Are you Happy with your Break ?

Luxury said:
I use the break rack without the bow. I break and take two seconds to set it back in place and break again.

Here is my logic: I'm less likely to practice my break if I know I have to set the bow up. Getting started is the hardest part of anything.

If I just grab the rack part of the break rack off the shelf I'm started two seconds later. Sure I have to walk and reset it but at least I got started.

Anyone who doesn't use theirs anymore might try this.
Click to expand...

That's how Stan Shuffett used it when I took lessons from him.

By the way, Bremerton is a great city. I was there from 90-92. I hope it hasn't grown too much.
 
What is this break rack? Can anyone send me a link as I've never heard of them.

What are chances of getting one in the UK? I want to practise my 'tee shot' a lot more :)
 
For $240 plus shipping, I think I'll just stick with racking the balls.... Jesus. That's about 50 hours of table time during "peak" time, plenty of time to spend a minute or two racking balls. 100 hours during "off peak" time.
 
thefonz said:
sounds like SVB should be a spokesperson for the Break Rack:thumbup: they'd probably sell a million units.

tried copying SVB's break, it is sooooo hard to duplicate, it's not about hitting it hard and getting the cueball to squat, it's about getting that cue shaft to compress while it's in contact with the cb during the follow through, i don't think he's hitting down on the cb to get that compression as much as it is down and through. timing is so important it's rediculous. results are effortless power and control when everything comes together though. :thumbup: after three days of practice for 2-3 hrs a session and only managing to do it flawlessly about 6 times i gave up. lol!
Click to expand...

I agree, I dont have the timing/coordination to get it right. I might break my cue in two pieces practicing it.
 
rorywayne said:
He said

Hitting the rack hard, with all your power, is the worst thing you can do. Golf, is never taught that way, or with the driver. Pool has this all wrong.
Click to expand...

uh, wrong, many teachers preach to jr. golfers to develop a swing thats as fast as possible, then work out the kinks later. it's a fact that golfers whom build a swing on accuracy have difficulty gaining distance later on (ie. nick faldo, for a guy that's 6' 4" in spikes he doesn't hit the ball very far), whereas golfers who build a swing on power, have an easier time being more accurate.

hence why up and coming golfers nowdays can carry a drive easily 300+yrds on average.
 
rorywayne said:
I am off this thread, I would not tell you anything about the break now, if my life depended on it.

Mine is perfect, yours is not, you have the problem, I do not.

But I was not cheap, I paid for mine, 20 hours of private lessons so far. And that is what it takes. Again, sorry for telling you the truth. I can see, that does not go over very big here.

I think I will take a little vacation from this place, its beginning to stink.
Click to expand...

Well he actually got one thing right... 20 hours... Take your next 20 hours and devote them to nothing but breaking balls... Yes balls... Not the breakrack... You need to control the 1ball and the cueball and consistently make a ball....

100% power... At full power everyone's stroke breaks down... But it will break down because of your physiology so it will be very consistent in how it fails and how it delivers the cueball into the rack.... Your practice will be devoted to finding the right english, contact point, and cueball placement that will repeatedly make a ball and get the cue ball and 1ball in position to get an open shot off the break.

I am sure paying for 20 hours of private instruction on the break is worth it from some instructors. I'd pay someone to show me how to read a rack. How to pattern rack and consistently make a ball with the soft break or the cut break. But for the most part those things only apply when you are using a set of new balls on newer cloth that hasn't been tapped using a good rack or a magic rack.... Most of us have to play on the tables at our local bar or poolroom with the balls they gave us when we rented the table hoping that turning the rack one of the 3 ways will let us get the balls close to frozen....

In normal conditions I like the "sexy hard" break every time. As long as you don't slug me I am odds on favorite to make a ball and get a look at the 1ball... Barbox, 8ft, 9ft I'm gonna crush em with pretty much the same break aside from slightly different cueball positions...

Step1)Buy the break speed app
Step2)Work on getting your speed up and consistent am not talking about trying to break 30 am talking about changing your stance and bridge length to where you can be within about a mph... My sweet spot is around 26 on an 8over... I can hit 30 but that might put me in traction and is exceeding what my normal 100% is...
Step3)20 hours of nothing but breaks
Step4)Bet it up with Rory and his girlyman break in a break contest on a public table and hope he can afford to pay you after he paid for 20 hours of "break" lessons...

Step 4 was in jest and I really bet he was taught the rack reading and the soft and cut break. With new balls, new cloth and a good rack or a magic rack you'd be wise to bet on total balls made =) Not just getting a ball in the cellar and getting a shot on the 1.... Like I said in the right conditions the soft/cut break is the nuts.....
 
OK Rory gets a free pass and an apology for me thinking he was a complete arse.... This was from the thread about pool being a sport and I can't argue with many of his points. He appears to be as cynical and hurt as we all should be over where we are...

rorywayne said:
During the 1860's, billiards would be on the front page, and the civil war on page 3. It was the game, of kings and queens, all our presidents had a table and played. It was a true sport. A major one. Hoppe made a million a year, and after WWII, it all changed, began to fall apart, and pool took over and news coverage slowly stopped. By 1957, all the great stars had died, or retired, Hoppe, Greenleaf, Mosconi, Caras, were all gone.

