Referees and Rules

[johnstreet147]

I would like to congratulate ther any people who write in and answer questions on the Rules Very rarely are they wrong.
However I would like to point out that when they answer a question about a 'Miss' they are not answering it correctly. The 'Miss' rule is in Section 2 Rule 20 of the rule book and is plainly called 'Miss'. The rule they are trying to answer is the 'FOUL AND A MISS' rule which is in Section 3 Rule 14. When replying to rules questions you should always quote the correct title so as not to cause any confusion. If anyone wrote to me and asked me to explain the 'Miss' rule I would refer to the rule in Section 2 because that is what I have been asked to explain.
Also a couple of times I have noticed that sometims people have said that in the 'Foul and a Miss' situation the striker must be able to see the ball on 'full ball' giving the impression that you must be able to hit it on both sides as in a situation when asking for a 'free ball'. This is incorrect. The rule book states 'there was a clear path in a straight line from the cue-ball to a ball that was on or that could have been on, such that central, full ball, contact was available etc'. In other words you could have three balls in a straight line, Green, Red and Pink with each of the colours touching the Red. Providing that the cue-ball can make 'central, full-ball central contact then there is no problem.

John Street

[kevy62]

Miss!
A miss is when the cue-ball fails to first contact a ball on and the referee considers that the striker has not made a good enough attempt to hit a ball on.

[The Statman]

Also a couple of times I have noticed that sometims people have said that in the 'Foul and a Miss' situation the striker must be able to see the ball on 'full ball' giving the impression that you must be able to hit it on both sides as in a situation when asking for a 'free ball'. This is incorrect. The rule book states 'there was a clear path in a straight line from the cue-ball to a ball that was on or that could have been on, such that central, full ball, contact was available etc'. In other words you could have three balls in a straight line, Green, Red and Pink with each of the colours touching the Red. Providing that the cue-ball can make 'central, full-ball central contact then there is no problem.

John Street

Thanks, John

In Peter Rook's and your excellent book, Billiards & Snooker Referee's Handbook, you do go on to qualify that last description slightly.

You say that, to gauge 'full ball contact' one assumes that there should be room for a ball's width-worth of passage for the cue-ball, this having slightly more specific meaning just 'direct full-ball contact available' which could still be only a millimetre-perfect rout that is possible.

By way of illustration, consider the pink at the start of the frame, the red above it, and the second row of reds in the undisturbed pack (essentially, a three-ball triangle of reds plus the pink).

Now, put the cue-ball over one of the centre pockets (let's say the yellow side). And, pretend that the second red down is actually the black and the apex red is the only one remaining.

We now have a situation where the one remaining red is virtually hidden behind the pink on one side and by the black on the other – however, it is actually hittable becasue the cue-ball can be aimed directly at the red and it will hit the red first.

In this case, technically, there is central, full ball contact available but there is only a minuscule amount of red to aim for.

I think the player would feel very aggrieved, and the referee very embarrassed, to have to warn a player that a third unsuccessful attempt would result in loss of frame.

As I understand your book (and its very helpful illustration specifically referring to this point), the path of the cue-ball, continuing through the red if the colours are close to it, should not be encroached upon by any intervening colour.

I hope I'm explaining this suitably as it is difficult without a drawing – I will re-write and include illustrations if you want!