getting lessons for your break?

StormHotRod300

StormHotRod300

BigSexy
Silver Member
Well, I've always been one to work on my break alot! But, it seems that, i can only get a decent break when using a medium break. Anytime i try to put a bit more into it, i loose control of the CB and get a junk break.

Now my question is, should i seek lessons, from someone? maybe i am missing something? Or they will see something i am missing or doing wrong?

I do notice alot of people when breaking have some kind of forward movement, like a stepforward or a shift in weight when breaking. I dont notice any forward movement in my break.

I plan on going to one of the pool halls i frequent, a friend of mine owns it and gives lessons, and can probably give me some help. So i will update this tomorrow nite when i get online.

dave
 
its an important part of the game, i dont see any reason not to try improve on it, if you dont have any forward movement in your break its probably because your weight is evenly distributed between both feet, try putting about 80 per cent of your weight on your forward foot, once you get the motion down work on timing. sure you can fling your body forward but what good is it if you do it too soon or too late you will be wasting momentum. colin colenso also posted a video about power breaking that could be very helpful another suggestion is watch some of the pros break, i watched videos from the xbreaker website of charlie bryants break over and over again and have tried to mimmick his break.
 
I agree with the above, great advice.

Also, you're going to want to find that medium speed and slowly increase speed from there, just a notch or two at a time(while still maintaining control).

Also, remember, practicing breaking again and again can sometimes affect a player's regular shooting stroke if they aren't mindful. Just my 2 cents.
 
The Break shot is the MOST IMPORTANT shot of the Game, I for one also spend time each week working on my BREAK. Sometime a Technique that works well on Table A, does not work great on Table B. As all table are not created equally, like Cushions, Cloth Condition, etc.
 
PoolSleuth said:
The Break shot is the MOST IMPORTANT shot of the Game, I for one also spend time each week working on my BREAK. Sometime a Technique that works well on Table A, does not work great on Table B. As all table are not created equally, like Cushions, Cloth Condition, etc.
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Great advice.

Although table conditions change from table to table, the only thing I change in my break is my cue speed or Cue-ball position. Understanding the "Bounce" Factor is important in my break.....SPF=randyg
 
May I suggest that you contact Charlie Bryant for some lessons. He has a section here on Az. He is the best teacher I have ever come across, and one of the best, if not the very best, breaker in the world.

Even the two times World Championship runner up asked him for advice.

If you want to watch videos, there are break videos of Ronnie Alcano, Charlie Bryant, Pei Wei Chang, Jennifer Chen, Tiffany Nelson, and many others on my web site.

Thank you.
 
Charlie Bryant worked with Landon on his break at the Open for about an hour which resulted in Landon adding 2 key movements to his breaking motion. Charlie taught Landon in a step by step easy to understand method that was perfectly individualized to Landon's needs. Charlie gets 5 stars. Stan
 
I don't agree with slowing increasing your speed. I think you should just start trying to hit it hard but not out of control hard. The reason for this is every different speed you hit the break requires a different amount of draw/follow to squat the cueball. The cueball bounces on the way to the rack and will pick up topspin if it is in the air when it hits the head ball.

So if you aren't hitting the cueball the same speed every time you will get mixed results. After a few repetitions you will start adjusting to hit so you can park the cueball. If you can hit the headball square you have won 90% of the battle. Playing the ghost is a good way to practice your break.
 
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Well, I went and spent about 90mins just working on my break and still was kinda EHHH about it. But noticed some stuff too. That ALSO got me thinking.

While i was practicing my break I tried to adjust my balance of weight, which I didnt notice really any difference, but when i tried to shift my weight, thats when i encounter'd miscue's and bad breaks. So i went back to my original stance for breaking.

What really made me start to think, its not really me that needs work, but its the equipment that i am practicing on was, tonight when i went from a 7ft table to a 9ft table. And found that I was even tougher to get a decent break on the 9ft table. Now before everyone goes on about its the difference in the size.

Back in Sept, I went to Pockets in Lansing, MI and played in a Open 9ball tournament they was having. While i didnt have a break cue with me at the time, I took out a sneaky pete cue i had, and used that for breaking. AND WOW!!!!!! My break was unbelieve-able. The balls exploded and I always had a good spread.

Yet the next day, i go back to one of the pool halls i frequent in town, and its back to the same ole same, with my break.

So maybe its not me, its the equipment i've been practicing on.

Now my friend who owns the pool hall i went to tonight, said, that i should cut back on my break power and that i would end up with more action on the break, because of using a phenolic tip.
 
StormHotRod300 said:
Well, I've always been one to work on my break alot! But, it seems that, i can only get a decent break when using a medium break. Anytime i try to put a bit more into it, i loose control of the CB and get a junk break.

Now my question is, should i seek lessons, from someone? maybe i am missing something? Or they will see something i am missing or doing wrong?

I do notice alot of people when breaking have some kind of forward movement, like a stepforward or a shift in weight when breaking. I dont notice any forward movement in my break.

