I've been practicing for a 10 ball tournament on the valley bar box. Breaking is not one of my strong points in 8 or 9 ball and i'm finding it even more difficult in 10 ball. I spent 3 hours the other day working on it and seen to have trouble pocketing a ball. Suggestions please help !
10 Ball Bar Box Break
- Thread starter eightandout
- Start date
Hillbilly" Bryant has a very good breaking video on line (PPV)
"Hillbilly" Bryant has a very good breaking video on line (PPV) - it shows some "secrets" that you will find very beneficial.
His web site is www.hillbillyonthehill.com - the video is $10. for 48 hours, I'd recommend taking some notes and writing down the key points he makes.
"Hillbilly" Bryant has a very good breaking video on line (PPV) - it shows some "secrets" that you will find very beneficial.
His web site is www.hillbillyonthehill.com - the video is $10. for 48 hours, I'd recommend taking some notes and writing down the key points he makes.
eightandout...The very first thing to understand is that nobody makes a ball on the break every time...not even the top pros. Even Shane Van Boening, who is considered to have the best 10-ball break, does not make a ball every time. Here's some tips...make sure the rack is tight; back off on your speed; make sure you're hitting dead center on the CB, and contacting the head ball head on, from wherever you break from. Work on squatting your CB after contact with the rack. Back off on your speed, and work on accuracy striking the CB (you want NO spin on the CB), until you can do this. Frequently the head ball will move towards the side pocket. Good luck with your practice. 
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
APA Leagues across the country play tens of thousands of 9 ball games/matches on a bar box each week. I believe NAPA offers an option of 8, 9 and 10 ball, most of those matches are played on a bar box. It is a very common occurrence. Which part of that is difficult to understand?
Look, A-hole, you've been following me around with your snide comments for awhile now.
Maybe you can try growing up.
That's probably too much to ask, right? Feel free to respond. I'm done with you.
I follow the same philosophy as Joe W: Always give the a-holes opportunity to have the final say.
Now if anyone wants to have a reasonable discussion about 10-Ball on a bar box, I'd love it.
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LMAO! You asked a question, I believe I answered it in a polite fashion. Look in the mirror if there are issues, the answer will be staring you in the face. I'm sorry you're so miserable and bitter. Thanks for calling me an Ahole, as always with you ... classy.
Apparently, players have become so good at breaking and running out 9 ball on the bar box, tournament promoters want to offer 10 ball as an option, It slows the game down (because making a ball on the break and running out is more difficult). Probably the same reason why 10 ball is played on the 9 and 10 footers wouldn't you say?? So now the question is how to make a ball on the break to gain some advantage. I guess soon we'll be playing full rack rotation.
Are they playing actual 10 Ball tournament rules or are they just playing 9 Ball with an additional ball?
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Im a league operator for napa and 10 ball is one of the options. And half the people you talk to dont even know what it is at first. And they love it once they start playing it. Its like nine ball but with no slop involved. And i myself dont like 9 foot tables (bad eyes). I dont understand why anyone would want to play any game on a nine footer.
So you're playing 10 Ball tournament rules on a bar box? I know what the rules are. I was involved in their creation. Are they the World Standardized Rules --- the whole bit where you can make your opponent shoot again?
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No one can give you an exact place to break from that will work perfect because everyone breaks different. However, i can tell you how to find your exact spot, but it takes a little time and patience and hopefully a second person to rack for you, to figure it out.
First off start by racking the balls with like a fourteen and a 15 ball on each of the back corners. This will help to keep track of them easier.
It helps to have a magic rack, or something like it, so you can get a repeatable rack, this way you can just concentrate on position; however, if you dont have one, try drawing a line with chalk on the table in line with both dots about 8 to ten inches away from the foot rail dot so you can make sure your rack is centered every time. and get a nice tight rack.
Position the cue ball so that it is on the head string, and about one diamond in from the side rail. If you are left handed break from the right side, if you are right handed break from the left.
You want to aim at the contact point between the first and second ball in the back row opposite the side you are on. So if you are on the left side, you would aim at the contact point between the second and first ball on the right side of the rack as you look at it.
........O
.......OO
......OOO
.....O|OO|O <=== you are aiming at one of these depending on where you break from.
Next you will want to break with about 1/2 to 3//4 the power you would normaly use in an 8 ball break. Harder does not equal better in 10 ball. Make sure you hit center ball with no sidespin or high or low. Every time you break, use as close to the same power as you can and have your stick as close to level as possible.
Now break and watch the outer most balls. (14 and 15) One of them will come close to going. For me it is the ball opposite me in the rack, however, for some people it will be the ball on the same side as they are breaking from. If it is the ball opposite your position, and the ball hits the foot rail, then move your cue ball one inch towards the side rail and try again. If the ball hits the side rail, move one inch toward the center of the table. If it, however, is the ball on your side that is close to going in, reverse those directions and if it hits the foot rail go towards the center, and if it hits the side rail go towards the side rail.
