Jacking Up On The Break.

mnorwood

mnorwood

Moon
Silver Member
I consider my break to be the weakest part of my game. I am forever looking for ways to improve it. One thing that has drastically improved my power and control is jacking my cue anywhere between 5 and 10 degrees from level. Does anyone else do this or is this something peculiar to me?
 
mnorwood said:
I consider my break to be the weakest part of my game. I am forever looking for ways to improve it. One thing that has drastically improved my power and control is jacking my cue anywhere between 5 and 10 degrees from level. Does anyone else do this or is this something peculiar to me?
Click to expand...

The old timers used to jack up which forced the cue ball airborne and sometimes breaking lights.
 
anytime you are "jacked up" and hitting the cueball above its center line (parallel plane to the slate) then you are wasting energy "somewhere" (either in compression of tip/shaft/ball/cloth)....energy that could be put into the forward motion of the ball....

I would guess that when you break normally your are too low (chin to stick) and that you are taking the process for granted. When you jack, you cant be that low, so your body is raised and opened a bit (which is what you SHOULD do, just not jacked) and more importantly you are concentrating about elevating that stick and hitting the center---so you get a better hit.

So just stand up higher a bit, practice breaking over and over again at progressively increasing speeds, hitting the cueball where you want each time....

mnorwood said:
I consider my break to be the weakest part of my game. I am forever looking for ways to improve it. One thing that has drastically improved my power and control is jacking my cue anywhere between 5 and 10 degrees from level. Does anyone else do this or is this something peculiar to me?
Click to expand...
 
I jack up slightly, not sure how much, but NOT much. I also break from around the spot. Can't break worth a damn from the side. I've been doing this for years and been successful with it.
 
If your breaking from the side rails, your already elevated. Most pros break from the side and have their cue elevated some. The stroke for breaking is not your normal stroke (8,9 or 10 ball) if you follow the way the pros do it. Elbow moves, sometimes locked, cue is held in a different place and usually tighter, body is more erect and weight is shifted forward with the stroke, turning hips as you gain speed. Watch the pros, results are what counts.
 
mnorwood said:
I consider my break to be the weakest part of my game. I am forever looking for ways to improve it. One thing that has drastically improved my power and control is jacking my cue anywhere between 5 and 10 degrees from level. Does anyone else do this or is this something peculiar to me?
Click to expand...
Technically, everyone is jacked up on the break. Here is an easy way to find out how much elevation a player has on a shot: note how far above the table the center of the tip is, in inches. Note how far above the table the center of the cue's bumper is, in inches. Subtract those two numbers. That gives you the elevation in degrees for angles less than about 30 degrees. I'm betting that on nearly all shots -- not just the break -- you have at least three degrees of elevation. Or, you frequently have bloody knuckles.

The first distance is easy to measure: 1.125 inches for a center ball hit, and about 1/2 inch more or less for max draw and follow. The distance above the table of the center of the bumper at the instant you hit the cue ball is harder to measure. Often the stick is not over the table, so you have to guess where the bed of the table would be if it were extended.
 
I do it sometimes- depends on how the table is breaking. I move the CB around until I find a spot (hopefully!) that is making ball(s). Usually start about 2" from R side rail, then same on other side of table, then 1" (and noticeably jacked up) from each side, then midway between spot/ rail each side, maybe even in the center. Hell, I just won 6 or 7 games:o
 
If I jack up I'm sure to hit anyone within 20 feet (straight line) in front of me.
 
mnorwood said:
I consider my break to be the weakest part of my game. I am forever looking for ways to improve it. One thing that has drastically improved my power and control is jacking my cue anywhere between 5 and 10 degrees from level. Does anyone else do this or is this something peculiar to me?
Click to expand...
The hardest breakers in the world are jacked up way over 10 degrees at some point on their break. 10 degrees is roughly 10" of elevation for the butt.

Fred
 
jcrack_corn said:
anytime you are "jacked up" and hitting the cueball above its center line (parallel plane to the slate) then you are wasting energy "somewhere" (either in compression of tip/shaft/ball/cloth)....energy that could be put into the forward motion of the ball....
Click to expand...
At contact, a downward force component causes the cue ball to "hop" going down the table. Hitting the rack on an upward part of a hop can cause the cue ball to jump off the table. Jacking up on the break may increase the likelihood of the cue ball leaving the table and you giving your opponent ball in hand.

