Best Instructional Book / Tape on 14.1 Break Shots

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ChrisinNC

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I just don’t seem to be learning from my mistakes when practicing my 14.1 beginning of each new rack break shots. I’m particularly having a hard time figuring out how to consistently control the cue ball to give myself the best chance at having a high percentage shot following the break shot. There must be some books or instructional tapes out there that address this critical aspect of the game in detail, covering numerous angles of break shots and exactly how to hit them. Any recommendations? – Thanks
 
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crazysnake

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Can you be more specific about what the problem is?

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arcstats

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If you can find a copy of "Advanced Pool" by George Fels, get it. There are 128 pages on advanced straight pool, including extensive coverage on primary and secondary break shots.
 
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CocoboloCowboy

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One of the greatest way to gleen information is to watch some one great at something, if they are a nice person they may answer a question or two.

Always say thank you if they do.
 
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Bob Jewett

Bob Jewett

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ChrisinNC said:
... covering numerous angles of break shots and exactly how to hit them. ...
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By now you should have a library. Review what's in Mosconi, Byrne, Fels, Capelle, Cranfield. Capelle has a book called "Break Shot Patterns" which may help you get a good angle more often on the break ball.

Experiment. I had a particular break shot that stopped a run. I got out some donuts and started practicing that exact break shot. (It was a 45-degree cut on the wrong side of the rack, so I was shooting from the end rail). What I discovered with that shot is that for that exact shot I could not predict which ball in the rack I would hit. If the ball went in on the left side of the pocket, I would hit the nearer ball in the rack and the cue ball would get loose even for a nice, controlled speed. If the ball went in on the right side of the pocket, the cue ball would hit the farther ball in the rack and stick -- a very nice safety.

One point of relating that experiment is that there is no precise rule. There are guidelines, though. Also, you need to experiment. If you are working on the best way to get free on a behind-the-rack break shot, get out the donuts and experiment with slightly different positions -- move the donut a quarter-inch at a time to see the different reactions off the rack for shots that look identical from a distance.

One thing I've been doing lately is picking the ball in the rack I intend to hit and focusing on just that ball and the object ball and visualizing the carom from the object ball to the rack ball.

General ideas:

0. Get the cue ball free.

1. A ball that is closer to the rack is better than a distant one.

2. A thin cut is better than a thick cut.

3. The cue ball should not leave the bottom half of the table.

4. If you have a problem with accuracy on power shots, see if finesse works for the problem position.

5. Others?

As an example of 4: In the old days, when a player was faced with Hohmann's standard break position -- side of the rack break with the cue ball straight up the table and maybe even with or above the side pockets -- the absolutely standard play was a soft follow shot that brought a couple of balls out of the back of the rack and left the cue ball near the foot rail for a secondary break shot. If someone had drawn the cue ball to the head rail and back, his friends would have taken him in for evaluation.

I think it is very useful to shoot the same shot multiple times. If you are doing high-run practice, start each turn with the same break shot that you want to work on. (Or just do the break shot, or just run the rack, or just make the first five balls, or...) Doing the same one multiple times lets you learn what can happen (like my sticking ball above) and what it takes to have a second shot.
 
sjm

sjm

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Bob Jewett said:
One thing I've been doing lately is picking the ball in the rack I intend to hit and focusing on just that ball and the object ball and visualizing the carom from the object ball to the rack ball.
Click to expand...

Best advice in the thread right here. Put more simply, the break shot is all about your attack angle. Learn to choose the right one and then learn to get precisely the attack angle you choose. This is how the very best do it.
 
Will Maynard

Will Maynard

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Break Shot Patterns

ChrisinNC said:
I just don’t seem to be learning from my mistakes when practicing my 14.1 beginning of each new rack break shots. I’m particularly having a hard time figuring out how to consistently control the cue ball to give myself the best chance at having a high percentage shot following the break shot. There must be some books or instructional tapes out there that address this critical aspect of the game in detail, covering numerous angles of break shots and exactly how to hit them. Any recommendations? – Thanks
Click to expand...
I like "Break Shot Patterns" by Phil Capelle. I had the book spiral-bound at Staples which makes it easy to have it open for reference as you set up and play the patterns.

Also, watch YouTube videos of John Schmidt's high runs and study his techniques for choosing and manufacturing break balls, pattern play for the last 5 balls and shooting break balls.
 