I plan on going to one of the pool halls i frequent, a friend of mine owns it and gives lessons, and can probably give me some help. So i will update this tomorrow nite when i get online.

dave
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My break was pathetic and when I posted a video, Colin Colenso told me I could improve. I asked him for tips and he responded with this incredible instructional video.


3 simple things:

1) Go to Colin Colenso's web site and watch the instructional video - scroll down it's on the front page:

http://www.cue-tv.com/

2) Get yourself a good competent break cue. I now use the X-treme breaker, which is both a great break and jump cue, but there are a lot of good ones. The Predator is pretty good too. You can't break well without a very stiff cue with a strong taper. Regular cues bend too much. Old thick Dufferin house cues are good too. Hard leather tips give more control, phenolic more power.

3) Make sure you give yourself a tight rack.

I am going to make a tape of my before and after break. In a few weeks, I am breaking twice as hard with much better cue ball control. My old break cue was not built right and I was losing the cue ball a lot. i blame the old cue for 50% of my problem, and my technique 50%.

Pay attention to the couple of tips Colin gives. The changes I made were:

- I freed up my shoulder and let my elbow rise and drop

- moved my grip hand about 4 or 5 inches further forward on the cue,

- took a firmer grip

- on the final snap, took the cue all the way back s l o w l y, then forward with a big follow through.

The last one is the most important of the bunch. Bring the cue back slowly like you would a bowling ball. This allows your body weight to shift back and forward. I ended up getting a lot more power with less tension. After a few weeks of practice, my cue ball explodes against the rack, pops back and dies.

This may sound exaggerated, but the better break has been making a difference of a game or two in each race - which is a big deal when you're playing a close match. And I am NOT exaggerating. With the X treme breaker and the new break I recently had my first 5 balls down break in 9 ball, and I've had several 2 and 3 packs because the break is more efficient (had a 3 pack tonight in practice). The balls are now flying around the table on the break like someone kicked them in the ass - which is what you want.

Chris
 
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TATE,

yes i watch the video Colin, has on Cue-TV.com on the power break, and it really made me think about everything. too.

I'm going tomorrow to work on what Colin said in his video and see how it works.

Tonight i before league i practiced my break a couple times and thought about what my friend said about the break. Expecially for 9ball, he told me to break from the box and to line up the CB with the 1ball and backrow ball behind the 9ball.

And shoot it like your making a combo shot.

Now, I think it was BlackJack who states the same theory when breaking about looking to the back of the rack. Which i had always thought was a good idea.

Well after actually thinking about it, and shooting the shot like a combo, i found i was controlling whitey and getting a good break with a nice n easy break.

Even during league, playing 8ball i used this same break and got excellent results.

I will say, that Colin has a damn good 8ball break on a 9ft table, expecially considering he uses a open bridge. It was amazing the power he created on the break.

But i'll post tomorrow about what i experience with trying to open up my shoulder, for breaking.
 
TATE said:
My break was pathetic and when I posted a video, Colin Colenso told me I could improve. I asked him for tips and he responded with this incredible instructional video.


3 simple things:

1) Go to Colin Colenso's web site and watch the instructional video - scroll down it's on the front page:

http://www.cue-tv.com/

2) Get yourself a good competent break cue. I now use the X-treme breaker, which is both a great break and jump cue, but there are a lot of good ones. The Predator is pretty good too. You can't break well without a very stiff cue with a strong taper. Regular cues bend too much. Old thick Dufferin house cues are good too. Hard leather tips give more control, phenolic more power.

3) Make sure you give yourself a tight rack.

I am going to make a tape of my before and after break. In a few weeks, I am breaking twice as hard with much better cue ball control. My old break cue was not built right and I was losing the cue ball a lot. i blame the old cue for 50% of my problem, and my technique 50%.

Pay attention to the couple of tips Colin gives. The changes I made were:

- I freed up my shoulder and let my elbow rise and drop

- moved my grip hand about 4 or 5 inches further forward on the cue,

- took a firmer grip

- on the final snap, took the cue all the way back s l o w l y, then forward with a big follow through.

The last one is the most important of the bunch. Bring the cue back slowly like you would a bowling ball. This allows your body weight to shift back and forward. I ended up getting a lot more power with less tension. After a few weeks of practice, my cue ball explodes against the rack, pops back and dies.

This may sound exaggerated, but the better break has been making a difference of a game or two in each race - which is a big deal when you're playing a close match. And I am NOT exaggerating. With the X treme breaker and the new break I recently had my first 5 balls down break in 9 ball, and I've had several 2 and 3 packs because the break is more efficient (had a 3 pack tonight in practice). The balls are now flying around the table on the break like someone kicked them in the ass - which is what you want.

Chris
Click to expand...

Thank you, Chris for the kind words on the X Breaker.

I remember Charlie was pointing out to some players that their bodies were moving up, rather than moving forward, during the break. He said such upward movement would cause a lost of power.

Charlie told me he is working on his book and it will come out soon. There will be a lot of instructions on how to break with power and control in his book.

Richard
 
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