fast break....
- Thread starter Pse217
- Start date
clench the sphincter hard and hope you dont miss on your follow through:thumbup:
sry, couldnt help it, good question though im curious to see what everyone says.
I can't really break that hard, and I mostly use the second ball break, but I'd like to think it's less about power and more about speed. When I think power, it makes me grip the cue harder, and things can get out of wack. I try to focus on speed, relaxed muscles and longer bridge length to get more of a "runway" for take-off.
30mph+ breakers are rare, and its not needed anyways. But to answer your question, its technique and timing, not power. Heres a video forum member Colin Colenso did a while back about timing etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW1tsONEI_U
Chuck
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW1tsONEI_U
Chuck
I'm guessing you are a pretty new player since hitting the second ball on the break in 9 and 10 ball would be a foul :wink: Most casual players only see 8 ball on a 7 foot table and assume all pool is 8 ball.
I'd think there are not more than a handful of players that can hit 30mph on the break, so asking what's "everyone's" trick is for those won't get much replies hehe.
The only way I can break 30+ miles per hour is if I swing the cue like a baseball bat.
Fastest I've seen in person was 32.5 mph. From 2 different iPhone apps, on two different iPhones, both recording the same break. No whether or not it was a coincidence is debatable, but the guy breaking that fast was known to do so.
Regardless, when he broke it was loud and seemed effortless.
I can comfortably break around 24mph, but anything over and the cue ball is going into orbit.
I'm in the same ballpark. I usually break around the 24 mark but can get as high as 27 mph on iPhone. I've gotten very similar results on radar although I did get a 28 once.
Like others have said though, it's extremely trivial information. The only results any competitor wants to see are 1. control the cueball 2. make a ball (or more). My wife breaks about 15 mph, always makes a ball on the break and always has position on the 1. If she knew anything about position play, she'd be a monster.
In 9-ball, my break is around 17mph and I put the CB right where I want it.
We clocked Jamie Farrell at 9mph with a BK2. Could have been way off, but it was quite funny.
Even if 9mph is remotely close, he still makes and ball and runs out. That's the point, right?
I'm not qualified to advise but I put up a slo-mo video of Mike Dechaine's 33.5 mph break here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWrM68UXKfY
It's based on the original version, which is much nicer quality, seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy_vt_M5X48
A while ago I went to an instructor (Tony Marcino, Tony_in_MD on the forums)
and he gave me some great hard break advice.
I can't hit 30 mph and even struggle to go much over 20, but I think
the advice he gave will help anyone break harder. Especially if they're less lazy than I am.
Here's some of what I learned when I was there:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showpost.php?p=4252490&postcount=45
The thing to remember is that it's an athletic move, it's not a simple arm action.
I got 17 mph with all arm but without involving more moving parts I would never top 19 or so.
There's a stand-up movement, and maybe a slight lunge forward from the hips.
The standing up allows your arm to swing more freely (without fear of smacking the back of the table),
and therefore faster. The bodily lunge might add 1 or 2 mph. And some say a wrist snap adds another mph or so.
It's always important to nail the head ball square.
I don't know if an off-center hit will cause big speed drop on the radar/break speed app.
"On paper" it might still show a high mph number.
But it will definitely transfer much less power to the rack so it's effectively like
losing several mph in your break.
You should follow through to at LEAST mid-table. Pretend you're trying to stab the head ball with your cue.
In fact I'm told johnny archer has fouled before, allowing his tip to hit the 1 ball as it exploded away.
You'll see when shane breaks 10-ball, the metal joint in his cue passes through his fingers,
he isn't even straining and he damn near brings the wrap through his closed bridge!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=qxZP-JS4g5s&t=30
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWrM68UXKfY
It's based on the original version, which is much nicer quality, seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy_vt_M5X48
A while ago I went to an instructor (Tony Marcino, Tony_in_MD on the forums)
and he gave me some great hard break advice.
I can't hit 30 mph and even struggle to go much over 20, but I think
the advice he gave will help anyone break harder. Especially if they're less lazy than I am.
Here's some of what I learned when I was there:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showpost.php?p=4252490&postcount=45
The thing to remember is that it's an athletic move, it's not a simple arm action.
I got 17 mph with all arm but without involving more moving parts I would never top 19 or so.
There's a stand-up movement, and maybe a slight lunge forward from the hips.
The standing up allows your arm to swing more freely (without fear of smacking the back of the table),
and therefore faster. The bodily lunge might add 1 or 2 mph. And some say a wrist snap adds another mph or so.
