Rules of snooker satisfied that the player was only positioning the ball, and not playing a shot or preparing to play one. When a player commits a foul, the opponent receives penalty points equal to the value of the ball "on", the value of the highest valued ball involved in the foul, or 4 points, whichever is greatest. When multiple fouls are made in one shot, only the most highly valued foul is counted. Penalty points are therefore at least 4 points and at most 7. Not hitting the ball "on" first is the most common foul. A common defensive tactic is to
The Downside Ball Game "(vii)" Some conventions and general remarks about the play:—A player can never win a point by “sneaking”, i.e. by hitting the ball very low on the wall or very gently on purpose: he should always try to hit the ball hard and as high on the wall as possible; if he cannot hit the ball hard owing to the risk of it going out of the court because of the angle to the wall at which he is taking it, he should at any rate hit the ball high on the wall. When one side is “game-ball”, the other side