I know there has been a lot posted on breaking lately but I am looking for some additional help. I play in an in-house 9ball league where you don't really know what kind of rack you will get and it would seem impersonable to ask for re-racks. We play on Valley barboxes, winner breaks. I have been trying to perfect my break and have watched videos on youtube (greyghost) comes to mind, and I am trying to have a strict delivery with extended follow through. I place the cue 2 diamonds in, up near the headstring and aim directly into the 1(solid). I use a medium-medium/hard stroke, slightly above center shooting slightly down on the cue. The cue ball squats in the center or gets kicked back and stays center, but nothing drops. The table is a nice spread with a shot at the one and a potential runout - for my opponent. I feel that if I could end the dry break, I would have a lot greater chance of running out since the table is left in great shape. Any thoughts as to maybe a better cue position or aim spot on the cue. Thanks!~
Break techniques
- Thread starter lawful777
- Start date
Get Joe Tuckers' Racking Secrets and learn to read the rack. JT does a great job addressing the problem you are having. It is an invaluable piece of understanding. You will be better player simply after watching the dvd. No practice require.
jmho
jmho
lawful777...Every pro player on Earth comes up dry on the break sometimes...so that is not something that can be "fixed". That said, moving your CB around, breaking from different places may help you 'find' a spot on that table (on that day) that seems to work better. Also, an "extended followthrough" doesn't do anything, nor have any effect on the outcome.
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Second the JT material. It is tailor made for what you are asking: how to improve your results with imperfect racks. Because the rack isn't uniform every time and what is wrong with it can be a little different each game, you really need to know what the rack is telling you in order to get better results.
Extended follow through on break
I disagree just slightly. While it's true that where your cue tip goes after contact does not affect the shot, an extended follow-through does show you whether or not your stroke is pure and straight. In other words, a minor "flaw" in a short stroke will certainly affect the accuracy of your hit on the cue ball, but you will not be able to see the flaw as easily as you will with a longer follow-through.
Think of it like hitting a baseball or a tennis ball. Do you stop your follow through on contact? After all, what the bat or racket does after contact has no effect on the ball, right? The follow-through trains your swing (stroke) to be consistent and accurate. Golf and even bowling are other good examples: Does anyone believe that you can stop your golf swing just after contact and maintain consistency? In bowling, you learn not just to aim at a single target (spot on the lane), but to follow through on the line that you want the ball to travel, even though theoretically you don't need to. An extended follow-through helps give you direction as well as target point (on the lane or on the cue ball).
If your stroke wobbles through its path from start to finish, the above doesn't matter: you may start your stroke on line and finish on line, but be out of line at the point of CB contact. The extended follow-through can help develop a straight stroke, and works like Spell-check to see if what you've just done is correct. When I break (or hit almost any shot), I want my follow-through to end with the cue in line with the desired path of the CB. If it isn't I need to slow down or focus more on my target. In other words, I want my cue lined up before, during and at completion of my stroke. The longer follow-through seems to help, - when my cue tip comes to a stop pointing at my target I rarely miss the target. It's when my cue tip comes to rest to the right or left of the target, that I get in trouble; the longer follow-through sure seems to help keep my cue tip under control.
Donny L
PBIA/ACS Instructor
Gainesville, Fl
I disagree just slightly. While it's true that where your cue tip goes after contact does not affect the shot, an extended follow-through does show you whether or not your stroke is pure and straight. In other words, a minor "flaw" in a short stroke will certainly affect the accuracy of your hit on the cue ball, but you will not be able to see the flaw as easily as you will with a longer follow-through.
Think of it like hitting a baseball or a tennis ball. Do you stop your follow through on contact? After all, what the bat or racket does after contact has no effect on the ball, right? The follow-through trains your swing (stroke) to be consistent and accurate. Golf and even bowling are other good examples: Does anyone believe that you can stop your golf swing just after contact and maintain consistency? In bowling, you learn not just to aim at a single target (spot on the lane), but to follow through on the line that you want the ball to travel, even though theoretically you don't need to. An extended follow-through helps give you direction as well as target point (on the lane or on the cue ball).
