Breaking Power

StormHotRod300

StormHotRod300

BigSexy
Silver Member
Jenn,

Obviously i havent seen your break on TV yet, but i have seen Allison's, Jeanette's, Karen's and Julie Kelly's on TV. Now normally i play on 7footers, only because in my area of Michigan thats what basically all the tournaments are played on.

But the pool hall i frequent recently re clothed, two 9footers one with simonis860, and the other with Brunswick Championship cloth. I was the first person to play on the table with Simonis, and it played SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO nice. And the same goes for the table with the Championship cloth.

Of course my problem lie's with my break on the 9ft. I normally break from the right rail. and i get the problem of having the cue fly off, if i try to power break the rack. Now if i do this with my playing cue, i have no problems, Cue stays in the center of the table, but the spread of the balls isnt as good.

I did read a couple articles on how to keep the cue for the most part in the center of the table, so u can get a shot on the object ball, which on a 7ft has TOTALLY HELPED. 95% of the time i get a shot on the OB.

I normally aim, about 1/2tip low/right english so the cue will spin to the side rail and back out.

I am kinda curious as to what you do for your break on the 9footers, and how you create power, yet are still about to keep the Cue in play.


Dave
 
Hey Dave,

Everyone has different methods for generating power in their break! I hope you also asked Johnny Archer and Melissa Herndon about this.

I'm a rightie, and I'm most comfortable breaking from the right rail. I rest my left elbow on the back rail and keep my bridge hand on the right rail. I like to aim for a completely full hit on the one ball, hitting the cue ball about a tip and a half below center with no spin. I also try to keep a loose wrist to get some snap when I strike the cue ball. I try my best to keep my elbow on that back rail up until the cue contacts the cueball, but this is what went wrong in my TV match...I got up too soon. When I do all of these things the balls usually spread nicely and the cueball will stop in the center of the table. If you can do this, then the rest is up to luck.

Jenn
 
I have a few book excerpts that deal with the break in 9 ball.

Breaking To Win
The first excerpt explains the classic side break that many pros use.

Mastering The Break
The second link is to another section of the same book, and explains the proper body mechanics. I hope this helps.

Blackjack
 
ahhh...handy. thanks! being basically new to 9 ball, i was fidgiting around with cue depth, angle, speed, etc. yesterday. figured out pretty quick that my 8 ball break - swing as hard as i can (while still keep control) with slight forespin to drive all the way through the rack, was not going to work so well at 9. and with the diagram showing how a lefty like myself would shoot it, why, i'll just copy it. :)

sedge
 
Ok, after i posted this, the next day i was practicing on my break, on a 9ft.

And well i figured out my problem was

1- i was popping up while i was breaking, and hitting top.

2- obviously i wasnt hitting the cue ball where i thought i was lol

But after practicing my break for a while, and paying more attention to where i was hitting the cue, OMG i actually have a really good break on a 9ft lol. And a even better one on a 7ft lol.

I have read BlackJacks stuff on mastering the break.

And what i do is the same as stated before in the first post.

I set the cue about 4inches off the side rail. And take several strokes with the cue and hit about 1/2 tip low/right english on the cue, and WOW, the cue either stops dead in the center of the table, or comes off the side rail back to the center of the table, and 90% of the time i have a shot on the object ball.

Try breaking like that it works....


dave
 
Is it wrong to break from the centre of the table if that is what you feel most comfortable with and are getting balls down off the break, because I have heard pros like strickland frown completely on doing this sort of thing so should I stop and start breaking from the side rails? :confused:
 
Dave,

I wouldn't recommend putting any side spin on the cue ball when breaking. I think you will find yourself more consistent if you can master this without the sidespin. The reason is, quite simply, deflection. The cue ball is going to deflect to the opposite direction of the sidespin when it is hit at speed. Even a little english can throw it a bit off when breaking at high speed. Moreover, this really can't be controlled with a break shot because you can't hit it at the same speed consistently and that sidespin can really sink you if you're not breaking the balls perfectly.