If you scratch use one tip high or low to "stear" your cue ball out of the pocket. This will also change your break a little so be aware of that as well. Never use left or right on the break unless you have to. If you pop off the table you are elevating your stick, make sure your stick is level.
Only move left or right and make sure to do it an inch at a time, so you can repeat it ascurately and aren't guessing. You should be able to stear the ball into the pocket. Once you get close to center of pocket, start moving backwards toward the head rail one inch at a time untill you fine tune it to hit the center of the pocket every time.
If you do this correctly, you should get a nice spread, with the cue ball in the center of the table and pocket one ball at minimum.
I would say since I found my sweet spot, I have about 75 percent acuracy with getting a ball on the break and about 75 percent of the time after the break I have a good lay for my next shot. I have noticed something however, usually if I dont make anything, the other shooter is screwed on the leave too. So its bonus for me. And honestly, most of the time, I make the corner ball, but half the time I make more than one, my highest being 5 balls on the break including the 10 ball.
Now I realise that some will say "but John, not everyone racks perfect, uses a magic rack, racks with the rack perfectly straight, gets a tight rack." and to that, I say "why are you calling me John when my name is George" hehehe. But seriously, in answer to that, if you know how to break in pristine conditions, just adjust your break accordingly. If the rack is off kilter to the right or left a little bit, move your ball so it is about the same off kilter as the rack is, your cue ball should be in the same position, perportionately to the rack. If they rack you behind the dot move forward, if they rack you in front of the dot move back.
With this trick you should be able to get a consistant break, reguardless of how the person racks you. The only thing that will screw you is if the head ball (1ball) Is not touching. Which I usually check and have them fix if it is messed up. Once you get your sweet spot it will usually work from both sides of the table. So if you do it from the left side at first, once you get your spot, go to the right and it should work the same way with very little adjustment needed.
Keep in mind the one diamond from rail on head string is your starting point, You may end up 12 inches to the right of that and 3 inches back before you get to your sweet spot, however; from that point on you will have a measurable, repeatable spot to break from. if you find that you are say 12 inthes over from there and 4 inches back, you should just measure for the secon diamond over and it would then be 3 inches from the second diamond and 4 inches back. That way it is easier to measure.
Well I hope this helps you to fiugure out your break. If you need any other help let me know.
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Kind of. We have what is called a play option wich allows you to have the other person shot again if they get a ball in an un designated pocket. Lets say you shoot a ball and accidentally get the seven in but didnt call it in the pocket you got it in. I can force you to continue shooting. But no we dont have a rule like the BCA reguarding an uncalled safe. Wish we did.
Basically the rules are; you have to call every shot there is no obvious shot rule. You can only call one ball per shot (so you cant call the 6 and ten and if the ten goes you win but if the six goes but ten doesnt you get to continue playing. in that instance you either call the six or ten. if the ten goes in and the 6 does not, and you called the six, you spot the ten.) The ten has to be called. you puit the ten in without calling it it gets spotted. And then you have the play option that I already explained. Short of that it is more or less like every other sequential order based game.
I didn't think making the corner ball was possible (with any consistency). Thats what makes 9 ball breaks so advantageous. Thanks for your input, this is the kind of answer i'm looking for.
Ok thanks. It's interesting to see that it's being adapted for bar box play. I would have thought it would have slowed play down considerably if WSR were followed exactly.
That wasn't what we all had in mind when we made the rules some 6 years ago. It was basically to save 9 Ball which was quickly becoming obsolete, and adding a new game with new rules that didn't resemble 9 Ball.
Tournaments like the 9 Ball U.S, Open and the 9 Ball World Championship and even the entire European Tour were in jeopardy of being considered as second rate as those new tournaments were popping up with the same rules but with an extra ball added. Creating a new type of 10 ball game both saved the integrity of 9 Ball and also created a new set of competitive professional events.
I agree with what you are saying here. I don't think it's possible to make the corner ball with any decent amount of consistency with a 10 Ball rack. I'm not sure how the dynamics change on a bar box. Maybe there's more opportunity for a ball to get kicked into a pocket due to the limited space on the table.
I would say i have about 60 percent sucess making corner ball and about 80 percent sucess with any ball going in on the break using this method.
Fran,
You may find it interesting to read the NAPA 10 ball rules.
http://www.napaleagues.com/loco/docs/rules/10-ball_v14-0.pdf
.
You may find it interesting to read the NAPA 10 ball rules.
http://www.napaleagues.com/loco/docs/rules/10-ball_v14-0.pdf
.
What about the rules do you think I would find interesting?
Using what method?