PR I N C I PLE N o . . R
Y OU H AV E T O
E IS the best perfo rmer who makes the m o st p o ints ,

m o vin g the balls the least H e re in Plate 4 5 ( s e e

.
,

b o th A an d B ) i s sh o wn ho w y o ung players thro w away

m o re chances f o r runs than in any o ther situati o n I n o w
think o f It i s when the two o bj ect balls are very n ear
.

t o gether the cue ball near them and an easy car o m f o r

, ,

the first sho t The FIR S T S H OT is the I M PO R TANT

.

thin g N inety nine times o u t o f a hundred the tyro hits

.
-

the cue ball t o o hard It i s n o t en o ugh to hit the o bject

. ,

balls s o s o ftly that they m o ve o nly three Or fo ur inches .

They must hardly m o ve at all n o m o re than an inch o r ,

so, less if p o ssible .

I n this plate ( N o 4 5 ) is a special diagram ( C ) sh o w

.

ing ho w given pro per executi o n o n e m ay s o ftly pas s

, ,

the cue ball acro ss the face o f bo th o bj ect balls the ,

o bject balls meantime traveling al o ng parallel lin es in

the path indicated by the d o tted o utline balls The cue .

ball o n each sh o t j ust p ass es the c en te r o f the sec o nd

ball leaving the same sh o t o n the way back The o b j ect
, .

balls are hardly m o ved I have made 84 c o unts in a

.

“ ” “ ”
game at this edge o r pass nurse and where can ,

o u get any cheaper c o unts ! Ives has made m e than

y o r

a hundred at it in the o pen table and any fairly g o o d ,

61
62 DALY S
’
BI LLIA R D BOOK

PL A T E 45
 DAL Y S BILLIA R D BOOK
’
63

am ateur by p ractice can make a g o o d cluster befo re

,

lo sing the p o siti o n .

This is really a s o rt o f advanced p o sitio n play but it ,

devel o ps s o easily and naturally o u t o f the p o siti o n

sh o wn in the plate that I draw attenti on t o it here It i s .

urse that will happen Oftener f o r beginners th an any

er an d it is the basis o f nu rsing in nearly all places
,
.

g this o n e sh o t and its derivatives will make

”
o in an f
-

( average ) o u t o alm o st any one

T he S p lit an d spl it
Go in g T hro u g h .
— The “ ”

o t and o the r passing th ro ugh sh o ts o f all kinds are

-

re f u ll practiced by the best players In general the

y .

be attained is this : when the two o bj ect balls are

t o ward mid table g o th ro ng with
-

t h e,

cue bal l and fl o ck the o b j ect balls back t o ward the c o rners
o r balk lines
-

The necessity o f g o ing th ro ugh arises when with the

—
two o bj ect balls near t o ge ther and fac in g m id tabl e the
“ ”
cue ball is between them and cann o t be go tten o ff t o
”
the right o r left to w o rk the edge nurse ac ro ss the
“

face o f the balls The FI R S T S H OT is T H E KE Y

.

t o the situat i o n On that all the damage is d o ne if it

.

be m ade to o hard If it is made j ust ri ght th en twa o r

.
,

“ ”
three m o re s o ft o nes will put the cue ball thro ugh
and va ri o us easy p o siti o n p o ssibilities result .

D iag ram A o f P l ate N o 4 6 sh o ws the idea D iagrams . .

B and C are variati o ns In gene ral in this play stay.

, ,

n e ar the s e c o n d b al l at the end o f each Str o ke The cue .

ball hits o n e ball l es s than the o the r s o that m o ti o n is ,

imparted to o n e o nly S o me special details o n this play

. .
64 DALY S BILLIA RD BOOK
’

PL A T E 46
66 DALY S B I LLIA RD B OOK
’

” “
o bj ect balls and Avo id a l o ng drive o f the seco n d
,

”
o bj ect ball .

A s a matter o f fact m o st g o o d p o siti o n sh o ts are in

,

acc o rd with m o re than o n e o f the general principles we

have s e t fo rth We have in mind ( all in the same sh o t )
.

“ ”
playing t o ward the sh o rt table keeping b o th balls ,

”
ahead playing the sh o rt drive rather than the l o ng o r
, ,

n o t d riving until we have t o and keeping near at least

o n e o f the o bj ect balls P o siti o n sh o ts in which o n l v o n e

.

p rinciple i s c o nce rned are c o mparatively rare .

T ake An o the r L o o k ! — I n general whe n e v e r te m p te d

,

to drive tak e an o the r l o o k

, Then take a third l o o k and
.

s e e if s o me o the r sh o t will n o t answer .

In Plate 4 8 the balls are sh o wn in p o siti o n where the

l o ng drive ( to the side rail D iagram A ) is the i mm e di
,

ate temptatio n .

Think again ! Try the sh o t sh o wn in D iagram A a ,

s o ft caro m o ff the white leaving it in p o siti o n f o r an

,

easy draw o n the next N o w y o u are o ne p o in t e x tra

.

t o the g o o d befo re driving .

Bl o ck S ho ts — And j ust here is the place to call atten

.

ti o n t o the gene ral p rinciple o f bl o cking

“
( S ee D i a
.

gram B in Plate In playing fro m white to re d land

”
dead and leave the two balls s ide by s ide c l o s e to ,

e the r s o that when the d riven ball c o mes back fr o m

g ,

the cushi o n it is b l o ck e d by the width o f two balls a t o tal ,

of inches o f iv o ry instead o f 2 3 inches If y o u do .

“ ”
n o t land dead o n the sec o nd ball but kick it away
, ,

o u leave a gap betw een them th ro ugh which half o f the

y
time the returning d riven ball will escape .

In this sh o t ( and its variati o ns are numero us i n cl o se

DALY S
’
BILLIA R D BOOK 67

PL A T E 48
70 DALY S LL I A R D BOOK
’
BI

o ther way there is With the ball as sho wn i n D iagram

.

A if y o u sh o o t ve ry s o ftly hitting the sec o nd bal l thin

, ,

o n the far side scarcely distu rbing it o u get either an

, y ,

“ ”
o ther slip thr o ugh o r an easy perfect draw sh o t
,

“ ”
( remember t o bl o ck it ) f o r p o siti on The d o tted
.

o utline balls sh o w the n e w leave . In general when ,

two o bj ect balls are cl o se t o gether m ake as m any

o in ts as u can
p y o

fo re driving o r go ,

thro ugh .

D iagram B s ho
o n e resulting p o siti

o f the s o ft sh o t ;

may vary s o me but s e

do m are bad .

T he L as t Fe
I n c he s — Plate.

sh o ws a p o siti o n wh
the temptati o n is to
drive at o nce and ih , ,

deed the drive i f well , ,

made will result in a ,

.

g o o d leave .

But — and it i s a
very big but — Y OU

NEV ER C AN T E L
A B OU T TH E LA S T
PLA T E 50 I N C HES O F A L o
D RI V E B ad breaks o f all kinds are p o ss ible
“
.

the m o st sk illful driver in the wo rld They are b .

t o o ccur acc o rding t o the l aw o f averages

, So .
 DALY S
’
BILL I ARD B OOK 71

L ON G D RIV E S
In the case in questi o n get the easy
.
,

Co unt first o u are at least o n e c o unt to the g o o d )

y ,

and y o u will have a sho rt drive o r m o re easy caro ms

,

left if y o u play as sh o wn in the diagram

, .
 C H APTE R VI

PR I N C I PL E N o 2 — O T H E R T H I N GS E QU AL T H E S H O R T
. ,
,

DRI VE I S BE TT E R TH AN TH E L ONG DRI VE .

NE diagram will do f o r illustrating this p o int which ,

is o f c o urse o bvi o us S till I c o nstantly see sup

, , .

o s e dl y g o o d players striving to get the balls in p o siti o n

p
t o make a l o ng drive
f o r a gather ins tead o f .
getting them in a p o si 5 -

ti o n to mak e a Sh o rt
d rive f o r the same o b
je ct.

N o te especially Plate
5 1 The draw is equally
.

easy fro m either ball .

But in the o n e case the

o bj ect ball must travel

n early twenty feet in ,

the o ther o n ly half o f

that distance Tak e.

the sho rt dri ve i n pref

eren c e to the l o ng
drive It is easier to
.

c o ntro l the resulting

leave N o matter ho w
.

attractive a l o n g drive
P LA T E 51 may appear y o u can ,

no t te l l abo u t i ts l as t f
e w inche s . An d in p o siti o n play
they are the inc hes that co u n t most .

72
74 DALY S LL I A R D B OOK
’
BI

seve ral times came to a halt in his run thr o ugh difficulties
resulting ( a c o uple o f sh o ts befo re ) fro m a drive o f b o th
balls to get them near a c o rne r In an o ther champi o nship
.

t o u rnament the l o ss o f
the game and pro b ,

ably the champio nship ,

was di rectly t raceable

t o this mistaken tactic .

I ri o n e game this play

°

e r made five such at i -

tempts and fo ur o f
,

them failed to pro duce

a satisfact o ry re sult .

One o f them left him

“ ”
badly tied up and ,

his resulting miss left

his o pp o nent a fine
leave fro m which a
l o ng run resulted .

T H E P E R C E NT
A GE I S A GAIN S T
Y OU WHE NE VE R
Y OU T R Y A L ON G
PL A T E 5 3 D R I VE OF B OT H
B ALL S with this s o litary excepti o n when after such a
, ,

d rive y o u can leave the cue ball n ear o r fairly near the
, ,

o ther two .

In Plate N O 5 2; D iagram A is Sh o wn a f re qu
.
,

p o siti o n and the right way t o play it The te m p tat

.

f o r the beginner is t o drive b o th balls t o the

hand c o rn er But if he d o es this he
.
 D ALY S BILL I A R D BOOK 75
’

i
b ll far fro m b o th o bj ect balls and there is the chance
I o f a line u p There is the chance o f n o t getting them
-
.
'

b o th in the sh o r t table There is the chance o f hitting.

the first ball t o o s o ftly o r to o hard o r t o o thin In , , .

driving o n e ball there is n o t half the chance t o g o

wro ng D iagram A sho ws the right way to make the
.

sh o t D iagram B the wro ng way to make it

, .

There are o f c o urse , ,

s o me excepti o ns n o ,

generalizati o n b e i n g
wh o lly t rue .

When B o th Balls
M ay Be D ri ven —I n
additi o n the e x c e p
to
ti o n n o t e d when the
'
,

cue ball can be made to

sto p near the o thers is ,

this that s ho rt drives

,

of bo th balls may be
safely made A sh o rt .

d rive means o n e o f a
fo o t o r s o seld o m ,

h i o re Or such a Sh o t
.

can be made as a l as t
re s o rt in a bad place ;

f o r instance when the ,

balls must be g o tten

o u t o f balk .
PL A T E 54
Plate 5 3 sh o ws an example where b o th balls may be
d riven because the cue bal l may be made to st o p near
,

the o the r two .

76 DALY S LL I A R D B OOK
’
BI

S o metimes the beginner d rives b o th balls and l o ses

a g o o d p o siti o n thro ugh n o t suspecting he is driving
the sec o nd ball because the sho t is a draw and he makes
, ,

a live draw landing ,

at speed instead Of
”
dead o n the sec o nd
ball Plate 5 4 sh o ws
.

s u ch a h a pp en in g .

D iagram A sh o ws the
wro ng way D iagram ,

B the right way o f

making the sho t .

This again suggests

an excepti o n There a re .

t i m e s ( th o ugh very ,

very rare ) when the

fast draw is the better
S ho t Plate 5 5 sh o ws
.

such a case B ut in .

general all these draw

sh o ts and especially
,

where the drive o f the

first o bj ect ball is l o ng ,

PLA TE 55 fi n d whe re tha t i s g o

ing to s to p and try to land the car o m ball an d if p o s

, , ,

sible the cue ball to o near the same p o in t

, , , .

I m p o rtanc e o f C o rrec t S p e e d There i s n o thi n g i n

b illiards n o t even the ch o ice o f sh o ts that i s: o f m o re
, ,

imp o rt ance than getting the exact am o unt o f fo rce s o ,

“ ”
the balls may land under the hand . They must if ,

o ssible be in a little cluster where they are abs olutely

p , ,
 C H APTE R VIII

PR I N C I PL E No . 4.
—AV O I D A L ON G DRI VE O F TH E S E C
OND OBJE C T BALL
L ATE N o 56
depicts a characteristic leave where
.

the temptati o n c o mes to o n e to drive the sec o n d

o b ect ball
j D iagram
. A S h o ws h o w to try it S h oot .

s o ftly j ust
, dro pping o n the sec o nd ball leavin g the ,

first o bj ect ball near the cushi o n Then y o u get either .

an easy draw f o r p o siti o n o r an easy cushi o n sh o t f o r a

”
gather in the c o rner the sec o nd ball being a big ball
, .

What I s a Big Bal l “

— A “ ”
big ball means an
o bj ect ball lying near a cushi o n o r cushi o ns i n such p o si

ti o n that the cue ball appro aching it f o r a caro m may

hit it either directly o r o n the reb o und fro mo n e o f the
c us hi o ns Fo r instance o n a ro und the table sh o t if
.
,
- -

the sec o nd ball lies do wn in the c o rner ab o ut three inches

“ ”
fro m bo th sides o f the j aw the ball is n early a fo o t ,

”
big . That i s the cue ball may enter the c o rner any
,

where within the range o f a f o o t and the c o unt will be ,

m ade because it cann o t escape c o unting either directly

,

o r o n the reb o und .

L ansing Perkins h o lds that any ball n o matter where ,

”
it lies i s 7 inches “
big Place the three balls fro zen
.
,

s ide by side in a line and it is 7 Ainches fr o m the o utside

,

t o the o utside o f the two balls o n the end I figure it .

diff erently ho wever I measure fro m the cen ter to cen

, .

78
80 D ALY S
’
B I LL I A R D BOO K

billi ards Frank Ives held that the secret o f balk line
.
-

billiards lay in the draw and massé I n case o f do ub t

.
,
”
draw he said And while that may be to o b ro ad f o r
, .

abs o lute applicati o n it is nevertheless indicative o f the

,

impo rtance and value o f the stro ke and Oftener than

‘

,
!

n o t the c o rrect pr o cedure .

“
In go lf they s ay the man who can putt can beat
”
anyb o dy . In billiards the man who c an draw and
massé well is always dangero us If in additi o n to that.

he has g o o d c o ntro l o f o n e cushio n Sh o ts always V ery

‘

V aluable in p o siti o n play p o ssibilities he is a danger o us ,

o pp o nent .

Ge tting the T hin S ho t Keep in mind always the

.

plan o f leaving the balls f o r a d raw o r f o r a thin sh o t , ,

“ ”
and then a draw The thin sh o t t o o i s a valuable
.
, ,

o n e and will be taken up in detail later o n B ut this .

“ ”
may be said here : The thin sh o t leave is als o likely !

'

t o leave the o pti o n o f a half fo ll o w Play half fo ll o w .

when g o w g to ward the c o rn e rs o r t o the sh o rt t able fro m

a mid table p o siti o n When al re ady in the sh o rt table
-
.
,

and l o o king t o ward the side rails the thin sh o t and then
,

a draw i s m o re o ften the bett er plan .

82 DALY S BILL I A R D BOOK
’

PL A T E 58
 DALY S BILL I A R D BOOK 83
’

a l o ng drive in preference t o a sh o rt drive The mo st

.

im p o rtan t thing i s t o keep the balls to ward the e n d

rails whe re ,
in case the balls act badly m o re Op p o rtu
,

n i ti es f o r re c o ve ry cr i s t In makin g such sh o ts as
.

this make every e ff o rt to s o regulate the speed o f the

,

sh o t that the balls may gather under y o ur hand .

Plate 5 9 illustrates again the same p rinciple A draw .

”
f ro m either ball will be a gather but o n e gathers in
,

PLA T E 59

the sh o rt table the o ther in mid table K eeping the

,
-

balls t o wards the end rails o verrules almo st everything

else except that attempting t o o difficult a sh o t is n o t
,

advisable . M aking the c o unt is o f c o urse the first

, ,

rule in c o mpetiti o ns With a fair chance f o r a goo d

.

result always cho o se the sure sho t o ver the d o ubtful

o ne

Plate 6 0 is t o the same p o int but the first sh o t is

,

”
preparato ry while the gather is o n the sec o nd sh o t
, .
84 DALY BILL I A R D BOOK
’
S

In this plate D iagram A l o o ks t o ward a gather in the

,

Sh o rt tabl e B t o ward a gather in

, There is
a great variety o f such situati o ns .

PL A T E 60

Plate 6 1sh o ws o n e o f the m o st frequent p o siti o ns in

which the beginner i s likely t o g o

PL T E
A 61
86 DALY S
’
BI LLIA R D B OOK

PL A T E 63
 DALY S BILL I A R D B OOK 87
’

z
”
an d
“
b o tto m ( draw o r fo ll o w ) E nglish B ear in min d .

that when a bal l is hit l o w with the cue it c o mes back

fro m the cushi o n with that underspin still e ff ective ,

and o n its ne w c o u rs e ( fro m an O PP OS I T E cushio n ) the

underspin is n o l o nger actin g as draw bu t as fo llo w .

When a ball hi t high c o mes o ff the o pp o site cushio n the

'

”
“
to p is still e ff ective but o n the ball s new c o u rs e o ff,
’

“ ”
the o pp o site cushi o n the o riginal t o p i s acting as
”
draw .It will tend to curve the ball in t o ward the
cushio n again .

A mast ery o f these two p o ints is indisp ensable in

cu shi o n play It i s o ften o f the gre atest value in three
.

cushi o n c af o m s S o right here let u s c o nsider plates

'
.