That being said, I try to emulate Rob Saez's break. I do have a slight angle before contact - with the tip of my cue hitting the table about 4-6 inches behind the cue ball (depending on how hard I'm going to hit it). When I "move" into the break, the cue levels out - striking the cue ball almost level. I'll try to post a vid of this when I get home tonight. For me, using this method yields about a 24-26 MPH break for me at warp speed, and a sustained 20-22 MPH at a controlled speed. [speed measured with Radar Gun at less than 10° angle from verticle.]

Also, Try to check out Rob's break. It's a hammer.

-td
 
Last edited:
It should be mentioned that most players drop their elbows on the break, meaning if you start jacked up, you might have dropped to almost level by the time the tip meets the ball (the moment of truth). Bustamante and Stalev both raise the butt of the cue way up on the backswing, but at the moment of contact are not nearly as elevated (otherwise they'd be jumping the CB clear over the rack, as hard as they hit).

-Andrew
 
jcrack_corn said:
anytime you are "jacked up" and hitting the cueball above its center line
Click to expand...

Why would you assume that because you are jacked up, you're hitting the cue ball above center. I never do this, it's always below center, otherwise the cue ball goes through the rack to the foot rail. Plus, hitting above center will definitely put the cue ball in the air after the stroke, more so than hitting below center.
 
Cornerman said:
10 degrees is roughly 10" of elevation for the butt.

Fred
Click to expand...

I know you're good at these 'technical' calculations Fred, but I find it very difficult to believe that you're saying a cuestick angled 10" from the surface of the table is only 10 degrees, when a normal cuestick elevation (where the butt is resting on the rail) averages 3-5 degrees, and is only 2" inches off of dead level. IMO a 10" high butt elevation would equate to 20-25 degrees of cue elevation.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
 
Scott Lee said:
I know you're good at these 'technical' calculations Fred, but I find it very difficult to believe that you're saying a cuestick angled 10" from the surface of the table is only 10 degrees, when a normal cuestick elevation (where the butt is resting on the rail) averages 3-5 degrees, and is only 2" inches off of dead level. IMO a 10" high butt elevation would equate to 20-25 degrees of cue elevation.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Click to expand...

Well, this one's very simple trigonometry:

tan(10) = .176
tan(10) = (butt elevation - tip elevation) / length of cue.
.176 = (butt elevation - tip elevation) / 58".

butt elevation - tip elevation = 10.23".

10 degrees of elevation is 10.23 inches of butt elevation.

If the cue butt were resting on the rail, and a center ball stroke is used, that's only maybe 1 or 1.5 inches of elevation difference, which is not 3-5 degrees, but more like 1 to 1.5 degrees. You may be right Scott, that "normal" elevation is 3-5 degrees on most shots, but that's because the butt of the cue is actually elevated more like 3-5 inches above the height of the rail. Which makes sense, since otherwise you'd scrape your knuckles sometimes.

-Andrew
 
Andrew...I missed that class! :rolleyes: But I'll take your word for it. It sure seems like more, with that much elevation. Maybe I'm not thinking about this in the same context. Are we talking about the butt end of the cue being 10" off the surface of the table, with the tip angled down to the center of the CB? I looked at this on the table today, and it sure looked like more than 10degrees...but I'm no engineer, and don't claim to be. I thought maybe I could use a protractor to estimate the angle in degrees. :D

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
 
Scott Lee said:
... Are we talking about the butt end of the cue being 10" off the surface of the table, with the tip angled down to the center of the CB? I looked at this on the table today, and it sure looked like more than 10degrees... ...
Click to expand...
Most people are not used to estimating angles of elevation.

The elevation distance you need to measure is how much higher the butt is than the tip. If someone is playing slightly below center on the cue ball, the center of the tip is maybe one inch off the table at contact. If the stick is over the table, it is easier to estimate how high it is. Maybe it is 9 inches from the table to the center of the bumper -- about a hand span, thumb to middle finger. That would make the butt 8 inches above the tip. Here is a table for 58-inch cues:

Elevation is height of the center of the bumper above the center of the tip:

Elevation -- Angle
in inches -- in degrees

1 inch -- 1.0 degree
2 inches -- 2.0 degrees
3 inches -- 3.0 degrees
4 inches -- 3.9 degrees
5 inches -- 4.9 degrees
6 inches -- 5.9 degrees
7 inches -- 6.9 degrees
8 inches -- 7.9 degrees
9 inches -- 8.8 degrees
10 inches -- 9.8 degrees
11 inches -- 10.7 degrees
12 inches -- 11.7 degrees
13 inches -- 12.6 degrees
14 inches -- 13.6 degrees
15 inches -- 14.5 degrees
16 inches -- 15.4 degrees
17 inches -- 16.3 degrees
18 inches -- 17.2 degrees
19 inches -- 18.1 degrees
20 inches -- 19.0 degrees
21 inches -- 19.9 degrees
22 inches -- 20.8 degrees
23 inches -- 21.6 degrees
24 inches -- 22.5 degrees
25 inches -- 23.3 degrees
26 inches -- 24.1 degrees
27 inches -- 25.0 degrees
28 inches -- 25.8 degrees
29 inches -- 26.6 degrees
30 inches -- 27.3 degrees
 
Bob Jewett said:
Most people are not used to estimating angles of elevation.