If your stroke wobbles through its path from start to finish, the above doesn't matter: you may start your stroke on line and finish on line, but be out of line at the point of CB contact. The extended follow-through can help develop a straight stroke, and works like Spell-check to see if what you've just done is correct. When I break (or hit almost any shot), I want my follow-through to end with the cue in line with the desired path of the CB. If it isn't I need to slow down or focus more on my target. In other words, I want my cue lined up before, during and at completion of my stroke. The longer follow-through seems to help, - when my cue tip comes to a stop pointing at my target I rarely miss the target. It's when my cue tip comes to rest to the right or left of the target, that I get in trouble; the longer follow-through sure seems to help keep my cue tip under control.
Donny L
PBIA/ACS Instructor
Gainesville, Fl
Don't know if the book is still in print so it may be a little difficult to find. But the DVDs should be pretty easy to find. Check Joe Tucker's website. It may also be available through retailers.
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Have to agree with Donny and Fran on this. As with most other sports where ball contact is a small moment in time, the follow through technically doesn't matter (which is what Scott was saying). However, it is a huge indicator of what happened previously in the stroke and can be used to help diagnose issues etc.
Trying to artificially limit the length of the follow through can result in your muscles tightening up and not achieving maximum acceleration or power on the swing. This is very noticeable in golf and tennis, where the "stick" literally wraps around your body on most normal shots as the swing comes to a natural and smooth finish, unimpaired in it's direction by any muscles or forced movements.
Do you need to follow through to the middle of the table, like Johnny Archer did (or still does?)? Not necessarily. And trying to generate enough speed/acceleration to hit the break shot at 25+ mph is not always necessary or even effective on certain tables, racks, etc. Also very dependent on the person racking, unintentional or not. Making sure certain balls are frozen, paying attention to gaps, etc. are key elements if receiving less than desirable racks, as mentioned Joe Tucker has some great information on this as do a few other sources.
Scott
Trying to artificially limit the length of the follow through can result in your muscles tightening up and not achieving maximum acceleration or power on the swing. This is very noticeable in golf and tennis, where the "stick" literally wraps around your body on most normal shots as the swing comes to a natural and smooth finish, unimpaired in it's direction by any muscles or forced movements.
Do you need to follow through to the middle of the table, like Johnny Archer did (or still does?)? Not necessarily. And trying to generate enough speed/acceleration to hit the break shot at 25+ mph is not always necessary or even effective on certain tables, racks, etc. Also very dependent on the person racking, unintentional or not. Making sure certain balls are frozen, paying attention to gaps, etc. are key elements if receiving less than desirable racks, as mentioned Joe Tucker has some great information on this as do a few other sources.
Scott
you should always strive to look EXACTLY like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Yg2WAg9OZNY
Just Kidding kids do not try this at home
Just Kidding kids do not try this at home
FOUL! he failed to keep one foot on the floor
Actually, I think he should just do this every time. You might not always win, but I guarantee you'll win more.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKXykcdxJzM&feature=related
He managed to keep one foot on the floor when he struck the cb. No foul.
Scott...This was my point, and you know exactly what I'm talking about...which has nothing to do with 'artificially' limiting followthrough. When you finish your stroke naturally, there is a start and finish point to your range of motion. No additional movement is necessary to create more cuestick speed (such as throwing your body into the the break, or highly exxagerated followthroughs). With someone's natural range of motion, and a loose grip on the cue, your arm, from the elbow down, and the weight of the cue, can create as much 'break speed' as necessary. Therefore, if you finish your swing, you get whatever natural followthrough that your body style measures out (mine is 6.5"...randyg's is 5.5") to...and more is simply unnecessary. That doesn't mean you can't make it more, on purpose. It just means it will, for many people, make the process more difficult to be accurate and repeatable. Once again, in the end, it is different strokes for different folks.
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
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