Ball and chain

“ It may be suspended by a steel chain from a support of known height, for example thirteen or fourteen feet, thus forming a big pendulum whose period is readily calculated to be about four seconds. Let the thread be attached to a hook on the side of the ball. A jerk from even a baby's hand is sufficient to snap it. ”

“ The inside of the outer and the outside of the inner ring are grooved, constituting the ball "race" which forms the surface upon which the balls roll and which, at the same time, serves to hold them in place. ”

“ He possessed, and still possesses, a wonderful command of length, with plenty of spin from the off—a considerable variation of flight—a slower ball with several inches of break from leg, delivered, by the way, from almost the palm of the hand, and a ball that, as it comes sailing up the pitch towards you, has every appearance of being intended for a leg break, but which in reality is simply propelled with a large quantity of "top on." ”

“ It should leave the crosse at the bend, or if the throw is short, a little below. The ball should have a ring painted around it, by which you can see the spin. If the ball and crosse are wet, the spin is greater. If a perfect twist could be given to the ball, so that it would spin from right to left, or left to right, when it is blocked, there is no doubt but that "blocking" such shots would be almost as risky as trying to catch them. Here is a chance for invention—how to make the ball twist on its own axis with certainty; for we do not say we have discovered the correct principle. ”

“ Six or eight young men stand around in a circle, with their garments tucked up so as not to impede their movements. A light, hollow wickerwork ball is started by one of them, and the object of the game is to keep it going as long as possible. They must not touch the ball with the hand, but they show great skill and activity in catching it with the foot, either side of the ankle, the heel, the toe, the knee, the shoulder. ”

“ As long as the arm was held stiff no curve could be imparted to the flight of the ball in the air, but with the increase of pace came the possibility of doing this by a movement of the wrist as the ball left the hand, the twist thus given causing the ball, by the pressure on the air, to swerve to one side or the other, or downwards, according to the position of the hand and fingers as the ball is let go. ”

“ With the single exception that in a “down-hot” the formality of “delivering a ball in the midst,” as Strutt has it, was dispensed with, there were many features of similarity between it and the wall game. ”

“ While the main form of play for the ball is to roll it, it is permissible to bound the ball from one player to another, and also permissible to knock over a club with a ball that bounds instead of rolling. ”

“ The ball, which weighs about four ounces, is thrown from a basket-work gauntlet or cesta, with a leather glove attached for fastening to the hand, and during a game I have seen the ball sent with such terrific force that it has rebounded from the wall at one end of the court against that at the other. ”

“ The wooden ball is lifted from the ground by means of the spoon-ended cue, and thrown towards the ring—the object of the player being to pass the ball through the ring; and he who succeeds in making any given number of points by fairly ringing his ball, or canoning against the other balls, wins the game. ”

“ If the striker’s ball be angled—that is, so placed in the jaws of the pocket as not to allow him to strike the previously-played ball—he may have all the balls except his own and the object ball removed from the table to allow him to try bricole from the cushion. In some clubs and public rooms an angled ball is allowed to be moved an inch or two from the corner; but with a ball so removed the player must not take a life. ”

“ The position which the object-ball may assume after being struck is unimportant, so far as that particular stroke is concerned; but in the management of the balls and the ability to leave them in a position favorable to the next play—or unfavorable to his opponent, if the player thinks it impossible to count himself—lies the strength and science of the game.
41 General Division of the Object-Balls. The spots on the horizontal line through the centre diameter of the ball, are the different fractional parts at which the cue-ball may be delivered, to effect certain results. ”

“ To the lower side of the foot-ball attach a piece of rubber gas pipe, and make the end fast to a ring in the floor. That prevents the ball from flying all about the room when struck, and brings it back quickly. ”

“ As the women throw the ball at the pole in the center, the men catch it in their bags that are made around bent sticks, which have bows each about four inches in diameter, with a cross at the lower side. ”