4 rating thi s imp ortant p o int

( 6 3 and 6 ) illust .

Plate 6 4 sh o ws the o pp o s ite e ff ect fro m that Sh o wn in

Diagram B o f Plate 6 3 The sh o t l o o ks imp o ssible to.

b eginners .But let o n e strike the

first ball thi n with plenty o f ,
”
draw an d the cue ball will
,

“ ”
swel l o ut as we term it ; i e ,
, . .

take a curved c o urs e to the

g
co rner .

Hittin g high o n the sam e sho t .

wo uld send the cue ball much far

ther to the right curvi ng to ward ,
PL A T E 6 4
the end rail as sho wn by the C b l l h i t f
, d aw ue a as o r a. r

s h o rter d o tted line .

Plate 6 5 sho ws thre e p o siti o n s in which the se co nd

o bj ect ball
( white ) al o n e is changed I n A it is behind .

the first o bj ect ball In B it is o ut f ro m the cushi o n at

.

right angles In C it is fo rward

. .
88 DALY S ’
BI LL I A RD B OOK

In A y o u hit the cue ball l o w in B y o u hit it center

,

o f ball in C o u hi t it high This illustrates f o rcibly the

, y .

di ff e rence in e ff ect between t o p and f b o tt o m E n g

‘ “

PLA T E 65

lish Which is j ust as great and j ust as imp o rtant as the

,

diff erence between right and left E nglish .

PLA T E 66
 C H APTE R X

PR I N C I PL E N o 6 —
.A S H O T WH I C H L E AV ES TH E
. CU E
BA LL FA R F R O M B O T H O BJE C T BA LL S I S GE N
E RALLY A BA D S H O T

T I S ast o nishing ho w numer o us the p o sitio n s are

where this p rinciple i s to be b o rne in mind In a .

maj o rity o f cases the executi o n secret is in hitting the '

first ball ful l er s o a s to deaden the cue ball an d land

s o ftly o n the caro m ball S o metimes h o wever it i s S i m
.
, ,

”
ply a case o f Sh o o t s o ftly !
“

”
A frequent leave that results in a sc att e r an d the
clo se o f the run where it might result in a gather an d
c o ntinuati o n o f play with the balls in c o ntro l is sh o wn in
Plate 6 7 Di agrams A an d B sh o wing the wr o n g and
,

right ways respectively o f playing the sh o t

, , .

“ ”
An o ther frequent leave where the dead cue ball is
.
,

indicated is sh o wn in Plate 6 8 D iagram B sh o ws the

, .

way a lively cue ball will destro y what o therwise w o uld

have been a go o d p o siti o n sh o t The player has hit the
.

first o bj ect ball t o o thin thus failing t o deaden the Cu e

,

ball which return ing fro m the cushi o n at speed k icks

, ,
“
,

the caro m ball away fro m a go o d p o siti o n .

D iagram A s ho ws a better way t o make this sh o t as it

l

deadens the cue ball drives the first o bj ect ball aro und
,

”
the table and leaves the balls in the sh o rt table and ,

frequently s o cluste red that a S i mple sh o t o r two wil l

place the balls in perfect p o sitio n f o r n ursing alo n g the
90
‘
DALY S BILLIAR D BOOK
’
91

PL A T E 67
92 DALY S
’
BI LL I A R D B OOK

PLA T E 68
94 DALY S BILLIA RD BOOK
’

”
w o uld kick the caro m ball away an d c o ntro l w o ul d
o glimmering
g .

Plate 7 0 sh o ws an o ther kind o f a leave where never

the l e s s the idea is t o keep the cue ball near thd caro m
ball o n c o mpletio n o f the sh o t D iagram A sh o ws the
.

”
ath o f the sh o t p o inted by The Tempter It i the
p s .

m o st natural thing in the w o rld to hit the o bj ect ball

well o n the right with right draw E nglish The
, .

PL A T E 70

better way ( a fav o rite sho t o f Willie H o ppe ) i s the “

”
dead ball with left E nglish the cue ball j ust passing
, ,

the caro m ball and s tay in g n ear i t The result is a .

p o siti o n fro m which an easy gather can alm o st always be

made This i s a typical example to o o f staying near
.
, ,
”
at least o n e o bj ect ball
“
I f y o u c an n o t
. ho ld o n e o f
the m , ho l d the o ther .

In Plate 7 1 we s e e a frequent draw sh o t with n o

quickly ap p arent p o siti o n play By s tay in g n ear the .

c aro m bal l the o bj ect ball may be made to st o p anywhere

within the curved li ne o n the diagram and a gather sh o t

61
 DALY S BILL I A R D BOOK
’
. 95

be generally p o ssible eithe r by draw

, , spread draw , or

cushi o n Sh o t
.

PL A T E 71

Plate 72 depicts a cha racteristic p o s itio n which has ,

many slight variati o ns with the same p ri nci ple applying

,

thr o ugh o ut B y playing the natural angle and n o E n g

.

”
lish y o u land dead and gather the balls The E n g .

PL T E
A 72
96 DALY S BILLIA R D BOOK
’

“ ”
lish live ball may be m o re certain to c o unt but it is ,

alm o st certai n to sp o il the gather This applies to three

.

q uarte rs o f the cro ss table o n e cushi o n sh o ts

-

PL T E
A 73

Plate 7 3 sh o ws o n e m o dificati o n o f this l eave i n which

the end rail may be taken by the cue ball first The .

cue ball o n taking the sec o nd cushi o n is held back to

, ,

PL A T E 74
98 DALY S LLIA R D B OOK
’
BI

the c o rner by the left E nglish This enables y o u to hit

.

the o bj ect ball thin en o ugh to get it back f o r a gather .

The sh o t o ccurs freque ntly an d i s V ery useful in its

,
!

numero us variati o ns .

An o ther variati o n o f it is sh o wn in Plate 7 4 H ere .

the o bject ball is hit thin en o ugh t o send it up the table

an d back
“
. The cue ball is hit o n the l o wer left hand -

” ”
c o rner
. It swells as sh o wn by the curved line The
,
.

E nglish is j ust Suffi cient to bring it sl o wly b ack to the

caro m ball f o r a s o ft co unt .

By hitting the o bj ect ball thin en o ugh to get the

drive o n the pro per line the cue ball will necessarily land
o n the side rail well ab o ve the p o int o f a natural angle .

The draw an d E nglish bring it back but it has been ,

de atl e n e d o n the cushi o n ”

.

Plate 7 5 give s an o ther illustrati o n o f deaden ing o n

the cushio n The right E nglish d o es it The leave i s
. .

s o c o mm o n , and beginners s o seld o m play it co rrectly ,

that the diagram Ought to be useful .

PL T E
A 76
 DALY S BILLIA R D BOOK 99
’

One m o re example o f this deadening o n the cushi o n .

Plate 76 sh o ws it N ine times o ut o f te n the begin ner

.

go es f o r the fo llo w sh o t H e p ro bably c o unts but the

.
,

ball s are go ne N o w by playing the cu e ball with draw

‘

.
,

and left E nglish o ver to the end rail he can c o unt and
land dead at the same time d rivin g the o bject ball aro und
,

f o r p o siti o n
.
 C H APTE R XI
PR I N C I PL E
No 7.
— A L ON G T H E R A I L C H OOSE T H A T
. ,

S H O T WH I C H WI LL L E AVE T H E C U E BA LL O U T
“

S I DE ( N E A R E R M I D T A
-
B L E ) O F T H E O B JE C T
BA LL S
ON G players o n e hears a great deal abo ut s y s
A
M
”
tem If that w o rd as used means anything exact
.
, ,

and definite which I s o metimes do ubt it refers as much

, ,
’

as anythin g t o the
po int o f keep i ng the
t wo o b j e c t b a l l s
”
ahead of the cue
”
ball ; that is p o inted ,

t o ward the end rail o r

nearest cushi o n rather ,

than t ward mid table

o — ,

”
the o pen s e a S o me .

times o n e Sh o t b rings
the d e s i r e d r e s u l t .

S o metime s the first o r , .

even the sec o nd and

third sh o ts are prepar ,

at o r
y o nly But the .

p rinciple is plain and

well illustrated in Plate
7 7 a p o siti o n in which
,

the o bj ect to be at
tained i s s o o bvi o us ’

PL A T E 7 7
that it is difficult t o s ee
102 DALY S BILLIA R D BOO K
’

PLA TE 79
DALY S
’
BILL I AR D B OOK 103

PL A T E 80
104 DALY S B I LL I A R D
’
B OOK

ho w any o ne c o uld o verl o o k it Yet beginne rs seld o m

.

try f o r the p ro per sh o t .

D iag ram A sh o ws what they alm o st always try t o do ,

leaving the next sh o t a sure scatter with the chances ,

against the balls being agai n bro ught under c o ntro l .

S tudy well plates 7 8 and 79 which als o illus ,

“ ”
trate the p o int o f keeping o utside C o untless va ria
.

ti o ns o f this arise Keep y o ur eyes o pen f o r this o bject

.

at all times and especially when the balls are cl o se en o ugh

,

PL T E
A 81

“ ”
t o gether t o e n able y o u t o land o n either side o f the
caro m ball at will with o ut taking dangero us chances .

The mentio ned plates ( 7 7 7 8 and 7 9 ) are illust rative

, ,

o f p o ints perhaps m o re p ro perly c o nside red under the

chapter o n S ec o nd B all Play but the p o siti o ns sh o wn

here are s o simple and c o mm o n that any beginner can
execute them They are primary p o ints o f sec o nd ball
.

”
play . Advanced p o ints will be taken up later .
 C H APT E R XII

PR I N C I PLE N o . 8 . KEE P B O T H BA LL S ‘
AH E A D ’

O F Y OU
H IS headin g includes all sh o ts where t he pri nci pal
“ ”
p o int is the carry al o ng o f the first o bj ect ball
to j o i n the sec o nd
“
It may be an easy ball to b al l
.
- ~

sh o t o r any o f the c o untless varie ties o f cushio n sho ts

,
.

L e t us c o n sider the
p rimary o nes first .

Plate 8 2 Sh o ws per
haps the m o st frequent
leave o f the kind in
which the b e g i n n e r
g o es wr o ng .

Plate 8 3 sho ws an “

o ther p o s iti o n where

“
the carry al o ng is
generally the best sh o t ,

l e a v i ng t h e b a l l s
ahead .

Plate 84 i s i mp o r
tant It d e p i c t s a
.

frequ en t le ave where

the kiss sh o t ca rrying ,

o bj ect ball al o ng to
caro m ball is the sho t,

t o give the best result ,

PL A T E 8 2 th o ugh t h e s p r e a d
 DALY S BILL I A R D
’
B OOK 107

draw or c ushi o n fo llo w m ay be easier to execute f o r the

s ingle c o unt
.

T he T u rning the C o rn er S ho t On e o f the really

.

PL T E
A 83

valuable sh o ts to be tho ro ughly familiar with b o th i n ,

Straight rail balk line o r cushi o n car o ms is kn o wn as

,
-

, ,

”
.
the
“
turn i ng the c o rner sh o t fu ll y illustrated
,

PL A T E 84
108 DALY S BILL I A R D
’
BOOK

Plate 8 5 D iagram A sh o ws the wro ng B the right

.
,

way C is the same species o f sh o t but at l o nge r range

.
, .

The p o int o f the Sh o t is to H IT T H E OBJE C T

B AL L FUL L instead o f hittin g it thin using en o ugh ,

to p E nglish t o bring the cue ball o u t to the caro m

ball The o b j ect ball in the meantime havin g turned
.
,
“
,

”
the c o rner ( because it was hit full ) jo m s the o ther two
, .
‘

The sh o t i s o n e that takes practice f o r the angles are ,

highly varied the ranges diff er greatly in len gth N o t

, .

PLAT E 85

o nly must o n e have the E nglish right be it t o p o r ,

”
b o tt o m o r n o ne at all o r right o r left but the speed
, , ,

o f the str o ke must als o be c o rrect If the speed be to o

.

great it results in l o ss o f c o ntro l an d t o o l o w speed

, ,

gives an awkward leave But it is the m astery o f such

.

sh o ts as this that gives the g o o d p l ayer o pp o rtunit ies t o

make big runs It is the mastery o f such details as this
.

”
that makes the diff erence between the two m an and
“ -
“

”
“
the fi v e man -

.S o metimes y o u s e e a fin e p layer mak e

110 DALY S BILLIA R D BOOK
’

PL ATE 86
112 DALY S
’
BI LLIA RD BOOK

PL A T E 89
 PRI N C I PLE No 9
. . O D LE AVI NG CUE
AV I BALL
“
O EN T O TH E C U SHI ON
FR ! ”

a cue ball is fro zen to the cushi o n much less

H EN
c an be d o ne with it f o r the simple and sufficient
,

reas o n that y o u cann o t cue it wherever y o u like As a

.

rule this can be guarded against o n ly whe n the cue

,

has a sho rt ro ad to travel to the c o unt H en ce it is n

.

subj ect f o r much diagram exp o siti o n On e example w

.

suffice S e e Plate
. 92.
D ALY S B I LLIA R D BOOK 115
’

PL A T E 92
 C H APT E R XIV

PR I N C I PL E No . 10 .
—ON
S H OR T F OLL O WS D RI VES AN D ,

C A R O M S L OOK OU T F OR
, LI NE U PS ”
“
AN D TI E -
“

U PS ”
T H A T C O M E F RO M LA NDI N G ON T H E SE C OND
BA L L T OO SO F TLY

“ ”
E RE ,gain the freeze
a , line up and tie
,
-

,
“

u
p can be av o ided in cl o se play by a little care

and imaginative fo resight It i s merely a matter o f get

.

PL T E A 93

ting the fo rce o f the stro k e right Plate 93 sh o ws a .

p o siti o n whe re nearly all beginne rs line the balls up .

They try t o hit the bal l very thin and either miss it ,

enti rely o r c o unt and leave a line u p This is sh o wn in

,
-

B Try rather to hit the first ball a wee bit F U LL E R than

.

116
118 DALY S LL I A R D B OOK
’
BI

m o r e f or c e 112 the s fi at .

PLA T E 95
'

PL T E
A 96
 DALY S LL I A R D B OOK 119
’
BI

the sec o nd j ust barely grazing the sec o nd in fact and

, , ,

ha rdly stirring it The first ball will m o ve o u t a bit and

.

result in a fav o rable p o siti o n with balls facing the c o r ,

ner This sh o t will take c o nside rable p ractice Simple as

.
,

it l o o ks f o r y o u will be S O afraid o f missing the s e c o nd

,

that y o u will n o t hi t the first full en o ugh Practice it .

till y o u o verc o me that fear This t o o i s i mp o rtant .

, ,
.

This sh o t o ften enables y o u to get o n the o the r side o f

the balls s o that y o u will be facing the c o rner
.
, .

Plate 9 4 sh o ws an o bvi o us example o f av o iding a

”
line up Playing to o s o ftly as in D iagram A lines the
-
.
, ,

balls o n the rail A little m o re f o rce but n o t en o ugh to

.
,

scatter the balls brings the first Object ball o u t fro m the
, .

rail again D iagram C Sh o ws a frequent p o siti o n where

.

—
the line up is t o be av o ided by using slightly mo re
fo rce and a trifle m o re E nglish .

Plate 95 al s o illustrates a lik e p o int In this case .

,

h o weve r o n e can avo id the line up n o t o nly by using a

,
-

shade m o re fo rc e but by landing o n the caro m ball a

,

wee bit farther t o the right .

Plate 96 sh o ws ho w the player d rives the o bj e ct ball

acro ss the table and back The amo unt o f fo rce needed .

to drive a ball a ce rtain distance is kn o wn s ub co n -

s c io u s l
y pe rhaps
, O n such sh o ts as these
. we with o ut , ,

thinking u s e abo ut s o much fo rce , lea rned by e x p e ri

,

ence But that am o unt will o ften line the balls up o n the
.

rail Whenever c o nfr o nted by this leave st o p a m o ment

.
,

and then u s e j ust the least bit m o re fo rce o r a wee bit

less than usual Preferably generally use a l i ttl e
.
,

m o re . This will be determined largely by the length

of draw o r the angle even slight variati o ns making ,
120 DALY S
’
BI LLIA R D B OOK

PL ATE 9 7
122 DALY S BILL I A R D B OOK
’

imp o rtant diff erences that practice alo ne leads o n e to

app reciate .

D iagrams A B and C o f Plates 9 7 and 9 8 are varia

, ,

ti o ns o f sh o ts where players line the balls up Oftener ,

pe rhaps than anywhe re else

, .

Of the many instances in the average game where tie

ups ( gene rally in the fo rm o f an alignment o f the balls )
are threatened perhaps ,

n o ne is m o re c o mm o n

than the p o siti o n de

pi oted in Plate 99 It .

l o o ks s o simple and in
viti n g j ust an easy lit
,

”
tle spread S h o t ( that
“

is a draw at o r ab o ut
,

a ri ght an gle ) .

Thro ugh l o ng p ractice

the player alm o st u n
c o nsc i o usly hits the o b
j e c t b a l l j ust hard ,

eno ugh to sen d it

acro ss the table and
back to o r very near
the side rail In this .

case the plain ball to -

ball spread is likely

t o result in an align
PLA TE 9 9 ment al o ng the rail as ,

sh o wn in D iagram B o f the same plate It i s easily

.

avo ided by drawing the ball to the cushio n Thus the .

o bj ect ball is kept away fro m the cushi o n and even if

,
12 4 DALY S B ILLIA R D B OOK
’
I

sh o ws a frequent little fo llo w sh o t Take great pains to

.

land o n the o u te r e dg e o f the caro m ball ; o therwise y o u

will be left in line with a diffi cult massé o r scattering
aro und the table sh o t D iagram B o f the same plate
.

