Billiards Vault

Letter z Vocabulary

A bank shot that follows a Z shaped pattern as it bounces off of two rails.
Also in the zone. Describes an extended period of functioning in dead stroke ("She's in the zone").

23 Random Essential Billiards Terms

1- This is a knowledgeable shot showing skill on the movement of the cue ball.

2- This is an experienced one pocket pool player that shows extraordinary skill at coordinating the cue balls and object balls for safety plays.

This when you receive the first legitimate shot on the next "ball on" after there had been a series of safeties to try and hurt the other players chances. This term is often used in one pocket pool.
When the object ball banked of a rail goes directly in a pocket without kissing or touching any other object balls.
The precise center of the pool table.
A low hit on the cue ball (but not as low as normal draw), often used to change the cue ball's angle of deflection off the object ball.
Slang for the cue ball.
To play even; without a handicap. Also called heads up.
A pool table spread in which the balls are extremely easily positioned for a run out, and where little movement of the cue ball on each shot is necessary to obtain position on the next.
See two-shot carry.
In snooker, the colour ball worth 5 points, whose spot is at the center of the table.
Accidentally causing the cue ball or any object ball to leave the table. It is normally a foul.
One of the two pockets one either side of a pool table halfway up the long rails. They are cut shallower than corner pockets because they have a 180 degree aperture, instead of 90 degrees. In the UK the term centre pocket or middle pocket are preferred.
A geometric form, usually aluminum, wooden or plastic, used to assist in setting up balls in games like eight-ball, nine-ball, and snooker. The rack allows for more consistently tight grouping of balls, which is necessary for a successful break shot. In most games a triangle-shaped rack capable of holding fifteen balls can be employed, even if the game calls for racking less than a full ball set, such as in the game of nine-ball. For further information, see the Rack (billiards) main article.
In some games, refers to a single frame.
American CueSports Alliance. Their mission statement is "To heighten the interest and awareness of cue sports through the support and sanctioning of organized competition throughout the United States and North America."
The angle from which a ball rebounds from a rail, as measured from the perpendicular to the rail.
This is a type of shot where the cue ball goes off the rail before it heads to contact the object ball, thus giving the cue better position in some shots.
Describing a situation where a pot is made more difficult, either by a pocket being partially blocked by another ball so that not all of it is available, or the cue ball path to the object ball's potting angle involves going past another ball very closely.
This is the apex ball in the triangle, racked on the foot spot in a normal game.
This is the way your hand is configured to support the shaft of the cue during a shot.
Exact opposite of fast, all senses.
This is a series of angled rails present within some pool tables that directs pocketed balls to a central location on the table for retrieval after the game.
Also smalls, small ones, small balls. In eight-ball, to be shooting the solid suit (group) of balls (1 through 7); "you're the small one" or "I've got the smalls". Compare little, solids, reds, low, spots, dots, unders; contrast big.
A specific ball number followed by "out" refers to a handicap in nine-ball or other rotation games where the "spot" is all balls from that designated number to the money ball. To illustrate, the 6-out in a nine-ball game would allow the player getting weight to win by legally pocketing the 6, 7, 8 or 9 balls.
Short for run out, especially as a noun: "That was a nice out."