Best breaking secrets on a bar table.

i do drop my elbow.
thats where i get power from.
and it helps to stop the cue ball.


Does any great breaker NOT drop their elbow. I think not.I have seen more than a few of the greats and I know of none who do not drop their elbow. Most of them break at 75% or so of max power. This allows them to stay in their window of control.

I have a Break-Rak and I like it.
 
I think the "follow through not affecting the outcome" has a direct relation to the acceleration through the CB. True, the CB is gone 1/1000 of a second after contact; however, if you're restricting follow-through you're almost certainly decelerating prior to contact versus accelerating to the moment of contact.
 
I think the "follow through not affecting the outcome" has a direct relation to the acceleration through the CB. True, the CB is gone 1/1000 of a second after contact; however, if you're restricting follow-through you're almost certainly decelerating prior to contact versus accelerating to the moment of contact.

Exactly. If you punch someone in the face, you push THROUGH their face. I have done extended research on this and have a pretty good technique.

When you follow through, your not putting on the breaks too early. Like sliding into 1st instead of running through first. A check swing vs. a full swing. A chip shot vs. a drive. Its all the same. If you want power, in anything, you gotta follow through.
 
WOW! I get back from the pool room practicing my break and I see over 30 posts.

Thanks everyone for the advice suggested.

I'm kind of curious. On many bar tables that I have come across, the balls don't all touch even when you spend quality time, trying to tighten the rack. What do you do when you can't get all of the balls to freeze? Do you resort to a different breaking style?
 
i dont know scott lee just on here.

but we can break for who makes the most balls
and who does not scratch.

i will bet a lot
even though i dont play.

Chris,
Even though you don't play any more, I'm genuinely curious as to what you think.

Do you think an instructor needs to either play at a high level or to have played at a very high level at one time or another in order to be able to teach some else how to play at a high level?

This isn't a slap at any instructors that don't play at a high level because I know that there are some things that any instructor can help most players with.

I've got my own thoughts about this and one day I will share them in another thread.
 
WOW! I get back from the pool room practicing my break and I see over 30 posts.

Thanks everyone for the advice suggested.

I'm kind of curious. On many bar tables that I have come across, the balls don't all touch even when you spend quality time, trying to tighten the rack. What do you do when you can't get all of the balls to freeze? Do you resort to a different breaking style?

Except for major tournaments that use real balls, most bar boxes I've played on have bad balls. Different sizes, dirty ect.

If Im stuck with a bad set of balls, I focus on making an L track and pocketing the wing ball. Control the cueball and you're good.
 
as far as getting the best rack possible on a used beat up box... I let the 1 find the divot first ( they usually have a divot) then pull the rack back to it.. then the good ol press and roll the rear balls technique.. you can get a "decent" rack that way.. it's not super pro's on a brand new diamond perfect... but it's the best you can do with what you have...
 
Back to the op...

Hey Joey,
Not sure if it's rack your own, if so, some of this may not apply.

The best break I've found for making a ball on the bar box is to draw a line through the one ball and one of the back two balls ( opposite side from cb ) and place the cb on that line in the break area. Break at about 75% and just focus on hitting the one ball center to center. I find that hitting the cue slightly above center and following through to the cloth gives just about the right "pop-n-stop" action on the cb.

I usually move between three positions on the bb depending on how the table is breaking and how my opponent is racking.

If they are racking loose I move to almost straight on and hit it a little harder. If they made the mistake of leaving a wing ball not touching it'll usually fly in from there.

If the table is breaking dead (humidity, old rails or dead balls) I move to about an inch off the side rail and hit center cb to center 1b. This will create some extra action on the balls.

If you want to move the nine a little (use with caution-is a sell out a lot) put the cb at the intersection of the lines from the first diamonds. (one diamond off the end rail and one off the side rail) and hit the 1b a little high. By that I mean if you're breaking from the right side aim a smidge left of a center to center hit. This break will make the nine quite a bit, but more often than it goes, it hangs in the corner without you making a ball. I basically only use this break if I'm beat and trying to get a few lucky/quick games to piss off my opponent and regain some momentum.

Good luck to you, in wish I was going to a good bar box tourney. They are about as rare as a golden lobster out here.

~rc
 
WOW! I get back from the pool room practicing my break and I see over 30 posts.

Thanks everyone for the advice suggested.

I'm kind of curious. On many bar tables that I have come across, the balls don't all touch even when you spend quality time, trying to tighten the rack. What do you do when you can't get all of the balls to freeze? Do you resort to a different breaking style?

Try using the palm of your hand like an iron and rub the cloth around the rack area. It often rubs out some of the divots and the balls will usually set a little better.
 
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