Soft 8 ball break- or any other suggestions

JE54

JE54

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'm tired of breaking 8 ball and spreading the balls and not dropping anything and then being run out on. A lot of the people that I'm playing against in the 1 league I'm in are capable of and do it fairly regularly. And this league is on 9 foot Diamonds with pro cut pockets.
I'm considering soft breaking. Any thoughts or suggestions on the best way to soft break ? I don't play 1 pocket so if there's a shot that would get 4 balls to the rail that works consistently, I'm all ears. BCA rules, so I'm pretty sure 4 balls have to hit a rail.
I have no problem with having a lot of clusters and playing a safety battle.
Thanks for any info.............................
 
Be prepared to take a lot of shit. There is a guy in my league that soft breaks, it doesn't bother me because I love playing and watching defensive games but I've seen him berated more than any other player and he is a decent shot and a pretty nice guy.
 
JE54 said:
I'm tired of breaking 8 ball and spreading the balls and not dropping anything and then being run out on. A lot of the people that I'm playing against in the 1 league I'm in are capable of and do it fairly regularly. And this league is on 9 foot Diamonds with pro cut pockets.
I'm considering soft breaking. Any thoughts or suggestions on the best way to soft break ? I don't play 1 pocket so if there's a shot that would get 4 balls to the rail that works consistently, I'm all ears. BCA rules, so I'm pretty sure 4 balls have to hit a rail.
I have no problem with having a lot of clusters and playing a safety battle.
Thanks for any info.............................
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Before you start soft breaking, consider practicing breaking from several different spots on the table. After alot of success using the "APA" second ball break, found most of the top competitors I watch use it as well. If you have to use the front ball, start moving the cue ball along the "stripe" till you find a place that gives you maximum success. Love guys who soft break me. Can't say I've won every game but my win percentage of those games is probably over 90%. Play safe better than most. Practice more and don't give up so easily.

Lyn
 
Have you tried a 2nd ball break or different spots for the cue ball on the head string? I had the same problem, but just kept working on my break.

David
 
I really don't give a flying f**k who don't like it.
I move the cue ball to different locations to find a spot but we change tables every Thursday. There's like 20 tables and you only break 4 times a night so there's no way to find a good break quickly.
And I'm a pretty solid safety player, so that's more in line with my game. I have no problem waiting it out.
 
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do you run out from the same spot? if so, I would work on a break that gives you the best chance to get out. I was in the same spot as you along time ago. I also tried the same thing thinking that my strong pattern play and ability to break clusters well would give me the upper hand. I found it more of a crap shoot, a lot of traffic and a lot of hoping for rolls. I love eight ball but found it less enjoyable playing this way. I then went to serious work on my break, and now its probably the strongest part of my game. I'm at the very least seventy five percent to make a ball and I leave few clusters. I give myself the chance to win three out of four without letting my opponent to the table. I break from the spot dead in to the one center ball and as hard as possible. This may not work for you, but practice different spots and you will find one that seems to give you the advantage. This works for me from the same spot on any table. I find the key to a good eight ball break is about moving the balls as much as humanly possible. The more they move the more likely something will go in.
 
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I have started to break the 8 ball rack like a 9 ball rack cut break with a little more force. I can get that head ball to drop about 75% of the time. But playing 8 ball, sometimes that doesn't matter at all. I do find that I also get a pretty good spread most of the time
 
JE54 said:
I'm tired of breaking 8 ball and spreading the balls and not dropping anything and then being run out on. A lot of the people that I'm playing against in the 1 league I'm in are capable of and do it fairly regularly. And this league is on 9 foot Diamonds with pro cut pockets.
I'm considering soft breaking. Any thoughts or suggestions on the best way to soft break ? I don't play 1 pocket so if there's a shot that would get 4 balls to the rail that works consistently, I'm all ears. BCA rules, so I'm pretty sure 4 balls have to hit a rail.
I have no problem with having a lot of clusters and playing a safety battle.
Thanks for any info.............................
Click to expand...