S h o ws ho w t o make the sh o t These like all cl o se p o si

.
,

ti o n sh o ts require a nicety o f executi o n

, .

Plate 101 sh o ws an o ther threatened tie up By draw -

ing the ball to o sl o wly j ust getting t o the caro m ball

, ,

o u are likely t o leave a line u a f reeze o r a massé sh o t

y p
-

, ,

at best This is sh o wn in D iagram A D iagram B sh o ws

. .

ho w by landing a little harder y o u escape the threat

, ,

ened tie up -
.
 C H APTE R XVI

PR I N C I PL E N o ON O PEN TABL E S H O T S I F NO T H
. 12 .
,
I N G B E TT E O E S T RY T O LEA VE A T LE A S T ONE
R FF R ,

BA LL NE A R A C U S H I ON A N D I F POSS I BLE NE AR
,

A C O RNE R

OS S I BL Y this hardly deserves to be rank ed as a

“ ”
p rinciple o f p o siti o n play It is m o re a matter .

of tight h o le tactics But the situati o n arises s o f re

.

quently that the idea is nevertheless well w o rth getting

, ,

firmly in mind .

PL T E A 103

Plate 103 sh o ws a p o siti o n where this i s the p o int .

There are many The first o bj ect ball cann o t b e well

.

driven aro und f o r a gather in the c o rne r eithe r because ,

the cue ball is to o near it o r because the cue ball c o uld

,

126
DALY S BI LL I ARD BOOK 12 7
’

PL A T E 104
12 8 D ALY S
-
’
BILLIA R D BOOK

PL T E
A 105
 C H APT E R XVII

GE T T I N G o ur o n H O LES SE MI ADVANC ED POSI

(A -

I P A —
T ON L Y ) A C ONSI DE R A TI ON OF VA R I O U S U SE
FU L S H O T S WH I C H A RE O F GRE AT H E LP I N C E R
T AI N U NU S UAL POS I TI ONS

B
E F OR E taking up advanced p o siti o n play under ,

whi ch head we will c o nsider sec o nd ball play and ,

“ ”
the vari o us standard nu rses such as the rail the
, ,

“ ” “ ” “ ” “ ”
line the anch o r the chuck the rub etc let
, , , , .
,

us c o nsider s o me useful p o ints in ce rtain n o t infrequent

but m o re o r less d ifficult p o siti o ns Nearly all o f them
.

will be useful at times l n p rl m ary as well as in advanced

p o siti o n play
.

”
S o m e o f these are little “
tricks o f the trade that
ve rge up o n advanced w o rk but nearly all can be mas
,

t e re d by any fai rly go o d amateur The p o int lies n o t

.

s o much in the d o ing as the kn o w ing o f them .

C ue Ball E n g l is h T ran s fe rre d Plate 106 has t o do

.

with the eff ect o f E nglish t ransfe rred fro m the cue
ball t o the o bj ect ball .
( S ee refe rences t o this on

Plate N o . N o te particularly D iagrams A ( the

wro ng way ) and B ( the ri ght way ) It is a S i mple
.

little draw which every player meets time and time

again . In making this sh o t it is ve ry imp o rtant t o
draw to the i n s i de e dg e o f the caro m ball Then when .
,

the o bj ect bal l c o mes back it kisses the cue ball back an d
,

130
 DALY ’
S B I LL I A R D BOOK 131

PL T E
A 106

itsel f stays nestled against the caro m ball o ff ering the

,

edge nurse the rail nurse o r s o me o ther f o rm o f

-

,
-

easy c o unting This i s a valuable sh o t but it needs

.
,

patient p ractice and in billi ards p atient practice pays

,

dividends in p o ints .

Plate 107 is an o ther illustrati o n o n the same p o int .

PLA T E 107
132 DALY S LL I A R D B OOK
’
BI

H ften it happens that y o ur o pp o nent cl o s e s his

ow o
“ ”
inning leaving y o u a be autiful s et u p o ut o f which
,
-

, ,

much to y o ur disgust y o u make o nly two o r three p oints

,

befo re the balls are h o pelessly o u t o f p o siti o n .

As a rule the damage was do ne o n the VE R Y FIR S T

,

S H OT The leave was s o easy ! That is the fi rst p o int

.
,

was S o y o u hastily blazed away n o t st o pping t o n o tice

.
,

that there were two and pe rhaps three ways to start

, ,

o ff
. Y o u ch o se the m o st o bvi o us and it was the w o rst
, .

PL T E
A 108

L et c o n sider a f e w sh o ts o f j ust that character

us
”
gay deceivers they may be called In Plate N o 108
, . .
,

D iagram s A and B : The o bvi o us and simplest way is the

”
easy ball to ball caro m But it will leave the balls
- -
.

”
spread and n o t ahead o f y ou D ia gram A sh o ws the .

way to gather them snugly by d o ubling the c o rn er in ‘

stead o f making the straight c aro m .

In B the player instead o f making the o rdinary caro m

-

, ,

draws s o ftly past the edge o f the ca ro m ball f o r the first

134 D ALY S B I LLIA R D BOOK
’

player may elevate the butt o f the cue a trifle giving t ,

sho t a little massé e ff ect If the cue and o bj ect balls

.

very cl o se a full massé is used to get instant draw acti

Fo r the s ho t s ho wn in D iag ram C hi t the cu e b al l l o
an d o n the ri g ht ,s we l l in g bac k fro m the c u s hi o n .

In Plate 110 D iagram A the imp o rtant p o int is to h

, ,

the o bj ect ball full en o ugh to bring it o ut to the car

PLA T E 110

ball rather than to cut it thin and sen d it do wn

,

table H it the cue ball t o wa rd the to p

. .

D iagram B sh o ws a p o sitio n where a ball to ball - -

w o uld sp o il everything B y fo ll o wing to the cus

.

driving o bj ect ball o ver and back again landing ,

with the cue ball y o u can get a favo rable p o sitio n Wh

, ,

o rdinarily a scatter l o o ks m o re likely S o metimes .

,

this o n e can get the line nurse o n the sec o nd sh o t

,
-
.

Plate 111 D iagram A sh o ws an easy way o ut o

, ,

line u p o n the rail By hitting the red ball full

-
.
,
 DALY S BILLIA R D B OOK 135
’

" ”
right E nglish and f o ll o w, o r
to p the red b al l c o mes
,

o u t fro m the rail the cue ball fo ll o ws in and ca ro ms with

,

the sec o nd bal l o n its return fro m the cushi o n .

PL T E
A 111

D iagram B is drawn with an exagge rated curve sh o w ,

ing the c o urse o f the cue ball after a massé s o as to '

make the p o int o f the sh o t clear In this p o siti o n an

.

PLA T E 112
 DALY S BI LL I A R D B OOK
’

136

PL T E
A 113
138 DALY S BILLIA R D BOOK
’

PLA T E 115
DALY S B I LL I A R D
’
B OOK 139

PL T E
A 116
140 DALY S LL I A R D B OOK
’
BI

c o rner with the o the rs In D iagram B the same result i s

.

attained .

In Plate 113 the cue ball is sh o wn in two p o siti o ns ,

o n e near the left rail the o ther in mid table In

,
-

the first case ( A ) hit the cushi o n first In the sec o nd .

( )
B hit the ball first f o r a di rect ki ss In b o th cases the
.

reve rse E nglish will deaden the cue ball o n the end rail
and all the balls will st o p fairly clo se t o gether The .

same sh o t may be made with the caro m ball in the l o wer

left hand c o rner by giving the stro ke a little m o re fo rce
-

Plate 114 sh o ws a direct kiss back fro m the o bj ect

ball which i s fro zen to the side rail The cue ball i s
, .

struck l o w with reverse E nglish The reve rse bec o mes

, .

direct o n c o ntact with the ap p o s i te rail with the co unt

easily e ff ected a fair p o siti o n gene rally resulting
, .

I n Plate 115 we sh o w the two o bj ect balls in the

extreme c o rners The p rinciple o f the sh o t is the same
.

if they be cl o ser to gether The cue ball must be hit

.

high and the o bj ect ball struck full as if f o r a fo ll o w

,
.

After the rec o il fro m the c o ntact the cue ball still ,

“ ”
aff ected by the to p seeks the end rail again the
, ,

degree o f the curva tu re o f its c o u rse in the e ff o rt to get,

back t o the rail depending up o n the f o rce o f the stro ke and

,

the am o unt o f the fo ll o w e ff ect The sh o t is imp o ssible

.

“ ”
with side o r draw E nglish .

In Plate 116 is sh o wn a p o siti o n where the fo llo w 18

”
T he o b
“
imp o ssible o n acc o unt o f a certain kiss o ff .

j e ct ball i s t o o cl o se t o the cushi o n f o r an inside sh o t

with right hand E nglish But by using to p and left

-

E nglish the cue ball will curve in t o wa rd the rail

en o ugh to c o unt .
144 DALY S B I LL I A R D B OOK
’

right f o rce the right am o unt o f E nglish and where by

, , ,

perfect play large runs may be made with the balls

,

m o ving but little and

Wi th o ut d riving aro und
the table .

This is true ball to -

”
ball billiards and al
ways has as a charac
t e ris ti c the p o i n t o f
L AN D I N G ON T H E
S E C ON D BA LL IN
E X AC TL Y T H E
R IGH T S POT AN D ,

WITH T H E R I GH T
F OR CE .

Therefo re i n takin g ,

it up we will first c o n 1 -

sider s o me sh o ts which
will e m p h a s i z e t h e
principl es o f s e c o n d
ball play This cla s s .
.

o f sh o ts is n o t bey o nd

PLA T E 118 any f al r amateu r and ,

a study o f the principles cann o t fail t o en o rm o usly 1m

p ro ve his game .

Whe re the cue ball lands o n the caro m ball is f re

quently o f the m o st extreme imp o rtance In cl o se nurs
.

ing the expert player will be seen taking the utm o st pai ns
at times , and t o the tyro seemingly with o ut necessity .

The thi ng he is after is n o t o nly to make the c o unt but

in s o d o ing to land o n the caro m ball in a p articular
14 6 DALY S B I LL I A R D
’
B OOK

saving his life sh o t to make at any c o st regardless

- -

o f p o siti o n
.

Plate 119 s h o ws two o f the easiest and m o st frequent

examples o f landing o n the caro m ball o n the o ut
side leaving the balls in c o ntr o l and facing the c o r
, ,

ner o r end rail with a ch o ice o f sh o ts L anding in

,
.

side makes a l o ng drive o n the first o r succeeding sh o ts

alm o st inevitable .

PL T E
A 12 0

Plate 12 0 sho ws an o ther very freq uent p o siti o n and ,

these easy frequent cases are j ust the o nes that will
help y o u the m o st S o get them well i n mind
. .

I n Plate 12 1 i s an o ther c o mmo n leave The utm o st .

care sh o uld be taken t o land right o n the sec o nd o bj ect

ball H it the first ob j ect ball thin sh o o ting s o ftly and
. , ,

the resulting leave will be a simple draw sh o t that will

leave the balls in the co rn er, If by hitting the first ball
t o o full it then lands o n the caro m ball o n the side n ear
DALY S
’
BI LL I A R D B OOK 147

PL T E
A

PL A T E 12 2
148 DALY S B I LLIA RD B OOK
’

est the rail the result is almo st sure to be a drive o r s o me

,

awkward sh o t with p o ssibly n o chance to retain c o nt ro l

, .

When the two o bj ect balls are far apart o n this sh o t

it is n o t advisable to attempt t o o much but when they
,

are fairly cl o se t o gether it is always a place to at

tempt a c o rrect landing .

Plate 12 2 sh o ws the s ame idea o n the side rail but ,

here the p o int is t o gal u n o t a draw but an easy caro m

, ,

o r o ther cl o se sh o t wi tho u t a l o n g driv e .

PLA T E 12 3

Plate 12 3 explai ns itsel f H ere again landing right

.

means c o ntro l retained ; landing wro ng mean s a s av

”
ing y o ur life sh o t
- -
.

Plate 12 4 sh o ws a l o n g fo llo w d o wn the side rail At

.

first glance o n e m ight s ay that the p o siti o n sh o wn was

—
a parallel in billiard principle to the sh o rt fo ll o ws o n the
end rail But the imp o rtant diff erence is this
.
-
l n the

l o ng fo ll o w y o u must hit the cue ball a pretty sm art rap

t o fo ll o w s o far ; hence y o u are very unlikely t o remain
150 DALY S BILLIA RD B OOK
’

If the fo ll o w be a sho rt o n e then s o me care must

,

taken s o that the cue ball after the c o unt may c o me 0

, ,

fro m the cushi o n and n o t leave a line u p This may -

d o ne by landing with the cue ball o n the cushi o n first ,

by landing o n the o utside o f the cen ter o f the sec o

ball and kissing o u t .

In Plate 12 5 is sh o wn a c o mmo n and simple little d

sh o t. The result is sh o wn if y o u draw t o the edge o f

PL A T E 12 6

sec o nd ball leaving y o u r o n e ball o u t fro m the cushi o n

,

b o th o bj ect balls ahea d o f y o u An o ther way o f att

.

the same result is sh o wn in D iag ram B — drawing

cushi o n first and running o u t t o ward center o f
E ach sh o t has its advantages and disadvantages .

A is a little m o re exacting and therefo re m o re 1

be missed M etho d B may p o ssibly leave y o ur cue
.

t o o far t o wa rd the center o f the table t o a ff o rd

n u rs m g thereafter .
 DALY S B I LLIA R D BOOK 151
’

M eth o d C h o wever admits o f n o argument

, , It .

leaves all three balls o n the rail and if n o t fro zen o r, ,

very nea r it the best y o u can get is a massé o r bank

, ,

sh o t o r a scattering ro und the table sho t

, .

Plate 12 6 sh o ws a sho rt draw sho t where the im ,

‘

p o rtant p o int is to h ave the cue ball land o n the far

'

side o f the caro m ball This will avo id a line u p and

.
-

frequently the resulting leave will be an easy draw sh o t

f o r the bal k line nu rse
-

The leav e may be a thi n

PL A T E 12 7

sho t to be fo llo wed by a draw o r it may be a draw first

, , ,

o r even a f o ll o w depending up o n the o riginal p o siti o n

,

o f the balls
( nearer o r farther fr o m the side rail
y o u are

facing while making the first sh o t ) but in all cases y o u ,

must l an d o n the s eco n d bal l rig ht .

In Plate 12 7 again a sh o rt draw sh o t and drive the

, ,

o bj ect is t o land behind the sec o nd b all s o that o n e ball , ,

”
at least i s left ahead and facing a rail The sec o nd
, .
152 DALY S BILLIA R D
’
B OOK

sh o t may be a draw thin sh o t o r half fo ll o w but it

, , ,

—
wi l l n o t be a kis s bac k which is always dangero us if o f
,

any length .

Plate 12 8 sh o ws a p o sitio n where lack o f care will

“
result in a kiss o ff and t o o much fo rce will give a
-

“ ”
scatter o r a line u p S trike the cue ball ab o ve the
-

.
,

center with reverse E nglish first o bj ect ball three quar ,

-

te rs full carrying it al o ng with the cue ball The latter

,
.

sh o uld strike the cushi o n alm o st directly behind ca ro m

”
ball to av o id a kiss ; the reve rse brings it up t o the “

c o unt landing dead This sh o t frequently gives the

, .

”
line nurse p o siti o n The stro ke sh o uld b e made ve ry I
-

.
“

easily .

Plate 12 9 sho ws the familiar turning the c o rner

sh o t S trike cue ball with left and p nglish fi st t o E r o b i
! ,
.

ro m
j e c t ball f a l l d riving
, it a ro und the c o rner t o meet ca
ball at the line Y o u will n o tice that this is a case
.

of driving two b alls but i t i s at c l o s e rang e where

, ,

c o n tro l is p o ssible and therefo re admissible

,

P ractice this sh o t at vari o us p o siti o ns Y o u will then .

s o o n learn the slight di ff e rences which in cl o se w o rk in ,

”
straight rail billiards give the rail nurse o r in balk
,
-

line billiards the line nurse or the -

an cho r ,
or
”

—
chuck nurse p o sitio ns Y o u will s e e each time what .
,

cann o t be sh o wn in a diagram very well j ust whe re t o ,

land o n the s e c o n d bal l as well as ho w t o b ri ng the first

,

ball a ro und the c o rner Generally y o u land dead as p o s

.

sible o n the sec o nd ball .

Plate 13 0 sh o ws a variati o n o f this turning the c o r

“
n e r where y o u can land o n the sec o nd ball
,
o u ts i d
154 DALY S BILLIA R D BOOK
’

j ust as e asily as o n the inside and then get a better

,

result the balls facin g the end rail

, .

In Plate 131 is sh o wn o n e kind o f a line u p that o ff ers

-

a perfect p o siti o n sh o t It is played as a fo llo w C ue

. .

ball catches the sec o nd o bj ect ball o n the kiss The .

sh o t must be made hard en o ugh s o that the kiss ( which

will st o p the cue ball alm o st dead ) will send the first ball
o ver to the rail and back t o the line f o r p o siti o n Whe n .

ever it st o ps it will pro b ably be in a go o d p o siti o n .

PLA T E 130

Plate 132 sh o ws the easiest way f o r a large clas s o f

sh o ts where care must be used to keep cu e b all o ut
”
side ( nearer mid table after c o unting ) s o as to have
-

m o re c o unts at c o mmand .

