There are thousands of men who have played Billiards all their lives, but
are still very poor players, because in learning to play they never studied
position. They play simply for the stroke, and never give a thought to what
will happen in the next stroke. If you watch a first-class player make a
break, you will probably see him make a long series of very easy strokes,
any one of which you yourself could have made with the greatest ease. The
one difference, in fact, between your play and his would have been
this--that you would make the easy stroke, and fail to leave another easy
stroke next time, whereas he would _not_ fail; hence _his_ break--a series
of easy strokes; hence _your_ break--one easy stroke, and a breakdown.
Space will not allow us to give a long series of {308} diagrams, explaining
the various ways of playing for position, but we will indicate a few
general principles. First--