Break Drill - Simple But Effective

Patrick Johnson

Patrick Johnson

Fargo 1000 on VP4
Silver Member
I was reminded of this simple break drill tonight when I taught it to a friend who was having trouble hitting the head ball square on her break. After a half hour or so of this she was "cured" - at least for tonight.

The idea is to learn to aim the break shot as accurately as any other shot so you can consistently hit the head ball dead square, getting maximum power transfer into the rack and planting the cue ball in the middle of the table. It comes from a piece of advice I heard once and have repeated often to players who are learning to break:

Your break speed should be the maximum speed at which you can consistently pocket a straight-in shot with the cue ball on the head string and the object ball on the foot string, and stop the cue ball dead.

And that pretty much describes the drill:

1. place the cue ball in its normal breaking position

2. place a single object ball on the foot string directly in line with a corner pocket

3. shoot the OB straight into the pocket with a stop shot

4. hit the shot as hard as you think you can, but if you miss the pocket or the cue ball doesn't stop dead, slow the next shot down

5. only speed the shot up again when you've made several successful stop shots in a row

6. gradually build your speed up following the above rule

Here's the setup:

CueTable Help



If you'd rather shoot at the foot spot, add a target ball on the foot rail directly behind the head ball, like this:

CueTable Help



If you have trouble hitting the head ball square, this drill will show immediate results.

pj
chgo
 
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Thats a good tip. Although I could see the second one sending lots of balls flying around the poolroom :)

Actually I dont think you need to pocket the ball or use a second ball as a target. Its about hitting the object ball square and making the cueball stop, if you achieve this it doesnt matter where the object ball goes.

This is why most of the better players rate their break on the reaction of the cueball, not on if they make a ball or not. If your hitting the rack square you can make adjustments and find where to break from to make a ball. If your not hitting the rack square then its all just guess work anyway.

Woody
 
woody_968 said:
Thats a good tip.
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Thanks.

Although I could see the second one sending lots of balls flying around the poolroom.
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Only if you hit them hard. My friend didn't launch a single ball, but I had players ducking and covering. :eek:

...I dont think you need to pocket the ball or use a second ball as a target. Its about hitting the object ball square and making the cueball stop, if you achieve this it doesnt matter where the object ball goes.
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You've accurately restated the goal, but a drill has to do more than that; it has to describe a specific way to reach the goal.

Adding a target for the OB reminds us of the need for precision in the break shot and gives us the familiar discipline of aiming a shot by which to achieve that precision.

This is why most of the better players rate their break on the reaction of the cueball, not on if they make a ball or not.
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Making a ball on the break and making a ball with this drill are totally different things.

If your hitting the rack square you can make adjustments and find where to break from to make a ball. If your not hitting the rack square then its all just guess work anyway.
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Sure, and this drill shows a way to learn to hit the rack square.

pj
chgo
 
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What do y'all think about hitting somewhere beyond the speed where you can control the cueball, as long as scratches are pretty rare? Is that scrubby thinking?

Basically I aim to hit center, and I notice that when I don't quite hit square, the CB always seems to jump off to one particular side, and basically hits the side rail a bit below the side pocket. I'd say 1 out of 4 or 5 stop dead or close enough. About 1 out of 50 it goes into the side. And of course there are times where it gets kicked somewhere bad or ends up against the foot rail or head rail.

All of that sounds really bad and uncontrolled, and yet... if I broke a the speed where I could truly stop dead in a controlled way every time... I'd say my speed would be cut by 1/3rd. Maybe half. I feel worried I'd make balls less often if I made such a big cut.

Will my break and runout percentage go up if I dropped the speed and hit 'em the way this drill wants me to?
 
CreeDo,

Aside for the cut break, hitting the one ball solid is a basic principle of good break technique. Yes, initially your velocity will probably go down, maybe significantly, but the idea is through practice and drills (this one or others) the reduction in speed is only temporary. Through practice/drills you can build back to your current speed and beyond, the end result being you will be breaking harder than ever only you will be hitting the one solidly.