It's always important to nail the head ball square.
I don't know if an off-center hit will cause big speed drop on the radar/break speed app.
"On paper" it might still show a high mph number.
But it will definitely transfer much less power to the rack so it's effectively like
losing several mph in your break.
You should follow through to at LEAST mid-table. Pretend you're trying to stab the head ball with your cue.
In fact I'm told johnny archer has fouled before, allowing his tip to hit the 1 ball as it exploded away.
You'll see when shane breaks 10-ball, the metal joint in his cue passes through his fingers,
he isn't even straining and he damn near brings the wrap through his closed bridge!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=qxZP-JS4g5s&t=30
I've surveyed Dechaine and SVB's fast breaks trying to examine what they do. Both are unreal. I know a 30+ mph break is not really useful but I think it would be awesome to be capable of. I wonder what Landon shuffets breakspeed is. That kid has a monster break for being so small. Thanks for all the replies by the way
I love that video of SVB's break...it's so clean and without any extraneous motions. He doesn't jump up in the air, throw his body at the table or any of that....he just draws back, starts to stand up a little and then fires through fast. He does have a very long follow through, something I need to work on.
That's a difference between a "fast" break and a "good" break. I wonder what Shane's top break speed would be if he just tried for power?
Lot's of power-break technique advice can be found on the break technique and equipment advice resource page. It's all about the technique (although, muscle physiology and equipment can also help).
Enjoy,
Dave
Hah Mikes break looks like my everyday break. Chasing the cueball across town lol
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Whilst I agree that boasting about who has a few MPH more than the next-player is not especially interesting there is a very valid reason to learn how to break with the most speed you can without losing control.
The reason is breaking conditions change, even on the same table. A break that may work consistently at slower speeds (sub-20mph) on one table at one time may not work on another table, or even the same table at a different time. This is why I think a well-rounded player needs to learn a strong power break. You won't need it all the time but just like that 4-rail-force-follow-with-inside english shot it's a great tool to have handy when the situation calls for it.
One piece of advice I can't stand that you see in a lot of instructional books is to always break controlled and level and don't let the cue ball hop up on contact. Even the otherwise excellent book "The Great Break Shot" by Charley Bond gives the same advice but yet it has photos of multiple Pros breaking on the cover hopping the cue ball a foot off the bed of the table. If this is bad way to play a break shot you can bet the Pros would not be doing it. Yes, if you are a beginner player you can make many more mistakes breaking hard than soft, but sooner or later you have to learn how to do it or your game will be limited to situations where a soft break works well.
Of course just because you can break at 30mph does not mean you always should. Recently I was playing someone with a very powerful break, not sure the speed but consistently making 1-3 balls on every break in 9 Ball. However if he failed to get a shot on the next ball he would leave me a very easy spread, so it's a double-edged sword. You need to ensure your break is not better than the rest of your game!
30+ is not something I've witnessed but certain guys I know who can break very hard sort of jump forward while breaking. A quick full body movement combined with a fast, strong arm motion delivers quite a lot of power to the CB. I'm not very familiar with performing that exact technique, but my own fastest breaks were accomplished by shooting hard with a relaxed grip, long follow-through, good hip rotation and a push forward using the whole body mass. As others said, timing is crucial. Whenever I failed to perform all these motions at once my break was not far above average speed.
That was a pretty good video. He said some things that made sense...Thanks
I heard 23 from one source, and 25-26 from another.
I think 23 is correct. People wanna overstate the power of it but it's the control
and that nice pop that makes it amazing. It's not that he crushes 'em 30 mph
and the rest of the world is stuck at 20.
If you have the break speed app, you can actually clock it just by watching
youtube videos of him, if they have good sound quality.
Keep the volume up and hopefully the breaks come through louder than the people talking.
You get a lot of false readings due to other noises, but when you get a legit one it's obvious...
real readings show 20+ mph, the fake ones like 10 or 40.
I did it for a few matches on 9 footers. At SBE it seemed shane was breaking softer
(for him), lots of breaks at 20.5, 21, 21.5.
Vs. Mike D. in this seminole tour video, lots of 23 and 24.
This video is kind of entertaining, mike gets up on almost every rack and complains
about something... like he sees a gap from his chair several feet away?
Looks like a move to me. Anyway eventually shane gets sick of it and does
one break from the far corner just for fun. Made a ball anyway.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1qk5sYp68k