And here is an 1m p o rt an t p o int This sh o t in its vari

.
,

ati o n s wi ll f requently be such that the first o bj e ct ball

, ,

o n its return fr o m the cushi o n may be m ade t o c atc h the

c u e ball o n a ki s s and will st o p

,
dead by the o ther ball .
 DALY S
’
BI LL I A R D B OOK 155

The cue ball will n o t m o ve f ar and o ften the anch o r , ,

“ ” —
chuck o r rail nurse p o siti o ns will result As will
, .

be sh o wn later thi s ,

is o n e o f the sh o ts '

e xperts use t o att ain

f the s e p o s iti o n s
o ne o f

Plate 133 sho ws a

case whe re the seco nd ‘

o bj ect ball must be

“ ”
l o o sened fro m the
cushi o n If do ne ex
.

ac tl right the cue

y ,

ball m ay be left s o -

t hat o n the next sh o t

all the balls may be PL A T E 131
b ro ught t o g e t h e r
again U s e re v e rs e E nglish o n the cue ball t o uching
.
‘

first o bj ect ball lightly s o as n o t to drive it away L and .

PL T E
A 132
156 DALY S LL I A R D BOOK
’
BI

pretty full o n o bj ect ball s o as to fo rce it o u t to the side

rail and back n o t fro zen t o either rail This sh o t is
, .

called f o r when sec o nd o b j ect ball is s o near the far rail

PL T E
A 133

that the o n e and o bj ect balls a re likely to nestle cl o s ely

t o gether leaving a difficult sh o t f o r a gather even
, ,

tho ugh a massé might p o ssibly make the c o unt If the.

PL T E
A 134
 C H APTE R XIX

THE C H U CK N UR SE
-

S a p reliminary to the c o nsiderati o n o f the standard

“ ” “ ”
nursin g p o siti o ns the chuck the rub the
, , ,

” “ ” “ ”
anch o r the rail and the line let us take a
, , ,

c o uple o f diagrams illustrating again and impressing

firmly a princip l e abs o lutely necessary in all o f them .

Then we will c o nsider nursing p o siti o ns in their n atural

”
o rder , natu ral in the sense that o n e leads to the o ther .

And als o they were devel o ped hist o rically in the o rder
, , , ,

in which I have c o nside red them .

S o me excepti o n may be taken to my placing the

” “ ”
anch o r befo re the rail , but this is merely a matter
”
o f n o menclature . The w o rd anch o r was applied t o
this nurse after the balk — line game was invented I n the .

“ ”
ancho r the balls are ast ride the balk line But the -

sh o t was played befo re balk lines were invented th o ugh

-

, ,

o f c o urse impe rfectly and f o r o nly small runs

, , Actually .

it o riginated as a part o f straight rail w o rk L ater .

,

Jac o b S chaefer disc o vered that he c o uld w o rk the same

sh o t with the balls astride the line t o defeat the balk .

”
Then and n o t till then was it called the anch o r
, , .

“ ”
Again the rail nu rse is a runn in g nurse an d the
,
- -

—
an c h o r nu rs e is a s ta ti o n ary nurse The running nurse
-
.
-

was o f later devel o pment and grew o ut o f the stati o nary .

158
 DALY S LLIA R D BOOK 159
’
BI

In Plate 13 5 is sh o wn a very imp o rtant stro ke o n e ,

abs o lutely necessary if y o u even aim t o partly master the

—
rail nurse o r the balk line nurse The p o int i s as to the
-
.

e ff ect o f E nglish passing fr o m the cue ball to the o bj ect

ball ( S e e n o te to Plate
. If in the sh o t sh o wn, ,

y o u E nglish o n the left the o bj ect ball

, takes RI G H T
E nglish and M OV E S T o T H E RI GH T o n the rail keep i ng ,

NE AR T H E C A R OM BA LL The o ther E nglish w o uld

.

PLA T E 135

leave the o bj ect ball standing still instead o f m o ving ,

alo ng to j o in its fello ws .

This sh o t is the fo undati o n o f the rail nurse and -

sh o uld be practiced with the balls at varying angles to

—
get used to it to s ee j ust ho w and ho w much the E n g
lish takes Try it with right E nglish then with left
.
, ,

and then with n o ne M aster this and y o u have started

.

o n the rail— nurse at which any g o o d amateur sh o uld

,
.

o ften run twenty fi v e o r m o re

-

and at which s o me am a
,

teurs have made runs far int o the hundreds .

160 D ALY S BIL L IA R D BOOK
’

T he C huc k N u rs e
-
.
— The principle j ust studied is
imp o rtant in the chuck nurse when played in the -

balk line game f o r it enables y o u to keep the first o bj ect

-

ball fro zen again st the rail fro m cr o ssing the balk line
, ,
-

The chu ck p o siti o n is sh o wn in Plates 13 6 and

In playin g this sh o t do n o t hi t the cu e ball be l o w cen

PL T EA 136

P e rs p e cti v e Vi e w of th e Ch uck -
N urs e . at wh i ch W . A S p i nk s
. ra n 1010

ter . Hit it slightly and it sl o ws up c o min g back

ab o ve ,

f o r the c o unt and lands s o ftly H itting ab o ve the center .

als o helps t o keep the first o bj ect ball fr o zen to the .

cushi o n Y o u sh o uld try t o have the cue ball l and as

.

NEA R T H E E D GE o f the caro m ball as p o ssible and as .

,
!

s o ftly as p o s sible The aim is to leave bo th o bj ect

.
 C H APTE R XX

TH E RU B -
NURSE
”
H E rub n u rse aro se in the devel o pment o f cush
-

i o n ca ro ms It is the finest cushi o n caro m p o siti o n

.

p o ssible s o metimes resulting in very lo ng runs It is

, .

sh o wn in Plate 138 I n playing it the cue ball m o ves a

.

small fracti o n o f an inch and the o bj ect balls even less I .

'

have seen M artin M ullen an amateur make m o re than

, ,

100 p o ints at this nurse in cus hi o n car o ms m o v m g the ,

balls o nly a f e w inches It is j ust as useful in straight

.

rail and in balk—

, line astride the line at its end .

The cue ball strikes the cushi o n first generally ( n o t

always ) with a little ,

reverse E nglish and

“ ”
to p Then it car .

o ms but the reve rs e

,

an d t o p E n g l i s h
’

deaden the cue ball s o

the o bj e ct balls are
scarcely disturbe d .

S o metimes the
c h u c k n u r s e p osi -

ti o n gro ws o ut o f
PLA T E 138 s
p 0 i l i n g the rub
n urse p o siti o n .But whenever y o u get the balls cl o s e
162
 DALY S B ILLIA R D BOOK 163
’

t o gether o n the rail watch the chances t o nudge them

,

int o o n e o f these gre at p o siti o ns o r int o the an cho r The

,
.

latter is fa r m o re difficult to execute an d in m o de rn c o m

,

petiti o n games it is barred as being to o easy th ough n o

,

players ever made many at it except S chaefer and Ives .

I n o rdinary balk line c o mpetiti o ns I think by all means
-

it o ught to be all o wed It adds greatly to the variety

.

o f play and he n ce the i nt e rest o f the gam e .

 C H APT E R XXI

TH E ‘
A N CH RO NUR S E
-
’

L AT E 139 sh o ws the anch o r nu rse p o siti o n It

“ -

is sh o wn with the balk lines but in straight rail

-

billiards the p o siti o n o ften o ccurs at o ther places al o ng

the rail M any think that the ancho r means the p o siti o n
.

whe re b o th o bj ect balls are fro zen to the rail side by ,

side But this while a kind o f anch o r is n o t the p o siti o n

.
, ,

made fam o us by S chaefe r and Ives In the real anch o r .

o n e ball i s fro zen t o the cushi o n the o the r is o u t a bit

,
.

The ball o n the rail is m ade to bear all the burden o f im

pact o f cue ball .

As sh o wn in o u r plate the rail ball o n the first sh o t , ,

is hit fai rly full but very s o ftly The cue ball kisses o ff
.

fro m this and j ust

ba rely grazes t h e 6‘

”1
glisten o f the sec o nd
o r free ball an d st o ps ,

very near it On the .

sec o nd sh o t the free

ball is hit first but it ,

i s ba rely grazed and ,

n o t m o ve d fro m i ts

p l ac e The rail ball .

PLA T E i s met fuller a n d the ,

cue ball k isses u p fr o m it to the o riginal p o siti o n j ust

. ,

164
 CH APT E R XXII

THE R AI L -
NURSE
student if h e has practiced these sh o ts sho uld
H E , ,

n o w be ready f o r the rail nurse This is imp o rtant

-

.
,

n o t s o much f o r itself
( in the larger cities little straight
rail unfo rtunately n o w o btains am o ng goo d players )
, ,

as f o r the f act that it i s the b es t p o s s ib l e s cho o l in g fo r

‘

the b al k li ne n u rs e and i n deed o ther p o siti o n plays in

-

c o untless number all o ver the table Wherever cl o s e .

manipulati o n is called f o r there the principles learned

in the rail nurse c o m
-

e int o play .

I n my o pini o n play ers take up the balk line to o

,
-

quickly and neglect the straight rail game t o the detri

,
-

ment o f their o wn play Cushi o n caro ms t o o ( n o t thre e

.
,

cushi o n caro ms h o wever ) is a game o f the very hig hes t

, ,

val u e in its teaching e ff ect and o f the utm o st beauty in

,

o siti o n pl aying ssibilities F the c o mpetiti o n

p p o o r
-

player I cann o t urge its practice to o stro ngly in prep

a rati o n f o r a match at balk line -
.

F irst in Plate
, s e e illustrated the n o rmal rail

p o siti o n and a series o f the o retically perfect sh o ts B all

, .

N o 2 ( o n the o utside ) sh o uld travel al o ng a straight

.

line 4 2 inches fro m the rail B all N o 1 ( o n the inside )

. .

zigzags to and fro m the rail and the two st o p in a ,

Y S BI LL I A R D BOOK 167
’

duplicate o f the o riginal p o siti o n

each time but a little bit further ,

al o ng the rail .

In all this discussi o n o f the rail

n urse I refer to B all N o 1 mean .
,

ing the ball nea rest the rail and ,

B all N o 2 meaning the o utside

.
,

ball .

Perfe ct E x ecu ti o n N at Po s s i
bl e
. S o much f o r the the o ry o f
the sh o t S o meti m es the player
.

will make a series o f these perfect

sh o ts But even the m o st exp ert
.

players m ake mistakes in executio n .

N o 1 ( ball nearest rail ) is hit to o

.

hard o r to o f ul l o r t o o easily .

S o m e tim e s bal l N o 2 i s fo rced o u t

l
.

s ide o f the fi v e i n ch line and it must

-

be flo cked back o r the nurse 1s l o st , ,

and s o it go es .

T he R ail N u rs e f -

a S e ri es o M is
takes The rail nurs e therefo re
.
“ -

, ,

as it c o mes int o actual play is f o r ,

the m o st part a series o f mistakes

and sho ts to c o rrect them .

I n the n o rmal perfect sh o t very ,

little E nglish gene rally n o ne is , ,

used ,and the cue ball is hit center ,

o r a t rifle bel o w S o me find that it .

aids delicacy in landing to elevate

the cue butt a t rifle and to h o ld
’

the cue firmer in the cue hand .

T wo Cl as s es o f M i s takes The .
168 DALY S BILLIA R D B OOK
’

mistakes in executi o n may be divided ro ughly int o two

—
classes fi rs t mistakes which o ccur with b o th o bj ect
,

balls still inside the fi v e i nch line o n c o mpleti o n o f the

-

c o unt ; sec o nd tho se sh o ts in which o n e o r b o th balls get

,

o utside the fi v e inch line -

In the next chapter we will

.

take up the p o siti o ns ar1s 1n g fro m the m o st frequent

erro rs with b o th balls left inside the fiv e inch lin e
,
-

In making the n o rmal sh o t I must n o t fo rget to call ,

particular attenti o n t o this : B all N o 1 must n o t be left .

o n the cu s hi o n but it must c o me o u t t o j o in ball N o

,
2 . .

In s o do ing h o wever,
— and n o te this well — N O 1 must .

n o t b e hi t s o hard as t o ma ke i t k is s N o 2 That w o uld . .

fo rce N o 2 acro ss the fi ve inch line .

.
-

Als o in m aking this caro m the cue ball must land o n

,

the center o r the veriest shade to the o u ts ide o f center o f

ball N o 2 The beginner s tendency is to land o n the
. .
’

inside o f center thus fo rcing ball N o 2 acro ss the fi v e

, .

Inch line and leaving his cue ball in between the two
o b j ect bal ls .

In making the perfect o r n o rmal rail sh o t N o 2 ball .

mo ves fro m 2 % to 3 inches ; N o 1 bal l o f c o u rse , by .

,

reas o n o f its zigzag c o urse must travel a little farther ,

.

Therefo re it must get a trifle m o re impetus Y o u must

,
.

land dead o n N o 2 but n o t dead en o ugh to freeze

.
,
.
170 DALY S B I LL I A R D BOOK’

the p o siti o n may neve rtheless make o n e sh o t in which , , ,

the balls m o ve half an inch and again two t o three inches .

S o g re at a di ff e re n ce do e s su ch a l i ttl e di fl e re n ce m ake
'

that i t i s i m p o s s i bl e to do m o re by di agram than to s ho w

The player must p ractice the p o siti o ns
the p ri ncip l e .

carefully and repeatedly and learn by actual play j ust ,

”
the feel am o unt o f E nglish etc , , .

A B all N o 1 di d n o t go f ar e n o ugh
—
. .

to j o in No . 2 . C ure Cu e b all to p ” “

an d l ft E gli h
e n s ,
Ba ll No . 1 hi t f ll u ,

j us t gh fi
enou o ce n te r to c aro m on

righ t f o c e n te r o f Ba ll No . 2 . I t is a

ki ssh s ot f ro m No . 1, an d No . 1
s que z e s e ’
alo ng to the ight
r .

B N . e x t, fi ne sh t l ft o ,
e En gli h s ,

l di g
an n o n N o . 1 q it f ll
u e u ,
to av oid
li e p
n -
u or f re e z e.

O . Ba ll s n ow in n o rm al ra il p iti os on

gi
a a n .

( Po s t ii on No h . 1 in e ac c as e i s th e re

su lt of f l ty pl y wi th
au a a p f e r e ct ra il
l e av e) .

PLA T E 14 1

In the ab o ve illustrati o n as in similar o nes further ,

on the first p o siti o n sh o ws the balls as they lie fro m an

,

”
impe rfect p rece di ng stro ke and o ut of
p o siti o n , .
 DALY S ’
B ILLIA R D BOOK 171

K ey to Thes e Particu l ar D iag ram sN o te carefully .

beside each p o siti o n is p rinted a desc ripti o n o f j ust ho w

the sh o t is made to p ro duce the succeeding p o siti o n .

In these sh o ts the balls m o ve al o ng ve ry s ho rt di s tan c e s .

The drawings separate the sec o nd p o siti o n fro m the first ,

the third fr o m the sec o nd etc a go o d bit t o make it , .

,

clear .

A . B al l N o . 1 was hi t t o o
h d ar as

com

it .
p are

C u re —
d with N 2 d g t h d
H it N
o

2 f ll E gli ho
.

.
an

u ,
o

n
a ea

s
of

on

righ t to k ep
e b all t i ght
cu e o r .

B . Be s ure now to h av e on e b ll a

l d t ight f
an t o r o ce n e r o f No . 2 . Pl y a

e il y E glis h igh t
as ,
n r .

C . S of t ‘
c aro m , E gli h igh t ; b th
n s r o

b lla s m o v e i n to w d th
ar il e ra .

D . T he n o rm a l ra il p iti os on ro c o v
e re d .

PL A T E 14 2
 DALY ’
S B I LL I A R D BOOK

In all these sh o ts bear again in mind that y o u must

n o t let ball N o .1 m o ve s o fast o ff the cushi o n as t o kiss
N o 2 o ut acro ss the fi ve inch line
.
-
The two d o tted lines
.

are ( o n the plate ) appro ximately 4 2 and 5 inches re

-

s e ct i v e l fr o m the rail and al o ng these lines the balls

p , y ,

sh o uld be kept T he p rim e dan g ers as to this are that

.

N o 1 stays t o o near the rail an d that N o 2 gets o ver

.
, .

the fi ve in ch line
-
.
174 DALY S B I LL I A R D B OOK
’

At first y o u may have s o me diffi culty in gettin g the

exact amo unt o f fo rce in the sh o t A little practice .
,

h o wever will give the average player a su rprising

,

am o unt o f co ntr o l In time the app reciati o n o f j ust .

A . F irst
pl ty f l ft E gli h us e en o e n s ,

and hi t N 1 b ll th q t f ll o. a re e -

u ar e rs u ,
a

h lf f ll w h t T hi will q z
a -
o o s o . s
‘
s uee e
’

N 1 l g th il i id f N 2 d
o . a on e ra ns e o o . an

p h N 2 t t w d the fi i h li
us o . ou o ar ve -
nc ne

ag i a n.

—N B . ow a ve r y fi ne s h o t, i h l ft
wt e

E gli h n s , to wo rk N o . 1 a onl g tw d o ar

N o . 2 . N o . 1 ki s s e s cu e b ll b k t
a ac o

av o id a f z re e e .

O . T he re su lt i s the n o rm a l il p i
ra os

t i on gi
a a n .

PL ATE 14 3

ho w hard to hit the cue b all bec o mes subc o nsci o us .

Practice o n this wil l help y o u elsewhe re in nursing .

The g reat aid value to y o ur general game that p ractice

o n this nurse gives makes a little w o rk o n it desirable , .
 DALY S B I LL I A R D BOOK
’

175

A .hi th
I nb ll g t t s cas e e cu e a o

slightly h d f B ll N 1 C a ea o a o . . ur e

C ueb ll hi t b ly b
a t with are a o ve ce n e r,

L E F T ENGLI S H k i i g b k d ,
ss n ac an

J U S T GRA! I N G B ll N O 2 ely a .
, s carc

sti i g i t
rr n .

