8-ball - Opponent breaks leaving large cluster!

[Billy_Bob]

So I'm getting pretty good at running out lately and winning games...

Well I had a match last night where my opponent broke every time leaving much of the rack intact and clustered. And the way I handled this was to use my balls to block his pockets, then wait for him to clear the table and break everything out...

But my team captain tells me to runout while many of my opponents balls are still on the table. And this was contrary to my "instinct" of what to do. I was wanting to wait forever and have a long safety battle. Wait for my opponent to shoot in more of his balls (clearing my way) before I attempted to runout.

And then when I did try to runout, I had to break up clusters. And in doing so, this sent many of my opponents balls flying in all sorts of unpredictable directions. And I would not normally do this. Anyway I lost every game in the match attempting to run out like this.

I prefer to slowly move my balls around one at a time placing them in a better position for a runout later and to not disturb my opponent's balls. And by having the 8 or one or more of my opponent's balls blocked, I have in the past been able to take my time.

But anyway the clustered break caught me off guard. And I used to do this myself when playing someone who could runout - break softly leaving much of the rack intact but driving 4 balls to the rail. Now I guess they are going to do this to me!

Question: What is the best strategy when someone breaks leaving much of the rack intact (8-ball)?

 

[GADawg]

I ilke your instincts better than the strategy of your captain.

I try to never touch my opponents clustered balls unless I have no other choice and then try to find a way to leave him safe with no shot.

 

[Andrew Manning]

So I'm getting pretty good at running out lately and winning games...

Well I had a match last night where my opponent broke every time leaving much of the rack intact and clustered. And the way I handled this was to use my balls to block his pockets, then wait for him to clear the table and break everything out...

But my team captain tells me to runout while many of my opponents balls are still on the table. And this was contrary to my "instinct" of what to do. I was wanting to wait forever and have a long safety battle. Wait for my opponent to shoot in more of his balls (clearing my way) before I attempted to runout.

And then when I did try to runout, I had to break up clusters. And in doing so, this sent many of my opponents balls flying in all sorts of unpredictable directions. And I would not normally do this. Anyway I lost every game in the match attempting to run out like this.

I prefer to slowly move my balls around one at a time placing them in a better position for a runout later and to not disturb my opponent's balls. And by having the 8 or one or more of my opponent's balls blocked, I have in the past been able to take my time.

But anyway the clustered break caught me off guard. And I used to do this myself when playing someone who could runout - break softly leaving much of the rack intact but driving 4 balls to the rail. Now I guess they are going to do this to me!

Question: What is the best strategy when someone breaks leaving much of the rack intact (8-ball)?

Your captain gave you terrible advice, in my opinion. When I have a table with several clusters and no obvious or reliable way to break them up, my shots at the beginning of the rack have two goals:

1) move my balls out of clusters and into the open
2) leave my opponent either safe, or in a place where he'll break up the clusters, but have at least as difficult a runout as the one that was facing me

Only when I have a reasonable runout in front of me do I start trying to run. Let your opponent open up the clusters you don't want to tackle. If he gets through the clusters and gets out, when you didn't have the opportunity to do that yourself, either you left him somewhere you shouldn't have, or he's better than you, and you're out of luck.

-Andrew

 

[supergreenman]

So I'm getting pretty good at running out lately and winning games...

Well I had a match last night where my opponent broke every time leaving much of the rack intact and clustered. And the way I handled this was to use my balls to block his pockets, then wait for him to clear the table and break everything out...

But my team captain tells me to runout while many of my opponents balls are still on the table. And this was contrary to my "instinct" of what to do. I was wanting to wait forever and have a long safety battle. Wait for my opponent to shoot in more of his balls (clearing my way) before I attempted to runout.

And then when I did try to runout, I had to break up clusters. And in doing so, this sent many of my opponents balls flying in all sorts of unpredictable directions. And I would not normally do this. Anyway I lost every game in the match attempting to run out like this.

I prefer to slowly move my balls around one at a time placing them in a better position for a runout later and to not disturb my opponent's balls. And by having the 8 or one or more of my opponent's balls blocked, I have in the past been able to take my time.

But anyway the clustered break caught me off guard. And I used to do this myself when playing someone who could runout - break softly leaving much of the rack intact but driving 4 balls to the rail. Now I guess they are going to do this to me!

Question: What is the best strategy when someone breaks leaving much of the rack intact (8-ball)?

I don't know about the best strategy, but I do know I've run out soft breaks and I've had soft breaks run out on me. I'm not saying you should always attempt a runnout, quite the opposite, I just don't think you should discount it offhand. Waiting for your opponent to break out your balls can lead to your opponet running out on you.

For good players, a small bump on a cluster is often all they need.

I guess what I'm trying to say is a sof break is just like an open break, you have to approach each one as a unique layout and make your mind up to play safe or aggresive from there.