This tip is for side of the rack break shots.
It's probably best to sight the 90 degree tangent off of a break ball to find what portion of what ball in the rack the cueball will strike. This way you know how to strike the cueball to keep it under control. But if you don't want to take the time, here's a simple visual that can help determine which way the cueball is likely to carom off of the rack.
A line parallel to the side of the rack can be drawn from the center of the break ball's corner pocket to a half diamond from the diagonally opposite corner pocket. See diagram.
Any break ball on the rack side of that parallel line (Zone A) will be more likely to send the cue ball towards the foot of the table. Any ball on the rail side of that parallel line (Zone B) will be more likely to send the cue ball towards the head of the table. Essentially, the closer the break ball is to the rack, the more likely the cue ball will be heading downtable, and the closer the break ball is to the side rail, the more likely the cue ball will be heading uptable. Knowing this, you can adjust your cueball spin and speed accordingly.
And if you didn't catch my post in another thread about the zone for side of the rack break shots, the zone that we want our break balls to lie within when planning for the next rack is shown in the following image. It is contained within the two curves. The 90 degree tangents off of any break ball in this zone will contact the rack directly. Above or below the curves requires more finesse and usually reduction of speed, so we want to try to stay within these curves.
It's probably best to sight the 90 degree tangent off of a break ball to find what portion of what ball in the rack the cueball will strike. This way you know how to strike the cueball to keep it under control. But if you don't want to take the time, here's a simple visual that can help determine which way the cueball is likely to carom off of the rack.
A line parallel to the side of the rack can be drawn from the center of the break ball's corner pocket to a half diamond from the diagonally opposite corner pocket. See diagram.
Any break ball on the rack side of that parallel line (Zone A) will be more likely to send the cue ball towards the foot of the table. Any ball on the rail side of that parallel line (Zone B) will be more likely to send the cue ball towards the head of the table. Essentially, the closer the break ball is to the rack, the more likely the cue ball will be heading downtable, and the closer the break ball is to the side rail, the more likely the cue ball will be heading uptable. Knowing this, you can adjust your cueball spin and speed accordingly.
And if you didn't catch my post in another thread about the zone for side of the rack break shots, the zone that we want our break balls to lie within when planning for the next rack is shown in the following image. It is contained within the two curves. The 90 degree tangents off of any break ball in this zone will contact the rack directly. Above or below the curves requires more finesse and usually reduction of speed, so we want to try to stay within these curves.