B A fi ne s h ot l y y ftly t
. P a v er so no
to m o v e N o 2 . . E gli h l ft l di g
n s e ,
an n on

No . 1 f ll
u , b ut t the LE FT o n C E N
o

TE R .

C . C ue b all hi t to p and le ft lan din g ,

on No . 1, like a half fo llow s ho t

” “ -

D . R e s u t, the l n o rm a l ra il p iti os on
re co ve re d .
 CH APT E R XXV

R E C OVE RY O F POS I TI ON FR O M O T H E R FA U LTY L E AVES

I NS I DE T H E F I V E I N C H L I NE ( C t i d) -

on n ue

chapter finish es the m o st imp o rtant and c o m

H IS
m o n o f the faulty leaves inside the fi v e inch line -

made fro m the no rmal rail p o siti o n as a start .

First in this chapter take the case o f the balls lying

,

as sh o wn in Plate 14 5 in which the cue ball g o t o utside ,

A

and p o ssibly a bit ahead o f ball N o 2 It is o ne o f the . .

sho ts that must be ve ry exact in executi o n and if s o the , , ,

desired rec o very is e ff ected in o n e stro ke Thi s sh ot i s .

diffi cult the diffi culty arl s i n g l I l getting

, foll o w

A .
—A
f ll w h t E gli h o o th s o . n s on e

right t h ld th bj t b ll whi h m y
o o e o ec a ,
c a

e v enki ff f mss m b ll
o t ifl ro c aro a a r e .

C b ll l d f i ly f ll
ue a B ll N
an s 1
a r u on a o .
,

b t u I T s L E F T HAL F
on .

B . T he n o rm a l il p iti
ra os o n re g i ed
a n .

PLA T E 14 5

witho ut hitting No . 2 to o hard . Plate 14 6 explains

itself .
178 DALY S BILL I A R D B OOK
’

But I i l lustrate the keyn o te sho ts These mastered .

,

y o u will s e e y o urself the p o int o f o thers that vary but

little fr o m Y o u may even invent a sh o t o r s o .

B . M as s é “
q
s ue e e ,
” No z . b ll b
2 a e

i n g t o o f ar to the l ft
e . Cu e b ll l d
a an s

fu ll on N o. 1 b ut on the ri g ht o f ce n t e r

of N o . 2 Ba ll . N o . 1 “
q
s ue e e s
” z
i n to
the l fte of No . 2 an d ru s hes it o ut . T he
nor mal rail s h ot r egain ed , o r n arl e y so.

P LA T E 148

I the n ext chap t er we will co ns ider ho w to get ball

n

N o 2 back o nce it has cr o s s ed the fi v e inch line which

.
,
-

i s the o uter o n e o f the two do tt e

t
d lines sh o wn in the
plate T he 4 ! inch line i s the o n e ball N o 2 sh o uld
.
~
.

travel with perfect sh o ts

, .

M en tall y Gu idin g the S ho ts — I n playing the n o rmal .

rail sh o t ( and indeed nearly all p o siti o n sh o ts ) o n e

, ,

—
“

must get int o the habit o f mentally guiding f o r lack

o f a better term — the balls Ge t the mental habit o f .

seeing in y o ur mind s eye the balls m o ving to certain

’

p o siti o ns Y o u s e e the very sp o ts where y o u wan t the

.

balls to st o p and y o u try to land them there M entally

, .

see them travel alo ng their c o urse t o the fo re intenti o ned -

resting places and y o u ll find this h abit o f en o rm o us ’

assistance in making the balls do y o ur mental bidding .

 CH APT E R XXV I

E OVE RY O F POS I T I ON WH EN T H E O U T SI D E
R C BA L L
GE T S O VE R T H E FI V E I N C H LI N E
’

ITH this chapter we cl o se u r examinati o n the o o f

rail nu rse c o nsidering ho w to reco ve r the n o rmal
-

rail p o siti o n when ball N o 2 gets o ve r the fi ve inch line .

-

“
an d c o nsidering ho w t o turn the c o rner in o rder t o
o o n with the rail— nurse playing d o wn the adj a ce n t
g ,

side rail o r c o ming back o n the s ame rail in the o ther

”

directi o n The practice o f this nu rse will be to the

.

average player n o t o nly full o f interest — f o r it requi res

perfect t o o ls a fi rs t class table and fine billia rd tech
,
-

nique —but it will be o f immense value in the study o f

—
balk line It is in fact p ractically an abs o l u te n e c es s i ty
.
, ,

t o the mastery o f line w o rk There is n o o ther nursing .

practice f o r the average player s o go o d as p ractice o n

the rail s o go o d f o r the cultivati o n o f a nice sense o f
,

t o uch that s u b co nsci o us mastery o f muscles that

,
-

enables o n e t o drive the ball j ust s o far as desired The .

game is full o f niceties that give billiards its chief

charm and as a matter o f fact it is harder f o r the
, , ,

average amateur to play straight rail u p to i ts p o s s ibil i

ti es than it is in b alk line -

In Plate 149 we sh o w ball N o 2 part way o ver the .

fi v e inch line
-

N o w g e t this fi rm ly i n m in d : Whe n
.
,

179
180 DALY S B I LLIA R D B OOK
’

No ball starts breaking away to the right

. 2 ,

a te r i t at o n c e
f And the gene ral plan is t o .

“ ”
either a car o m o r a kiss back which will leave the
ball to the rig ht o f N o 2 ball Then the next sh o t . .
,

hitting N o 2 as full as the p o siti o n all o ws ( o n

.

N o 2 s center ) will edge N o 2 back t o the fi v e

.
’
, .

line But the firs t ste p y o u s e e is t o get the cue

.
, ,

A . T he “
k is s o u t -
”
s h ot . H it N o . 1 full ,
i h light d
w t s ra w . No . 1 g oes to cu s hi on,

co m e s b ack an d ik “
k b ll c th s
”
cu e a o v er e

i h li
five -
nc ne
,
one b ll JU S T GR A! I N G N 2
a o . .

N 1 B ll
o . ft a ,
a er th k i j i s N 2 wi th t
e s s, o n o . ou

k k i g i t way
no c n a .

B . H it N o . 2 to r ight of e e
c n t r, drivin g
1 t o 11A; i h nc es . N o . 2 Ba ll will th en cro s s

i id
ns e of the fi v e i h li
-
nc ne.

1 f ll shi kicks
“ ”
C . H it N o . It u . cu o ns,

cu e b all an d jo i N 2 i th
ns o . n e n o rm a l ra il y

p i ti
os on gi
a a n .

D . The n o rm a l ra il h s o t re g i ed
a n .

PLA T E 14 9

To TH E RIGH T
that is well o utside the five of No . 2; ,

inch line gene rally as much as two inches

,
.

With this plate ( N o 149 ) a p o siti o n in which N o . .

was f o rced o ver the line by N o 1 the latter c o min .

,

o u t fro m the cushi o n t o o str o ng will be f o und ,

ti o ns f o r the rec o very o f rail p o siti o n starting ,

”
the s o called d o uble kiss o ut tho ugh in reality
- -

o ne kiss o ccurs .
 C H APT E R XXVII

T URNI N G TH E C R O NE R S H OT S
L AT E S 15 0, 15 1, and 15 2 sh o w three ways o f .

“ ”
turning the c o rne r the o bj ect being to get the
,

balls either o n the next rail in n o rmal rail p o siti o n f o r a '

T o p an d left l ik e half fo ll o w shot

” “
'
-
.
,

Cu e b all g o i g t o cu s hio n nS o m etim e s .

y o u s im ply k i s s b ack f ro m N o 1 t o N o . .

2, i g ight E gli h
us n r n s to t h ro w No . 1
B lla d th
aro u n e co rn e r Res u t li g n no r
PLA TE
.

il p it i th il )
150
m l a ra ( os on on the o er ra

sh w by m l l fi g e
o n s a ur s .

T hin on Nol . 1, fu l on No . 2 . R e s ult

ing nor m l ail p iti
ra os on sh o wn by sm a ll
fi g ure s ( h d d i t
ea eh n e o th er di i
re ct o n ) .

P LA T E

No f ll ( l ft E gli h )
1 hi t b ll
u e n s ,
cu e a
PLA T E
.

f ll wi g t l ft ED GE f N 2
o o n o e o o . .

D tt d tli fi g s h w w ail p i
o e ou ne ure s o ne r os

ti on the ai l
on o r r .
 DALY S BIL LIA R D BOOK
’
183

c o ntinued rail nurse o r to tu rn back al o ng the same rail

-

, ,

faced in the o pp o site d irectio n fro m that i n which y o u

have been nursing them .

There are vari o us m o dificati o ns o f these and o n e o r

,

“ ”
two massé turns but get these in mind and o thers
,

will bec o me o bvi o us to y o u witho ut difficulty

.
 C H APT E R XXVIII
“
RAI L -

N UR SE ” PRI N CI PL ES A PPLY T O T H E “
BA LK
L I NE N UR SE
”

E WILL co nsider simply the balk line nurse

no w -

which will be f o und to c o ntain little really n ew

t o o n e who has learned the rail nu rse well It is the rail
-
.

nurse at l o nger range And as the ba lk line is 18 inches

.
-

fro m the rail it requires highe r exactness f o r perfect

,

executi o n with much less o pp o rtunity f o r the rec o very

,

“
o f the n o rmal line p o siti o n after a mistake .

F i rst in Plate 15 3 we s e e the balls ( P o siti o ns N o 1

, , .
,

N o 2 and N o 3 ) in p o siti o n whe re by d riving N o 1

.
, . .

t o the cushi o n it can be made t o rej o in N o 2 and leave .

the cue ball in p o siti o n f o r s o me s o ft caro ms The .

imp o rtant p o int to c o nsider here is the angle A B -

In P o siti o n N o 1 u s e rig ht E n g l is h and draw s o ftly

.

t o center ( as y o u face N o 2 n o t to center o n the l o n g

.
,

rail ) .

In P o siti o n N o 2 use n o E n g lis h and draw as befo re

. .

In P o siti o n N o 3 us e l e ft E n g l is h and draw to

.

”
thro w o bj ect ball ( N o 1 ) to the right to j o in N o 2
.
, . .

B ear in mind in j udging j ust what po int y o u wish to

b ring the o bj ect ball back to that the se co n d o bje c t bal l
wi l l n atu ral l y b e m o ve d to the rig ht a t rifle o n making
o f the c o unt by the cue bal l .

184
186 DALY S B I LL I A R D B OOK
’

ball must n o t c o me o ut s o fast as to kiss No . 2 acr o ss

the fi v e inch line
-

The drive in an d -

fro m the cushio n is the key no te

-

o ut

o
f the bal k l i n e n u rs e
-
f o r o n e will n o t easily miss the
,

s o ft car o ms which c o me in between the drives in and o ut

fro m the rail The imp o rtant sh o t to m
. ake p erfectly
is the drive sh o t and it is therefo re imp o rtant in mak
, , , ,

ing the s o ft caro ms to s o make them that the drive sh o t

,

shall be direct and easy in stead o f at an angle when , ,

E nglish will be needed t o c o rrect the c o me back angle - ,

The p o int ab o ut n o t bringin g the dri ven ball back

to o rap i dl y is very imp o rtant In this o n e thing lies “

the difference between the m o dern way o f playing the

line nurse and the o l d way Fo rmerly it was the practice
-

to play f o r the kiss between the o bj ect ball N o 1 and .

the cue ball o n the return But the be st players n o wa .

o o —
days d n t play f o r the kiss and st o p EX C E P T W HEN -

TH E K I SS B A C K
-

I s P E R F E C T LY S T R A I GH T ( o r n ea rly

s o ) o r when o bj ect ball i s a we e b it to o far t o the left

t o be in the pe rfect p o siti o n f o r the drive in an d o ut .

If the o bj ect ball c o ming back fro m the cushi o n o n ly

, ,

h o re l e e way
j us t g e ts to the o thers there is muc m f
”

, or

e rro r in its st o pping p o in t

( as t o right ness o r left ness - -

as y o u face it o n the c o me back ) A variati o n o f nearly

-

three inches may o ccur with the balls still left s o that o n
the next drive in and o ut y o u can retain c o n tro l .

F irst get this — ”

drive in and o ut s hbt well practiced-

s o that
y o u c an pr o perly guide th e o bj ect ball t o right
o r left with chan g ing E nglish and bring it back j ust

far en o ugh and n o t to o far s o as to k ick the o thers

, ,

away Then tak e up the next diagram s

. .
 DALY S ’
BI LL I A R D B OOK 187

A .
—
The pure balk line nurse p o siti o n H e re the first .

thi ng to do is to make o n e two o r even three o r fo ur , , ,

s o ft caro ms t o get the ball s

in the sec o nd p o siti o n .

B In this sec o nd p o siti o n

.

the leave may n o t be perfect .

It may va ry in an angle to
the cushio n as sh o wn in Plate ,

15 3 and when y o u d rive B all

,

N o 1 to the cushi o n varying

.
,

E nglish may be required to

brin g the ball back to the PL A TE

p o int required as previ o usly explained ,

.

C But supp o sing y o u have executed the drive in

.
-

and o u t pe rfectly the balls are n o w o n the line again

-

, ,

ready f o r s o me m o re s o ft car o ms p reparat o ry to an o ther ,

d rive in and o u t and s o o n ad in fi n itu m

- -

,
.

Ball N o 2 must always be kept o utsi de o f the balk

.

“ ”
line Then the balls are o ut o f balk and can be
.
,
.

man oeuve red with the line nurse s o lo ng as y o u are able -

t o execute it .

S o metimes the two will separate o r the cue ball will ,

get to o far ahead o f N o 1 ( t o its right ) s o that the .

,

“ ”
pro per plan will then be t o slip thr o ugh N o 1 and .

N o 2 and then play the line nurse driving t o the o ther

.
,
-

cushi o n S o metimes by use o f the edge nurse ( pass

.
-

ing back and f o rth acr o ss the face o f the two o bj ect
balls j ust grazing them ) they may be co axed back int o
,

the line nurse p o siti o n But f o r these vari o us fo rms o f

-
.

cl o se manipulati o n we will refer to the later chapte r de

“ ”
vo ted exclusively to cl o se manipulati o n But the .
188 DALY ’
S BILLIA R D BOOK

things learned in rec o very o f rail p o siti o n fr o m faulty

leaves will als o be o f help in rec o very line p o siti o ns
fro m faulty stro kes .
190 DALY S BILL I A R D BO OK
’

This i s pro bably h o wever a case o f the pers o n al equ a

, ,

ti o n.

By hitting the inside ball a bit fuller y o u e dg e i t do wn

tabl e b e y o n d t h e
o ther One o r two o f
.

th e o th r may e
t h e s e prepar at o ry

sh o ts an d the balls
o pe n up a bit s o y o u

can slip t h r o u g h .

That leave s y o u with

the lin e po siti o n still ,

but yo u are no w
headed the o ther way ,

t o ward the sh o rt tabl e

a gain The p o s s ib il
.

f
'
ity o f the same tac
2 i Fesz tz on ~

tics o ften ari ses i n

o ther places and in ,

straight rail The .

f al l t p s h i t ah ead
u
o
s l ip.
thr o ugh sh
-
o t i s

o f W id e an d v ahI abl e

use .

S o me o f the finest !

players do n o t let the

PL A T E 155
balls wh e n w o rking ,

alo ng the line get s o far fr o m the end rail as the sp o t

, ,

but slip thr o ugh and tu rn back at ab o ut the cro ss table -

balk line o r n o t far belo w I believe th o ro ughly in these

-

tactics It is aro und here that the nearby cushi o ns o ff er

.

fav o ring angles f o r cus hi o n drives o n ce the balls begin

,

t o act badly The same p o siti o n that in m id tabl e wo u l d

.
-
 DALY S BILL I A R D BOOK 191
’

be ve ry bad may near the

, end rails , o ff er no difii cu l ty
whatever .

This is particularly true o f massé sh o t leaves M id -

.

table massé sh o ts are always dangero us o n acc o unt o f the ,

l o ng reach required I co nsider p o s iti o ns near the e n d rails

.

fully 100 per cent m o re advantage o us than even the best

p o siti o ns in mid table and always figure to get b ack to
-

the end rails at o n c e With even fi rs t class players

.
-

n o mistake o f j udgme nt is s o c o mm o n as stickin g t o o

l o ng to mid table nurses with o ut turn in g back unless

-

, ,

it be the s in o f drivin g two balls .

 CH APTE R XXX

G E TT I N G “
TH E L I NE ”
FR O M T
CE R AI N FRE QUEN T
L E A VES

N B AL K L IN E billiards the line p o sitio n is always

-

highly desirable th o ugh whether the m o st desirable

,

may be a q uestio n depending up o n the play er s individ

,
’

ual abilities and pe rs o nal liking With S chae f er and .

”
Ives the anch o r ( befo re it was barred ) was the p o si
“

”
ti o n m o st s o ught The chuck nurse in my o pini o n is
an especially desirable p o sitio n i f at that balk—
-
.
, ,

line c o n ‘

tact p o int whe re the reach is n o t bad and the play is

right handed f o r a right handed player I n
- -

it is .

particularly valuable th o ugh in that fo rm o f billiards

,

difficult to get In . having a preparat o ry sh o t

allo wed in balk it I S much easier to get an d j ust as re
, ,

m u n e rati v e when attained Always keep it in mind when

.

ever the two bal ls are cl o se t o gether near the c o ntact

”
p o ints i e where the l o ng balk lines meet the end rails
, . .
,
-
.

