Glossary of Cue Sports Terms - F

F

face

Also cushion face. The protrusion of the playing edge of the cushion from the rail over the bed of the table. The furthest-protruding point of the face is known as the nose of the cushion. The playing area of the table is the space between the faces (technically, the noses) of the cushions.

fall

1. Verb, passive, intransitive: For a ball to be pocketed. "The 8 ball fell early, so the game was over quickly."

2. Noun: The curved edge cut into the table bed at which the hole of the pocket actually begins inside the pocket jaws. The fall may be a sheer drop, as on tournament-standard snooker tables, or have a beveled, down-sloping rim, as on pool tables. A ball is, of course, much more likely to hang when there is no bevel. How far into the pocket the fall begins is one factor that determines "pocket speed" or difficulty.

fast

1. Describes a billiard table with tightly woven and broken-in (but clean) cloth (baize), upon which the balls move quicker and farther. See table speed for more information.

2. Producing lively action; said of cushions or of the balls, in addition to the above, cloth-related definition.

3. Unusually accepting of balls; said of pockets; see pocket speed (sense 1) for more information. "Slow" is the direct opposite of "fast" in all of these usages.

fat

See undercut.

fault

Same as foul (chiefly British, and declining in usage; even the WPA and WEFP blackball rules use "foul").

feather

Also feather shot. A very thin cut shot in which the cue ball just brushes the edge of an object ball. "Feather" by itself can be both noun and verb (e.g. "feathering the ball"). See also snick.

felt

Same as cloth (deprecated; it is factually incorrect, as felt is a completely different kind of cloth from baize).

ferrule

A sleeve, permanently fitted onto the lathed-down tip end of the cue, made from fiberglass, phenolic resin, brass, ivory, horn or antler, melamine, plastic, or other rigid material, upon which the cue tip is mounted and which protects the shaft wood from splitting due to impact with the cue ball.

firewood

Common slang in the U.S. for a cheap, poorly made cue. Compare wood.

fish

1. An easy mark;

2. A person who loses money gambling and keeps coming back for more;

3. Sometimes, a poor player;

4. As a verb, either to hit the balls hard with no intention in mind other than to get lucky and perhaps scatter the balls a bit more ("hit-and-hope"), or to shoot hard at the money ball ball with the same intention ("smash-and-pray"). Compare slop and fluke; contrast mark (sense 3) and call.

flagrant foul

A foul where the rules are blatantly, intentionally violated; in contexts in which this qualifies as unsportsmanlike conduct, a stiffer penalty may apply (e.g. loss of frame) than normal for a foul.

flat-back pack

In snooker, a situation during a frame in which the first line of the remaining reds grouped together, where the original pack was, are in a straight horizontal line. This has implications when opening the pack, as a full-ball contact off the top cushion will usually cause the cue-ball to stick to the red and fail to develop a potting opportunity.

fluke

A shot that has an ostensibly positive outcome for the player, although it was not what the player intended. Examples of flukes include an unexpected pot off several cushions or other balls having missed the pocket aimed for, or a lucky safety position after having missed a shot. Many players are apologetic after a fluke, and in most games such an accident is a loss of turn. Some rule sets (most notably those of nine-ball and related games generally, and the eight-ball rules of the American Poolplayers Association and its affiliates) count flukes as valid, point-making shots. Compare fish and slop; contrast mark (sense 3) and call.

follow

The forward rotation of the cue ball that results from a follow shot. Also known as top spin or top, follow is applied to the cue ball by hitting it above its equator, causing it to spin more rapidly in the direction of travel than it would simply by rolling on the cloth from a center-ball hit. Follow speeds the cue ball up, and widens both the carom angle after contact with an object ball, and angle of reflection off a cushion. See illustration at spin.

follow shot

A shot in which the cue ball is struck above its equator with sufficient top spin to cause the cue ball to travel forward after it contacts an object ball. When a cue ball with follow on it contacts an object ball squarely (a center-to-center hit), the cue ball travels directly forward through the space previously occupied by the object ball (and can sometimes even be used to pocket a second ball). By contrast, on a cut shot, a cue ball with follow on it will first travel on the tangent line after striking the object ball, and then arc forward, widening the carom angle. See illustration at spin.

follow-through

On a shot, the extension of the cue stick through the cue ball position during the end of a player's stroke in the direction originally aimed.

foot

Chiefly American: The half of the table in which the object balls are racked (in games in which racked balls are used). This usage is conceptually opposite that in British English, where this end of the table is called the top. Contrast head.