The hustlers took over the game in 61 in Johnson City, the BCA closed its doors and ceased to exist for the next 9 years, the main movie was about a pool bum with no character, the music man dropped ya got trouble on everyone, and pool as a sport, was a dead duck with a bad reputation. Every movie in Hollywood showed the pool pro as a drug infested low rent punk. It never recovered from there, every year, it just slide further and further into the hole its in today.

The press never showed up after that, unless the place got raided or somebody got shot.

There was a survey done, on the top 100 sports writers in the country, on this very question, and all 100 voted, pool is not a sport. So that discussion is over, it does not matter what you guys feel about it, it only matters what the sports writers think.

A couple of years ago, this same group was asked to name the top 3 people in pool, and they answered Willie Mosconi, Minnesota Fats, none of them knew both of them has been dead for 15 years, and the black widow was the only alive person they knew about. They have no clue who we are, or what we are doing. They don’t know who any of our top pool or billiard or snooker or artistic stars are today. They never heard of Steve Davis, Raymond Cuelemans, Johnny, Earl, Efren or Immonen or Mike Massey.

It is a back room game, played by ugly people. When we have no pro men’s tour, we are not a sport. When the main tour is women, who have 60 show up to split 10K, we are not a sport. The last placed player in a golf tourney gets 15K, the winner a million.

We are a bad sick joke to the real sports world playing for chump change, and half the time the pros get paid with rubber checks that bounce. That shows the entire thing is crooked as a $3 bill. What corporate sponser would want a piece of this mess.

That is where we are, going down hard and fast by the bow like the Titanic. And the BCA sits there with their head so far up their ass they will never see daylight. They are now today virtually bankrupt as well, their 40 person staff has been reduced to just a couple of people. They can’t even run a trade show which they have also ran into the ground now drawing less than 200 booths.
Pool is dead. Pro pool is gone. The only thing that is alive and well, is the amateur leagues which keeps the core game alive.

There is your answer, I did not write it, I only report it, like it is, so please don’t do like you all usually do and shoot and kill the messenger, because you guys can’t accept what you are, or what you are a part of?

Once more, there is your truth, and I can clearly see, none of you, can deal with the truth here. When you hear anything you do not like, or do not believe in, you want to degrade and kill off that source.
None of you can deal with the truth. That is your major problem.

I strongly suggest that you all get out of that incestuous club you are in, and try and see out, from beyond your closed cocoon you are all now trapped inside of. Try and see your selves, as the real world actually sees you.

Now the next 3 people who attack me over this, they will remind me of those 3 monkeys, you know, the ones with one has his hands over his ears, the other one over his eyes, the other one I think his fist is up his arse, or its somewhere where it is not supposed to be for sure.

I love this game, I would love to be a part of it coming back. But the first step is to stop Bull s******* each other and accept what we are and where we are, then actually do something to reverse this slide.

All the magazines and the BCA does, is put out BS about how great everything is, and you guys are going along with this BS. How about a revolt, a demand by the core group to change all of this. These guys at the top, have already given up on it all, and all they are doing, is pealing off of the top, what they can, as it sinks. You, the players, the game, they could care less about. :D
Click to expand...
 
The Break Shot!

Desmondp said:
After months of tinkering and watching every decent pro player break in slow motion (actually frame by frame), i've finally got my break to the point where i am mega happy with it

It is now consistent, powerful enough to get balls in most of the time and looks sexy :D

I had the cueball flying off the table a lot before i got the fine tuning down

The break shot is so about timing, it's the timing you need to master, and you need cues (no pun intended) to get your body to do certain things at certain times during the breaking technique
Click to expand...


Yes I agree with all you said, I'm glad I read this because I'm very unhappy with my break now that I think about it. The break shot is the most important shot of the game other than making the game ball, it's %50 of the game, so improving your break by being more aware of what your doing, instead like me lately just being happy not scratching.

I remember as a teen playing kelly pool (Pea Pool) at the pool room and you draw your pill before you broke the balls, well I would look at where my ball was and I had learned where to place the cue ball to make that paticular ball on the break or at least get it up by the pockett for a combo.

I guess over the years I have forgotten all those shots, just think if you start controlling the break shot how much your game will jump!


I got to get to work on my breaking skills!:rolleyes:


David Harcrow
 
Okay...so I know I am a 'girl' and as such, often my posts are overlooked...but using 'my' method for breaking.....last night I got to get out and play some Vegas 8 Ball...17 games, pocketed either one or both of the wing balls on the break in all but one game...and still won that one. All against guys that were shooting pretty well...never racked a game last night except my own practice games before the 17 played.

Yeah...I am happy with my break!! :yeah:

Lisa
 
Last edited:
thefonz said:
uh, wrong, many teachers preach to jr. golfers to develop a swing thats as fast as possible, then work out the kinks later. it's a fact that golfers whom build a swing on accuracy have difficulty gaining distance later on (ie. nick faldo, for a guy that's 6' 4" in spikes he doesn't hit the ball very far), whereas golfers who build a swing on power, have an easier time being more accurate.

hence why up and coming golfers nowdays can carry a drive easily 300+yrds on average.
Click to expand...

yeah i've heard Tennis coaches teach something similar to juniors (Mark Philipoussis was one player taught this as a junior). Hit the serve as hard as you can, worry about getting it in the court later. Most junior tennis players who worry about their results in the juniors usually don't transition to the pro level as well as juniors who worried about developing weapons as a junior to be developed and used at the pro level.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top