Yes, you have to start with a 14 ball rack and a break shot.
Hey - no school playground rules allowed on the adult forum now, zen!
There "shouldn't be" any problem with anyone spreading a table of balls and taking ball in hand to start any run IN SOLO/HOME PRACTICE PLAY - which would be equivalent to an opponent taking their attempted break shot from a racked group of 14 and an ideal break ball and then missing the shot (even scratching on this missed shot let's say), leaving a scattered table with all 15 balls ----- giving the incoming player (you) BIH behind the head string. Same for BIH anywhere, really, considering the nearly unlimited scenarios a player can begin a table of 15.
Mosconi basically did the same thing when playing Earl Bruney on that fateful March day, 1954, when Earl made 3 to start before missing and then Willie began his 526 run.
An idea -- any player -- break a full rack of 15 any way you like, spotting any balls pocketed. Take BIH (anywhere you wish) and see what your "runs" look like on a scoresheet doing 100 attempts. MOST players won't be able to get 14 pocketed without a miss.....the remaining 5% of all players will be break down into 5 groups I'm guessing: those who can run significantly more than the other 99% (pros and high-level shooters); those who can have high runs of 40 to 50+ more often than just runs of 29 (like my mentor, zen can do seemingly effortlessly); and then peter out to the last 3% of shooters that can get to that key and break ball and even continue a run past 17 but not much past that....all starting with a scattered table and BIH anywhere.
I'd ventured we could even start a league based on this concept of a player having 5 innings of offensive 14.1 play and totaling the scores - averages even - for a twist on the game to get more folks interested and enjoy the pocketing and strategy side of things. Let the beautiful and exacting safety play elements come into play with a "real 14.1" game when skills develop in this make-shift BIH edition....
Just saying
It's your world ---- let your imagination run wild sometimes and see where it can take you skills-wise I say.
K.
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