Glossary of Cue Sports Terms - J

J

jack up

1. To elevate the back of the cue on a shot.

2. In gambling, to "jack up a bet" means to increase the stakes.

jail

When a player is on the receiving end of a devastating safety where it is very difficult or near impossible to make a legal hit on an object ball.

jam up

Adjectival expression for a player's deadly game; "watch out, he plays jam up."

jawed ball

A ball that fails to drop into a pocket after bouncing back and forth between the jaws of a pocket.

jaws

The inside walls of a pockets.

jenny

Chiefly Australian: Same as a force follow shot.

jigger

Same as cross.

joint

The interlocking connection between the butt and shaft ends of a two-piece cue stick. Usually connects via means of a steel or wooden pin, and may be protected by a collar of metal or some other material, or may connect wood-on-wood.

joint protectors

Plugs that screw into the joint when a two-piece cue is broken down to keep foreign objects and moisture from contacting the joint mechanism.

jump

Also jump shot. Any shot where the cue ball is intentionally jumped into the air to clear an obstacle (usually an object ball, even in games with non-ball objects, e.g. bottle pool). Jump shots must be performed by hitting the cue ball into the table's surface so that it rebounds from the cloth. Scooping under the cue ball to fling it into the air is deemed a foul by all authoritative rules sources, as the cue ball is technically struck twice, once by the tip, once by the ferrule. A legal jump shot works by compressing the cue ball slightly against the slate under the cloth, causing it to spring upward when the downward pressure of the cue is released. Naturally, non-standard "rock" cue balls (made of ceramic, much denser than the more typical phenolic resin and other plastics used for billiard balls) are not well-suited to jump shots. Some billiard halls and even entire leagues prohibit all jump (and usually also massé) shots, out of fears of damage to the equipment, especially the cloth. Specialized jump cues exist to better facilitate jump shots; they are usually shorter and lighter, and with harder tips, than normal cues. Jump shots that go through or into objects rather than over them are common in trick shot (artistic pool and artistic billiards) competition.

jump cue

Also jump stick. A cue dedicated to jumping balls; usually shorter and lighter than a playing cue and having a wider, harder tip.

jump draw

A rare and very difficult trick jump shot that turns into a draw shot upon landing. Requires precise application of spin in addition to the precise application of ball pressure to effectuate the jump. Jump draws are fairly often seen in professional trick shot competition.

jump massé

A rare and extremely difficult trick jump shot that turns into a massé upon landing. Requires very precise application of spin in addition to the precise application of ball pressure to effectuate the jump. Turn-of-the-20th-century World Balkline Champion Jacob Schaefer Sr. was known to daringly perform jump massés in competition.