Cue ball control on the break is so important. I'd much rather make a single ball on the break and have an open shot than two or three and be hooked.
 
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There are 2 things I do on the break now that help me tremendously. I remain relaxed and don't put a ton of effort into the shot. If you watch Van Boening he doesn't look like he's smashing the rack but he kills the balls. I also make sure I take the cue tip past my fingers on my closed bridge. It feels weird at first, then it's magic. Look how far Buddy Hall goes back with his tip.
1. Relaxed and smooth stroke
2. Pull back tip past fingers on closed bridge
 
CreeDo said:
What do y'all think about hitting somewhere beyond the speed where you can control the cueball, as long as scratches are pretty rare? Is that scrubby thinking?

Basically I aim to hit center, and I notice that when I don't quite hit square, the CB always seems to jump off to one particular side, and basically hits the side rail a bit below the side pocket. I'd say 1 out of 4 or 5 stop dead or close enough. About 1 out of 50 it goes into the side. And of course there are times where it gets kicked somewhere bad or ends up against the foot rail or head rail.

All of that sounds really bad and uncontrolled, and yet... if I broke a the speed where I could truly stop dead in a controlled way every time... I'd say my speed would be cut by 1/3rd. Maybe half. I feel worried I'd make balls less often if I made such a big cut.

Will my break and runout percentage go up if I dropped the speed and hit 'em the way this drill wants me to?
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As DogsPlayingPool said, the idea is to build your speed with control, so you're not giving it up permanently (and I bet you don't really give up as much as you think even temporarily - not 1/3 to 1/2).

In addition to that, it doesn't take much of an offcenter hit to reduce the power of your break significantly. I bet whatever force is gained by increasing speed is lost (and then some) if it makes you hit the head ball offcenter.

pj
chgo
 
Patrick Johnson said:
...In addition to that, it doesn't take much of an offcenter hit to reduce the power of your break significantly. I bet whatever force is gained by increasing speed is lost (and then some) if it makes you hit the head ball offcenter.
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I think your drill is great, but looking at power alone, I don't think you really need the high standard of accuracy it calls for. For instance, if you strike the head ball three-quarters full, only about 6% of the energy you put into the cueball is wasted. That is, its normal velocity along the line of centers between it and the head ball is still 97% of what it would be if you hit the head ball square. (Since ball travel distance is proportional to the square of velocity, squaring that 97% gives about a 94% yield, energy-wise.)

So looking at power alone, it might be worth ratcheting it up by, say, 15%, and not fretting over the consequent off-center collision (within reason).

Just a thought. Sorry for the nitpick.

Jim
 
Jal said:
I think your drill is great, but looking at power alone, I don't think you really need the high standard of accuracy it calls for. For instance, if you strike the head ball three-quarters full, only about 6% of the energy you put into the cueball is wasted. That is, its normal velocity along the line of centers between it and the head ball is still 97% of what it would be if you hit the head ball square. (Since ball travel distance is proportional to the square of velocity, squaring that 97% gives about a 94% yield, energy-wise.)

So looking at power alone, it might be worth ratcheting it up by, say, 15%, and not fretting over the consequent off-center collision (within reason).

Just a thought. Sorry for the nitpick.

Jim
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It's not a nitpick at all; I think it's one of the central issues in breaking. And I guess I stand corrected; I thought the power loss would be much greater. Of course, accuracy is important for other reasons, but I thought it played a much greater role in power.

pj
chgo
 
That's interesting about the power, it's neat when you have the magic of physics available to figure that sort of thing out.

So, initially liked the sound of [paraphrasing] 'you're losing power with your off-centerness, if you just aim better you'll make up the reduced power required to control it'. But based on what JAL said, I don't think I'll be able to make up the power. My guesstimate is that I'm never off by a quarter ball or more.