“ Now although style cannot drive a ball, there is still a right and a wrong way of going at the problem, and the first thing is to clearly understand the conditions of that problem. Let the player imagine himself at the centre of a circle, the radius of which is the length of his arms plus the club shaft, and upon whose circumference is resting the ball that is to be swept away. ”

“ It was a much easier matter to hit the old underhand delivery, with its straight ball, and to send the pigskin screaming through the air and over a low picket fence, than to hit the swift curved ball of to-day and lift it over the high board fences that surround the professional grounds, as any old-time player can testify. ”

“ The delivery as shown is one-half below centre, with the central line k through cue meeting the point of contact, h, on ball, and imparting to it three distinct forces, that of impulsion, rotation, and retrograde, the latter causing the cue-ball to rotate in direction of the arrow b; the strength of this force is such as to counteract the natural tendency of the impulsion, prevent the forward rotation, and cause the ball thereby to slide over the cloth without the rolling motion. ”

“ Canons are made by the player striking two balls successively with his own ball fairly delivered from his spoon. Thus (says the most recent writer on the game) a clever player may make a large number of points—five, seven, or more at a stroke: two the first canon, two for a second canon, and three for the ring. This, however, is very seldom accomplished.
Considerable skill is required in throwing the ball, as the ring, turning freely on its pivot, twists round on being struck. To "make the ring," it is necessary, therefore, that the ball be thrown fairly through its centre. ”

“ Its weak point is that even its best exponents send down many bad-length balls, which being on the leg-side are fruitful in runs; for, curiously enough, though a good-length ball on the leg-side breaking in is perhaps the most difficult of all to play, an over-pitched or short ball on that side, with or without break, is certainly the easiest to punish. ”

“ To the inner surface of the ball is attached a weight which is secured in place by a piece of cloth glued over it. When this ball is thrown through the air with a whirling motion, it describes a curve like that indicated by dotted lines in the upper part of the engraving, so that it is difficult, if not impossible, to catch it. When the ball is rolled on a plane surface, it does not take a straightforward course, as would be expected from a well-balanced ball, but its course is very erratic, as indicated by dotted lines in the lower part of the figure. ”

“ The expert player places his hand on the table a few inches from the ball, and resting his cue upon it and bending over to look along the stick, studies the situation with the motionless attitude and fixed gaze of a hungry toad taking aim at a fly. Then with the end of his stick he strikes the ball, which, if his calculations are correct, goes in a certain direction, hits another ball, and then goes somewhere else. And this is all. It is true, to be able to make the ball go exactly in the right direction, and stop at the right point, requires, as our author declares, "immense practice;" ”

“ Although the ball is struck a descending blow, there is in the blow much more of the forward motion than the downward, so that all the ordinary principles with regard to getting the ball up into the air, apply with equal force to this stroke as to any other, and it is a matter of prime importance that the ball must be struck below the centre of its mass—that the loft of the club must get in underneath what is popularly called the middle of the ball. ”

“ Thus in many other ball-games the ball is hit when it is further off from the striker’s foot—as in Golf, Racquets, Tennis, Lawn Tennis, Fives. In Cricket, except in such strokes as the pull and the cut, the ball should be hit when it is near to the striker’s foot. ”

“ By this time the balls were scattered all down the cushions, about a foot or two apart, and there wasn't a shot in sight anywhere that any man might hope to make. In a burst of anger and confessed defeat, he sent his ball flying around the table at random, and it crotched a ball that was packed against the cushion and sprang across to a ball against the bank on the opposite side, and counted! ”

“ As the holes are widely separated and the ground in many places uneven and broken up, the ball will be driven into many positions, it will lie in the grass, in sand pits or bunkers, and in all kinds of holes and hollows in the rough surface, therefore it will be readily understood that the distance the ball is sent will vary with the stroke. It is to meet the difficulties arising from having to strike the ball in its different positions that so many instruments are called into requisition for the purpose. ”

“ Thus if the result of a few strokes has been to leave ball 3 out of play near a side cushion, ball 2 being near the centre of the table and ball 1 in hand, the game is to continue the losing hazards till ball 2 is so left that the cannon on ball 3 bringing it into play is easy. ”

