Break shot help...

Nice idea. 'Break Shot Clinic' would suit the title better

WOW! Somehow I missed this ancient thread. That's a very generous offer. If I somehow get a video and learn how to upload it to youtube i will definitely seek out your help and anyone else who would offer to help.

Thanks Steve.

JoeyA

Hi Steve,
sent you PM

lg
Ingo

man, if only I had a video camera... I have offers to have people look at my break shot, my fundamentals, my 9b break... maybe it's time to get out the wallet

I'm going to keep my eye on this thread. If I can, I'll try to get some videos in the next week of a few break shots.

2007? omg... It seemed I first replied in this thread just yesterday

im missing back cut break shots at the moment. I am going to set up a progressive drill tonight to work on them. If I still have problems then I will make a video of it.

Hey,

maybe its the back cut itself.....The rack may be sharking you !!!

try just shooting the back cuts over and over again, once you are hitting them confidently add the rack and see if it sharks you...If so time to bare down more and just focus on the cutshot.

Good Luck
Steve

Steve meant 14.1 break. Awwwwww.
JoeyA

steve:

i'm impressed by your ability to control the cueball with such a hard stroke on your 14.1 breaks and i'm not the only one. a "putter" you are not.

my greatest run stoppers are missing my break-balls. i can't tell you how frustrating it is for me to blow a nice run by missing a routine b-ball. can you please tell me what exactly is the focus of your concentration when you hammer a b-ball? are you looking at the exact spot on the b-ball? what do you do with regard to your follow through?

any tips would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,
tim

Steve being me, or Mr Lipsky ???

Great Idea

Steve Lipsky said:

Some posts in Blackjack's break shot thread got me thinking...

If anyone wants to videotape himself taking a break shot and then youtube it, I'd be happy to offer some suggestions if I can. I'm sure the other more experienced players would be happy to do the same.

Please try to get a representative clip of yourself. In other words, if you get stuck to the rack a lot, try to capture that. You lose the cue ball on a draw shot, show that. Show as many different break shots as you like, and how you try to tackle each.

I don't know how helpful it will be, but I'd love to give it a try.

- Steve

Click to expand...

Steve,
This is a great idea and it is very gracious of you to offer your help to players. I get so frustrated b/c I can not seem to open racks on my table the way that I believe they should open. It ends many runs. If a few balls do come out, I have to work very hard to reopen the rest of the balls to run a rack.
I am confused of the reason why. I can not afford a ball cleaning machine at this time but I was thinking, maybe buy some type of ball polish might help. I also get a lot of ball skidding on my table, which has ended runs.
I have Simonis HR 860 cloth on the table and I keep it brushed on a regular bases. Do you find this happening on Simonis?
Getting back to being stuck in the rack off of a break shot. I will scratch a lot off the rack. Either in the lower corner pocket or upper corner pocket. I have put low right on the cue ball at times and it will still go forward scratching in the lower corner. I have a set of Centennial balls but I do not like the cue ball. I am thinking about getting a measles cue ball, which might help.
I will put a video together just of break shots like you have original asked. It might take a few days.
Thanks:
Mike

14-1StraightMan said:

Steve,
This is a great idea and it is very gracious of you to offer your help to players. I get so frustrated b/c I can not seem to open racks on my table the way that I believe they should open. It ends many runs. If a few balls do come out, I have to work very hard to reopen the rest of the balls to run a rack.
I am confused of the reason why. I can not afford a ball cleaning machine at this time but I was thinking, maybe buy some type of ball polish might help. I also get a lot of ball skidding on my table, which has ended runs.
I have Simonis HR 860 cloth on the table and I keep it brushed on a regular bases. Do you find this happening on Simonis?
Getting back to being stuck in the rack off of a break shot. I will scratch a lot off the rack. Either in the lower corner pocket or upper corner pocket. I have put low right on the cue ball at times and it will still go forward scratching in the lower corner. I have a set of Centennial balls but I do not like the cue ball. I am thinking about getting a measles cue ball, which might help.
I will put a video together just of break shots like you have original asked. It might take a few days.
Thanks:
Mike

Click to expand...

My cloth is regular 860, and very old. I wipe it lightly with a damp rag everyday when I'm practicing seriously. I've been told it is good for the cloth and the slate. I get it just damp enough that it dries in a couple of minutes. If you keep doing this every day the clean cloth will actually clean and polish the balls for you as you play.

hi steve(kur1) lol^^

no, i sent Steve Lipsky a PM :ö)

lg
Ingo

stevekur1 said:

Steve being me, or Mr Lipsky ???

Click to expand...

i meant, Lipsky but you'll do. :grin-square: i haven't played in several months though. this is depressing...

sausage said:

steve:

i'm impressed by your ability to control the cueball with such a hard stroke on your 14.1 breaks and i'm not the only one. a "putter" you are not.

my greatest run stoppers are missing my break-balls. i can't tell you how frustrating it is for me to blow a nice run by missing a routine b-ball. can you please tell me what exactly is the focus of your concentration when you hammer a b-ball? are you looking at the exact spot on the b-ball? what do you do with regard to your follow through?

any tips would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,
tim

Click to expand...

I think I can answer this one. One of the biggest problems with a break shot is that you are trying to break the rack open. What I mean by that is that you consciously or subconsciously are focusing on the break when in all fairness you should be concentrating on making the ball.

What I do is I look at the shot at hand first. I think to myself "Ok, if I'm playing 9 ball and this is my money shot I know I'm not going to miss this one 99 out of a hundred times" Once I have myself sure I can make the shot I begin to think of where I want the cueball to go and how much speed I want on it. In 9 ball when you shoot that last shot all you're concentrating on is making that 9. Other than adjusting to miss a scratch of some sort you really don't have to concern yourself with the cue ball at all. In 14.1 you need to plan both.

So, at this point I know where I want to make the ball and I've decided on how I want to make it. For example, "I want to make this in the corner using a medium/hard stroke with a little draw" Once I have all that decided I try to forget that the rack is there. I know from my decisions that the cue ball is going to go where I need it to go and do what I need it to do. So, at this point I can just get down on the shot and focus on making that ball with whatever I need on the cue ball.

One other thing you'll see a lot of people doing is shooting the break ball and then watching where the cue ball goes. WRONG!! You need to focus on that object ball, not the rack. The rack will come apart as you planned it to.
MULLY

sausage said:

i meant, Lipsky but you'll do. :grin-square: i haven't played in several months though. this is depressing...

Click to expand...

that just makes me feel sooooo good......LOL

We Call Mr. Lipsky "The Mission" with his break shots he played at the SBE 14.1 Challenge !!!

he was breaking them harder than Mr Flemming !

Steve

mullyman: thanks for the thoughtful response. if i EVER play pool again, i'll try it

Thanks Mullyman for that insightful reply. I usually find my attention divided on break shots between the object ball & the rack. WRONG. I will take your advise & focus on making the break ball & forget about the rack. If the break ball doesn't go in, it doesn't matter how well you hit the rack.

Dave