Break shot?

[lacey6783]

Is there such thing as breaking to hard.I think I am hitting them to hard.When I let off of it a little It seems to help a little.Also what english and where do you hit the cue ball at.Thanks

 

[Scott Lee]

Is there such thing as breaking to hard.I think I am hitting them to hard.When I let off of it a little It seems to help a little.Also what english and where do you hit the cue ball at.Thanks

Yes. Dead center CB...no english.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

 

[Bob Jewett]

Is there such thing as breaking to hard.I think I am hitting
them to hard.When I let off of it a little It seems to help a little.Also what english and where do you hit the cue ball at.Thanks

As Scott said, you should have almost no spin on the cue ball.

Your first goal on the break shot should be to control the cue ball. Judge how to correct your shot by what the cue ball does. If it flies off the left, you hit the rack on the left and you need to hit more to the right. If the cue ball dives forward with great steaming piles of follow, you hit the cue ball too high and you have to hit it lower. If the cue ball draws back to the head rail, you hit it too low. It's that simple, but most beginners pay no attention at all to the cue ball on the break shot. It should be almost the only thing they pay attention to.

The cue ball should not hit any cushion on the break unless it gets kicked to the cushion by a ball. There are exceptions to the "cue ball hits no cushion" rule, but you need to be at the level of a Ronnie Alcano or a Luther Lassiter before they are likely to be effective for you.

Here is something you can try: Check the rack every time, but don't hassle your opponent about getting it tighter unless it's really bad. Notice where the gaps are, and I guarantee you there will be gaps. If you are playing eight ball -- you didn't mention what game you're playing, but I'll assume it's one of the many games that begins with a smash break -- you may want to try a second-ball break if the front ball is loose.

Remember to control the cue ball.

 

[steev]

re: too hard.

some tables tend to break better on a (slightly) softer break shot. just pay attention to the results you're getting and go with what works on that table.

-s

edit: and the humidity, and the condition of the balls, and your current physical condition, etc etc.

 

[worriedbeef]

the harder you break, the more top spin on the cueball you need. (i'm assuming 9-ball and controlling the cueball is also on the agenda)

as the cue ball hits full ball dead centre the head ball, it's gonna bounce back. so the top spin will keep it in the middle of the table. when a player like bustamante assaults the rack and the cue ball jumps in the air and lands in the dead centre of the table, it's the follow that puts it there. the opposite, draw, will make the cue ball arc back through the air and hit you on the nose! assuming you hit the ball god like of course!