Show CONTROL IS MAIN THING IN BILLIARDS ft i t willie H oppe wizard of billiards dy by FRANK 0 MENKE the person who wants to succeed in billiards must have perfect control of the muscles in the wrist lie ho must have a perfect oyo eye tor for measuring distance and speed and above all else he never must get careless so says hoppo hoppe the champion of all champions in tho the cuu world the most w billiard player in the game today hoppe has been playing the yamo game since lie ho was a lad in knickerbockers five years ago ho he seemed to have reached absolute perfection dut but every year since then lie hau gone beyond has bas performed so BO brilliantly so wonderfully that it seems that ho he is a miracle worker carelessness has haa kept out of the championship class many men who had wonderful natural skill with the cue said hoppe the greatest trouble with the average ts Is that he grows careless with an easy shot before him and frequently he falls down early in my career I 1 saw tho the mistake that others made and I 1 resolved that I 1 always would exercise as much care in playing an easy shot as a hard one perfect control of all the wrist muscles in my mind Is the main essential to billiard success unless this control Is acquired and acquired ful ly one cannot become a real billiard jet because in critical moments in a game the lack of control of even tho the minutest muscle will lose a shot for a man and perhaps tho the game and ultimately the series being played judgment of speed and distance really depends upon the muscular control it a man has his bis muscles under control ho he can send a ball lust just as tar far and as fast as he wants it if he ha his speed and distance calculations often go awry hoppe changes hla his stanco stance after ey ev ery shot ile ho never deviates train from that rulo rule even though his succeeding shot la Is so simple that no he could mako make it with his eyes closed hoppes theory Is that by changing stanco stance tt it gives tho the muscles a P chance to slip blip back into their original position so that when ho he calls upon them for tho the next shot they will answer readily and normally in my opinion said eald hoppa tho the bmw shot la Is the most valuably abie in a game of bil billiards lards when a player has haa reached the point where lie ho has control and a good draw shot he is on his way toward the championship class A draw shot la is tho the basis tor for all the variations of english hoppe declared that playing tor for position Is merly a matter of practice the rule ot of billiards Is simple he said keep the balls as closely together as possible so BO that tt it will bo be easy to make the next shot acquiring position consistently needs practice and care but one who is patient and who goes at the thing wholeheartedly is sure to succeed hoppe leaped into international tame fame ten or eleven years ago when he wont to france and surprised the entire billiard world by beating vignaux the wonderful frenchman hoppo was a mere boy at the timo time still in his teens and the wise ones declared that his victory was was a fluke auke but events since then have shown that it a fluke victory they have shown that hoppe to Is tho the greatest billiard player ot of this ago and in the opinion ot of mady the greatest in tho the long history ot of the cue game |