Some carom questions

[Deno J. Andrews]

When I was competing, the best average I ever scored for a whole tournament was .960. My overall average the last whole year of my competition was roughly .880, which included a couple of very bad averages in tournaments in South America due to table and ball conditions that I could not adjust to (like no air conditioning, and very high humidity- made for very sticky surfaces, something I can't adjust to easily). To put that into perspective, a US National could be won with slightly over a 1.0 average (not during the Sang Lee years). On the world level, a 1.0 player would be in the top 50 or 60 if he played in every event. However, being in the top five in the world means that you might be able to make a living from billiards, which is why I quit competing regularly. I don't know Bob's average; it's been a long time since I have seen him play.

How many innings does it usually take for you to get to ten or twenty?

Deno

 

[1pRoscoe]

If you really do play one pocket, as your login implies, straight rail and one cushion will help your pool game a lot more than 3-C will. Gather shots are nearly identical to bank shots at one pocket, except you have to really control the cue ball.

That's a great point as well, thanks - Bob.

I play more 1p than I do anything else, and I am always looking at a way to improve my game. I'll prose this with the person that I play 3c with and see if he has any interest. Other than that, I guess I can practice on my own.

Is there a place to find rules for either straight rail or 1c?

 

[Bob Jewett]

...
Is there a place to find rules for either straight rail or 1c?

If you are interested in learning any cue sport, get Caudron's 2-DVD set that's entitled "Virtuose de Billard" (or something like that). He not only explains the rules for the various carom games, but he runs 100 or more at each of them except for 3-C, in which he shows a run of 10 or so that illustrates position play. The DVD is available from kozoom.com and has an English sound track.

But to answer your question directly, for straight rail, just make your cue ball hit both the other balls. For one cushion, the cue ball must hit at least one cushion before it hits the second ball. The break shot starts the same for all of them. The only other main rule is what to do when your cue ball is frozen to a ball. At straight rail, I think you shoot a break shot. At 1C, I think you can shoot away from the frozen ball or have the frozen balls spotted (like 3-C and balkline).

There are some other rules in straight rail if you get the balls near a corner, but that won't be a problem for you for a while.