Break Speed

[atthecat]

I get the best spread and pocket the most balls when I break at 17 MPH. I can park the cue and usually make one or two balls. If I hit any faster than that I don't get the same results. I hit the cue a tip above center on a downward angle, maybe that has something to do with it.

 

[Mike in MN]

If I break an 8 ball rack at the second ball, I can hit at what I estimate to be between 15-17 MPH, get an awesome spread on the balls, and make at least one or two. Not to mention it sends the 8 towards the pocket at least half the time. My point being: Speed isn't everything. Control is.

 

[Snapshot9]

Breaking

I was clocked in Vegas 20 years ago (I was in early 40's). The first break was 26, the second 28, and my last was 31, but I jumped the table on the last break, and had little control.

I reworked my break a few years ago for better control and squatting the cue ball, but I still get told I am one of the hardest breakers in town, and I am 5'7".

 

[MitchAlsup]

Let me guess: you find drag racing, nascar, F1, & bonneville complete wastes of energy, right?

No, not at all. I also drive my Ferrari on race tracks, and have become a driving instructor capable of teachine people who don't understand how to begin to understand.

But, even here, its the guys who never look like they are out of position that are the fast ones. The ones that are fun to watch as they struggle to find control are the ones that are easy to pick off.

 

[MitchAlsup]

Back in February, I did some math to study accuracy vs. power in the break shot. My findings were interesting, but not too surprising.

The basic conclusion is this: If you hit your break shot with only 1% of error (i.e., 1% off from a dead-perfect hit) you lose 1.57% energy. So accuracy is about 1-and-a-half times more important than power, when it comes to energy transfer.

So your point is valid, but we are humans and not calculators, so let me tell you why power is (for most of us) still very important.

Let's say you are breaking at 20MPH and you are able to get to 21MPH, that's a 5% increase in energy sent toward the rack.

Note: a 5% increase in velocity is a 10.25% increase in energy.

If you can do this without increasing your error by more than about 2%, this is a net win. In other words, can you increase your speed by 1MPH without doubling the amount of error on delivery? If so, it's a net win.

As to whether it is a net win, this is not a thing that can be measured in energy units, but in units of balls potted on the break. I, personally, would rather pot a ball on the break and then pick balls out of a not so well broken rack, than sit in my seat watching my opponent do the same.

So, the metric of breaks should be in the percent of time one gets the subsequent shot (or maintains control of the table.)

 

[Bob Jewett]

The fastest reported break speed I know of was set by a martial arts expert and reported by Bob Callahan. Callahan's method of measurement is described in Byrne's "Advanced Technique" book. As I recall, the martial arts guy was not really a pool player, but he knew how to get speed into his arm. 35 MPH and maybe couldn't run 3 balls.

 

[JB Cases]

Well, using the break speed app I am getting about 24mh consistently. I used to get about 20mph before training with the Break Rak. I don't know if my timing got better by focusing on my cue ball control but I now break better.

I think that all things being equal you will find that the guy who breaks hardest with the most control will be more productive over time.

This statement of course does not apply to breakers who figure out the soft break and who use pattern racking.

I think that the break speed app is a good one for people to use to get a handle on just where their break goes south. If they are consistently losing the cue ball at 25 mph then what are they doing physically that's causing it. I know for me that previously I would really kind of loop my shoulder and sort of raise up and end up jumping the cueball into the rack when I "trying" break hard. When I fnally figured that out and settled down then my breaking got better.

I also think that learning to attached a number to certain breaking methods allows a person to fine tune their methods even more. In effect they learn what an 18mph break feels like vs. a 20 or a 16 and the resulting effects.

I do think that for this app to really be productive then people should use it with something like the Magic Rack so that they are sure that the balls are all touching. Otherwise the results are skewed as a 24mph break with gaps is going to produce different results than one without gaps. On the flipside I ALSO think that people should compliment the trainging with perfect racks with training using imperfect ones.

For example, what does a 2mph increase or decrease really do on a table with imperfect racks? How about on slow cloth vs. fast cloth.

In so many things in life we are able to use benchmarks to measure and improve performance and I think that the same thing can be applied to billiards. Of course we aren't robots but I'd bet large that a guy who really KNOWS his speeds and how to hit them for different conditions has a huge advantage over someone of equal pocketing ability but who has has to rely on the "try again" method of figuring out the best break to use on each table he plays on.

 

[Bob Callahan]

The fastest reported break speed I know of was set by a martial arts expert and reported by Bob Callahan. Callahan's method of measurement is described in Byrne's "Advanced Technique" book. As I recall, the martial arts guy was not really a pool player, but he knew how to get speed into his arm. 35 MPH and maybe couldn't run 3 balls.

It's nice to be remembered after such a long time. Byrne's book is well worth having if you don't already own a copy. Until you do get a copy, you can read the details of this strange experiment here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=tA...&resnum=1&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

Not only do I have trouble running 3 balls after my 17-year layoff from pool--heck, I have trouble running even one ball...on a good day.

I'm looking forward to the Android/Evo version of Paul's program so I can find out just how awful I really am!

 

[Bob Jewett]

It's nice to be remembered after such a long time. ... Not only do I have trouble running 3 balls after my 17-year layoff from pool--heck, I have trouble running even one ball...on a good day....

Hi Bob,

I hadn't meant to slander you with the 3-ball remark -- I had meant to slander the poor, defenseless black belt, which I had remembered as being someone else.:sorry:

Anyway, welcome back to pool.:happydance: