Position of cue ball for break????

[I Got Lucky]

When watching people break ( 8 ball) I see them place the cue ball left side, center, right side and center close to the back rail. As a new player where should I be placing the cue ball to get the best break? Has there been any studies done using physics which spot will give you the most force against the rack if the cue ball is placed in these different spots and an equal force is used on the cue ball from each of these spots?

 

[(((Satori)))]

Center of the head string will give you the most force to all of the balls. When you move more left you drive more force to the right side of balls and the opposite is true also.

 

[Shannon.spronk]

My view

When watching people break ( 8 ball) I see them place the cue ball left side, center, right side and center close to the back rail. As a new player where should I be placing the cue ball to get the best break? Has there been any studies done using physics which spot will give you the most force against the rack if the cue ball is placed in these different spots and an equal force is used on the cue ball from each of these spots?

So here is how I would tell a beginner to start. For any beginner the position is not going to make alot of difference. It would be best for you to just focus on making a center ball hit and controlling the cue ball rather than the most force.

That being said I would tell you that the engineer in me wants to go further. Once an object is set into motion it will immediately begin to slow down once force is no longer being applied to it. Granted that it is a very short distance with very little resistance the fact remains that the cue ball is slowing down before impact and this is why I would recommend breaking from as far forward as is possible.

Another thing that comes to play within that distance is the hop of the cue ball. If you watch Shane break the cue ball hops up and back once it connects with the rack. This is because at impact the cue ball is slightly airborne resulting in it being bounced back in that manner. This hop that is relatively the same comes from Shane practicing the break so much that it is second nature to him. So that hop comes from the downward stroke of the cue at impact. Think of it as a tiny tiny jump shot that actually bounces several times on the way to the rack. Not something that you can consciously work on but it is something to take notice of.

Also think of the scatter of the balls. If you connect from center of the table to directly center on the head ball then the balls will separate at equal but opposite angles with the same speed. This can result in balls that could be made off of several rails being cancelled out by the ball coming on the same path from the other side. So many players will break from a few inches to the left or to the right which will cause more force to be applied to that side. This will make the balls on one side have a higher velocity as they leave the rack area to sort of cancel out that cancelling out of balls.

Personally I break from the head string about 3 inches to the right of center. It works very well for me. Mostly just focus on center and controlling the cue ball. Then practice your break and try it from different areas to see what works best for you.

 

[RWOJO]

8 Ball Break

Every table breaks different and with the unpredictable racking of 15 balls it is hard to pick a 'best spot' to break from. I read that if you notice other people breaking from a certain spot on the table and they are having success breaking, then why not break from the same spot.

I agree it is most important to control the cue ball. where ever you break from, aim for where the head ball (typically the 1 ball) is touching the table (base of the ball). Practice breaking until you are stopping the cue ball in the middle of the table (without the cue ball touching rails). If the cue ball goes to the right or to the left, then it shows you that you hit the head ball to that respective side. If the cue ball goes forwar then you need to hit slightly lower. If the cue ball draws back then you need to hit slightly higher.

For accuracy purposes - try to keep you head and body perfectly still. Let your stroke do the break, not your body.