PhD, Associate Professor A.V. Titovskiy^1
1Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Moscow

Keywords: technical elements, game components, billiards education and training module, economics university students, elective physical education course.

Background. Since the mid-2000ies when the national education system reform process was launched to implement the Bologna system, a few provisions for the new government policies in the national physical culture and sport sector have been approved [3]. They have provided the grounds for moving away from the traditional standard sport programs in the national higher education system (HES) to develop and implement in practice a variety of physical education courses [1] easily integrated in the HES development concepts and policies.

The new Federal State Higher Education Standards (FSHES) may be referred to as one more important step towards further transformation of the national physical education system, with the new opportunities for innovative physical education projects in the national physical education system being created since 2015. These opportunities are offered, among other things, by the elective physical education courses catering for the students’ predispositions in the physical activity domain and enthusiastically welcomed by the academic communities

Students’ physical activities at the university of economic give a top priority to the academic physical inactivity compensation practices. Listed among the students’ most popular elective sports may be the following disciplines: indoor fitness course designed to improve the cardiovascular system performance, facilitate the individual bodybuilding and weight correction initiatives, develop muscular systems, build strength-intensive physical qualities etc. [9]; indoor dancing course dominated by aerobics-driven practices with the body systems being developed by special dancing practices to music; indoor martial arts course to help the trainees master the basics of combat sports with an emphasis on individual defence actions; indoor body conditioning (BC) course with the practices designed to develop a variety of key physical qualities in students including speed, strength, endurance, dexterity, flexibility etc.; indoor swimming course in a swimming pool with the practices designed to develop basic swimming styles and skills [8]; special theoretical course for the special health group students formally exempted from Physical Education classes [2]; and, the last but not least, indoor billiards course for the students willing to master practical basics of the game, acquire general knowledge of and experience in the game and step up their general sporting culture [6, 7]. 

The academic billiards course is designed to help attain a variety of health improvement [1], game, developmental, intellectual and psychological goals in the academic physical education curriculum in different specialties so as to develop the relevant physical and psychophysical qualities [4, 6, 10].

As required by the valid FSHES, the academic physical education specialists are to take efforts to implement modern innovative technologies in the academic Physical Education discipline of the national academic curriculum.

Objective of the study was to develop a new billiards education and training module for the academic physical education curriculum of the university of economics. 

Study results and discussion. The billiards education and training module includes a set of 10 exercises with the relevant instructions that set goals, tasks and execution techniques of each exercise. The model is designed so as to facilitate the technical basics of the game being mastered in the most efficient stepped manner [5] with the techniques mastering sequence structured so as to increase difficulty in the process [6].

Content of the indoors billiards education and training module

Prior to a match the players identify who of the two will make a break-off shot; with this purpose, the cue ball is shot from spot 1 of the table off the lower short cushion and back to the upper cushion as tight as possible. The one whose cue ball comes back tighter to the cushion will break off or may cede this right to the opponent (if feels uncomfortable with this shot). It is not unusual that the break-off shot with the relevant follow-up game tactics is pivotal for the win.

“Up and down to spot 1” Exercise 1 of the Module is designed to help the trainees master this shot. Starting position: the cue ball on spot 1 on the balk line with 2 other balls set on the line right and left from the cue ball two ball diameters afar. The cue ball is shot up and down in between the two balls with no touch allowed. The shot success is scored by 3 points when the cue ball stops in between the bulk line and 10cm line (from the upper cushion); 4 points when it comes in between the 10 cm line and the cushion; and 5 points when the cue ball comes fairly tight to the cushion: see Table 1.

Since the purpose of the game is ideally to clear the table keeping the opponent in his chair, the scoring player pots balls successively (it is called break-building) with the cue ball being precisely positioned for the next shot.

“Potting to the middle” Exercise 2 is designed to master the successive potting (break-building) skills. Starting position: the cue ball is in the centre of the table and object ball on the middle pocket. The potting is exercised so as to pot the object ball and leave the cue ball on the pot and then pot the latter as an object ball. Next cue ball will be put by hand anywhere up from the middle line of the table to ensure its position after the shot being handy for the next shot of the series. The exercise performance is scored by 3, 4 or 5 points when the player pots 4, 5 and 6 balls, respectively: see Table 1. 

Table 1. Exercise performance scoring rules, numbers of potted balls

“Series to the corner pocket” Exercise 3 is also designed to master successive potting (break-building) skills, with the only difference that the more difficult corner pocket is an object. Starting position: the cue ball is on spot 1 and the object ball on the middle pocket. The break-building is performed as described for Exercise 2. The exercise success is scored by 3, 4 or 5 points when the player pots 3, 4 and 5 balls, respectively: see Table 1.

Each player needs to develop good positioning, cueing and pacing skills for the shots being duly paced and placed, plus good logical thinking that is required for successful break-building in each frame. The next exercise is designed to develop the creative thinking skills and normally is of special interest for the students.