“ Cue-ball cushions at a, b, effecting carom on ball 2. Object-ball cushions at c, d, e, resting at f.
Diagram 2.—Cue-ball 1⁄2 left, 1⁄8 above, object-ball “full;” stroke, 1⁄2 in excess of “ordinary.” Cue-ball cushions at a, effects carom on ball 2. Object-ball cushions at a, b, c, d, resting at e.
The cue-ball performs a slow twisting “follow,” the object-ball running with speed. The “slowed” follow ball is executed through the delivery 1⁄8 above, which imparts slight rotating power in the ball. ”

“ But the instant that motion is communicated, resistance to sliding forward is experienced. The ball then is subjected to two forces, one from the cue impelling it forward, and the other a retarding force caused by the friction of the cloth. ”

“ Official Handballs used for the game of Handball differ somewhat in America and Ireland, where this is the national game. The American balls are made both of rubber and leather. The specifications for the balls of the Amateur Athletic Union of America call for a ball measuring 1-7/8 inches in diameter, with a weight of 1-5/8 ounces. ”

“ Slowing the cue-ball and speeding the object-ball is one of the most important strokes in the game. If the cue-ball be delivered at the pivot centre of the object-ball, the points of impact will be at the greatest diameter of both balls and the exact centres of each ball will meet, and the cue-ball, if hit 1⁄4 below, will stop instantly and rest. ”

“ The back part of the metal ring is fastened to an iron bar which extends six inches from the pole or wall to which it is attached (Fig. 615) . The
Ball is round and hollow, composed of two layers, an inside rubber bladder and an 349outside cover of leather. The rubber is tightly inflated and the cover so laced that it cannot be caught or held by the lacing. The ball measures from thirty to thirty-two inches in circumference and weighs from eighteen to twenty ounces (Fig. 616) .
The usual
Set of Players is ten, making five on each side, though the game is occasionally played with more. ”

“ If it is a solid india-rubber ball and there is a blank wall, he can make it rebound at different angles, one good way being, in throwing it, to let it first hit the ground close to the wall's foot. He may also pledge himself to catch it first with the right hand and then with the left for a hundred times ”

“ For ball 3 is supposed to be on the spot, and ball 1 in hand, so that a slight change in the position of ball 2, either up or down the table or in its distance from the side cushion, merely entails a corresponding move of ball 1, so that the cannon on ball 3 may always be played a soft half-ball. ”

“ I take one long preliminary swing to prepare the shoulder muscles for the coming strain, and with my right foot firmly braced on the slab, I lurch forward with a high, straight throw, the weight of my body adding impetus to the ball. ”

“ Now imagine yourself utterly unable to sweep the ball to leg as George Panused to do, and receiving a ball that you cannot reach at the pitch so as to hit with a straight bat—in other words, rather a short ball—what are you to do? If the ball is very short you will probably get back, bring your left foot on a line with, and close to, the right, and try either to make the ball glide off your bat to long-leg or play it with a full face for a single in front of shortleg. ”

“ The game is played with a gutta-percha ball, about an inch and a quarter in diameter, and a variety of clubs, with wooden or iron heads, whose individual use depends on the position in which the ball lies. It is usual for each player to be followed by a boy, who carries his clubs and watches his ball, marking it down as it falls. ”

“ Play ball 1 three-quarters low on ball 2, half-ball or rather fuller, but avoid the kiss. Ball 1 will travel up cushion 2 and make the cannon or hazard, whilst ball 2 will escape towards the left middle pocket.
Example E is a screw off a fine ball, a stroke at which many amateurs fail chiefly because they do not stand properly for it—do not usually align their cue fine enough on ball 2. ”

“ There is no doubt whatever that double swerves may be obtained by the axis of rotation of the ball altering during the flight of the ball. I can remember quite clearly at a meeting of the All-England Lawn-tennis Club at Wimbledon, a player informing me quite seriously that a lawn-tennis ball would swerve two ways in the air. At that time I was under the impression that I knew all there was to be known about the flight of the ball. ”