Breakrak

ArizonaPete

ArizonaPete

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Did a search on Breakrak and saw quite a few very positive comments about the apparatus. But I have some questions. There doesn't seem to be any feedback to the user. I can see that it would be helpful in improving cueball control on the break - but there is no measure of break efficiency. If there were some device that would measure the force or speed of the hit you would have a measureable target. If you have used a breakrak, please input how it helped you to improve your break. I'm a retired engineer and I'm always looking for data. Give me numbers and I'm happy. But with so many positive threads, it must be a good tool. I know that there is a phone app out there that measures break speed based on the audio. Is this the best device to use with the breakrak?
 
breakrak

Control is more important than speed.
Use one for a while and your speed will pick up.

Mark Griffin
 
AZPete,
I got a Breakrak in January. I have no numbers to make you happy, only subjective comments.
First off, it does not do anything for you, that you could not do on your own, provided you are willing to wrangle rack after rack of balls. In the past I never had the patients to do this more than a couple of times and then I was on to practicing something else. The BR allows me to set it up in a minute or two, practice 50 breaks or so, and tear it down in a very short amount time. The feedback is immediate in terms of the quality of your hit. If, for example your QB is constantly veering off the right, you are not hitting the head ball squarely, but rather on the right. In my case, I was spraying them off both right and left and found I needed to slow my speed down a bit in orderer to hit the head ball square in the face more consistently. As I continued to practice, I was able to slowly pick up my speed and maintain my accuracy. My suspicion is my greater accuracy with increased speed has spilled over onto other aspects of my game. As far as squatting the rock, watching how the QB behaves off the rack allows you to fine tune your parking ability. If the QB( provided you hit squarely) rolls into the rack area, you hit with too much follow, given the speed, and need to hit a bit lower on the QB, and visa versa. The ability to do this over and over without re-racking gives me the immediate feedback I need to dial in my break. That is where I believe the benefit of the BR comes in, not the absolute break speed. We all know if you hit squarely the more energy will transfer to the rack. Subjectively, you can observe and quantify this in the way the BR behaves when hit off center. Physics is 30 years away from me now, so maybe someone else can calculate how fast the energy transfered falls off when the QB hits a mm or 2 off center. My sense is quickly.
So, in a nut shell, The BR helps you diagnose aiming issues as a function of speed, and fine tune the follow needed, given your break speed to park the QB in the center of the table. You could use it to calculate speed with the app you mentioned, but you could do that with any rack of balls.
Good luck, Steve
 
You made several good points Steve. Thanks for your input - it helped a lot in defining what to look for when practicing breaks. I too have racked, broken, re-racked, etc. Not much fun.
 
It allows you to get better at the break faster. Obviously because it eliminates the re-racking of the balls. Additionally, you can also incorporate it into your practice routine seamlessly. You can play some normal shots, slap it on the table and work on your break, get tired or bored and take it off to continue playing. It also isolates the variable of the cueball because there are no balls being scattered around the table. With this immediate feedback, you can manipulate your mechanics without ever breaking form. Meaning you break, try a different foot position or grip position, and break immediately again. You can figure out what works with you right away.

In terms of numbers, I've gone to a decently controlled break at around 14-15 mph to the same control around 17-20mph.
 
The Breakrak and the BreakSpeed iPhone app are both great tools, and would work very well together.
 
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

one more thing to add..... it might help.. you may or may not have heard of a player named shane van boening, he learned to break with one of these. sometimes he breaks ok.
 
Opposite end

I'm getting one.

Should I think about breaking to the other end while practicing a lot with this? Or add another layer of spot or a break cloth at the regular end?

Does your local pool room allow them? I haven't seen any around.

thanks
 
ArizonaPete said:
Did a search on Breakrak and saw quite a few very positive comments about the apparatus. But I have some questions. There doesn't seem to be any feedback to the user. I can see that it would be helpful in improving cueball control on the break - but there is no measure of break efficiency. If there were some device that would measure the force or speed of the hit you would have a measureable target. If you have used a breakrak, please input how it helped you to improve your break. I'm a retired engineer and I'm always looking for data. Give me numbers and I'm happy. But with so many positive threads, it must be a good tool. I know that there is a phone app out there that measures break speed based on the audio. Is this the best device to use with the breakrak?
Click to expand...