W A S pinks in practice has made

. .
, at it and , ,

s o me o f these days I expect t o s e e s o me pro fessi o nal

make a very l o ng run in co mpetiti o n It is always g o o d .

f o r a c o llecti o n o f easy p o ints an d when it breaks up the ,

balls are still in c o ntro l I n playin g it h o wever the

.
, ,

arm s o o n tires which d o es n o t happen with the anch o r

, ,

the line o r the rail nurses yet it is an i nfinitely easier ,

nurse to play f o r a whi le than the anch o r .

192
194 DALY S BILL I A RD BOOK
’

PL A T E 157

PLA T E 158
DALY S
’
BI LL I A R D B OOK 195

PLA T E 159

PLA TE 160
196 DALY S
’
BI LLIA R D B OOK

PL A T E 16 1
198 DALY S
’
BI LL I A R D BOOK

PLA T E 16 4

PL AT E 16 5
DALY S
’
B I LL I AR D B OOK 199

PLA T E 16 6

PLA T E 16 7
200 DALY S
’
BI LLIA R D BOOK

PL A T E 16 8
2 02 DALY S B I LLIA R D BOOK
’
DALY S
’
B ILLIA R D BOOK 203

PL AT E 17 1
204 D ALY S
’
BI LLIA R D BOOK

PLA T E 17 2
 DALY S BI LLIA R D B OOK
’

206

PL A T E 17 4
DALY S BILL I A R D BOOK
’
207

PL A T E 17 5
2 08 DALY S B I LLIA R D BOOK
’

The imp o rtant p o int is the ve ry firs t s ho t It must .

be n o t to o hard n o r y e t to o s o ft The first o bj ect

, .

ball sho uld m o ve fo rward generally abo ut two inches ,

no t m o re than three as a rule Thi s will depend

, .

a bit o n j ust ho w the balls face y o u o n the first sh ot .

The o bj ect o f the first sho t i s to push N o 1 ball ahead .

I “ Jhat $ 142 A Yea W152 to f a ce

,

to
2 ak a

ard : dra w/bf at!

PLA TE 17 6

a bit an dleave the thin sho t f o r the sec on d en ablin g

”
,

o u t o land o n the sec o n d ball j ust where y o u n eed t o

y
.

get a draw an d gather f o r the line .

This sh o t is useful in a great m an y o ther plac es, as

Well as in getting the line .

N o w n o tice in this situati o n y o u may ch o o se which

,

way o f the table y o u wish the balls to face after the two
sh o ts are c o mpleted If y o u wish to fa ce the rig ht sho o t
. ,

o n the l e f t ball fi rs t sh o t
,
And if y o u W ish to face the
.

l e f t sh o o t o n the rig ht ball first sh o t

,
.

In Plate 17 7 the balls are sh o wn astride the line fac ,

“
ing the side rail and in p o siti o n f o r the s o f
,
edge
2 10 DALY S B I LL I A R D BOOK
’

n u rse.
’
The d o tted lines sh o w the successive p o siti o ns
o f the two o bj ect balls as o u pass acr o ss the face o f
y
”
the two with the edge nu rse -

NOT E C A R E FU LL Y : When they have been go tt en

near the rail bu t no t til l the n by hitting ball N o 2 ( o n
, , .

the right ) a shade harder than N o 1 y o u w o rk it al o ng

.

”
faste r Y o u can then slip thro ugh leavin g an easy
.
,

draw f o r the line nurse p o siti o n

-

As a general p ractice whenever the balls are well s et

,

f o r the edge nurse use it at o nce f o r as man y as y o u can

-

get o ut o f it They are the cheapest p o m ts y o u can find

. .

The getting the line scheme o utlined ab o ve can be

- -

w o rked at any o f the eight places where the balk lines -

o t o the rails
g .
 C HAP TE R XXXI
G E TTI N G “
THE RA I L N URSE
-
”
OS I TI O N
P

T WO UL D be an endless task to illustrate all the

”
p o ssible ways o f getting the rail In the o l d days .
,

When the experts

'

p layed i t, it was

almo st a sure
thing that o nce the
balls we re well in
Ge ttm tb s ra d
0

the sho rt table the g .

t p l ay e r wo uld have
‘

“ ”
them railed in
at mo st half a
d o zen sh o ts But .

a f ew e x a m p l e s
will give a helpful
n o ti o n o f s o me o f
the m o re imp o r
tant p o siti o n plays
”
PL A T E 178
to get the rail .

The diagrams 17 8 to 18 6 inclusive will need n o ex , ,

p l an at o r
y text .

On plate 17 9 the three succeeding p os iti o ns as drawn , ,

ar e widely separated o n the table In actual play the .

balls m o ve ve ry ve ry little , But to draw the succeed

.

ing p o siti o ns cl o se t o gethe r w o uld n o t result in clear

,

ness The balls remain at the sam e place o n the rail all
.

“ ”
du ring the l o o sening p ro cess Then o n resuming .

the rail nurse they wo rk al o ng slightly with succeeding

-

sh o ts .
212 DALY ’
S B I LLIA R D BOOK

PL T E
A 17 9

gg
D i s t an c e s b e t we e n p o s i t i o n s e x a e rated t o s h o w t h e p ri n
ci p l e
. T h e b all s re m ai n i n p rac ti cally o n e place o n t h e rai l .
2 14 DALY S LL I A R D BOOK
’
BI

PL A T E 182

PL A T E 18 3
DALY S LLIA R D BOOK 2 15
’
BI

PL T E
A 18 4

P LA T E 18 5
2 16 DALY S
’
BI LL I A R D BOOK

PL A T E 18 6
2 18 DALY S B I LLIA R D BOOK
’

in this regard the t actic has fallen int o general dis

,

repute much t o the betterment o f the game S peed

, .

is depended up o n f o r winning A c o uple o f g o o d runs

.

“ ”
and o n e may put the game o n ice .

In p o siti o n B o f the same plate ( N o 18 7 ) y o u hit .

cue ball center o r the least trifle belo w In p o siti o n C

, .

o u make a draw sh o t o f it In each case the first bj ec t

y . o

ball ( o n the rail ) c o mes o ver to the c o rner P ractice .

will teach y o u the vari o us m o dificati o ns o f this sh o t and ,

the principle o f s pringing the b all o n the rail al o ng to

a desired p o siti o n c o mes up in a great many places ,

particularly in cl o se w o rk al o ng the rail and near the

c o rners .

Plate 188 sh o ws two frequent sh o ts The diagrams .

explain them suffi ciently with o ut additi o nal text here .

In Plate 18 9 we have a H o pp e sh o t H itting the

“ ”
.

red full en o ugh y o u fo llo w t o the c o rner catching

, ,

the white The red go es acro s s the table and to the

.

c o rner again f o r the gather .

In Plate 190 the fo ll o w sh o t is the o n e y o u are in

clin e d first o ff
, t o make
, But it l o ses the balls D rive
. .

the re d aro und U s e reverse E nglish o n the cue ball to

.

deaden it o n the cushi o n lan di ng easily o n the white f o r

,

a gather .

The next series o f plates ( 191 to 19 5 ) are o f related

sh o ts S imilar ideas are in all o f them The letterin g
. .

o n the plates is suffi cient explan ati o n

L
.
DALY S
’
BI L LI A RD B OOK 2 19

P L AT E 18 7

PL T E
A 188
220 DALY S
’
BI LLIA R D B OOK

PL T E
A 18 9

PL T E
A 19 0
222 DALY S
’
BILLIA RD BOO K

PLAT E
DAL Y S
’
BI LLIA RD BOOK 2 23

PL T E
A 19 3
2 24 DALY ’
S B I LL I A R D BOOK

PL A T E 19 4
2 26 DALY S B I LL I A R D BOOK
’

PL T E
A 19 6

PLA T E 19 7
 CH APTE R XXXIII

G OI N G T HRO UGH A N D O T H ER U SE FUL O NTS O N

P I
C L OSE M A NI PU LA T I ON

L A YE R S who can average s ay fro m fo ur t o seven , ,

have acc o mplished the bi ggest part o f billiards .

The y kn o w angles can drive draw fo llo w massé play

, , , , ,

”
cushi o n and dead ball sh o ts All that i s needed f o r
-

. ,

a great increase in their speed is mastery o f s o me m inuter

technique and the attainment o f greater degree o f c o n
“ ”
t ro l o f speed o f sh o t On the c o ntro l o f speed ih
.
,

deed depends — well it i s diffi cult to s ay ho w much d o es

, ,

depend up o n that o n e thing N o p o siti o n sh o t is go o d .

f o r much if the S peed be much o ve r d o ne o r under d o ne - -

Greater c o ntro l o f speed and kn o wledge o f the finer

p o ints o f cl o se manipulative technique will make these 4
t o 7 men g o o d f o r averages o f 15 o r better But it is j ust .

he re that they fail They do n o t kn o w ho w to manip

.

”
u l ate. I do n o t mean that they cann o t s tro ke s o ftly .

What M an ip u l ati o n I s M anipulati o n is the art

”
.

o f making b o th balls m o ve exactly t o certain desirable

places and necessary to it as a p recedent i s the kn o wl

, ,
‘

edge o f what the desirable p o ints are D e l icacy al o ne .

is no t m an ip u l ati o n .

A study o f the finer technique is the m o st interesting

part o f billi ards and o nce graspe d will make any fi ve
, , ,

”
man a p o ssible fi f te e n man -
.

2 27
2 28 DALY S LL I A R D B OOK
’
BI

O n Go ing T hro u g h .
— I t is so o ften d e sirable when ,

the balls are cl o se t o g ethe r but facin g the o p en tabl e o r

, ,

”
to o far fro m the e n d rai l s t o “
g o th ro ugh and
, s o ,

”
needful is it that in s o d o ing the balls be n o t l o st “
,

that practice o n this o n e thing is extremely desirable .

Place the ball s f o r i nstance as sh o wn in Plate 19 8

, , ,

fro zen o r ve ry cl o se t o gether They are to o far up the .

table and y o u wish to g o thro ugh them and c o me back .

The danger p o int is o n the v ery firs t s ho t o f this g o

ing thro ugh pro cess The balls must be hit s o s o ftly
-

that while n o t leaving the cue ball f ro zen to either o b j ect

,

ball the o bj ect balls nevertheless after the first sh o t

, , , ,

3
are n o t t o exceed ab o ut 2 inches ( the diameter o f a
ball ) apart H ave that distance in mind as the extent
.

o f sepa rati o n that will exist whe n the ac tu al i n

g o g
thro u g h s ho t i s m ade and wo rk the sepa rati o n sl o wly
,

up to that distance .

Generally this is best attained by hitting o n e o bjec t

ball ful l e r than the o the r in making the s o ft sh o ts and
”
landing dead o n the se co nd ball and s to p p in g very
“
,

n e ar i t . Then nearly all the m o ti o n is imp arted to o n e

ball and is m o re easily calculated and c o ntro lled
, .

When the actual sh o t to go thro ugh is made the cu e

ball j ust bare l y g raz e s and ha rdly m o ves at le ast o n e o f
the o bj ect balls and perhaps bo th are j ust grazed and
, ,

they are left still very cl o se t o gether .

Be S u re to Ge t Pas t But in g o ing thro ugh the cue

.
, ,

ball must g o far en o ugh to g e t p as t the ce n te r o f the

”
o bje c t bal l that is
,
abo ve it s o that bo th o b j ect balls are
, ,

t o ward the end rail o r c o rn ers nearest y o u D o n t leave .

’

the cue ball in the middle ( the d o tted o utline sh o wn in

2 30 DALY S B ILL I A R D BOOK
’

Fo r instance place the balls as sh o wn in Plate 2 00

, .

A sh o ws ( in exaggerated f o rm t o make the p o int clear )

,

the e ff ect o f E nglish o n the o bj ect ball S o me s ay it i s

.

the cue ball that swerves I w o n t quarrel ab o ut that

.
’
.

The p o int is that y o u m ay by s hi fting E n g l is h fo rce

.

, ,

the o bje c t b all to s i dl e ab o u t at wi l l with the result that

,

o u get it j ust where o u want it f o r the next sh o t

y y .

I n B i s sh o wn a p o si
ti o n when wo rking o n
the line This diagram
.

a n d diagram C s h o w

the o pp o sit e e ff ect o f

o pp o site E nglish o ne ,

leaving the balls per

fe e t f o r the drive the ,

o ther l o sing the p o si

ti o n f o r the drive to the

c ushi o n .

This se rves to make

the p o int The ap p l i
.

cati o n c o mes in numer

o us f o rms whenever ’
,

o u h ave cl o se nu rs m
y g
-

manipulati o n o n hand .

N ow right here
, ,

having sh o wn ho w the
E nglish sw e rves the o h
PLA T E 199 j e c t ba l l in s o ft sh o ts ,

is the place to p o in t o ut where m o st amateurs and indeed , , ,

s o me p ro fessi o nals fail in g etting the best results o u t o f

,

the balk lin e nurse

-

.
DALY S B I LLIA R D BOOK 2 31
’

L TE
P A 20Q
2 32 DALY S B I LL I A R D ’
B OOK

In playing this nurse y o u must put a h i gh value

ON E V E R Y I N C H o f distance Av o id sending the fi rs t . .

o bj ect ball to o ar f ro m the l i n e when preparing t o drive

f
it to the cushi o n and back .

If the o bj ect ball o f this drive is o ver two inches , ,

fro m the cue ball it is a distinct draw sh o t , If it is .

inside the two inch distance it is alm o st a dead ball sh o t

- — , ,

“
o r a ve r l i h t draw S o me call it a c o n cussi o n
y s g .

sh o t ; that is the natural elasticity o f the iv o ry o n

”
,

c o ncussi o n al o ne is all that is needed to make the cue ball

c o me back f o r a very sh o rt distance And y o u do n o t .

have t o hit the cue ball l o w en o ugh to ri s k a m i s cu e .

A gain as y o u do n o t have to make the cue ball t ravel

,

far y o u c an the m o re easily make it land pe rfectly

, .

F irs t S tep . S o then bear in mind the e ff ect o f

, ,

E nglish in swe rving the first o bj ect ball to the p ro per

place s o that the d rive and draw i s straight instead o f
.

“ ”
at an angle Fo r that drive and draw sh o t in its
.
,

c o ntro l is the k eyst o ne sho t o f the line nurse On its

,
-

perfectio n depends the c o ntinuati o n o f the perfect line

p o siti o n There is n o t much danger o f the player miss
.

ing the s o ft caro m sh o ts but there is great danger o f ,

his making the d rive and draw b adly .

S ec o n d S tep In mak ing y o ur sh o ts preparat o ry to

.

—
getting the d rive and draw p o siti o n bear in mind where
-

o u want the th ree balls to stand whe n m ak in t h e d a w

y g r .

S e e Plate 2 01 D iagram 1 sh o ws a series o f p o siti o n s

.

o u do n o t wan t The l tte ring i n each diag ram tells

y e .

what is bad ab o ut the p o siti o n At the end is the p o s i .

”
ti o n y o u do wan t when making the
“
drive and draw - -

N o te Well the ri ght an gled triangle sit uati o n - -

.
2 34 DALY S B I LL I A R D BOOK
’

S ee, als o Plate 202 f o r p o siti o ns y o u do n o t wan t to

,
-

”
res u l t fro m the
“
drive an d draw and ho w they hap
- -

pened The last o n e o f the se ries sh o ws the p o s i ti o n y o u

.

”
do wan t t o result fro m the d rive and draw - -

T hird S te p N o w n o thing is m o re imp o rtant in

‘

.
,

making the d rive and draw than this

- -

D O NOT D E P E N D TOO M U C H U PON T H E

C U E B A LL B L O C KIN G T H E R E TUR NIN G OB

PL T E A 2 02

JE CT B A LL P E R FE C TL Y Therefo re do n o t hit the .

,

o b j ect ball o n the —

d rive and draw sho t any harder
-

than E NO U GH TO JU S T GE T IT B A C K to place .

A ve ry slight kiss will do n o damage A kiss perfectly .

in the middle o f the cue ball will n o t hurt B U T T H AT .

I S TOO S M A LL A M A R K t o depend o n hittin g it

i

perfectly and having the d riven o bj ect co me back

,

swiftly en o ugh to wreck things if the exact center be ,

n o t hit is bad
, .

If it c o mes back sl o wly j ust barely getting to the line

, ,
 DALY S LL I A R D BOOK 235
’
BI

it may have a side to side variati o n o f fro m 2 % to even

- -

3 inches and still leave y o u in c o ntr o l f o r a c o ntinuati o n

o f the line nu rse
-

T o Ge o rge S utt o n must be given c redit f o r perfecting

—
this meth o d o f playing the line nurse In the o l d days .

we used t o trust almo st entirely to the kiss t o st o p

, ,

the returning o bject ball N o w we play als o t o get .

the speed j ust right .

”
On
“
B l o c ki n g .

As a rule o n drives ,

to the cushi o n try ,

wh enever p o ssible t o
”
“
bl o ck That is leave
.
,

the cue ball and sec o nd

o b ect b all right
j t o

gether s o that when

,

the first o bj ect ball re

turn s it H A S T H E
WID TH OF T WO
BALLS IN ITS
PAT H instead o f o n e ;
,

that i s nearly 5 inches

'

o f iv o ry instead o f

It is in fact m o re than
, ,

that ; it is 73! inches ,

f o r the retu rning ball

has to be c o nsidered ,

to o PL T E
A 2 03

T o w o rk this p ro pe rly , s o metimes the first sh o t must

“ ”
be s o made that the bl o ck is p o ssible on the sec o n d
sh o t .
2 36 DALY S LLIA R D BOOK
’
BI

Plate 2 03 sh o ws an example In A the first sh o t is

.

“ ”
pro perly made In B n o bl o cking p o ssibility is left
.
,

because the first sh o t was imp ro perly made the cue ball ,

kn o cking the s e c o n d
o bj e ct ball to o far
‘
away .

