Break lessons....
- Thread starter tksix
- Start date
google
Any qualified instructor can help you.
Have you tried to google, "Billiard Instructors Chicago"? Or "How to Break Pocket Billiards" on Youtube?
Any qualified instructor can help you.
Have you tried to google, "Billiard Instructors Chicago"? Or "How to Break Pocket Billiards" on Youtube?
Has Larry Schwartz been mentioned yet? He's a well known instructor who specializes in 8 ball. You can probably get his contact info from Chris's (773-286-4714).
pj
chgo
Breaking
Accuracy is the most important part of the break.
Force = Mass x Acceleration
If you generate 23 mph of acceleration then that is more than sufficient Force, but the question would be how much is going into the rack.
If you hit a ball full on (stop shot) then the cue ball transfers all of its energy into the object ball. If you hit 75% of the ball then the cue ball keeps 25% of the initial energy. A way to test this is shoot center cue ball at the outside edge of the object ball (1/2 ball hit) and both the object ball and cue ball will travel the same speed.
So what am I getting at here? A way to practice your break is very simple. Place 1 ball on the footspot. Now take the cue ball from anywhere in the kitchen (other than straight on from the headspot) and try to do a stop shot on the object ball. The cue ball will not lie to you. If the cue ball goes forward you hit too high on the ball. If the cue ball draws back then you hit too low on the ball. If the cue ball drifts left/right then you hit the object ball left/right of center. Practicing this will save you time of racking over and over plus it will give better results (visual feedback). Once you have found the speed where you control the cue ball with a perfect stop shot, rack up the balls and try your break again with the same as the drill.
Accuracy is the most important part of the break.
Force = Mass x Acceleration
If you generate 23 mph of acceleration then that is more than sufficient Force, but the question would be how much is going into the rack.
If you hit a ball full on (stop shot) then the cue ball transfers all of its energy into the object ball. If you hit 75% of the ball then the cue ball keeps 25% of the initial energy. A way to test this is shoot center cue ball at the outside edge of the object ball (1/2 ball hit) and both the object ball and cue ball will travel the same speed.
So what am I getting at here? A way to practice your break is very simple. Place 1 ball on the footspot. Now take the cue ball from anywhere in the kitchen (other than straight on from the headspot) and try to do a stop shot on the object ball. The cue ball will not lie to you. If the cue ball goes forward you hit too high on the ball. If the cue ball draws back then you hit too low on the ball. If the cue ball drifts left/right then you hit the object ball left/right of center. Practicing this will save you time of racking over and over plus it will give better results (visual feedback). Once you have found the speed where you control the cue ball with a perfect stop shot, rack up the balls and try your break again with the same as the drill.
This is not quite true. If the cue ball is sliding into the object ball (a stun shot) the balls will have equal outbound speed when the cut angle is 45 degrees which is slightly fuller than a quarter-ball hit. Geometrically speaking, this is because in a right triangle with equal legs, the acute angles are 45 degrees.
If you shoot half ball (a 30-degree cut) and the cue ball is rolling when it gets to the object ball, the initial outbound speed of the object ball will be 87% of the original cue ball speed while the cue ball will leave with only 50% of its original speed. As the object ball acquires follow and slows as a result, its speed drops to about 62% of the original cue ball speed. At the same time, the excess follow on the cue ball will cause it to speed up to roughly match the object ball speed.
It is not possible to transfer all of the energy of the cue ball to the rack on a break shot because the rack acts like more than a single ball and the cue ball bounces back. There is energy in that bounce-back which did not get into the rack.
A problem with practicing the break shot with just one ball is that if you hit the ball as hard as most good breakers do, the object ball will not stay on the table.
what do you guys think of this tip i read some where for practicing your break
set up a long diagonal straight in shot
hit it at your break speed so that you make the ball and the cue ball "stuns forward"
since when you break you want alittle follow so when the cue ball bounces back it stops
this way you are testing your accuracy with more power Rather than with a simple stop shot
set up a long diagonal straight in shot
hit it at your break speed so that you make the ball and the cue ball "stuns forward"
since when you break you want alittle follow so when the cue ball bounces back it stops
this way you are testing your accuracy with more power Rather than with a simple stop shot
How can the Cue ball keep 50% of the original speed and the object ball go at 87% of the original speed? Energy into the shot is = Energy out of the shot (minus friction).
How full you it the ball is going to tell you how much energy the cue ball keeps and how much the object ball gets.
And as far as practicing breaking by using 1 ball. This is great practice for people with problems breaking because of the feedback they get. Most players don't hit the head ball solid and this will show them if they are off left/right. As far as power, most players try to hit too hard and they lose accuracy. So this drill gets players to take some power off and focus on accuracy.
If you really want to get the most out of practicing your break, you're going to have to rack the balls. I know it's a pain, but that's really the best way to do it. If you can get a friend to rack them for you, it helps a lot.
Yes, like you wrote, accuracy is important but I have found that players also have trouble generating speed. It's a scary feeling to swing the cue so fast. You're on the right track with that.
I think players should practice their break two ways ---- One: Break softer and work on accuracy. Two: Focus on breaking hard and allow accuracy to take a second priority. The plan is for the two to eventually come together. --- But always with the balls racked.
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The kinetic energy of a mass is 1/2 * m * v * v
where m is is the mass and v is the velocity.
For a cut angle of "a" and an inbound velocity of v, the outbound speeds of the two balls are :
v_cue_ball = v * sin(a)
v_object_ball = v * cos(a)
The above is absolutely simple and standard high school physics. If you plug in a cut angle of 30 degrees you will see that the sums of the speeds is larger than the incoming speed, and in particular the speeds I gave:
sin(30) = 0.5
cos(30) = 0.86602540378
If you don't have a calculator handy for getting sine and cosine, you can simply plug "cos(30 degrees)" into the google search box and it will give you the answer.
Notice that 0.5+0.866 is larger than 1, but
0.5^2 = 0.25
0.866^2 = 0.75
so the squares sum to 1, as Newton requires for conservation of energy.
In addition the momenta (which are given by m * v ) need to add up to the original momentum of the cue ball, but those are vector quantities and are represented by the legs of the appropriate right triangle, which I will not draw here. I'm sure there is a good technical paper on this stuff on Dr. Dave's website if you are interested in the details. You can also find a couple of articles about this stuff in the on-line collection of my articles in Billiards Digest.
Here is a scored break shot practice that is in VEPP and somewhere in my BD columns which are on-line. I don't remember the exact categories, but I think you'll get the idea.
Break. You get points as follows:
1 for having checked the rack
1 for leaving the cue ball in the middle half of the table (lengthwise)
1 for the cue ball not touching a cushion
1 for no excess side spin on the cue ball
1 for making a ball
1 for having a shot after the break
1 for any other good feature you may want to add to the list
Score 0 for an illegal break, such as a scratch or miscue.
Break 10 times. Add up your scores. Note where your break is weak. Work on the weaknesses.
I like that a lot.
