About breaks
- Thread starter iffysam
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Difficult to tell what you are asking. Some possibilities I see are:
1) What break techniques yield the best results in these specific games?
2) What results indicate a "successful and high quality" break?
Question 2 is much easier. In 9 ball, a good break is one in which you pocket a ball (typically and ideally the corner ball), control the cue ball by leaving it in the center of the table or possibly drift *slightly* back to the head rail where you break from, achieve position on the 1 ball, have all the other balls spread out nicely without any clusters. Pocketing additional balls is a plus, but I'd be extremely happy if I only made one every time and did the things above. In 8 ball, you want the cue ball in the center, this is almost always the best. You made a ball, spread everything out with no cluster. If you are playing APA, you made one of each haha.
Question 1 is a more involved one, and has been discussed many many times on here. Here is a quick summary:
9 ball:
1) if the rules allow, your best chances to do the above are to break from the side rail.
2) You do NOT have to smash the balls hard. A nice firm stop shot type stroke will do the trick.
3) At a firm normal stroke speed, a dead center hit on the cueball should bounce the ball off the rack and close to center table. Experiment with a hair of low to drift about 1/2 way back to the head rail, improving your chance of a shot on the one, especially if it ends up on the head rail, which is likely. If you keep landing on the head rail, try hitting softer or harder, but just a little. You would like to get a shot in one of the corners...it is the easiest shape to repeat.
4) Make sure you have a very tight, ideally frozen rack if you are racking your own. If you don't feel comfortable asking for a rerack, at least learn what the spaces in the rack do. I recommend Joe Tucker's "Racking Secrets" book or video. In 9 ball, the break *is* the rack to a large extent. So learn it if you want to have a good break.
8 Ball:
In 8 ball, things are a bit more complicated. You have to decide for yourself if you can really hit the rack decently hard (say 18 mph plus. Get the $5 break speed app to figure this out). If you can hit 18-20 or better, you should favor a head on break for the head ball. If you are playing on very fast tables with good racking conditions, or like a Diamond 7' bar table with Simonis cloth for example, you can lower that speed quite a bit and still come out ok. If you *can't* hit the ball that hard, you really should master the 2nd ball break. Also, if your rules are that 8 on the break wins, this is another reason to try the 2nd ball break, particularly on a bar box. So:
Head ball break:
1) Break from the head string, a couple balls to the left or right of center. You can experiment with exact placement, but just inside the 1/2 way point from the middle to the first diamond is a good start. Your objective is to pocket the 2nd ball in the side.
2) Hit the head ball dead square, and hard. If you can't hit the ball square, or can only hit it square at lower speeds, then the 2nd ball break might be a better option for you.
3) Depending on how hard you hit, you might want to cue slightly above center. This is because the mass of an 8 ball rack is quite a bit more than the 9 ball rack. As such it will bounce the ball back to the headstring with more force. You would love to see your cue ball bounce back a bit and just kill to a stop in the middle of the table. A tiny amount of follow achieves this. If you are running forward back towards the rack area, don't go so high.
4) If you can hit the ball hard enough with an "all arm" stroke (no body movement), do it. You will likely get better cue ball control. Above all, CONTROL THE CUE BALL. If you hit a rail with the cueball, you lost it and its not a great break, whatever the result.
2nd ball break:
1) Position the cueball on the head string, close to the side rail. Get as close as you can to the side rail while *comfortably* cueing pretty low on the ball. If you really have to jack up to hit low, move away from the rail a little.
2) DO NOT position a closed bridge on the rail. Learn a proper rail bridge. The last thing you want on this break is an elevated cue.
3) On this break, nothing is more important than accuracy. Your objective is to hit the 2nd ball fairly full. I say fairly full because trying to hit it as full as you can runs the risk of catching a slice of the head ball, which typically fires your cueball straight into the far corner pocket. That is bad. I like to aim for about a 2/3 full hit.
4) Stroke firmly but with NO body movement. This is a regular pool shot, so body movement will probably kill your accuracy.
5) Try hitting very low with no english. Your goal is to draw the cueball to the side rail and back out to the center of the table. If you are going to far and scratching in the opposite side pocket, use a little less draw. You can experiment with english, but this is going to potentially hurt your accuracy. I like to snap this break with a pretty firm stroke, so I don't use english.
6) Know your rack. This break is terrible if you don't break into a 2nd ball that is *frozen* to the 8 ball. The best scenario is when the 2nd ball you are hitting is frozen, and the other one is not. Or one of the balls beside the 8 is not frozen.
7) Don't try to overpower the ball. The whole point of this break (one of them) is that you can hit quite soft and get decent results. It seems it is the ball in front of the back corner on the outside row that is most likely to go in. Strive for accuracy. If you just can't do it, or you scratch in the corner more than 1 in 10 or so times, you may need to stick with the head ball break until you can build up your accuracy.
I just finished 5th in the APA 8 ball National Singles in Vegas in the highest bracket. I used the 2nd ball break about 90% of the time. I made the 8 several times. It is pretty deadly on a table where you can rack the balls well. On a 9' table, I always break for the head ball. I can break reasonably hard...I try to hit about 22-25 mph. I tend to make a ball and get a good layout better this way. I think I just lack the accuracy to consistently hit the 2nd ball hard enough to get a good spread.
Anyway, I hope this info helps!! (ps, 10 ball and 8 ball are essentially interchangeable...similar technique for both.)
