Breaking from the centre

[KMRUNOUT]

One other thing: if you place your cue on the end rail to break, you should get rid of that habit ASAP. There are all kinds of problems with it, but the main one is that you are anywhere from 1-2 feet further from the rack. Why make it any harder. Also, I think it is very difficult to break at full power from this position. Breaking from the side rail is different. Anyone I ahve ever seen with a good break breaks with their hand on the cloth and the cue ball right up on the head string. (Or with the cue resting on the side rail and their bridge firmly around it.) The best recipe for a horrible cue ball on the break is to make your normal bridge up on the end rail!!

Hope this helps,

KMRUNOUT

Just a quick note: I say this with the assumption that you have a good stable closed bridge. If you do not, then this is a much more important issue to resolve than the break. I don't think anyone could overstate how important a rock solid, unmoving, stable bridge is to accurate shooting. This is true for any bridge, open or closed (or mechanical!!)

 

[Pushout]

I've never been able to break well from the side. As I said to another member in a pm recently, I learned to break on or near the center spot. I learned this from a student at SUNY Binghamton, who learned from Gene Nagy. Hitting the cue ball 1/2 to a full tip below center, with the butt jacked up an inch or two, I was making a ball more often than not and squatting the cue ball in or near the center of the table, with a shot on the 1. For some reason I never figured out, I also moved the 9 ball toward one of the bottom corner pockets, often making it.
After it became common to break from the side rail, I tried it for several years without much, if any success. When I returned to my original break, I never got to execute it as well as I did in the beginning, maybe jacking up too much.
Recently, on a trip to the local room, I started using a break that I came up with in the late '90s before I moved South. One diamond out from the top rail {either side} and one diamond out from the side rail. Seems to get more force without a lot more speed. I've used it in both 9 Ball and 10 Ball quite successfully. I've used this on both 4 1/2 x 9 and 3 1/2 x 7. At home I can't practice blast breaks well because of space constraints.

 

[Joe T]

Joe:

Why can I squat the ball closer to the center rather than from the rail? Does that have to do with perception / dominant eye, etc?

Dave

Hey Dave, I would have to see it to offer a real guess. There's no consistency here, there's some that can squat form the rail and not center and there's some the other way around. Some can squat with an open bridge but not a closed.

But I think you're on the right track for perception as one possible problem. Quite often when I do practice my break (very rare now adays) I find I have to approach the cue ball in a wierd way and maybe aim in what might be a little weird on the 1 ball also and this is either perception or a formula to work out the timing of my mechanics when breaking.

I think the breakrak would help you learn from the side rail break quicker than anything. But knowing you I would be surprised if you don't already have one in which case I'm gonna have to hop in the car and drive about 5hrs SW.

 

[Bigkahuna]

Hey Dave, I would have to see it to offer a real guess. There's no consistency here, there's some that can squat form the rail and not center and there's some the other way around. Some can squat with an open bridge but not a closed.

But I think you're on the right track for perception as one possible problem. Quite often when I do practice my break (very rare now adays) I find I have to approach the cue ball in a wierd way and maybe aim in what might be a little weird on the 1 ball also and this is either perception or a formula to work out the timing of my mechanics when breaking.

I think the breakrak would help you learn from the side rail break quicker than anything. But knowing you I would be surprised if you don't already have one in which case I'm gonna have to hop in the car and drive about 5hrs SW.

Joe drive five hours north and see me instead! That Spider dude he is all messed up!

 

[Bigkahuna]

Yeah, you guys need to buy a book about breaking, so you can learn the theory & application for each game. Then you can buy Joe's Racking Secrets CD to learn some higher level skills.

The Break Shot is important, it sets the stage for things to come & it is the link between games to set the stage again.

Charlie I am going to purchase one of your Breakraks. Just real estate really is sucking right now. Nobody seems to care when us poor real estate agents are not doing well. I think this will really improve how I am hitting them. I suspect there will be a few others in my area that will also want one after trying it out.

 

[dbyap]

the first break sounds alot like what svb uses, generalized of course.