Pan Xiao Tina breaking form

berlowmj

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Pan's significantly raising the butt of her cue as she pulls the trigger appears to be extremely unorthodox. Is there any lesson to be taken from this?
 
There are several Chinese female players using this breaking motion. Pan is the most prominent and successful.

After watching several of her practice sessions last year and as poor as my break was acting at the time, I decided to see if it would work for me. My advice "Don't try this at home!". I could barely hit the cue ball and one time thought I had broken my hand hitting the rail. I believe this break is effective, but probably has to be taught by a qualified instructor and learned in small steps.
 
there cannot possible be any advantage to this but she keeps total control of the cue ball and crushes the rack pretty good. Someone tell her that I want to marry her please.
 
berlowmj said:
Pan's significantly raising the butt of her cue as she pulls the trigger appears to be extremely unorthodox. Is there any lesson to be taken from this?

i've never seen her break but if i understand you,,after she hits the cb she immediately brings up the butt of her cue on the follow-through,,,am i correct?

this sounds like a way to SNAP the break....like when you use a whip, immediately after the follow-through you whip your arm backwards. the reason is to create a snap. if you didn't, there would be no "whack".

lots of women have poor break shots because they cannot snap their break. jeanette used to be typical of this. too much follow-through with no snap.

when this gal pulls up the butt of her cue, it's as if she's slamming the brakes on her follow-through to an immediate stop, and thus creates a snap. it's an exagerrated way to accomplish it but it might be the ONLY way she feels she can snap the breakshot.
 
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Luxury said:
there cannot possible be any advantage to this but she keeps total control of the cue ball and crushes the rack pretty good. Someone tell her that I want to marry her please.

No, there is an advantage doing this. Pan is a small girl. If you want a powerfull break, you need to pull the cue far behind you. When you are small you can't do that. When you raise your cue, the distance will be longer. Just try this and you will see, the tip will go much near the bridge. The second reason is when you whip the cue, your whole body is moving with you, so you put more power in your break. A smal person will stand thighter to the rail/table, so you can't do a good follow with the power of your body included. It's sounds quite logical to me, why she raise the butt of her breakcue.

I'm also a small person and have notice when I want to break hard, the butt will automaticely raise. It works quite good. Recently I have changed my breakcue with a leather tip to a new breakcue with a super hard tip (phenolic, changed again to a white diamond). I've notice raising the butt don't work anymore. It will miscue often with a hard tip, so I learned to break level.
 
berlowmj said:
Pan's significantly raising the butt of her cue as she pulls the trigger appears to be extremely unorthodox. Is there any lesson to be taken from this?

Could it be that she is shorter than normal player and has to do this to maintain the long follow through?

:rolleyes:
 
no

Ralf's break is not similar at all.
Xiaoting pulls the cue back for her final back stroke,
pauses, raises the butt a good foot and a half making
her stand up and then her forward swing levels the cue
and strikes the CB.

It is ridiculously effective for her and also ridiculous.
There's no reason to do this and as far as I can tell,
no reason to "snap" the break or try to make a stiff
piece of wood act like a whip. :rolleyes:

Trying to stop your break stroke on contact will only
slow down your stroke, providing a slower break shot.

Most people can probably break at the same speed,
if not faster, by stroking only with their bicep. It will
make for a much more consistent break also.

my .02 dollar.
 
Breaking

No, the SNAP break is NOT ridiculous. It can be an effective method for someone smaller or lighter to get more power into their break than they can otherwise. It allows them to get more of their body weight into the break, which results in more power. Xaoting has a very good break for her size, with good power behind it. I would even go as far as to say her break is impressive.

The SNAP break is a circular type rocker arm motion. You can train yourself to keep your cue 'on the track' for success with it. I ought to know, I have been employing this type of break for many many years, and I am 5'7", and weighed 140 lbs most of my life, but always stayed in shape, and was strong for my size.

Some years back, I worked 2 years on my break to reengineer it to Django's style, but I seemed to have slipped into my old ways, but in doing so, some of my revised techniques stayed with me, which improved my SNAP break method to be much more consistent than before. I just have better results with the SNAP break than with other methods.

Are you really telling me to get rid of a break I have used for 35-40 years
that makes 5 balls including the 8 for a win, like I did in my 3rd match on a tournament I played in last weekend? (I got 3rd in the tournament, BTW).

I do have the strength in my biceps for the other break, but they are not the primary ones needed for the other type break. There are lots of players that don't really have the physical strength or build for breaking the 'normal' way.

The circular rocker arm type motion can be seen in other sports as well, some baseball batting styles, bowling, tennis serves, and most noteably, the golf swing.

I don't see greater success with the other style more than the Snap break. Players miscue or mishit the cue ball when breaking just as much or more than those employing the Snap break. It just depends on how much you put into 'training' for your break.
 
Break stroke

I think you get a little more snap in your break stroke when you raise the butt of the cue just prior to the follow through. I can break harder when I stand slightly upright and raise the butt of my break cue and use a sort of snap stroke through the cue ball. I tried this technique after I watched one of the hardest breakers in my area break using this same technique and it helped my break.
 
I believe the reason a lot of power breakers raise the butt of their cue is because it makes the QB come off the table like a half inch before it hits the 1-ball. A pro explained it to me one night, but I was more interested in partying at the time. Sometimes I got great results with it, other times the QB flew up in the air and almost hit the light after it hit the 1-ball.

I think it's a good way to break in 9-ball but you have to hit it just right...not that easy to do. Johnnyt
 
Sarah Rousey

She does it also.I will say she seems not as animated as Pan, but its the same technique.Someone pointed out it gives a snap and that I would say is right on.Snap IMO is the key to breaking the balls hard.Speed on the cue ball to me is easier to reach with a snap type stroke rather than any other.
 
xiao ting pan

watch this
If you spend enough time developing any stroke, you can become
effective with it.

This doesn't mean it's the most effective way.

I stopped all body movement and I'm breaking better
than ever. 2-3 balls almost every time on a variety
of tables.

You don't see golf pros taking unorthodox swings
at their tee shots.

In both games, you can generate enough speed in
an orthodox swing to hit the ball as hard as necessary.

In a matter of hours, you can learn to break effectively
just like Xiao Ting.

Is this more effective than spending a few hours developing
an orthodox break?

I don't think so.

Just make sure no one is standing down by the rack.
 
coopdeville said:
You don't see golf pros taking unorthodox swings
at their tee shots.
You most definitely do, if the drive is the analogy to the break.

Fred
 
Pan is about 5'3" - 5"4" and weighs less than 100 lbs fully clothed and holding a cue. She is a very small young lady. Petite would be the word to describe her size.

This obviously is the way she has found to get a lot of power in her break. In the last couple years she has added control to the stroke and obviously has become very effective.

I'm sure a lot of you guys could teach her a better way to break but I don't think she'll listen.
 
I wish golf lovers would stop trying to compare pool to golf. It isn't the same in any way except its a sport with a round ball.
 
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