KMRUNOUT
1) What break techniques yield the best results in these specific games?
2) What results indicate a "successful and high quality" break?
Question 2 is much easier. In 9 ball, a good break is one in which you pocket a ball (typically and ideally the corner ball), control the cue ball by leaving it in the center of the table or possibly drift *slightly* back to the head rail where you break from, achieve position on the 1 ball, have all the other balls spread out nicely without any clusters. Pocketing additional balls is a plus, but I'd be extremely happy if I only made one every time and did the things above. In 8 ball, you want the cue ball in the center, this is almost always the best. You made a ball, spread everything out with no cluster. If you are playing APA, you made one of each haha.
Question 1 is a more involved one, and has been discussed many many times on here. Here is a quick summary:
9 ball:
1) if the rules allow, your best chances to do the above are to break from the side rail.
2) You do NOT have to smash the balls hard. A nice firm stop shot type stroke will do the trick.
3) At a firm normal stroke speed, a dead center hit on the cueball should bounce the ball off the rack and close to center table. Experiment with a hair of low to drift about 1/2 way back to the head rail, improving your chance of a shot on the one, especially if it ends up on the head rail, which is likely. If you keep landing on the head rail, try hitting softer or harder, but just a little. You would like to get a shot in one of the corners...it is the easiest shape to repeat.
4) Make sure you have a very tight, ideally frozen rack if you are racking your own. If you don't feel comfortable asking for a rerack, at least learn what the spaces in the rack do. I recommend Joe Tucker's "Racking Secrets" book or video. In 9 ball, the break *is* the rack to a large extent. So learn it if you want to have a good break.
8 Ball:
In 8 ball, things are a bit more complicated. You have to decide for yourself if you can really hit the rack decently hard (say 18 mph plus. Get the $5 break speed app to figure this out). If you can hit 18-20 or better, you should favor a head on break for the head ball. If you are playing on very fast tables with good racking conditions, or like a Diamond 7' bar table with Simonis cloth for example, you can lower that speed quite a bit and still come out ok. If you *can't* hit the ball that hard, you really should master the 2nd ball break. Also, if your rules are that 8 on the break wins, this is another reason to try the 2nd ball break, particularly on a bar box. So:
Head ball break:
1) Break from the head string, a couple balls to the left or right of center. You can experiment with exact placement, but just inside the 1/2 way point from the middle to the first diamond is a good start. Your objective is to pocket the 2nd ball in the side.
2) Hit the head ball dead square, and hard. If you can't hit the ball square, or can only hit it square at lower speeds, then the 2nd ball break might be a better option for you.
3) Depending on how hard you hit, you might want to cue slightly above center. This is because the mass of an 8 ball rack is quite a bit more than the 9 ball rack. As such it will bounce the ball back to the headstring with more force. You would love to see your cue ball bounce back a bit and just kill to a stop in the middle of the table. A tiny amount of follow achieves this. If you are running forward back towards the rack area, don't go so high.
4) If you can hit the ball hard enough with an "all arm" stroke (no body movement), do it. You will likely get better cue ball control. Above all, CONTROL THE CUE BALL. If you hit a rail with the cueball, you lost it and its not a great break, whatever the result.
2nd ball break:
1) Position the cueball on the head string, close to the side rail. Get as close as you can to the side rail while *comfortably* cueing pretty low on the ball. If you really have to jack up to hit low, move away from the rail a little.
2) DO NOT position a closed bridge on the rail. Learn a proper rail bridge. The last thing you want on this break is an elevated cue.
3) On this break, nothing is more important than accuracy. Your objective is to hit the 2nd ball fairly full. I say fairly full because trying to hit it as full as you can runs the risk of catching a slice of the head ball, which typically fires your cueball straight into the far corner pocket. That is bad. I like to aim for about a 2/3 full hit.
4) Stroke firmly but with NO body movement. This is a regular pool shot, so body movement will probably kill your accuracy.
5) Try hitting very low with no english. Your goal is to draw the cueball to the side rail and back out to the center of the table. If you are going to far and scratching in the opposite side pocket, use a little less draw. You can experiment with english, but this is going to potentially hurt your accuracy. I like to snap this break with a pretty firm stroke, so I don't use english.
6) Know your rack. This break is terrible if you don't break into a 2nd ball that is *frozen* to the 8 ball. The best scenario is when the 2nd ball you are hitting is frozen, and the other one is not. Or one of the balls beside the 8 is not frozen.
7) Don't try to overpower the ball. The whole point of this break (one of them) is that you can hit quite soft and get decent results. It seems it is the ball in front of the back corner on the outside row that is most likely to go in. Strive for accuracy. If you just can't do it, or you scratch in the corner more than 1 in 10 or so times, you may need to stick with the head ball break until you can build up your accuracy.
I just finished 5th in the APA 8 ball National Singles in Vegas in the highest bracket. I used the 2nd ball break about 90% of the time. I made the 8 several times. It is pretty deadly on a table where you can rack the balls well. On a 9' table, I always break for the head ball. I can break reasonably hard...I try to hit about 22-25 mph. I tend to make a ball and get a good layout better this way. I think I just lack the accuracy to consistently hit the 2nd ball hard enough to get a good spread.
Anyway, I hope this info helps!! (ps, 10 ball and 8 ball are essentially interchangeable...similar technique for both.)
KMRUNOUT
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