So, it's a given I'll be giving up power, but like dogs said you only need 1 ball to drop. You don't need a bunch of 3 rail latecomers to fall. But... I guess my concern is not so much reducing my chances of getting those 3 railers in, it's reducing the spread to the point where none of my runouts are easy. If I don't get a bunch of balls past the half-table point, I seldom get out even if I make something.

I never heard of the slide-past-your-fingers trick, that's wild. I'll have to give it a go. For a long time I broke with closed bridge near the head spot but lately I feel like I get some really nice results with a rail break. There's almost no chafing when going between my fingertips and leaving my thumb out of it entirely.

I did make a sincere effort to slow it down and try for really dead center hits tonight... in regular games, not practice. I found that the best trick for me, psychologically, is to look at that one ball as a long straight in shot into an invisible pocket on the footrail. I then try to shoot it as if I had to pound in a normal shot (you know, the kind that has too little angle so you must force the CB over with a slight cut).

I maybe got a little better results, but to truly get to the point where, I dunno, at least 50% of my shots stop dead? Huge speed drop. I guess I'll have to practice this alone, not try to do it in matches, because I can't softbreak 30 times in a row without annoying myself or my opponent. I dunno if I even have the patience to rack for myself 30 times.
 
I think it is more important to hit the one ball solid than to hit the break with a lot of power. What I mean is that often I'm on a table where I notice that if I dial down my break speed the wing ball flying straight in the corner every break (or the 1 goes straight in the side) when they weren't going in breaking harder.

But hitting the one ball solid is important for two reasons:

A) the more solid you hit the one ball, the less hard you have to hit the break. Hitting the 1 solid makes up for same break speed, if you will.

B) More importantly, snapping the 1 ball solidly increases cue ball control. I can't over emphasize how important this is to my break.
 
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CreeDo said:
...to truly get to the point where, I dunno, at least 50% of my shots stop dead? Huge speed drop.
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I hit my breaks as hard as I can and stop the CB almost every time. You don't have to give up speed for accuracy; you just have to practice.

pj
chgo
 
I'll trust you on that one and 'woodshed it' =) If I could hit my usual full speed and stop reliably it'd be great.
 
I'll trust you on that one and 'woodshed it' =) If I could hit my usual full speed and stop reliably it'd be great.
 
Me:
I hit my breaks as hard as I can and stop the CB almost every time.
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CreeDo:
I'll trust you on that one and 'woodshed it' =) If I could hit my usual full speed and stop reliably it'd be great.
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Maybe I should say I hit my breaks as hard as I want to - it may not be as hard as you do. Still, I think you can hit harder than you think and stop the CB, if you practice accuracy and build up your speed.

pj
chgo
 
Just wanted to add that I really gave it a good effort last night and slowed down by maybe 30-50%. I was surprised at the results. As long as the opponent gives me a decent rack, the spread is just fine when I bring the speed way down, and the CB stops pretty nicely.

I think I've been breaking too hard all along, or focusing too hard on power. Half the balls get over the side when I break at stoppable speed. Well, it's not quite stopping dead every time, and often I'm drawing to the head rail, but the point is it's controlled enough not to hit the side rails.

My only complaint is that despite great spreads, I wasn't sinking anything more than 1/4 or 1/5 of my breaks. But I've always been a little snakebit in terms of ball making %, maybe I need to give up on breaking from my usual positions (right down the middle, and 2 or so inches off center).

Anyway, thanks for the advice. Despite that issue I think I'm going to make the lower speed break a permanent change and maybe someday I'll get back to my usual speed. If I don't, it's fine, as long as I get spreads like this and a CB at the center table I feel like it's a runout.
 
The best CB location on the break is a funny thing, it can be different for each player and different from table to table. It can also change from day to day for a given player on a given table. Weird, I know.

CreedDo, if you normally break from near the head spot, try breaking with your new controlled speed from the side rail. And try from both sides.

As I mentioned earlier, sometimes it is just a matter of finding that correct speed that will result in both the 1 in the side and the wing in the corner, when these don't seem to want to go at either a higher or a lower speed.
 
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