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Show HHT m ' ' f Hoppe Has Strong Hold on.. Billiard Titles IH By TOMMY CLARK. j WW OW lone will "v7HU Hoppo reft re-ft 1 tain hla billiard honors? This I jffl question lo now uppcrmoiit In the minds' of the cue enthu- slants. Finding a sultablo opponent for tho world's 18 1 and 1S.2 balk line cham-ft cham-ft ft plon 1b Just as hard as looking around It for a man capablo of relieving Jack I Johnson of his pugilistic honors. Hoppe f has defeated every cue artist of note ft 8 during tho last two years, and with 451 few In sight able to make the holder ?1 T of the two titles extend himself It looks Hi as If It will bo many years before he In ifci dethroned. S The youthful master of the cue bc- ? gnn the 1310 season with no titles dan-hS dan-hS gling to his belt, but cloicd it tho ifi champion at both 1S.1 and 18.2 balk line vv billiards. TWk. Last vear he won every match with 7Ifi case, and his recent contest with Sut-fJCfc Sut-fJCfc ton in New York shows that he is as nl Eood as ever. His next match will bo lym In April with Calvin Demarest for the jvm is 1 championship. itl' While Hoppe has won matches all ? m"- oer the world and played beforo the tm nobility abroad, nothing pleases him more than the fact that ho has been jJ3L entertained by tho president of the 44 m United States and has grasped the hand JTj 1 of the genial Mr. Taft. An added dls-11 dls-11 ! . tinction Is that Hoppe Is the first man 'Sfll who ever showed the ottlclal family in I the "White House the mysteries of the cue and the Ivories. It was on New Year's eve a year ago that President Taft gathered together his family and tho cabinet members ind their wives and invited Willie Hoppe to play billiards for them. "I had played in many championships where largo sums wcro involved as veil as the championship," said Hoppo recontly. "but I never before experienced experi-enced tho nervousness which I felt J5W .vhen giving tho exhibition before the ,"tv oresldent." ftf Mr Taft, however, made tho "boy "W vondcr," as Hoppe Is known, feel at rF r lome by sajlng: W "My young man, just consider me an - ordinary citizen tonight, for I want Hfl you to feel at easo and not get nerv- R DUB." Jra As soon as Hoppe got his favorite K. cue In hand and started tho Ivories ft rolling ho says the nervousness van- m : Ishcd, and never did tho youth play ; more brilliantly than in the gamo with h? his manager, Burton Mank, when ho iJ ran 100 points. 18.2 balk lino Congrcss- man Nicholas Longworth, son-in-law .' WILLIE HOPPE, CHAMPION AT 18.1 AND 18.2 BALK LINE. of Colonel Roosevelt, was Hoppe's next opponent, and, although tho Ohio statesman plays a good game, he proved prov-ed an easy victim for the champion. But It was Hoppe's exhibition of fancy fan-cy shots which pleased President Taft most. He closely followed the geometrical geomet-rical problems which Hoppo solved with his deft touch and was not satis- fled until ho tried several hlmBClt. It was after he had found how really difficult dif-ficult they wero that Mr, Taft expressed express-ed his astonishment. Miss Helen Taft and Mrs Longworth also tried several of the fancy shots and seemed unwilling to believe that the Ivorle!. which seemed to do Hoppe's every bidding, rolled aimlessly about when they tried to send them down the side rail in a single procession. In speaking of the game of billiards recently Hoppe declared that the brldgo Is tho most important part of the sport. Every man starting to learn the game, he says, should Irst study his bridge and learn to use It so thut tho bridge hand never will become cramped. cramp-ed. t In telling of the proper uses of the bridge and strokes Hoppe said: "I have often been asked why such a small minority of (he vast army of persons per-sons who And amusqment and recreation recrea-tion playing different styles of billiards ever attain proficiency at the game. The answer Is simply. they start wrong. And once having' acquired an Incorrect style it Is a difficult thing to unlearn bad habits and begin aright "Thcro are three things one must learn to play even an average came of billiards, making a correct bridge for all shots, holding the hand properly on the table with knuckles elevated and thumb extended. The cue. slipping easily eas-ily between the hand and' thumb, finds a solid resting pjace. This bridge I use most for tho balk line nurso when the balls arc close together and a delicate deli-cate stroke Is needed. A few minutes' practice will servo to show how simple and effective Is tills manner of holding the cue. It gives porfect freedom of action and prevents a cramped, movement. move-ment. "Then thcro is the draw stroko bridge, it Is mado with the hand "lying flat on he table, with the Index linger around the cue shaft and touching the thumb in a very' Arm manner, so as to prevent tho cue from taking an Irregular stroke, which Is ofttlmos caused by tho executing exe-cuting hand. It will give the hand a Arm setting and hold tho, cue In position posi-tion for a terrific drive or a very heavy drawn shot strike, used, for gathering the balls Into position fn most of the round the table shots. "In addition is the bridge I uso for close drawn shots when tho balls arc so near together that a broader bridge Is impossible. Only a few Inches of space are required, yet a strong, Arm resting 'groove' for the cue Is attained "While all of tho bridges I havo mentioned men-tioned are regularly used by tho advanced ad-vanced player, the third and fourth will serve the needs of the beginner Nover allow tho bridge hand to become cramped Never start a shot through or over the bridge hand. The wholo gamo of billiards depends upon ease of movemonU" |
