Opinion: Effect of rack on breaking.

Maybe with a metal rack, it's easier to get it tight... but I wouldn't say it's impossible to get a tight rack with a plastic one... it's all in the effort...

I think it take much more time and work to get a tight rack with a plastic rack. We all have our little tricks to tighten up the rack, but none work as well on plastic vs wood or metal.
I play in an APA 8b and a 9b league. I know that some players give loose racks in 9b, they often benifit from it, but 8b a rack that does not get fully broken apart hurts both players. So I tend to see better racks in 8b than 9b.

Generally, you want the balls to be as tight as possible, so yes I believe the rack you use can make a difference in how easily you can achieve this. Like Woofresh said though, it also highly depends on the effort you put into it.

I'd say there is definitely a difference and for the prices delta 13 charges, there damn well better be.

A lot of times the cheap plastic racks have no room in the back between the balls and the back of the rack.
This makes it hard to get your fingers in there to tighten them up properly. I would say this is the difference.

Basically... in 9b, gaps can be OK. You can make a planned ball.
Not so much in 10b, but if the first 3 rows are frozen you can be OK.
So in those 2 games, without a lot of racking effort, you can make a ball.

But in 8 ball, it's very tough to make a planned ball.
Certain balls want to go, but are not reliable, they often get kissed out.

So unlike the other games, your best bet in 8b seems to be hit hard and square.
The guys with really big breaks like Bustamante get good results breaking 8-ball.
Guys like Efren get a ton of dry breaks. In fact he's dry over 50% of the time
where others like Shane, Corey, Alex are only dry about 30% of the time.

So, to answer your question, yes, the rack really matters in 8b. You need it tight
just to have a chance. And then you also need to be a good breaker who hits hard and square.
If you're asking "Should I rack with a delta-13 instead of a plastic piece of shit"
then the answer is "yeah, duh." :grin:

All that being said, 7 good breaks in a row from guys who (I'm guessing)
don't have professional grade breaks, is not typical.
Maybe the delta helps put the balls into certain divots, that they don't normally fall into with the other rack.
Or maybe it's just a fluke and your next 30 breaks will be back to 25% success rate.

Keep using the Delta, if possible!

ArizonaPete said:

A buddy of mine played some 8 ball this morning. We both live in an over 55 community and we're both about equal in playing skill. Most usually either he or I will win the monthly 8 ball Tournament. We play on either of 2 nine-foot Gandy G tables. The rack that is used is plastic from Seyberts. Both tables are bad breakers. Usually only a ball is made every 3 or 4 racks. However, this morning I brought my Delta-13 rack (which I use at home on my bar box) and used it. We played 7 games and a ball was made on each break. When breaking, the cue was spotted either in the center of the kitchen line, about 5 or 6 inches to the right of dead center of the kitchen line, or once from the right side rail. I don't believe this was serendipity. I think the firmer rack (Delta-13) does not allow the balls to move while being compressed during racking while the plastic rack from Seyberts allows the ball to move slightly. I'd appreciate any opinions on this subject.

Click to expand...

Quite a few things affect how good the rack is, age and wear on the balls, cloth and slate condition, the rack itself (may times if you flip it around you will find that one of the three sides will rack better than the others), how you push them together, and even knowing what a good rack is. I've seen people just push the rack forward, then do that back and forth thing with the rack and lift it up without looking at anything.

hang-the-9 said:

Quite a few things affect how good the rack is, age and wear on the balls, cloth and slate condition, the rack itself (may times if you flip it around you will find that one of the three sides will rack better than the others), how you push them together, and even knowing what a good rack is. I've seen people just push the rack forward, then do that back and forth thing with the rack and lift it up without looking at anything.

Click to expand...

There's an art to racking especially in 8 ball. The balls need to be tight to get the best chance of success. In 9 ball you need the first three balls tight and close on the rest of them and you can usually make something with a descent spread. A very good friend of mine thinks if the 9 ball rack is tight and on the spot you can slow down some of the monster breakers on a bar box. I don't know if that's true or not, but when I rack my own I usually spend time trying to get them all touching and I might be slightly over 50% making a ball on average most of the time. My friend thinks the top bar box players don't freeze the balls intentionally to get more action. I'm starting to think he may be on to something. He's been playing longer than most of us have been alive!

You should check out the True Rack, It is metal (aluminum), has 2 very straight rigid sides that will also fold up to fit in your case. Check it out at www.thetruerack.com

As to racking it takes a good rack, consistent size balls, good cloth and some technique to provide a solid rack. Not all ball sets can be racked with all balls touching, If you have some smaller/larger balls move them to the back of the rack.

To rack with a True Rack, there is no stop, the balls make the angle.
Spread the rack open slightly wider than you need.
Load the balls
Press the balls forward into the rack
Maintain the forward press and then using your pinkies pull the rack together
It will take only light pressure at the back and sides of the rack
Relax the pressure
Slide rack forward
If balls moves, slightly spread rack and repeat.

SCCues said:

There's an art to racking especially in 8 ball. The balls need to be tight to get the best chance of success. In 9 ball you need the first three balls tight and close on the rest of them and you can usually make something with a descent spread. A very good friend of mine thinks if the 9 ball rack is tight and on the spot you can slow down some of the monster breakers on a bar box. I don't know if that's true or not, but when I rack my own I usually spend time trying to get them all touching and I might be slightly over 50% making a ball on average most of the time. My friend thinks the top bar box players don't freeze the balls intentionally to get more action. I'm starting to think he may be on to something. He's been playing longer than most of us have been alive!

Click to expand...

Joe Tuckers video is probably the best at explaining the rack. He not only goes though what each gap in a rack can do when you break, but also shows from where to break from depending on how large and where the gaps are.

For 9 ball, if the corner ball is a bit off the ball behind it, it tends to be more wired to the corner pocket, if you combine that with the side rail break or a cut break, you have a very good chance to make the corner ball in a 9 ball rack. If you have a good and tight rack, you can still make the corner ball with a side rail break, or make the one in the side. Those are really the only 3 balls that can be played for in a 9 ball rack to go in directly. The rest are a bit random.

If you leave the rack not tight on purpose, you don't really get more action from the break, but you can control where you want certain balls to go, even the 9. Which is why many rack your own tournaments do not count the 9 on the break as you can wire it up for the corner pretty easily.

One cool thing i saw was a stream from the Canadian Championships in 2012. It was 8 ball alternate break. Alex P had a lead and it appeared that he was intentionally gaff racking himself. When he broke, over half of the balls clustered up by the rail just below the side pocket. Interesting strategy as it took getting lucky on the break right out of the game.