“Finnish frame” Exercise 4 is offered to develop the above skills under the Module. Starting position: the cue ball is on spot 1 and six object balls on the pockets. The player is to pot the object balls clockwise or counter-clockwise depending on whether he is right- or left-handed, respectively. A goal of the exercise is to master the cue ball positioning for the next shot. The 6 successive pots are scored by 5 points: see Table 1. At the start of each frame, the balls are normally freely split up all over the table: some are potable, the others are not; and the player needs to logically design the break-building for the win and then execute it accurately as planned.

“Potting sitters” Exercise 5 is designed to excel the mental calculations for and execution of the break-building sequence. Starting position: upon the break-off shot (which is not scored), 16 balls are potted one by one. In case of a miss, the exercise will be executed once again from the starting position. The performance is scored by 5, 4 or 3 points when 16, 14 and at least 10 balls are potted, respectively: see Table 1.

Top-class players in Russian billiards widely apply side-spin shots intended to put a side on the cue ball for its right positioning on the table after the bounce. Knowledge and right application of different side shots in a frame makes the game more versatile enabling the player to pot difficult balls and find ways out of challenging situations.

“Right and left side” Exercises 6 and 7 are designed to help the players master a variety of side shots in the education and training Module. Starting position: the cue ball is on spot 1 of the balk line in the first quarter of the table. Two balls are placed on the centre line two ball diameters afar from the table quarter marking sport. The cue ball is shot into the left or right third (in Exercise 6 the cue ball and 2 balls are placed on the left-hand side of the table; and in Exercise 7 on the right-hand side) of the cue ball, the shot being 1 unit strong or slightly weaker and smoothly cued. The cue ball goes through the gap between the two balls and moves to the long (side) cushion due to the side on it. The side will be rated by the bounce of the ball off the short cushion to the long one. The performance is rated by 5 points when the cue ball comes to the long cushion between the short cushion and spot 3; 4 points when it comes to the long cushion in between spots 3 and 2; and 3 points when it comes to the long cushion in between spots 2 and 1: see Table 1.

One of the most special and appreciated trademark features of Russian billiards is the so-called kiss shots when the cue ball falls to the pocket after kissing the object ball. Most exciting are the shots when the cue ball hits the object ball far from the pocket with a strong side on the ball. Good knowledge of the technique and its successful application in the game is highly appreciated by the audience and makes the player's toolkit versatile.

 “Kiss shot to the middle” Exercise 8 and “Kiss shot to the corner” and Exercise 9 of the Module are designed to help the players master the kiss pots off the object ball.

Exercise 8: Starting position: the cue ball on the middle pocket with the ball surface being on the line with the jaw of the pocket. The cue ball is placed by hand by the middle line of the table on the bounce trajectory. The kiss pot is executed from the starting position that is reiterated. The performance is scored by 5, 4 and 3 points when 5, 4 and 3 kiss pots are successful, respectively: see Table 1.

Exercise 9: Starting position: the cue ball is placed on the long cushion of the corner pocket touching the cue that connects the jaw of the pocket with spot 1 of the table and the cushion. The cue ball is placed by hand by the middle line of the table on the bounce trajectory. The kiss pot is executed with the starting position being reiterated. The performance is scored by 5, 4 and 3 points when 5, 4 and 3 kiss pots are successful, respectively: see Table 1.

A top-skilled player must be highly skilful in performing the long straight shots. It is fair to say that the long pot success and stability rates are one of the key indicators of the player’s class and fitness. Long straight shots across the table are the most common and deciding by the end of a frame when only a few balls remain on the table often in the opposite ends of it. The further is the object ball from the pocket, the more difficult are the long straight shots, particularly when a back-spin needs to be put on the ball.

The final Exercise 10 is designed to master the long straight shots with the object ball far from the pocket. Starting position: the object ball is on spot 1 of the table. The cue ball is placed by hand two or more ball diameters afar from the object ball on the natural potting line to the corner pocket; and 10 pots to the corner pocket are performed with the starting position being reiterated: see Table 1.

Each of the above 10 exercises of the billiards education and training module during examinations is performed on a scheduled day upon an obligatory warm-up practice. Every student can demonstrate his best performance in three successive attempts, with the best score out of the three recorded in the examination report.

Conclusion. A pilot project to implement the billiards education and training module under the physical education curriculum of the university of economics was found beneficial as verified by the growing and sustainable interest of the students in the course, with particular high interest and progress demonstrated by the groups trained for the whole academic year. One more benefit of the course was the inclusive design of the training practices – customizable for every academic health group.

References

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Corresponding author: AVTitovskiy@yandex.ru

Abstract       

New Federal State Higher Education Standards (FSHES, approved in 2015) regulating physical education system curricula have offered new opportunities for the projects to implement new policies, programs and sport disciplines as required by the modern national higher education system development concept and strategies. Being governed by the new standards for the variable (elective) physical education courses, we developed and piloted a new billiards education and training module (hereinafter referred to as the Module). The Module was designed to help students master, in a phased manner, the basic skills, techniques and knowledge of modern billiards. The Module practices were designed to offer increasingly difficult technical elements for mastering and excelling.

A pilot project to implement the Module within the physical education curriculum of the university of economics was found beneficial as verified by the growing and sustainable interest of the students in the course, with particular high interest and progress demonstrated by the groups trained for the whole academic year. One more benefit of the course was the inclusive design of the training practices – customizable for every academic health group.