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Breaking - 1990s vs 2026

C
The best break is the one that gets you a shot on the one most often. Current WNT break rules aside, since they are a different animal, if you squat the cue ball on every break but end up with no shot most of the time, then it’s not a great break. Which is why over the years we’ve seen top players draw the cue ball two rail back and up table because it was reliably getting them a shot into the side pocket. They adjust the cue ball control and hit on the one to control both balls depending on the conditions of the table and rack.
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Was pool better 50 years ago?

sjm
HawaiianEye said:
The "power" game has all but disappeared.

Today's faster cloth and rails have turned the game into "bunting".

I prefer playing on tables where you have have a stroke to play instead of a table so fast that you have to convert your stroke into a bunt.

Today's tables remind me of pinball machines or pachinko.
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Agreed. I think the change in equipment has been good for women's pro pool but possibly not so for men's pro pool.

The reliance on power is far less today than it was in the pre-Simonis days. Now, it seems that everybody has the firepower to run the table, and it comes down to having the right combination of technical excellence, superior defense and strategic mastery. The game today is different.

Whether this version of pro pool is better or worse than back in the day is certainly a matter for debate, but you have raised an excellent point.
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9 Ball Format

M
Island Drive said:
What do you think?
End of 1st round....1/2 the rooms tables open up.
Finals at sunset.
All players in, start each round at the exact same time.
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You don't think you need to reinvent the game. Just play six ball maybe race to four or five. Something funny I did a ladies tournament 6 ball one time. For the fun of it before it started I said any six balls on the break you get an instant $25. Holy Christ, they made it like eight times.
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Breaking - 1990s vs 2026

sjm
Tricky topic. Still, this is a bit of an apples to oranges comparison.

Thirty years ago, there was no break box, the one ball was on the spot, and the wing ball was dead, so players had a better chance to control the cue ball off of the break. As you note, they liked to squat the cue ball near the center of the table. They would love to do the same today, but ....

Today, in WNT play, which is currently the highest level of 9ball competition in the game, there is a narrow break box, the nine is on the spot, and the wing ball is no longer dead. To their credit, today's pro players have devised a cut break that enables them to make the one in the side with relative consistency, but the cut break comes with far less cue ball control. Today, the break that is in vogue in WNT play brings the cue ball to the rail and back through the rack area, so it is much harder to end up with a shot on the two ball after a successful break.

Hence, you are correct. Yesterday's players liked to squat the cue ball, but chiefly because they could under the old break rules. Today's pros, with few exceptions, have determined that they must cut break to ensure that they don't break dry, and in doing so, have ended up with far less cue ball control than their counterparts of yesteryear.
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Was pool better 50 years ago?

HawaiianEye
sjm said:
Adding to Jazznpool's excellent reply to your post, this type of thinking just doesn't work. Yes, give a Filler or a Shane bucket pockets, Simonis cloth, rails and balls with today's quality, jump cues, screw-on extensions, and the better pool tables in use today and they would run a whole lot of racks, but that's not a meaningful comparison across generations.

Today's players play with better tables that have better rails and better ball sets. They all have jump cues. They have screw-on cue extensions that ensure that the bridge need nearly ever be used. Fifty years ago, most players did not even have break cues, never mind jump cues. They played on slow, nappy cloth and some of the positional shots that look routine today were almost impossible back in the day. If you had to play a power-stun shot off a five-degree angle, you had to have huge power to make it happen. Need a long draw off a long shot? Only the best could do it back in the pre-Simonis days. One reason that Strickland and Sigel were the two best 9ball players forty-five years ago, shortly before the switch to Simonis, was that both had an extremely powerful stroke. It's so easily forgotten.

There is little doubt in my mind that, even on the equipment and conditions of yesteryear, a Filler of a Shane would have played at a higher level than their counterparts of fifty years ago, but by less than one might guess.
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The "power" game has all but disappeared.

Today's faster cloth and rails have turned the game into "bunting".

I prefer playing on tables where you have to have a stroke to play instead of a table so fast that you have to convert your stroke into a bunt.

Today's tables remind me of pinball machines or pachinko.
Click to expand...
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