Anatomy of the Big Break Shot

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Bruce S. de Lis

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I got me a couple of Questions as I finally have the Resource to get a Break Q. I am leaning Toward 16.0-16.5 Ounces, after trying many House Q’s that I have Weighted on a Portable Postal Scale.

It appears to be I can get more speed on the Q-Ball with a light House Q, verses a 17-22 Ounce House Q.

The Result of this Speed is that I do a better job of breaking up the 15 BALLS in the rack and have sunk as many as 5 Ball on the Break with the Lighter House Q.

Are my Observation about lighter being better for a Fast Break. as to me anything in excess of 19 Ounces for a Break cue just seem too heavy to get the Cue Velocities & Results Achieved with the Lighter House Q.

Am I KooKooo
 
You are not kookoo. Lighter cues as long as they have larger tips are the perfect speed break cue. It is all about cue speed through the cueball and naturally it is easier to get a lighter cue going faster and the momentum of a 15 ounce cue through the cueball is not going to slow in the slightest at impact. Heavier cues do nothing for break speed except decrease it. You still have to hit the break accurately though, and the control of a break is a large part of the power you get, not only the speed.
 
I experimented with getting the cue ball to bounce back and forth on the table as many times as I could. I could get it to bounce the most times with a lighter (17 oz.) cue. (17 oz was the lightest cue I had to experiment with.)

Anyway, I have been using a 17 oz. breaking cue ever since.

I guess the proof of this would be to try throwing a bowling ball as fast as you can, then try throwing a golf ball as fast as you can....

Warning: If hitting just the cue ball back and forth on a table and approaching speeds where the cue ball bounces back and forth 5 times, the cue ball can initially hit the far rail and become airborne, then fly back and hit you in the head! I wear a baseball catchers mask when doing this.
 
yes lighter is definitely the way to go, at least for me. A pretty good player at my local room came in one day witha 25 oz break cue he bought off ebay and everybody was talking about how it was really gonna move the rack around, but of course it didnt, and its shelved. My sledge is 18oz, and it could actually be a little lighter, but ive noticed i really dont have to break as hard as i usually do, my cueball control is way up and i almost always pocket a ball. I dont know at what point the cue is "too light", but i think probably 16 to 18 oz is the perfect range.
 
The break shot has been analyzed by hundreds of top level Pros, for many years. Speed is a crucial ingredient, but accuracy & cue ball control, after impact, out weigh the need for speed.

If you will take the time to watch a professional match & plot the break shot outcome, you will see some interesting facts. The Pros may hit the rack hard & make balls, but when they lose control of the cueball, they have a problem. However, with their very accurate shooting skills & their ability to play leave, they are able to stay in the game. Listen to the commentators, not ESPN, they will discuss the break shot as a plus or a handicap for some players, in some games.

The Break Cue is a specialized tool anymore & can provide the player with some nice results when used properly. The weight, balance, shaft size, tip & ferrule all play a part in the design of these cues.

Good Luck in your quest.
 
sjm said:
You've discovered what works for you. Stay the course!
Click to expand...


What SJM said is all that matters. A fairly light break cue is NOT always the way to go for everyone out there. It takes a lot of experimentation to find the one which works the best for YOU.

The lighter the better or the lightest is best for speed has been beat around in golf also, with the same theory that you can move your tool a lot faster due to a lighter weight. It just isn't necessarily true and there can also be a point of rapidly diminishing returns. Mass does play an important role in a number of ways.

What they found out in golf is that after a while players started to get lazy and not whale at the golf ball as hard and were swinging at the same speed just like they did with heavier sticks. Because of the lack of mass, the ball was actually going SHORTER distances. Also due to the lack of weight, there was less feel and the clubhead was delivered squarely to the golf ball less often and mishits ALWAYS go less distance than a perfectly square hit, regardless of the speed generated. In addition, because of the lack of feel and knowing where the clubhead was in the swing, a better player was less apt to be able to "work the ball" left or right.

I think each and every one of those factors can be applied to a break cue.
If a cue is TOO light, all you're doing is trying to wind up for home runs. With that comes miscues, mishits that are off center on the CB, mishits that are sending the CB off target on the rack, and the inability to control your rock after impact with the rack. Lighter is NOT always better for ALL players.
 
ceebee said:
The break shot has been analyzed by hundreds of top level Pros, for many years. Speed is a crucial ingredient, but accuracy & cue ball control, after impact, out weigh the need for speed.

If you will take the time to watch a professional match & plot the break shot outcome, you will see some interesting facts. The Pros may hit the rack hard & make balls, but when they lose control of the cueball, they have a problem. However, with their very accurate shooting skills & their ability to play leave, they are able to stay in the game. Listen to the commentators, not ESPN, they will discuss the break shot as a plus or a handicap for some players, in some games.

The Break Cue is a specialized tool anymore & can provide the player with some nice results when used properly. The weight, balance, shaft size, tip & ferrule all play a part in the design of these cues.