Personally, I have a very nice power break. I find the keys to a solid hit are having a very long stroke and making sure I finish my break by dipping my cue below the contact point after contact. I aim for center ball but finish my stroke below center ball. That way, when my body uncoils upward for power it all gets transferred into the forward motion of the cue, and if I hit it a little off I just end up with a bit of draw or sidespin.

I break from the left side as a righty with an open bridge so I am more jacked up than most, and I do often hop the cue ball even a few feet in the air, but never off the table so long as I finish the stroke as I described.
 
the scorpion said:
Is it wrong to break from the centre of the table if that is what you feel most comfortable with and are getting balls down off the break, because I have heard pros like strickland frown completely on doing this sort of thing so should I stop and start breaking from the side rails? :confused:
Click to expand...
I thought that Earl liked the "break-box" :confused: :confused: :confused:
 
Ok, well here is my review of what i have done to my Break, since i did this post a couple months ago.

1- began breaking from all parts of the table to learn how to control the CB from anywhere when breaking.

2- Was using my playing cue for breaking to learn how to get a good break when using my playing cue, so i dont hafta rely on a breakcue.

3- I practice my break only on a 9ft table, and do it for about 30mins everytime i play or practice.

Now the other thing that i think has help 100% is I got rid of my old Break cue, which was a Viking with a Phenolic Ferrule/tip combo. Now this was probably my biggest problem to begin with. I think the shaft wasnt stiff enough to give me a good hit all the time.

A friend of mine had a Players J/b with the Phenolic combo tip, and one day we was playing, and i decided to use it, and wow! what a difference. I could slam the rack and still keep control of the CB.

Well after using it for a couple days i ended up buying it for 40$ :)

Now i still break from all over the place on the tables, because most tables have a SWEET spot to break from, or a dead spot you want to stay away from.

But i will say that since using this cue to break with, i have no fear of breaking full power, and wondering where the CB is going to end up.

I do still use the 1/2tip low/right when breaking from right side rail sometimes. But mainly have gone with a dead solid hit on the CB.

As for the Cue, its a great cue to break with. And would recommend to to anyone looking for a good inexpensive jump/break.

Dave

PS the sticker came already on the cue lol.
 

Attachments

  • pool cue.jpg
    pool cue.jpg
    29.9 KB · Views: 468
Hey SHR300,

That's great news that you worked on mastering your break. That's how the champions become champions, they work on their weaknesses until they become strengths. If you're always honest with yourself about your weaknesses and you're willing to work hard on them you can reach the highest level of the game.

Best of luck to you!

Jenn
 
Jen and everyone,

Yes i am always tweaking my break, only because, i play at several pool halls and find that one type of break will work good on one type of table, yet that same break wont do me any good at the other place.

So yea i am always working on different stuff. Now my big thing is working on a good softbreak, or semi-softbreak, because i am playing a summer APA 9ball league at a pool hall that has Diamond tables and they are pretty fast lol. And am looking to control the CB as much as possible cuz of the no pushout rule.

I did try doing a type of break that starts about 3 or 4 inches to the left of the 1ball on a full rack. And i use a about a 1/2 tip of right english on the break and find the CB comes off the 1ball to the right into the side rail and back out to the center of the table.

Now if i happen to be a bit off on the amount of english, the CB tends to go off the right side rail and to the end rail and off the left side rail, back to the center of the table.

but of course league play around here is all on 7ft tables its easier to mess around with my break. And when i play on a 9ft i generally always go from the right side rail.

dave
 
On smaller soft equipment, controlling the cueball on the break should be your #1 priority. For me that means hitting the one ball dead full like I'm hitting a stop shot. If you do this from the side rail, usually a wing ball flies in and sometimes the one ball caroms into the side pocket. I know a lot of players use the cut break that you are describing, and it is definitely good to know every variation of the soft break, but I feel that you can acheive maximum cue ball control with a medium stroke, full hit and no english. Give it a try.

Jenn
 
breaking

jenn i think that to me the best type of cue to use for best break on a pool table would be cuetec break and jump cues those are a very nice stick to use for breaking up balls on a pool table

thanks

bjt
 
breaking power

ok jenn i understand to me cuetec is a very nice cue to play pool with i mean everybody has a favorite brand of cue like i love cuetec cues

thanks

bjt
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top