Break shot question

The Milk Man said:

I have a hard time with the q - ball getting stuck in the stack after the break shot. Which got me wondering are there any general rules on when to use draw or follow on your break shot?

Thanks

Shev

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There are some rules of thumb, but here is a different approach. Get some paper hole reinforcements. Place one for what you think is a pretty good break shot and put the object ball on it. Try placing the cue ball at various angles for the break and try with draw and follow and stun. See which works. Try again with a different break ball location.

One rule of thumb is that if the follow might take you to a scratch in a foot pocket, use draw. That having been said, there are shots that look like follow shots that at some speeds get the right two kisses on the rack so that the cue ball arcs out and hooks back into a corner pocket. Such shots depend on exactly how much of which ball you hit in the rack.

The old timers favored shots at the side of the rack with a backwards (thin) cut so that follow would definitely keep the cue ball from scratching in the same pocket as the object ball. Modern players tend to have much fuller side-of-the-rack break shots and tend to hit them with draw.