Good Luck in your quest.
Click to expand...

Charlie,
The only thing I would add to what you said is this:

Without accuracy, nothing else matters.

The reason for this is because of where the energy is being directed into the pack of balls. If your off by an eyelash, it changes everything, regardless of the speed. Another thing that many instructors fail to understand is that you CANNOT repeat the same exact break shot every single time. You might be able to produce something similar, but never exact. Make good contact, make a ball, keep the cue ball out of trouble, and you'll be all right.
 
RichardCranium said:
This actually proves that lighter is not always better.....A 16lb bolwing ball thrown at a normal velocity will put "10 in the pit" with a in the pocket hit. Throw a golf ball, or better yet find a ball that is the same size as a normal bowling ball, but weighs the same as a golf ball....I don't care who you are and how fast you can throw the ball. I am going to bet on the guy using a 16lb ball all day.
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I don't think anyone was suggesting to bowl with a golf ball. I think the point being made was that someone could throw a golf ball farther than a bowling ball because of the weight difference.

What you continue on to describe in your post is the point of diminishing returns DM was talking about. In between "too heavy" and "too light" is a happy medium. If the velocity gained can make up for the loss in mass, a lighter cue is the way to go to increase momentum. If a heavier cue can be moved at the same velocity as a lighter cue, then the heavier cue is the way to go.

As others have said, players have to find what works for them - the point of diminishing returns is different for every player.

I use an 18 oz break cue, but I don't think the weight really matters at all for me, since I don't slam-break (aka hit and hope) anyway. I aim to hit the one ball square (I play mostly 9 ball), then just shoot a normal medium-hard stroke. I get good spreads, I don't have to worry about the CB because I'm just shooting a stop shot, and as long as a ball drops (I move around, trying to find the spot which gets a corner ball to drop), I've got a good chance at maintaining control of the table.

Lighter is not always best, and neither is faster.

-djb
 
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breaking ...

I broke for years with a 21 oz cue, have lightened up to a 20.2 oz cue, and it seems 'right' for me. Many things go into the break.

Since the cueball is a constant, it boils down to:

effectiveness of break = efficiency of technique times speed of break.

Efficiency of technique is the x factor after the speed reaches a certain point.

You break with sticks going up in ounces, until you reach a point where you
feel your 'efficiency of technique' is being compromised by not hitting the balls properly or not controlling the cueball after the break.

Consider this: a 3,000 lb car running into a another car, and then
a 4,000 lb car doing the same, both are going 30 mph.

Which car does the most damage? .... The 4,000 lb car of course ...

What you strive for in breaking is where your efficiency is better than
90%-95% and the speed is what you can put into it. If you have bad
breaking technique, you will still scratch, jump the table, or not control
the break as you desire to.

A bang with direction and control is better than
a BIG bang without control.

Why do you think some girls can get up there, hit the balls with 1/2
the power that you have, and still get as good or better break.

Weight of the cue does matter some, and it depends whether you can
move the cue (being strong enough and having the technique) to reach
the same speed as with a lighter cue. You simply find the right weight of
cue that allows you to operate at the highest efficiency for the most
effective break.

Most pros break with cues in the 18 to 20.5 oz. range with 19-19.5 oz
being about the median. Ever watch some of the Asians and Philippinos
break, they don't weigh much, but they break hard ... like Bustamante.
Watch his technique sometime ... They had a special article awhile back
in Billiards Digest about his breaking technique, and why it is so effective.
 
Snapshot9 said:
I broke for years with a 21 oz cue, have lightened up to a 20.2 oz cue, and it seems 'right' for me. Many things go into the break.

Since the cueball is a constant, it boils down to:

effectiveness of break = efficiency of technique times speed of break.

Efficiency of technique is the x factor after the speed reaches a certain point.

Weight of the cue does matter some, and it depends whether you can
move the cue (being strong enough and having the technique) to reach
the same speed as with a lighter cue. You simply find the right weight of
cue that allows you to operate at the highest efficiency for the most
effective break.

Most pros break with cues in the 18 to 20.5 oz. range with 19-19.5 oz
being about the median.
Click to expand...


What the golf manufacturers found is more or less what's written above.
The ultra light weight clubs that supposedly gave maximum club head speed in mph, which on paper would produce more distance, turned out to be a flop in the real world because the total number of negatives far outweighed the one positive of greater distance by swinging faster.
For any of the golfers on here that remember the Goldwyn, you know what I'm talking about. That highly touted and advertised club had the success of a few rocket ships that blew up on the launch pad for NASA.
Don't underestimate the importance of weight or mass in your cue as Snapshot9 illustrates with his own break cue at 20.2 oz.
 
drivermaker said:
For any of the golfers on here that remember the Goldwyn, you know what I'm talking about.
Click to expand...

Ya, but they sure looked pretty !

Dave
 
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