The most important shot in 9 ball?

Pidge

Pidge

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Feel free to leave your views and opinions.

Personally, I'd go with the break. I only realized this once I saw a vid of an amateur player beating a pro, comfortably! The amateur was playing in his home pool room on a table he obviously knew very well, and had devised a break that got the same spread and same CB placement every time he broke. Now obviously he had some skill being able to run out as much as he did, but the pro was better in all other aspects other than the break.

So how much practice time do you devote to breaking? Its boring I know but it'll improve your game tenfold!

Pidge
 
The break, no question. Don't get me wrong, are shots a very important too but you can take two equally skilled players and usually the one with the better break is going to win out.
 
Yeah completely agree. I'm sure people will post saying there isn't a most important shot - unless you make the 9 100% of the time, you can't win with just a break! And they'd be right.
 
It's the break but with a few stars. At the low level, it does not matter, up to even B players. Usually people miss enough during a rack that it evens out. Once you get to the point where there is almost a 100% chance of a run out with ball in hand, the break is huge.
 
hang-the-9 said:
It's the break but with a few stars. At the low level, it does not matter, up to even B players. Usually people miss enough during a rack that it evens out. Once you get to the point where there is almost a 100% chance of a run out with ball in hand, the break is huge.
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I agree with this. But curious as to why the statistics on pro tourneys do not swing more in favor of the breaker? Not sure of the details, but an az'er posted stats here before on the break. I was surprised at the results.
 
This is sort of a loaded question. For starters, the break is the only shot seen in every pool game. So yeah, it's important. Is it the most important? Well, if you look at many statistics, you'll be surprised to see it rarely is. In fact, for every guy who breaks and runs out an entire set, you're going to see 1,000 sets go back and forth (meaning, the breaker is always losing).

I'm going to state the obvious but if you want my opinion on "the most important shot in 9ball", I'd say the stop shot. See how far you get without it.
 
The break shot is very important, but the racking can make break shots inconsistent. The next most important shot in my mind is a lock up safety to get control of the table.
 
The easiest shot

I think the most important shot is the easiest shot, cause its the one most likely to be the one that costs you the game, due to lack of focus on it.

I agree the break is important, but very few players, even the ones that say they run all these racks...actually run that many balls without making a mistake...I would bet against ALMOST anyone running the rack CONSISTANTLY...quite simply...I'll wait, and when it's my turn...(and I will get a turn) I will aim to run out :cool:

Mistakes are inevitable...what I can control is my mindset, so when I DO get to the table, I'm ready and don't waste my turn.
 
8onthebreak said:
I think the most important shot is the easiest shot, cause its the one most likely to be the one that costs you the game, due to lack of focus on it.

I agree the break is important, but very few players, even the ones that say they run all these racks...actually run that many balls without making a mistake...I would bet against ALMOST anyone running the rack CONSISTANTLY...quite simply...I'll wait, and when it's my turn...(and I will get a turn) I will aim to run out :cool:

Mistakes are inevitable...what I can control is my mindset, so when I DO get to the table, I'm ready and don't waste my turn.
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keeping what you said in mind, the most important shot could be considered the shot you are attempting to make.
 
Part of me wants to agree with Jude about the break, on AZB you'll frequently see people refer to some stat that said the breaker only won 49% vs. the racker winning 51% of their matches.

However I wonder if magic racks and similar technology has altered this. Pidge's story reminds me a bit of Donny Mills vs. Shane in TAR 17. Donny made his wing ball and left himself a rail cut on the 1 every time, and you'd see patterns in the layout. Shane I think is the stronger overall player, but if they played again and Donny got his soft break working, I wouldn't place any bets on the outcome.

Certainly in 10 ball it seems like the better breaker is the winner, and by a significant margin.

I'd say the most important shot in 9 ball is your shot on the 1 ball. If I remember the info correctly, the old accustats magazines show that a pro will get out something like 70% of the time if they can see the 1. That means if you must duck on the 1, you better make sure you don't sell out.

At lower levels where players just don't run out that often, I'm gonna vote for the shot on the 9 ball :P
 
CreeDo said:
Part of me wants to agree with Jude about the break, on AZB you'll frequently see people refer to some stat that said the breaker only won 49% vs. the racker winning 51% of their matches.

However I wonder if magic racks and similar technology has altered this. Pidge's story reminds me a bit of Donny Mills vs. Shane in TAR 17. Donny made his wing ball and left himself a rail cut on the 1 every time, and you'd see patterns in the layout. Shane I think is the stronger overall player, but if they played again and Donny got his soft break working, I wouldn't place any bets on the outcome.

Certainly in 10 ball it seems like the better breaker is the winner, and by a significant margin.

I'd say the most important shot in 9 ball is your shot on the 1 ball. If I remember the info correctly, the old accustats magazines show that a pro will get out something like 70% of the time if they can see the 1. That means if you must duck on the 1, you better make sure you don't sell out.

At lower levels where players just don't run out that often, I'm gonna vote for the shot on the 9 ball :P
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Certainly the shot on the 1 is without a doubt up there, but I ask this - how do you give yourself a shot on the 1 with consistency? By having a repeatable break.

From the video I mentioned the balls were tapped in and were placed by hand without a rack. And the addition of the magic rack to the billiards industry can either make or break it IMO. Personally I hate to see a pro match where by player 1 breaks and runs 6 then makes a mistake, then player 2 gets his chance and breaks and runs 6 and before you know it player 1 wins 9-6! How exciting! I'd rather see a tonne of mistakes where the break didn't count as much.
 
For my game, the most important shot is the one that puts me in-line to run out.

That can often be an elusive shot. When I feel like I don't get chances it usually translates to rolls and table patterns that are not condusive to making that first ball and getting in line.

I've got a terrible break and still win plenty of games with it. A bad break often results in tied up tables which tests all of a player's skills including the safety game.
 
The most important shot is the 7 rail kick you can pound with a break cue, just to impress the buck toothed lady nicknamed "Scraper" at the bar. Be careful, she belongs to the big biker and just like his date, he hasn't seen a razor or a bar of soap in weeks.
 
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The most important shot in 9 ball.

Pidge said:
Feel free to leave your views and opinions.

Personally, I'd go with the break. I only realized this once I saw a vid of an amateur player beating a pro, comfortably! The amateur was playing in his home pool room on a table he obviously knew very well, and had devised a break that got the same spread and same CB placement every time he broke. Now obviously he had some skill being able to run out as much as he did, but the pro was better in all other aspects other than the break.

So how much practice time do you devote to breaking? Its boring I know but it'll improve your game tenfold!

Pidge
Click to expand...

The most important shot in 9 ball is the one you are about to shoot... :wink:
 
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