8 Ball Soft Break
- Thread starter 336Robin
- Start date
Why not sink a ball and run out?
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How many times have you broke dry? or just have no way to get out?
If you believe in your abilities to hide the ball why not make it a tug of war?
The less i practice my break...the more i break dry.
I save my one pocket break for one pocket.
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I soft broke 8 ball last night just practicing and played a guy. Made for longer
games but I found it interesting. I was winning if I took care of getting my balls in play
and kept him with bad options. I liked being sure that I had a chance at the table
instead of breaking things out nicey nice for him to run out.
If im playing someone whos not a great shooter, i break from the center and open the table up.
If im playing someone who can run out i break from the side and push a lot of balls on to the rail.
At least thats my plan.
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If im playing someone who can run out i break from the side and push a lot of balls on to the rail.
At least thats my plan.
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Not a bad plan. I played a guy Tuesday night who ran out on me back
before my foot surgery. I broke about Medium speed and created several clusters
and the guy almost gets out and then we start fighting for it, but I had a cluster of
balls barely blocking the 8 and I had 3 on the table at this point, he has no shot. He
banks his ball and leaves it in front of the pocket and I run out. Made me a believer.
The way I figure it is a guy like doesn't need any help so I'm going to try this for
awhile and see how things go. Maybe I will learn a better break for softer players.
I guess you could break like you're playing 14.1 or snooker. You're probably going to get some funny looks though.
Think of it all this way. When you break you may:
• make a ball and run the table for a win
• make the 8-ball and win under APA rules
Or, you may:
• not make a ball and give up the table
• make a ball and scratch, giving up the table
• make the 8-ball and scratch, losing under APA rules
• make a ball and not have a good second shot, more likely under APA rules
A soft break is an advantage to the better player/straight pool player.
• make a ball and run the table for a win
• make the 8-ball and win under APA rules
Or, you may:
• not make a ball and give up the table
• make a ball and scratch, giving up the table
• make the 8-ball and scratch, losing under APA rules
• make a ball and not have a good second shot, more likely under APA rules
A soft break is an advantage to the better player/straight pool player.
I have found the second ball break hit at medium speed tends to leave a more clustered lay out, which favors the experienced player. It also has the potential to move the 8 ball if you are in a match where the 8 ball break wins. If I am using a magic rack on a 7 footer, the wing ball can go straight in. If that is happening consistently I will hit a little harder to hopefully open the balls a little better for the potential run out.
I have noticed in the eight ball events on the seven foot Diamonds that a lot of the pro players are opting for the second ball break.
It might be a valid strategy for your style of play, but make sure that it's actually legal in whatever league you're playing in. WPA rules only require that you either make a ball or 4 object balls contact a rail, but some leagues place additional restrictions on the break. For example, APA says that no defensive breaks are allowed; you should break as hard as you can while maintaining control.
This strategy works for me as an average player, when playing a run-out player...if I don't make a ball (or the 8, heh) it usually leaves a cluster, and often the cue ball finds its way to the back of the rack, without an easy path for the better player to get going. Yes, better players are usually more than capable of breaking up clusters, but anything that makes them work extra is in my favor, at least of getting my chance to make some and duck again.
Many rules for tournaments and leagues have specifically started to prohibit safe (soft) breaks.
If someone was playing me and did a soft break to just mess up the table, that would be the last game we played.
In other words, (or fewer words), you could break soft and lose,,,,,,,,,, or win.
Hmmm, now that's something to study on!
Agreed, but my in-house league still enforces the "4 object balls to a rail" rule. I also dislike the amount of luck involved in an open break and love the controlled break of one pocket, but I don't think that playing 8-ball like one pocket is the way to go.
Intentionally giving up the table on the break gives your opponent the advantage. If they aren't skilled or patient enough to capitalize on that, maybe you can get a few wins that way, but I don't think it's a sustainable strategy against higher level players that will take that advantage and either run out or stick you in a worse spot. No matter who I'm playing, if I open break and make a ball in 8-ball, I like my changes of winning the rack better than any other possible post-break scenario...so much so that's it's worth giving away an open table if I break dry, and even more so if it's an open table (rather than "take what you make").
This.
That is what happens when your opponent can actually play and you try silly things like soft breaking.
I definitely get 4 balls to a rail. I just make a nice mess. I'm just using the
strategy to beat em and so far I can't tell how it works for me over a long race but
thats coming. However what I have noticed is even though the table seem a bit crowded that as you get those balls off you still
have chances of getting out or very safe. I'm just unsure how much advantage it is. Since pros don't do it, probably not so much
but if you dont try something new every once in awhile you go stale.
Another thing to factor in is what kind of break your opponent is using esp if its rotate break as in some league play!