Ever try this?

Gerry said:

I was practicing 14.1 the other day, and figured I'd focus on out of the ordinary break balls. I saved balls near the bottom corners (within +- 3") and hangers by the side pockets, which worked GREAT. The cool thing with the side pocket hangers (especially high on the pocket) is you can leave the CB in the stack and take ball in hand, or get a fairly general shape up in the kitchen.

The stress of missing the breakers was gone, but not playing these all that often made the position off the breaker iffy. All in all I learned some new things, and added a few new shots to the memory bank....It was fun to try if you all never have.

Gerry

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Those are break shots I settle for after I've screwed up my primary break ball. I don't like them for the reason you mentioned - you can never be sure what kind of shape you're going to end up with. Call me a coward, but on these breaks I'd rather hit the back of the rack at an angle off one or two rails and hope the CB gets to the long rail and spins toward the center of the table.

I've used a ball near the corners a few times. Spinning back into the rack and leaving the cue ball low. Usually have a shot or an easy combo into a corner. But what I don't like is that it is a gamble. Pretty good odds, but 14.1 is a lot about taking out the gambles. But sometimes it is your best option.

We used to have a great 14.1 player, the late George Ellis. He played with Harold Worst all the time. One of his favorite shots was the break ball on the lip of the corner pocket. He would leave the cueball between the rack and the object ball, then smash the rack apart and draw back into the hanger. It always seemed to work good for him, but I sure wouldn't recommend it.
A little story about George that he told me.-- He was playing Harold in an exhibition match to 200 points and ran 150 on Harold. (150-0). Jokingly he asked Harold if he wanted to bet $50 on the game. To his surprise, Harold said yes and proceeded to run 200 and out on him.!

I use three “non-optimal” breaks shots and have found that they are more successful for me than the text book side-of-the-rack break. They are side pocket, corner pocket, and behind-the-rack. In each case, it is critical to hit the rack in a certain way. You must avoid hitting the center ball on the side of the rack. I aim for the second to last ball on a particular side so I am glancing the CB off the rack and back into open cloth.

Page 1 (Side Pocket): I use top-left English for this configuration and aim to hit the 4 ball with a glancing hit. Avoid the 10/6/9 area at all costs. The CB will proceed to the side rail and spin toward the center of the table. Judge the speed to avoid reaching the side pocket for a scratch. I never draw this shot into the side of the rack as that tends to result in the CB being stuck to the side of the pack or on the end rail.

Page 2 (Corner Pocket): I use low-left English for this configuration and aim to hit the 4 ball with a glancing hit. Avoid the 10/6/9 area at all costs. The CB will proceed to the side rail and spin toward the center of the table. Judge the speed to avoid reaching the side pocket for a scratch.

Page 3 (Behind-the-Rack): This is just about my favorite break shot. I use aggressive top-left English for this configuration and aim to hit the 6 ball with a more solid hit than the earlier shots. Avoid the 9 at all costs. The CB will proceed to the side rail, spin to the foot & side rails, and then spin toward the center of the table. Judge the speed to avoid reaching the side pocket for a scratch. I avoid break balls that are centered on the rear of the rack. I try to position my CB on one side of the rack and the OB on the other (CB “below” the OB) as shown in the diagram. Never with both on the same side of the rack, which will increase your tendency to hit the center of the pack and stick there.

http://CueTable.com/P/?@3AUpD4BCYB3...OBal4PMuw4kMuw3kANi3kDGr3kbBT3kIfm4kbQi4kBIW@