The elevation distance you need to measure is how much higher the butt is than the tip. If someone is playing slightly below center on the cue ball, the center of the tip is maybe one inch off the table at contact. If the stick is over the table, it is easier to estimate how high it is. Maybe it is 9 inches from the table to the center of the bumper -- about a hand span, thumb to middle finger. That would make the butt 8 inches above the tip. Here is a table for 58-inch cues:

Elevation is height of the center of the bumper above the center of the tip:

Elevation -- Angle
in inches -- in degrees

1 inch -- 1.0 degree
2 inches -- 2.0 degrees
3 inches -- 3.0 degrees
4 inches -- 3.9 degrees
5 inches -- 4.9 degrees
6 inches -- 5.9 degrees
7 inches -- 6.9 degrees
8 inches -- 7.9 degrees
9 inches -- 8.8 degrees
10 inches -- 9.8 degrees
11 inches -- 10.7 degrees
12 inches -- 11.7 degrees
13 inches -- 12.6 degrees
14 inches -- 13.6 degrees
15 inches -- 14.5 degrees
16 inches -- 15.4 degrees
17 inches -- 16.3 degrees
18 inches -- 17.2 degrees
19 inches -- 18.1 degrees
20 inches -- 19.0 degrees
21 inches -- 19.9 degrees
22 inches -- 20.8 degrees
23 inches -- 21.6 degrees
24 inches -- 22.5 degrees
25 inches -- 23.3 degrees
26 inches -- 24.1 degrees
27 inches -- 25.0 degrees
28 inches -- 25.8 degrees
29 inches -- 26.6 degrees
30 inches -- 27.3 degrees
Click to expand...

With that being said I only jack up betweeb 3 and 5 degrees. Thanks for the chart.
 
Bob Jewett said:
Most people are not used to estimating angles of elevation.

The elevation distance you need to measure is how much higher the butt is than the tip. If someone is playing slightly below center on the cue ball, the center of the tip is maybe one inch off the table at contact. If the stick is over the table, it is easier to estimate how high it is. Maybe it is 9 inches from the table to the center of the bumper -- about a hand span, thumb to middle finger. That would make the butt 8 inches above the tip. Here is a table for 58-inch cues:

Elevation is height of the center of the bumper above the center of the tip:

Elevation -- Angle
in inches -- in degrees

1 inch -- 1.0 degree
2 inches -- 2.0 degrees
3 inches -- 3.0 degrees
4 inches -- 3.9 degrees
5 inches -- 4.9 degrees
6 inches -- 5.9 degrees
7 inches -- 6.9 degrees
8 inches -- 7.9 degrees
9 inches -- 8.8 degrees
10 inches -- 9.8 degrees
11 inches -- 10.7 degrees
12 inches -- 11.7 degrees
13 inches -- 12.6 degrees
14 inches -- 13.6 degrees
15 inches -- 14.5 degrees
16 inches -- 15.4 degrees
17 inches -- 16.3 degrees
18 inches -- 17.2 degrees
19 inches -- 18.1 degrees
20 inches -- 19.0 degrees
21 inches -- 19.9 degrees
22 inches -- 20.8 degrees
23 inches -- 21.6 degrees
24 inches -- 22.5 degrees
25 inches -- 23.3 degrees
26 inches -- 24.1 degrees
27 inches -- 25.0 degrees
28 inches -- 25.8 degrees
29 inches -- 26.6 degrees
30 inches -- 27.3 degrees
Click to expand...

Thanks Bob...Learn something new every day!

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
 
Cornerman said:
The hardest breakers in the world are jacked up way over 10 degrees at some point on their break. 10 degrees is roughly 10" of elevation for the butt.

Fred
Click to expand...

"at some point on their break"

What you say is true, but at contact they're a lot closer to level. What you see as jacked up is part of their wind up and their way to get elevation.

And whoever was talking about Saez's break, I wish you luck. I've been watching him break for a couple of months and I've tried that break. You've gotta be damn precise hitting that one ball to make it work.

Personally, if I jack up - people are in danger. I swing too hard to jack up anymore than the side rail does for me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top