Plate 2 04 sho ws a
l o nger drive with the ,
“
same p o int o f bl o ck
ing bro ught o ut .

M o re on Clo se M a
nip u l atio n Plate 2 05
.

sh o ws a p o siti o n in
which the required sh o t
will be fo und valuable
n o t o nl here but in
y ,

many o ther pl aces o n

the table The p o int
.

is to make a s o ft sh o t ,

letting the c u e b a l l
c o unt but stay back o f
,

car o m ball s o a s t o ,

leave the thin sho t

“ ”

PL A T E 204 f o r the next F o r in .

making the thin sh o t in cl o se billiards o n e may manip

u l at e the b alls in many ways an d l and o n the o bj e c t

ball where he will .

N o w he re i s an imp o rtant p o int ab o ut this leave

, .

( Plate S o metimes the o riginal p o siti o n is such

that the fi rst sho t may be made o n eithe r ball If y o u wish
.

the ultimate line p o diti o n resulting fro m this preliminary

2 38 D ALY S
’
BILLIA R D BOO K

manipulati o n to fac ethe c o rn er o n y o ur left play o n the

,
-

rig ht o bj ect ball first and vic e ve rs a !N o te

, In Plate . .

2 05 p o siti o n N o 2 sh o ws balls in p o siti o n resulti ng

, .

fro m sho t at p o sitio n N o 1 and s o o n ] .

, .

S tay N e ar the E nds o f the T abl e This sh o t i s o n e .

that is valuable n o t o nly near the line but anywhere o n ,

”
the t able f o r it will enable y o u to turn the balls
,

t o ward a c o rner when y o u fi n d y o urself headed f o r the ‘

”
o pen s e a o f mid table -

A variati o n o f this sh o t that is useful s o metimes o ccurs

when the balls lie as sh o wn in Plate 2 06 the need being ,

t o get the balls o ut o f balk D rive ball N o 1 o ut land . .

,

”
“
ing s o s o ftly o n N o 2 as t o leave the thin sh o t
. On .

the next land o n ball N o 1 s o as to leave a draw f o r .

p o siti o n .

Co n c e rn i ng the T hi n S ho t
,
I have sp o k en o ften .

”
abo ut the thin sh o t meaning o f co urse with the balls
, , ,

cl o se t o gether a chance to t o uch the edge o f the first

,

ball landing o n the sec o nd ball jus t where y o u wan t to

, .

And that is the reas o n o f its value ( S ee Pl ate .

Y o u may want t o land f o r a draw ; y o u may want to

land f r an o ther thin sho t ( the edge nurse
o — or for

a g o ing thro ugh sh o t Y o u may do as y o u will The

-

. !

l o ng thin s ho t i s n o t desirable an d a very l o n g o n e i s

‘

, ,

bad .

In all cl o se wo rk especially n ear the cushi o ns the

, ,

thin sh o t i s valuable and always to be kept i n min d to ,

w o rk the balls s o that it may be left up .

An o ther p o int : in s o me cases y o u have the ch o ice o f

landing full o n the seco nd ball and then draw o r to land ,

t o leave the thin sh o t make it and then draw , Do n t , ,

’
DALY S BILLIA RD BOOK
’
239

PL T E
A 2 06
 240 DALY S B I LL I A R D BOOK
’

y ou see that that is ju s t o n e e x tra c o u nt fro m the given

leave ! The s u m o f these e x tra c o u n ts in a cl o se match
‘

may be the di ff erence between vi ct o ry and defeat It .

i s always a percent age in y o ur fav o r .

”
In g o ing thro ugh if y o u take fo ur o r five in d o ing
,

it and the o ther fell o w gets thro ugh in three sh o ts y o u ,

have two sh o ts the best o f it a go o dly percentage in ,

o , o —
y ur fav r f r the g o ing thr o ugh sh o t is lik ely to
o

happen many times in the c o urse o f a game I n big .

champi o nships 500 p o ints it might well c o me up ten o r

, ,

fifteen times T wo o r three extra p o ints each time are

.

n o t t o be sneezed at .

This was o n e o f Frank Ives percentages o ver m o st ’

o ther playe rs I have seen him take seven o r e i ght sh o ts

.

to get thr o ugh and even S chae f er rarely t o o k o ver five

, .

And this p o int o f getting e x tra p o in ts be f o re driving

“ ”
( d o n t d rive until have ) applies dy
’
y o u t o n o t o r t o
”
the g o ing thro ugh sh o t but t o s o ft sh o ts al o ng the
-

rail with balls astride the line the player preparing to

, ,

d rive o n e t o the cushi o n and back And again to the .

line p o sitio n itself E ach time y o u manipulate the balls

.

— ”
prepari ng f o r the drive and draw there s a chance to -
’

pick up an extra p o int o r two by careful w o rk .

Plate 2 07 sh o ws a p o siti o n where landing thin n o t

o nly gives y o u the ext ra p o int but gives y ou a better ,

chance o f saving co ntro l in making the s e co n d sh o t f o r j ,

o u may land o n the sec o n d ball f ul l o r thin as y o u

y ,

ch o o se
.

E l evate d C u e Bu tt I n c o nnecti o n with this p oint o f

.

cl o se manipulati o n where it is desired that the o bj ect

,

balls be m o ved very slightly I may call attentio n to a ,

 242 D ALY S
’
B I LL I A RD BOO K

matter o f techniq ue that is helpful an d therefo re

imp o rtant .

Take the edge nurse f o r instance ; the o bj ect balls

-

side by side the cue ball passing acro ss their face In

, .

making this stro ke elevate the butt o f y o ur cue a bit s o ,

“ ”
that the sh o t has a t o uch o f d rag The cue ball .

starts with speed en o ugh t o prevent its ro lling o ff Then .

the drag takes e ff ect and the ball sl o ws up quickly .

N o iv o ry ball was ever e xactly perfect f o r m o re than

a very brief time even minutes serving t o expand o r co n
,

PL A T E 208

E le v ati ng b utt of cue to ge t d rag on th e cue ball i n l

s of t c ose s h o ts

t ract it in varying temperatures And in this cl o se w o rk .

the deflecti o n o f the sixty fo urth part o f an inch in

-

c o urse o f the ball makes the di ff erence betwee n a perfe

s h o t and a p o o r o n e .

An o ther thing that will help in this s o ft edging “

a firmer grip o n the butt o f the cue The cue ball g e .

m o re acti o n fr o m a l o o se g rip and less fr o m a

Plate 2 08 sh o ws cue p o siti o n in making
s h o ts. The French players have devel o ped
 D ALY S BILLIA R D BOOK 2 43
’

m o re o f late than the Ame ricans and have made it o f ,

great value in nursing B ut it takes p ractice f o r the

.
,

”
feel is diff e rent .

The same elevati o n o f cue butt is als o useful in sh o rt

and medium draw sh o ts It is pe rfect f o r the little
.

“ ”
nip draw used in the line nurse In this the F rench -

players als o fav o r the tighter grip as giving a dea de r ,

ball and bette r c o nt ro l o f fo rce than the l o o se grip It .

”
is with this little nip stro ke that Ge o rge S utt o n at
“

his best ( as fo r instance when he beat Willie H o ppe and

, ,

ave raged an even 100) sh o wed his mastery o f the line

nurse The sh o t when delivered feels s o mething like a
.
, ,

‘
f ne ar m as s é ”
é
Y o u can get quick draw acti o n while
.

hitting the cue ball high en o ugh s o that miscues need n o t

w o rry y o u Willie H o ppe s dig as Ge o rge S l o s s o n
.
“ ’
,

terms it is a perfect example o f this style o f str o ke

, .
 CH APT E R XXXIV

U SE FU L O N T S ON CE RTA I N
P I FRE QU E N T L A E VES
L OS E L Y related to what I have j ust said o n cl o se
manipulati o n c o me s o me p o ints bearing o n the best
meth o d o f making certain sh o ts that frequently arise ,

yet have unusual features The p o int is n o t o nly to get

.

the c o unt but to get it in the best way either to avo id

,

a tie u p o r to slip in o n e additi o nal p o int o ver the usual

-

and m o re o bvi o us meth o d o f play .

S o metimes the thing is t o “

bl o ck the o bj ect ball o n
its return fro m the cushi o n after a drive This alm o s t
.

always i s attai ned by landing dead o n the sec o nd ball .

S o metimes the p o int is landing o n the best sp o t .

N o tice the leave in D iagram B in Plate 2 09 In mak .

ing the sh o t try to have the c o unt co m p l e te d be f o re .

the first ball g e ts bac k fr o m the cushi o n s o that when

, (

it kisses the cue ball the latter will n o t be kn o cked

against the sec o nd ball and sp o il the leave Als o try .
,

t o land o n the sec o nd ball o n the e dg e n e are s t y o u .

In D iagram A Plate 2 09 y o u try to land as thin as

, ,

p o ssible o n the edge neares t y o u p laying alm o st as

, ,

th o ugh y o u were trying t o g et to o much draw and miss

the sh o t
.

When b o th balls are s o placed as to be under c o ntro l ,

but nea r the center o f the end rail ( that is far f ro m the
,

244
246 DALY S B I LL I A R D BOOK
’

line ) it is
, often be st to get them near the lin e o u the
ve ry firs t s ho t .S e e Pl ate 2 10 .

On the sec o nd sh o t y o u can l and s o ftly and retain

c o ntro l If y o u wait
.

till the sec o nd sh o t to

put them o ve r the line
( having made the first

sh o t s o f tly ) y o u are ,

likely to hit them to o

hard i n o rder to be s ure
t o get o ver and have ,

an awkward bad an ,
-

gled sh o t f o r the next .

When they are b o th

in the middle secti o n at
the end o f the table
wo rk them t o ward the
line that is n e ares t .

Whenever the balls

are cl o se to the c o rner ,

in balk line b e -

s u re to g e t o n e n e ar the

l in e on the firs t s ho t .

PL T E A 2 10 Plate 2 11 sh o ws f o ur
such p o siti o ns They ari se i n great vari ety B ad tie
. .

ups will o ften result fr o m failure t o g et the balls near

the line o n the firs t s ho t waiting inste ad until the
, , ,

sec o nd yet beginners at balk line alm o st invariably o ver

,
-

lo o k the p o int I kn o w o f n o m o re f requent erro r and

.
'

I have o bs erved players in amateur champi o nship s do .

th i s Wi th disastro us results .
DALY S BILLIA R D BOOK 247
’

PL A T E 2 11
248 DALY S B I LLIA R D BOOK
’

On all fo ll o w sh o ts d o wn the table try to av o id line

up s . T wo such sh o ts are sh o wn in Plate 2 1 2
.

PL A TE 2 12

P LA T E 2 13
250 DALY S BILLIA R D B OOK
’

PLA T E 2 15

PLA T E 2 16
 DALY S LL I A R D B OOK 2 51
’
BI

Plate 2 17 sh o ws the balls in a p o siti o n where the o rdi

na ry draw is likely to line up the balls D raw to the
.

PL A T E 2 17

side o f the sec o nd ball nearest the side rail This sh o t

.
,

p ro pe rly made is likely to leave an easy drive and draw

,

f o r the line p o siti o n

.
 C H APT E R XXXV

ON T H E VA LU E O F T H E I NCH
HE thing that m o st distinctly marks the dif
o ne

ference between the fai r player and the fine player

is in the matter of valuati o n o f the inches 1 am co n .

s t an tl telling y o ung players D o n t g ive away the

’

y ,

PL T E
A 2 18

A g o o d s h o t to p racti ce t o acq ui re co n t ro l of s p ee d .

i n c hes ! Often they give away ne edlessly n o t o nly , ,

inches but feet

,
.

”
The value o f the dead ball is in saving the inches ,

and the dead ball stro ke in varyi ng fo rms b o th direct

-

ball to ball an d o ff the cushi o n is the m o st distinguishin g

- -

2 52
254 DALY S B I LLIA RD B OOK
’

called attenti o n t o the value o f the inch in the little sho ts

r r - —
p epa at o y to the drive and draw o n the line If the
r .

cue b all i s within an inch o r two o f the o bj ect ball it is

the easiest kind o f a d raw with n o chance f o r a miscue
, ,

and an easy chance to land perfectly and dead If ho w .

,

ever the cue ball is three inches fr o m the driven o bj ect

,

ball the d raw is l o ng en o ugh to endanger getting the

,

P L TEA 2 20

exac t am o unt o f f o rce and if t o o great breaking up

, , ,

the nurse ; o r in the e ff o rt n o t to get t o o great speed o f

, ,

digging to o deeply o n the cue ball and making a miscue .

Plate 2 19 sh o ws an o ther c o mm o n sh o t The p o int i s

.

“
t o hit the first ball s o thin that y o u j ust graze the
7
”
glisten and let the E nglish carry the hu e ball al o ng to
the car o m ball leaving an easy draw
, .

The succe e ding plates ( 2 2 0 to 2 2 2 ) are sel f e xpl an -

at o r
y .
DALY S LL I A R D BOOK 2 55
’
BI

PL T E
A 22 1

PL T E
A 2 22
 CH APTE R XXXVI
C O MPARATI VE T H EORY OF S TRAI GH T RAI L , BALK LL I N E
AN D C U S H I ON CAR O M S

N S TR AI GH T R AIL billiards the re is j ust o n e great

-

—
nursing p o siti o n to w o rk f o r the rail nurs e Y o u -

plan every sh o t with the idea o f getting the balls ulti

mately t o the c o rne rs o r the end rail cl o se t o gether , .

Anywhere al o ng o r i ns i de o f the fi ve inch lin e sh o wn in -

‘

o u r study diagrams o f the line nurse and especially at -

the ends o f the table Where the expert is ahn o s t certain

,

t o get the balls o n the rail i n a f e w sh o t s .

—
Plate 2 2 3 is a s traight rail map T he dep th o f the .

s hadi n g is g re ate s t i n tho s e p o rti o n s o f the t abl e whe re

i t is m o s t adv an tag e o u s to g e t the b all s Near the c o r .

ners the shading is heaviest as there the nearness o f bo th ,

2

rails gives m o re manipulative chances n o t o nly to get ,

the b alls o n the rail but als o to reg ai n c o n tro l if th ey

,

begin to get balky as billia rd balls have a way o f d o in g

,
.

The map as sh o wn sh o uld n o t be s o dark al o ng the

middle o f the side rails That place i s go o d o nly when
.

the balls are in line nurse p o siti o n o r un der c o ntro l in

-

s o me o ther way .

I t is o n l y at the e n ds o
f the tabl e tha t o ne has a g o o d
c han c e to s to p b al ky ball s fro m the ir an ti cs . I n m id
tabl e the bal l s hav e al l the bes t f o it .

D o wn the s ide rail is go o d in the rail nurse -

so lo n g as

256
 DALY S LLIA R D B OOK 257
’
BI

the balls are acting well But if t o c o rrect an erro r y o u

.
, ,

have t o drive to the cushi o n an d back y o ur drive is l o ng .

, .

At the end rails it is sh o rt .

N o w in balk line as will be n o ted in the balk line

,
-

,
-

maps further o n the ch o ice p o siti o ns are n o t cl o se in

, ,

the c o rn ers They are in fact danger sp o ts Al o ng

.
, , .

—
the end balk lines o r al o ng the e n d rails n e ar the s i de
bal k l in e s are the best p o siti o ns
-

H ence with a given .

,

PL A TE 2 24

leave such as is sh o wn in Plate

, 2 2 4, the best sh o t in
s trai
g ht rai l is one thi ng an d in —
bal k lin e bi l l i ards i s
an o the r. On e
might draw sc o res o f diagrams to illus
t rate this p o int But a ca reful study o f the di ff erence
.

—
between the ch ice places o n the st raight rail map and
o

o n the balk line maps will direct o u in y o ur ch o ice o f

y
-

s h o ts . K eep the balls hea de d to ward the p arts o f the

tab l e s ho wn i n he avie s t s hade o n the st raight rail map .

( Plate
In balk line except f o r the p o ssibilities always t o be
-

, ,
2 58 DALY S BILLIAR D BOO K
’

”
k ept in mind f
getting the chuck o r ancho r
, o

( the latter is n o w barred in champi o nships

) it i s the ,

best o f tactics t o k e ep g o ing f o r the l in e Keep the .

balls as n ear the lin es as y o u can s o that when y o u have ,

to cro ss them y o u do n o t h ave far to g o and can s ave

the i nches .

There are o nly two really go o d c o ntact p o ints f o r the

chuck nurse where the reach is easy and the re are a
-

, ,

great many places where the line nu rse is to be attained -

.
.

Y e t n o t all line p o siti o ns are equally desirable In .

general the best p o siti o ns that is the p o siti o ns where ,

, , ,

in cas e o
f the bal l s g e ttin g b al ky , y o u have m o re way s
to tu rn , m o re o pp o rtunities f o r getting them under
perfect c o ntro l again are
F i rs t — The end rails near the p o in ts where the two
,

—
l o ng balk lines t o uch the en d rails I c all these the .

“ ”
c o ntact p o ints .

S co n d
e — The p o rti o ns o f the balk lines fro m the -

cushio n c o ntact p o int o ut to the intersecti o n with the

-

o ther lines .

H ig h Val ue o f the E n d R ai ls — I regard the p o int .

of keeping at the end ra ils as o f the very hig he s t

im p o rtance This terri t o ry is wo rth 5 0 per cent m o re
.

than any o the r and fully 100 per cent better than that
,

part o f the table between the sp o ts Aro und the end .

rails y o u have many lines o f retreat an d attack many ,

ways t o prevent the ru n b e ing st o pped N 0 g re at ru ns .

we re ev e r m ad e an y whe re e l s e BAD PO S ITION S IN .

