Controlled easy break or slam the balls?

[quadrary]

I agree with this. I guess it is tournament (or some tournament?) rules that call for the 2 in the back? During league play, even though the rack is supposed to be "random", most folks rack the 2 in the row above the last ball. In this case, I would rather make a wing ball, and have the one to shoot at.

Oh, what the hell am I talking about? I just want to make a ball and keep my turn no matter what!

damn rob you caught me when rack your own 2 in back rack for opponent 2 in second row from back and 3 in back your so observant.

 

[C.Milian]

Slam the balls for better chance of getting out.

 

[gunzby]

I have spent the last year really working on my break. I tried various stances (traditional, snooker, stiff leg, bent leg etc), various bridge lengths, various powers and various contact points.

In that time I was curious to see how hard I could mash the rack. I was hitting between 27 and 30mph consistently without throwing myself through the CB. With that break I generally always made a ball, but also lost the CB.

Over the last few months I've learned that dialing my break back to 18-20mph and being extremely precise will net the same results and up as my heavy handed break. Along with that I also almost always have a shot on the first ball.

A good example I can give is when I watched someone I know playing a match. The first rack he mashed it, made 5 balls and hopped the CB off the table. His opponent ran out his 4 balls. The next break he had he mashed it again, made 3 or 4 and hopped the CB off the table. His opponent ran out again. I told him you don't have to make all of them....just one. His next break squatted the CB in the middle of the table and he made one with a shot on the one.

You don't have to make them all.....just one.

 

[hunger strike]

Parking it

About 15 years ago, in Olathe at Shooters, I saw a young guy named Keith Bennett, a skinny blond guy who looked all of 100 lbs., who broke like a sledgehemmer and parked the cueball in the middle almost every single time. He broke with a house cue he brought with him, and after he broke he would slide it under the table. Now for someone like that, slamming it is ok. I think he broke better than Archer or Bustamente. I have never seen another player break that hard and still park the cueball.
I try to break progressively harder until I can't park it. But you have to watch the impact and see if you are getting a good center hit on the head ball.

 

[FranCrimi]

Putting the two in the rear has been around a bit, I assume because that placement makes the 2 very unpredictable and makes the B & R more difficult. We play more 10 ball than 9, and we put the 2 and 3 on the outside of the last row, which also (presumably) makes it a tougher rack.

When we play 10 ball with the 5 also being a money ball, we put the 5 adjacent to the 10. Where do others place a 5 ball when there's $ on it?

Mandatory 2 in the rear has been around a bit? I've heard of it as a choice that players make as a strategy, but mandatory? That really surprises me.

I guess anything's possible these days.

 

[JoeyA]

Some MR's can be exploited, based on wear/precision of mfr'g - but the options available for a mechanic are far more limited than a triangular rack.

Can ya tell I'm a MR fan?

Matt <-- lobbiest against mechanics and sluggers

I noticed in your avatar, that you were paying real close attention to Johnny racking those balls.

I agree that there are reduced limitations of rigging the Magic Rack. I like it because the opponent can check it and if he sees something amiss, he can fix it QUICK right on the spot, which I did and never had the racker come back and check my nudging of the loose balls.