I'm an engineer also. I think a strategy could be used to come up with objective performance data. For example, you could mark your table in grids to objectively give a performance rating to cue ball placement. You could measure the speed of the CB using either the iPhone app, or the radar attachment for the Breakrak. You could add in a Rempe cue ball and record where you actually hit the CB, and where you intended to hit it. You can combine all of these measurements into a performance rating for yourself.

All that said, I doubt anyone would actually do this. But if they did, I think it would be truly objective, and not just "my break improved", or "I squat the rock better".

Of course, you could apply such measure to any aspect of your game. My favorite is when we watch a pro miss a shot, and say he would make that 99 out of 100. I call BS on that. No one has actually tried that shot 100 times and recorded their results. Thus, we don't have the authority to use that phrase, IMO.
 
I have suggested this method since the inception of the BreakRAK in 2002. I actually inserted a Matrix in my book, The GREAT Break Shot, in 2005. I have attached it here. Using this Matrix, a Speed measuring device & understanding the visual feedback will give you usable information in the development of your Break Shot. Our new slogan is "Every game starts with the Break Shot".... think about it.

We have all been told many times that only PERFECT PRACTICE is acceptable. Half way measures don't work in the short-mid-long term. Humans are similar to computers, trash in equals trash out.

Some folks don't have the IQ, discipline or the deep desire to change their skill level. They are wannabees & there are a lot of these folks, it's just a fact of life.

Try this little test to see if it will help you see & understand the Power of the Break Shot (not POWER in the speed of the cue ball.... but rather Power in the control of the table). BREAK 10 Racks & try to make as many balls as possible. Keep score with zeros on dry breaks plus ball count in the racks played. THEN... BREAK 10 Racks, but take Ball-In-Hand in the center area of the table, on the racks you made a ball (same method of ball count) & see what your count is. If you make 4 balls & hook the opponent on the next object ball, add a couple bonus points (2). After completing 10 racks, compare your scores...

YES, there are BreakRAKs being used in Pool Rooms, by Room Owners & Private Brak owners as well. Some Pool Rooms have Break Shot contests at their tournament gatherings, to provide some entertainment & WARM UP for their players.

Good Luck to all.


NOTE:the N is for Numbers, the L is for Letters, the S is for the Side of Table & the empty blank can be for Speed
 

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Dont have an iphone? Check out StrokeAnalyzer. Has built in break speed calculation and calculates energy delivered in joules.

Next release (soon) will support 4 cameras.
 
Yes, check out Stroke Analyzer... It's great software for using your Video Camera(s) to see yourself in action and/or to monitor your skill development.

Golf has been using Video since 1970 that I know of, we had a BetaCam at Colonial Country Club, to enhance our lesson format.

Video Analysis is the NEW WAY to give & receive instruction. If a picture is worth a thousand words, Video has to worth a billion words.
 
Ceebee, I like your grid setup. I didn't know you had something like that when I made my earlier post in this thread. It looks like you could have a grid like you have made, and record where the CB lands after each break. The lower the letter and number combination (by your grid setup), the better the break result.
 
send me an email & I'll send a full size copy to anyone.

This matrix works for any shot....
 
Try using the Breakrak with a target Cueball like the Jim Rempe one. If like me when I broke I was not hitting the CB dead center. I used the Breakrak with this CB and I started improving right away. I found like a lot of people have said accuracy over power any day. You will notice by feel a dead center hit and see the CB deliver its power to the Breakrak and not much moves! Now try your break on a rack of balls to see how well they fly!
The Breakrak is a Great tool and it is well made should last a lifetime.
 
3RAILKICK said:
I'm getting one.

Should I think about breaking to the other end while practicing a lot with this? Or add another layer of spot or a break cloth at the regular end?

Does your local pool room allow them? I haven't seen any around.

thanks
Click to expand...

IMO, a spare square of cloth under the CB is advisable, as is a spot- in good condition and inspected regularly- on the foot spot.
 
Good Morning folks... to answer some questions. The new Radar can be attached to existing BRAKs ONLY after a couple of holes are drilled & tapped. A simple situation corrected by sending in your BreakRAK to have that done.

A piece of scrap Pool Table cloth is provided as a Break Pad, with every unit sold.

We adamantly suggest the use of a Jim Rempe Cue Ball or the Aramith Cue True Cue Ball, so you can see where the Cue Tip strikes the Cue Ball. That is very important feedback.
 
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