T411 said:

Soft breaking by skilled players do not inherently create more clusters. It will reduce them when the rack is tight and the players break is working. World class player that are winning, their game usually includes the break that is working. A break that’s working will increase run-out chances and is the whole point. For the average Joe trying to emulate the top players on earth and trying to figure out their break totally agree you. If hit too soft or slightly off racks, the balls don’t spread well, leading to clusters and no shot. There are many variables to saying soft breaks inherently leave more clusters.

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Agreed to a point. It depends on who is breaking, but the problem in 2000-01 was that Corey, while often not leaving a runout, almost never had to push out because the soft break was leaving the first ball after the break accessible time and time again. No, he wasn't running packages the way Strickland and Archer were, but he was controlling the game with his special brand of breaking.

sjm said:

The suggestion that the soft break makes it easier to run the table is false. On average, the soft break leaves more clusters. However, as the result of the soft break is more predictable than that of the hard break, the soft break increases the likelihood that the breaker will be the one that controls the table first after the break, thereby increasing the breaker's win rate.


When it comes to the break, "soft" is a four-letter word.

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Soft breaking by skilled players do not inherently create more clusters. It will reduce them when the rack is tight and the players break is working. World class player that are winning, their game usually includes the break that is working. A break that’s working will increase run-out chances and is the whole point. For the average Joe trying to emulate the top players on earth and trying to figure out their break I totally agree you. If hit too soft or slightly off racks, the balls don’t spread well, leading to clusters and no shot. There are many variables to saying soft breaks inherently leave more clusters.

Just an FYI- I think you linked the wrong shaft. From what I can see of the logo, it looks like this one. https://seyberts.com/collections/sh...-solid-shaft-10-thread?variant=43805995958470

skor said:

To be honest, I haven't read all the posts here, so if this was addressed already, then I'm sorry.

This whole waxing thing got me thinking a bit... waxing the CB won't just affect the way the CB moves but also the contact with the cue tip. If the CB is more slippery, then there will be more miscues, and it'll be harder to apply extreme spin.
This will also affect the guilty part that will require staying closer to the center of the ball and will require quite a stroke to spin the CB; this is something that actually the Filipinos are pretty good at. We did see quite a lot of miscues during the tournament.

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That really hasn't been my experience when experimenting with teflon/silicone sprays (for trickshots and fun, NOT cheating)

1. Miscues are not common if you use chalk.
2. Staying close to center is not necessary.
3. As far as action on the cueball, you get more, lots more. You will draw further than ever before, with the same effort.

The one thing that may be reduced is grab on the rails. My experience was that sidespin grabbed slightly less. Still you are getting more roll. The table will play as with brand new cloth, for better and for worse. Less grab on the rail, more slide on the cloth, further roll on the cueball. You could get increased "kill" action with forward spin if the object ball is close to the rail, but with modern cushions this still doesn't happen a lot. Also throw will be reduced. Cut shots will be simplified once you adjust to the reduced throw.