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Straightpool_99

Straightpool_99

I see dead balls
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ChrisinNC said:
I just don’t seem to be learning from my mistakes when practicing my 14.1 beginning of each new rack break shots. I’m particularly having a hard time figuring out how to consistently control the cue ball to give myself the best chance at having a high percentage shot following the break shot. There must be some books or instructional tapes out there that address this critical aspect of the game in detail, covering numerous angles of break shots and exactly how to hit them. Any recommendations? – Thanks
Click to expand...

Accu-Stats has the Grady Mathews video, and the Sigel video is on Youtube. Other than that, I still think the only way to really learn is trial and error, to an extent. I think speed is a very vital component in all breakshots. If you're having problems, I'd try taking some speed off your breakshots for a while. This will limit the spread a bit, but it will also increase your cueball control. Having a slightly smaller spread can actually be beneficial, as there is less of a chance of getting tied up. If you're playing on Simonis, with a good ball set racked well, you don't need a huge blast to get a spread that will allow you to continue your run.

As you may or may not know, I am an advocate of hitting breakshots hard. HOWEVER, for learning purposes and trouble shooting, I think you should break soft for a while.
 
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ChrisinNC

AzB Silver Member
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Straightpool_99 said:
Accu-Stats has the Grady Mathews video, and the Sigel video is on Youtube. Other than that, I still think the only way to really learn is trial and error, to an extent. I think speed is a very vital component in all breakshots. If you're having problems, I'd try taking some speed off your breakshots for a while. This will limit the spread a bit, but it will also increase your cueball control. Having a slightly smaller spread can actually be beneficial, as there is less of a chance of getting tied up. If you're playing on Simonis, with a good ball set racked well, you don't need a huge blast to get a spread that will allow you to continue your run.

As you may or may not know, I am an advocate of hitting breakshots hard. HOWEVER, for learning purposes and trouble shooting, I think you should break soft for a while.
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I’ll try it, but my problem with hitting the break shot softer is making sure I extract the cue ball from the rack!
 
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Straightpool_99

Straightpool_99

I see dead balls
Silver Member
ChrisinNC said:
I’ll try it, but my problem with hitting the break shot softer is making sure I extract the cue ball from the rack!
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Obviously don't hit so soft that you stick. Set up the shot you have problems with and take speed off (or add) in stages. The Sigel or Grady videos will show you what spin to use, but there are variations in angles that may need adjustments. Try changing the speed and spin very slightly until you get the desired result and file the resut in your memory. If you get stuck over and over, you may have an unconventional breakshot that need either extremely soft speed or very hard. Those do exist. Blasting the breakshot does have the advantage of rarely sticking. Playing very soft gives you extreme control over where you hit the rack. The Sigel video very clearly states that one should always attempt to hit the rack at an angle, that is often what goes wrong when you blast the rack, especially from underneath. The speed makes you lose the angle.

There is one thing that I feel is undercommunicated in the straight pool litterature and videos. That is the hook the cueball makes with powerful follow shots. Sometimes you can be unlucky and have the hook unfold in such a way that you hit the balls dead square on or maybe even miss the pack (because it hooked late), when you weren't counting on it. The other problem is the fact that the cueball speed can be killed by the follow, even on a cutshot. This is especially true with near the rail breakshots where the cueball is further away from the rail than the object ball. In those cases I usually do not use follow, but rather sidespin to control the ball. This also has the advantage of getting more speed, as the follow kills the speed in many cases. Shooting these rail breakshots with follow can in many cases spell disaster especially when you max out on the follow. Better to use center with inside or below center with inside for the same general direction. When I have a choice between follow and draw (cueball at rack center), I usually choose draw, for the reasons stated.
 
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JimD

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In addition to the books already mentioned, you may want to pick up any of the books written by Johnny Holiday. I know of only two that he wrote. I believe one is continuous high runs in straight pool.


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Bob Jewett

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JimD said:
In addition to the books already mentioned, you may want to pick up any of the books written by Johnny Holiday. I know of only two that he wrote. I believe one is continuous high runs in straight pool.
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He wrote three. I think the most useful feature of them are the "how should you run these" diagrams. They are hard to find now. Here are pictures of the three:

https://forums.azbilliards.com/showpost.php?p=6096158&postcount=30

Do you remember something else that was particularly helpful in them?
 
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JimD

Registered
I read them over 20 years ago. For me, at that time, I appreciated hearing a pros thought process when navigating a rack as well as nuisances about how to stroke the cue ball on shots.


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crazysnake

AzB Silver Member
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Pat Fleming has a good instructional that addresses break shots. It might be on YouTube.

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