Shane vs. Corey - Soft Break Patterns
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I remember watching Dennis Orcullo play 9-ball on a barbox (I forget his opponent but think it was SVB). He literally played the same layout rack after rack. If you did a scatter diagram overlaying the racks, I'll bet the balls were within 8" of their positions in every rack.
It was extremely boring. Even Dennis looked like he was falling asleep.
Yeah, you are correct. Flip the 8 and 9. My bad. I corrected it for the archives :smile:
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They always broke from the side of the table the 8 ball was on. It was hard to tell the exact English but they always seemed to pull it back a few inches and not hit the long rail.
Maaaaannnn....
People always say "I saw the same layout every time!!!" whenever this subject comes up and it's never true.
Nobody's racking and breaking is so perfectly consistent.
If it's possible, then someone should post a video of a 10-pack doing it.
The match you're thinking of is of Orcullo vs. Shaw where Dennis ran 3 and later 6.
They allowed pattern racking, magic rack, and breaking from the side.
There was much crying afterwards.
I made a chart of where every ball dropped. >>>>
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=326246
Not a single runout had all the balls go in the same pockets.
In fact, nevermind ALL the balls... not even one ball went in the same hole on every rack.
Except the wing ball, which he actually missed on one rack until another ball bumped it in.
He actually swapped balls around and played 3 different patterns.
If someone wants to prove me wrong just break 10 times with the magic rack (making the wing ball every time)
and get every ball within a foot of its previous location, every time. You don't even have to actually run them.
I agree (somewhat)... every ball in the same pocket, with the same pattern is not necessary... the general idea (IMHO) of a pattern rack (if playing the wing ball and not the one) is ...
1. Control the 1 and 2 so that they are connected and can get in line quickly and 2) control the pattern so that minimum cue ball movement is required. Looking at your link the and chart it appears that the 1 / 2 were strongly connected and the remaining balls tended to stay easily connected. Of course at this level if you have a shot on the 1 and can get in line quickly meaning the 2 ball... rack'em....
in this one the patterns are a little harder to chart as it is 10 ball check it out...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVyZxWjCLDw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVyZxWjCLDw
This video is even more educational if you happen to be on acid.
In the last TAR match I remember almost all of corey's breaks being frighteningly similar. The 1 was always right at the side pocket, the two was always on the rail below it. The 3 (I think) was always frozen to the 9 just enough to be a pain. and the 4 was always right there on the foot rail.
I would love to see some overlay images to see how much they did vary.
Even the commentators said it was "like watching groundhog day"
I would love to see some overlay images to see how much they did vary.
Even the commentators said it was "like watching groundhog day"
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Definitely if anyone makes me eat my words, it will be Corey
What makes his racks so consistent is he was able to use a new ultra-soft break
that I swear was like 7 mph or something. The 1 never even reached a rail.
The softer you hit, the more predictable everything should be.
I've never seen that and I can't reproduce it at home.
The funny part was, not only did he have that super-easy 1 in the side, 2 in the corner every time...
he got the 3 frozen to the 9 every time so it was almost unmakeable except for a squirrely cut into the side
with the 9 partially blocking. Same problem over and over, but he seemingly refused to adjust.
If he could figured out how to solve that problem without hitting harder, he could probably
run 20 racks with that break.
Damn son! Do you have any free time for sale?
Just kidding, good info, thanks. I agree with some here that pattern racking should just be banned outright. Though if pattern racking is insisted upon, I think that the pattern should be the one that has been demonstrated to yield the most difficult runouts possible.
To me, the point of a good rack should be as random outcome as possible. That is what makes the game interesting and fun. If it can't be random, then it should be hard. Just my two cents.
Just to be clear, Shane always broke from his right hand side making the 8 ball in the corner and Corey always broke from his left hand side making the 8 ball in the corner. Corey seemed to more often have the 1 ball straight in the side and Shane seemed to more often have the 1 ball up in the corner. I believe Shane hit a little harder. And it seemed like Corey started hitting harder with his second pattern.
I'd say more than 90% of the time they both had the same general lay out after the break.
I'd say more than 90% of the time they both had the same general lay out after the break.
Definitely if anyone makes me eat my words, it will be Corey
What makes his racks so consistent is he was able to use a new ultra-soft break
that I swear was like 7 mph or something. The 1 never even reached a rail.
The softer you hit, the more predictable everything should be.
I've never seen that and I can't reproduce it at home.
The funny part was, not only did he have that super-easy 1 in the side, 2 in the corner every time...
he got the 3 frozen to the 9 every time so it was almost unmakeable except for a squirrely cut into the side
with the 9 partially blocking. Same problem over and over, but he seemingly refused to adjust.
If he could figured out how to solve that problem without hitting harder, he could probably
run 20 racks with that break.
I kept waiting for him to change where he was racking them in order to alleviate that particular problem by subsequently changing the run out pattern which would no longer involve the cut into the side. I think at the end of the match he said he thought about doing that, but by then it was too late.
Here's a pattern that Buddy suggests when racking for your opponent. Here the idea is to make the player go back and forth up and down the table repeatedly.
1
78
596
42
3
1
78
596
42
3