foot cushion

Chiefly American: The cushion on the foot rail. Compare top cushion; contrast head cushion.

foot rail

Chiefly American: The short rail at the foot of the table. Frequently used imprecisely, to mean foot cushion. Compare top rail; contrast head rail.

foot spot

The point on the table surface over which the apex ball of a rack is centered (in most games). It is the point half the distance between the long rails' second diamonds from the end of the racking end of the table. The foot spot is the intersection of the foot string and the long string, and is typically marked with a cloth or paper decal on pool tables. Contrast head spot.

foot string

An imaginary line running horizontally across a billiards table from the second diamond (from the foot end of the table) on one long rail to the corresponding second diamond on the other long rail. The foot string intersects the long string at the foot spot. It is rarely drawn on the table.

forced shot

Same as cheating the pocket. Principally used in snooker.

force follow

A powerful follow shot with a high degree of top spin on it; usually when the object ball being hit is relatively close to the cue ball and is being hit very full; also known as "prograde top spin" or "prograde follow" (when referring to the action on the shot rather than the shot per se), and as a "jenny" in Australia.

forward spin

Same as follow (top spin).

foul

Sometimes interchangeable with scratch, though the latter is often used only to refer to the foul of pocketing the cue ball.

A violation of a particular game's rules for which a set penalty is imposed. In many pool games the penalty for a foul is ball-in-hand anywhere on the table for the opponent. In some games such as straight pool, a foul results in a loss of one or more points. In one-pocket, in which a set number of balls must be made in a specific pocket, upon a foul the player must return a ball to the table. In some games, three successive fouls in a row is a loss of game. In straight pool, a third successive foul results in a loss of 16 points (15 plus one for the foul).

Possible foul situations (non-exhaustive):

• • The player shoots the cue ball first into a ball that is not an object ball;
• • The player shoots and after contacting an object ball, no ball is pocketed and neither the cue ball nor a numbered ball contacts a cushion (excepting push out rules);
• • The player pockets the cue ball (see scratch);
• • The player does not have at least one foot on the floor at the moment of shooting;
• • The player shoots the cue ball before all other balls have come to a complete stop;
• • The player hits the cue ball more than once during a shot (a double hit);
• • The player touches the cue ball with something other than the tip of the cue;
• • The player touches any ball other than the cue ball;
• • The player causes a ball to leave the table's playing surface without it returning (e.g., jumping a ball off the table);
• • The player marks the table in any manner to aid in aiming;
• • The player who has ball-in-hand, touches an object ball with the cue ball while attempting to place the cue ball on the table;
• • The player shoots in such a manner that his cue tip stays in contact with the cue ball for more than the momentary time commensurate with a stroked shot (a push shot).

frame

A term especially used in snooker and blackball but also in the US for each rack from the break off until a clearance, losing foul or concession has been made. A match is made up of several frames. See also game (sense 1), which has a slightly broader meaning.

frame ball

Same as game ball (chiefly in snooker and blackball). The term is sometimes used figuratively, to refer to the last difficult shot required to win.

free ball

Also free shot.

A situation where a player has fouled, leaving the opponent snookered. In UK eight-ball this would normally give the opponent the option of one of two plays: (1) ball-in-hand with two shots; (2) being allowed to contact, or even pot, a ball other than one from his/her set from the snookered position (although the black may not be potted), with the loss of the first shot. In addition, some variations of the game allow the player to pot one of the opposition's balls, on the first visit only, without the loss of a "free shot".

In snooker it allows a player to call any ball as the ball she/he would have wanted to play, potting it for the same number of points, or the opponent can be put back in without the same privilege, having to play the ball snookered on. The definition of snooker on this occasion means the opponent cannot strike both extreme edges of the object ball (or a cluster of touching balls).

free stroking

1. Pocketing well and quickly but without much thought for position play.

2. Playing loose and carefree.

3. Same as dead stroke.

freeze up

To dedicate a set amount of money that a gambling match will be played to; no one may quit until one player or the other has won the "frozen up" funds.

frozen

A resting ball that is in actual contact with one or more balls or with a rail is "frozen" (or, colloquially, "froze") to the touching ball(s) or rail. (For frozen combination/combo, frozen kiss, etc., see the more common variants under dead.

full

Also full-ball. A type of contact between two balls from which no or little angle is created between their paths; the contact required to pot a straight shot. It is commonly used in reference to how much of an object ball a player can see with the cue ball: "Can you hit that full?".

fundamentals

The basic actions necessary to shoot well—stance, grip, stroke, bridge, follow-through and pre-shot routine.