Jumped ball on the break in 8 ball

[twal]

This was first for me. I have jumped the cue off the table many, many times, on the break. I however, have never jumped a ball out of the rack on the break… until now. I was just shooting at a friend’s house and playing for fun. So my buddy racked and said yeah, he thought they were tight.

I break the head ball as square as possible. No doubt that I put all my power into it. Usually if the CB jumps up it just comes back down into the middle of the table, just where I want it, most of the time

Assuming the balls were tight like he said, I don’t see how a object ball get hit on the break and fly’s off the table.

So I am now very curious, has this ever happened to you any of you, is this more common then I think?

 

[Baxter]

I've never heard of an OB jumping out of the rack off the table on a break. I don't see any way this could physically be possible on a tight rack. A loose rack and worn cloth (in which there are indentations where the rack is racked) could do this.

 

[Tominator]

By the way what is the rule on this? Is it a foul? Also, since we're at it, what if the cue ball pops up and hits the overhead light? Is that a foul?

 

[MitchAlsup]

The physics of this:

The CB is launched from the kitchen with draw. This actually causes the CB to leave the bed of the table (a couple of millimeters) and before it lands back on the bed, it impacts the head ball.

With the head ball impacted from above the equator, it will naturally end up with some vertical velocity and could end up leaving the table.

This is not really different than jumping the CB into an OB and causing the OB to jump over a different obstruction. All you have to do is impact the OB with the CB in a downward arc and enough vertical energy to cause it to leave the bed of the table.

The rest of the rack behind the head ball will cause the head ball to assume a more vertical direction than if the rest of the rack were not there.