M I D TAB L E A R E O F T E N GOOD PO S ITION S AT

-

T H E E N D R AIL S .
 PL T E A 226

BA L LI
K N E M AP 18 1
lu
.

D ar k e s t s h a d e d pl a c e s h a v e th e hi gh e s t s tra t e gi c va e
i n p o s 1t i o n pl a y C o r n e rs a n d id e p m

p
u
d a n g e ro s i n
.

t h an i n
1 00 7 5. an d 50
S
N o te
s ac e s
th e va lu
a re
e
even
m arks ( ap
o re

ro x i m a t e ) ! . .
 DALY S BILLIA R D BOOK 2 59
’

To win billiard matches y o u must keep the o ther fell o w

s itting in his chair .

D i ff e re n ce B e twe e n Plates 2 2 5 an d S ee
and 2 2 6 which are balk line maps w o rked o ut by the
,
-

edit o r o f this vo lume s o mething s o far as my billiard

, ,

experience go es entirely n ew as a means o f putting

,

p o sitio n billiards strikingly be fo re the eye The first .

o n e is an map The n ext is an . map In .

the c o rners are much m o re t o be av o ided than in

f o r in y o u have the great advantage o f a prepara

t o ry sh o t The same thing applies to the l o ng spaces

.

do wn the side rails There in .

y o u are in the v e r
, y
a

greatest danger o f lo sing c o ntro l f o r y o u must get o ut ,

o f balk o n the ve ry fi rst sh o t ; s o in T H E S ID E

PAN E L S are VE R Y BAD .

In fact in , the side spaces are much w o rse than

—
the mid table space f o r in the side spaces y o u must
,

drive at o nce and if the balls are facing u p table it

, ,
-

is generally a nasty drive with little o r n o p o siti o n p o s ,

s ib i l it in it
y .

In the side spaces are a l i ttl e be tter than the

—
mid table space f o r y o u have the p reparat o ry sh o t ;
,

next y o u are nearer the cushi o n f o r cro ss table w o rk ;

,
-

and lastly the up and d o wn table drives are likely to be

, ,
- -

helped by having the side rail near by t o help guide the

driven o bj ect ball back t o a bette r place .

In t o o the imp o rtance o f keeping as n e ar as

,

o s s ib l e to the bal k l i n e s in all p o rti o ns of the table

p
-

is much greater s o as to have sh o rt sh o ts to get ac ro ss

, .

B ut in all fo rms o f balk line o n e cann o t repeat to o o ften

-

that the e n d rail p o s i ti o ns and es p eciall y aro u n d the ,

2 60 DALY S BILLIA RD BOOK
’

c o n tac t p o i n ts an d n e ar the bal k l ines ,

-

are , fro m al l

o in ts v i e w, the be s t
p f o .

The end rail c o ntact p o ints are fully 2 5 per cent

-

o r —
m e valuable than the side rail c o ntact p o ints .

T o give the idea clearly I sh o uld ra te the c o mparative

strategi c values ( ap p r o ximately ) o f the three best table
,
—
l o c alities as fo ll o ws in balk line ,

1 -
E nd
rail c o ntact p o ints
-

100 ( best p o ssible

)
2 — S ide rail c o ntact p o int s
-

75 ( sec o nd best
)
3 — Wher e lines intersect
'

50 ( third ch o ice
)
Bu t in the game the balk — line inters ecti o n p o ints
are fav o red by s o me players at a higher value .

In the map it will be n o ticed that the danger o us

territ o ry o f the side rail spaces c o mes up to the cro ss
-

table lines an d the c o rner spaces are bad to a distance

,

fa rther fro m the exact c o rner than in f o r having ,

to c ro ss the line o n the first sh o t the distan ce may be ,

en o ugh to l o se c o ntro l even th o ugh it be o nly eight o r

,

ten inches while in ,there is the p rep arat o ry in

which t o ge t o n e ball n ear a line .

As go od as the side rail c o ntact p o ints are there is -

“ ”
the o pen s e a o f the mid table o n o n e side o f them -

On the end rails when the need c o mes ,

— an d i t al way s

wil l c o m e l — t o d rive o r bank it is the sh o rtest drive o r ,

bank o n the table instead o f the lo n g est On the end

,
.

rail y o u m ay wo rk e i the r s i de o f the b all s slipping ,

thro ugh if y o u wish driving to either cushi o n and in

, , ,

general have much the best o f it .

Av o id the l o ng drive Y o u cann o t tell ab o ut its last .

s i x inches .
262 DALY S BILLIA RD BOOK
’

si o u al champ i o nships stick to play in mid table when the

-

balls w o rked badly instead o f w o rking them back to the

end with the re s ult that twice within a sh o rt time the
, ,

balls getting unruly he was left t o make a cushi o n sh o t

,

o r bank sh o t . H e made the sho ts bu t he l o s t c o n tro l

, ,

and his runs were bro ken I n bo th o f thes e i ns tanc es the

.

l e ave s he g o t wo u l d have be en c o m p ara ti vel y e as y had

the y o ccu rre d at the e nds ins te ad o f in the c en te r o f
the tabl e .

PL T E
A 227

There are many ways o f getting back to the end ,

dependin g up o n the p o siti o n o f the balls an d the mo re ,

o bvi o us will readily o ccur t o y o u

”
.

In Plate 2 2 7 we sh o w the shift sh o t a series o f

“

plain caro ms n o t o ften m o re than tw

,

,
o by which the,

balls can b e w o rked fro m m id table t o ward the e n d

-

rapidly .

In Plates 2 2 8 and 2 2 9 we sh o w leaves which in mid -

r

table are dangero us The S A M E LE A VE S N E AR

.
,
DALY S BILLIA R D BOOK 2 63
’

PL T E
A 2 28
264 DALY S
’
BI LLIA R D B OOK

PL A T E 2 29
2 66 DALY S BILLIA RD BOOK
’

The o ther sh o t —the o n e indicated in the plate — is

“
the slip thro u g which will leave the balls headed
t o ward the end rail c o ntact p o ints T ake that o n e !
.

Plate 2 31 sh o ws a p o siti o n where y o u must ch o o se

between the end rail c o ntact p o ints H ere the draw is
.

t o o l o ng t o h o ld the balls to the n e ar c o ntact p o int ,

so
y o u dr aw and prepare t o take them t o the
f ar c on

tact p o int ( b ) .

Take the line o f least resistance T hat is ch o o se the

.
,

sh o t y o u can make
m o st surely Pick .

the sho t y o u can

make with a g o o d
s o l i d bl o w instead,

o f the o n e that re

quires to o much
draw with chance
,

o f miscues o r in ,

deed any sh o t that

verges o n the wo n
derf u l in executi o n .

L e t the o ther fel

l o w do the marvel
P LA T E 2 31
o u s o nes Take the
.

eight inch draw in preference to the two ~fo o t d raw al

-

ways i f the c hanc es o f g o o d l e ave are any whe re n ear

e u al The c unt is first in imp o rtance the exactness
q . o
,

o f p o siti o n sec o nd
.

Bad Po s i ti o n s i n — I have sp o ken ab o ut the dif

ference in c o rner p o siti o n in and they being
the m o re dange ro us in F o r that reas o n at the ,
DALY S BILLIA R D B OO K 2 67
’

PL T E
A 23 2
2 68 DALY S B I LL I A R D
’
B OOK

PL T E
A 2 33
 C H APTE R XXXVII

DON T S , ’
DO S ’
,
AN D P I O N T S ON T
PR A C I CE

OM E hints fr m a life time o f billiard experience may

o -

no t c o me ami ss as t o preparati o n f o r c o mpetiti o n

billiards .

I n y o ur practice w o rk especially it is imp o ssible t o

“ ”
o ve restimate the imp o rtance o f system play Frac .

tice o n e style o f sh o t o ver and o ver aga i n with the ,

definite o bj ect o f making the balls g o t o ce rtain sp o ts .

T he m e re having o
f de fin i te o b e c ti ve
j p o in ts wil l wo n de r
fu lly i m p ro ve y o u r e x ecu tio n .

I cann o t urge t o o strenu o usly that the amateur keep

firmly in mind the dete rminati o n n o t t o attempt l o ng
d rives o f b o th balls t o keep go ing to the end rails and
, ,

“ ”
of saving the inches The p o ints o f the do
. and
d o n t list arising m o st frequently are these
’
!

When b o th balls in balk line are in g et o n e near

,
“ ” -

the line o n the firs t s ho t .

Avo id sh o ts that leave the balls to o clo sely in the

c o rner .

In cl o se w o rk near the line avo id p utting b o th balls

”
in at o nce L eave o n e o u t
. .

At first it will be c o nsci o us mental e ff o rt to keep think

ing o f these things but after a time it will bec o me sec o nd
,

natu re .

What Preven ts Pl ay ers I mp ro ving R ight here l et .

2 70
 DALY S B ILLIA R D B OOK 271
’

me s ay that I do n o t kn o w o f anything that p revents

impro vement that keeps fairly g o o d players back in
,

their game s o much as making the wro ng sh o t and the n

havin g i t co m e o u t we l l .

To illustrate : Y o u have a certain leave Fro m o n e .

ball y o u ll gather near the co rn e r l in e s

’
Fro m the o the r .

farther up t o ward cente r table S upp o se y o u ch o o se the .

latter make it perfectly and have the balls all t o gether

, ,

bu t out in the Op e n tabl e .

N ow up t o this p o int the test o f the g o o d o r bad

j udgment o f the sh o t is s til l to c o m e It c o mes when the .

b all s b eg in to g e t s ep arate d and y o u have t o drive ,

.

That may be several sh o ts later and y o u f o rget ab o ut ,

that first badly ch o sen sho t .

Nea r the end rail y o u w o uld have m o re ways o f turn

ing aro und In mid table y o u gene rally have o nly o n e
.
-

rec o very sh o t and that is likely t o be a diffi cult o n e

, .

If y o u had taken the right sh o t in the first place at the ,

beginning o f the ru n y o u w o uld n o t n o w be c o nfro nted

,

by this danger o us p o siti o n .

But he re i s where the care l es s p l ay er who will n o t s e e

the p o i n t ke ep s wro n g S upp o se he gets o u t o f this h o le
.
,

and gets to the ends and go es o n H e refuses to see the .

danger that he was in H e will n o t realize that in a

.

maj o rity o f cases he wo u l d n o t have g o tte n o u t o f i t .

And the very next time he will repeat that o riginal e rro r
and go o n do m g i t never impr o ving his game
, .

T he L aw o f Av erag es i n the C ho ic e o f S ho ts In life .

insurance it is an o ld saying that n o thing is s o n u o er

tain as the life o f a single pe rs o n and n o thing is s o cer ,

tain as the ave rage life o f a large number o f pers o ns .

2 72 DALY S BILLIA RD BOOK
’

An d it is in billiards Any o n e p o o rly ch o s en sh o t

so .

may c o me o u t well en o ugh but i t i s as c ertain as fate ,

that the ave rag e res u l t o f c o nstant repetiti o n o f this

same sho t will be bad and that the average result o f a

,

large number o f well ch o sen sh o ts will be bett er .

N o w that s what wins in billiards

’
That s what makes .
’

o n e man a o o d player who is impr o ving all the while

g , ,

the o ther staying in a rut And this even tho ugh o n .

the individual sho t the m an in the rut may even be the

m o re skillful in ex ecuti o n .

With o n e y o u never kn o w j ust ho w well he will play .

With the o ther y o u never kn o w j ust ho w badly he will

play L uck i s with o n e it is always against the o ther
.
, .

S o stick t o y o ur system .

D o n t let the fo rtunate o utc o me o f a badly ch o sen

’

sh o t fo o l y o u int o thinking that it was g o o d billiards

instead o f l uc ky billiards .

F rank Ives att ributed his success t o the res o lve made
early in his career that he w o uld play the right sho t ”

as a matter o f strict system and if he c o uld n o t play ,

the sh o t he w o uld master it .

S ay y o u are in the middle o f a run balls acting ,

kindly S uddenly they bec o m e perverse and y o u miss a

. .

hard o n e H o w did i t hap p en tha t y o u had the hard

.

o n e to
p l ay ! It is generally true that the sh o t that led

t o all the t ro uble the breaking up o f y o ur c o ntro l was

‘

, ,

a p o o rly ch o sen o r p o o rly executed o n e two thre e o r , ,

m o re p o i n ts b ac k The play in whist that determines

.

”
who gets the
“
o dd trick is generally o n e o f the early
cards n o t the late o nes And in billiards it s the same
,
.
’
.

An al y z e Y o u r Gam e Ge t in the habit o f analyzing

. ,
2 74 DALY S BILLIA R D BOOK ’

On the day o f the match it is better to leave the balls

alo ne A half h o ur befo re it make a few p ractice sh o ts
.

“ ”
j ust t o limber up and get the feel o f things espe ,

c i al l d raw and nu rsing sh o ts B ut d n t keep t it f

y o o a o r .

m o re than ten o r fifteen minutes .

N e ve r c han g e y o u r s
y s tem in or i m m e diate l y p rec ed
ing a m atch .

On S afe ty Pl ay As
a general thing d o n t be a
.
’

”
safety player S peed wins n o t safety play
. A , .

co uple o f g o o d runs and y o u may have the c o ntest all

“ ”
y o ur way ,o n ice a s we s a
, y Of c o urse if o n e sh o t .
,

i s as g o o d as the o ther ch o o se the o n e that will leave them

,

safe if y o u miss Or if y o ur o ppo nent has o nly a few to

.

g o
, and y o u a g o o d number
y o u must take every means ,

t o ke ep him fro m sc o ring But during the maj o r part .

o f the c o ntest safety play is p o o r tacti cs .

As to the S tro k e C ultivate a sm o o th even stro ke

‘

.
, ,

with deci si o n in it n o t timidity fl o wing n o t j e rky

, , ,

”
a measured stro k e as Th o ma s Gallagher calls it
, .

C o ncentrate mentally o n hitting where y o u aim and n o t ,

o n l o o king at the sec o nd o bj ect ball .

In a go o d stro ke y o u do n o t feel y o ur muscles at w o rk .

“ ”
They do n o t gripe o r tighten up They have n o ne .

o f that c o ntracted feeling fo ll o wed by a j erky expl o sive , ,

e ff o rt It is sm o o thly fl o wing
. crescend o that is ,
-

increasin g in decisi o n t o ward the end i nstead o f having ,

any feeling o f letting up at the end I have heard it .

said that every g o o d stro k e wants in it at the end j ust

”
a little d n it j ust at the instant o f c o ntact There s
, .
’

a go o d deal in that .

N o w a f e w m o re p ractical hints and we are d o n e .

 D ALY S BILLIA R D B OOK 2 75
’

T ip s . that y o ur cue leathe r is pro perly shaped

S ee .

All go o d o n e me n understand this Pe rs o nally I do n o t .

favo r the o verlapping leather I want a fo undati o n back .

o f it . But never have the leathe r smaller than the cue

tip o r the tip will split
, .

S elect a leather neither t o o bard h o r t o o s o ft but .

,

favo r the latte r It h o lds the chalk better and d o es n o t

.

bec o me gl o ssy s o s o o n .

M iscues are due 9 0 per cent o f the time t o faulty

aim It is very difficult to hit a sphere c o rrectly as the
.
,

“ ”
side recedes A little o bservati o n will c o nvince y o u
.

o f this . H it the ball p ro pe rly and y o u will gain c o n fi

d enc e and make few miscues L earn to blame y o ur .

delivery and n o t the tip .

Always strike the cue ball as near the center as the

p o siti o n s o ught will pe rmit H itting t o o l o w f o r d raw
”
sh o ts is likely n o t o nly t o j ump the ball f es ul t in a ,

miscue but may tear the cl o th H itting t o o high in a

, .

fo llo w sh o t is likely to make the ball bump and go o ff at

an angle instead o f f o ll o wing .

”
Never lunge at a ball in o rder to strike it hard
“
.

L ess fo rce an d m o re accuracy will pr o cure better results .

As a rule let the cue m an file o r san dpaper y o ur cue

, .

H e understands it better .

E ducate y o urself t o the same cue as much as p o ssible .

If playing an imp o rtant match with a sh o rt cue have a ,

l o ng o n e standing by f o r l o ng bridge sh o ts .

N o go o d player can execute all he kn o ws all the

time M an is human n o t a machine
.
, .

Nearly every o ne kn o ws f o r instance ho w a ring is

, ,

engraved Only trained muscles can attempt the w o rk

.
,
C 8 19 13
2 76 DALY S ’
BILLIA R D BOOK

and o nly a f ew engravers are —

to p n o tche rs
And s o .
”

in billia rds .

N o matter ho w much billiards y o u kn o w there is a ,

pers o nal equati o n partly o f ne rves pa rtly o f eyesight

, , ,

partly o f muscular sense and c o ntro l as sh o wn in match ,

and t o u rnament play o f that peculiar quality kn o wn as

,

“
class that sets limits to o ne s p o we rs S o me men do
” ’
.

their best unde r p ressure and strain s o me do their w o rst, .

Kn o wl e dg e Ve rs u s E x e cu ti o n Given two playe rs

.
,

o ne stro ng o n executio n a man repeating the same

,

—
draw o r cus hi o n sh o t fifty times will c o unt f o rty fi v e
times the o ther will c o unt s ay o nly thirty fi v e times
, , ,
-

—the sec o nd m an weaker o n executi o n might easily

, ,

defeat the o ther While he cann o t execute s o well he

.
,

can av o id having t o make s o many hard sh o ts .

But n o matter what the pers o nal equati o n may be ,

kn o wi ng m o re b il li ards wi ll n e ve r m ake y o u p l ay wo rse .

TH E END