Most leagues prohibit soft breaks and have a rule of how many balls reach the rail. Issue is that if you play agianst people that run out on you if you break dry, they are likely to beat you with a messed up table just as easily.

I had someone do that do me in a league or tournament, I remember when he hit the break people looked at him funny and he said he did not want to leave me an open table. I still beat him.
 
I tend to break 8 ball the same way I do a 10 ball rack. About 1 diamond or so out from the spot, I hit the head ball square and hard. With a touch of follow to try parking the cue ball, the 2 second row balls go towards the sides. If one of them doesn't drop, they're usually close enough to herd other balls into the sides.
Corey Deuel used a soft break in the TAR match with Shane playing 8 ball, but I don't recall how he hit them. It might be useful.
Good luck!
 
If you are capable of running out yourself, I would recommend looking for a break that works. Vary your break spot and speed, or, as others have mentioned, try the second ball break. I have even used a one pocket type break (at much higher speed, of course) when nothing else was working. The nice thing about breaking 8-ball on a barbox is that you don't have to worry about the cueball. It's going to get kicked around 100 times regardless, so you can let it fly wherever.

Aaron
 
The best thing you can do for your 8 ball break is make sure the top 3 balls of the rack are frozen and that the 2 balls behind the head ball are frozen to the 8 ball. In my league that is rack your own I take extra care to make sure that is the case. On the barbox I break off the head rail just slightly off center. If on the big track I use the same break but move the cue ball up to the head string. I have a lot of success killing the cueball and making balls in the side pockets. I also take extra care to focus in on where on the head ball I want to hit by moving my eyes back and forth from that spot to the cueball before I break. I also focus on keeping tension out of my arm and grip. I notice that when I really try to "power up" that tension creeps in and really kills my speed and accuracy.
 
Aaron_S said:
If you are capable of running out yourself, I would recommend looking for a break that works. Vary your break spot and speed, or, as others have mentioned, try the second ball break. I have even used a one pocket type break (at much higher speed, of course) when nothing else was working. The nice thing about breaking 8-ball on a barbox is that you don't have to worry about the cueball. It's going to get kicked around 100 times regardless, so you can let it fly wherever.

Aaron
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this seems pretty on point i would go with this strategy. ust put a little effort in to finding a good break and you'll be the one running out
 
There's a difference between breaking soft and breaking safe. Breaking safe in league play is a good way to get asked not to come back. As much as you may like to grind out a rack of eight ball. Nobody really wants to watch you do this.

The only time I would ever break safe would be in a tournament environment such as the VNEA where you (or most likely your team) only need a ball or two and your opponent needs to win the rack. Breaking safe and getting close to the minimum number of balls to the rail can do the trick here and help you get the needed ball, but even this strategy can be "fraught with peril" as Grady used to say because you can easily leave a dead ball in one of the clusters and sit down only to watch your opponent smack it in and open up the table.

I know a lot of players like to hit the second ball on the break because it tends to leave more clusters in the event that they don't make a ball. I suppose this may be an effective strategy against lesser players but my calculations tell me it's better to smash them and run out.
 
Just make sure if you soft break to immediately look at your tip after breaking with a confused look so you can say you miscued. Try to do this every other game so they don't catch on to it, gl op (I kid ovb).
 
StraightPoolIU said:
The best thing you can do for your 8 ball break is make sure the top 3 balls of the rack are frozen and that the 2 balls behind the head ball are frozen to the 8 ball. In my league that is rack your own I take extra care to make sure that is the case. On the barbox I break off the head rail just slightly off center. If on the big track I use the same break but move the cue ball up to the head string. I have a lot of success killing the cueball and making balls in the side pockets. I also take extra care to focus in on where on the head ball I want to hit by moving my eyes back and forth from that spot to the cueball before I break. I also focus on keeping tension out of my arm and grip. I notice that when I really try to "power up" that tension creeps in and really kills my speed and accuracy.
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This pretty much sums up it up for me as well. Especially the part about the focus on the mechanics of the break shot. As we increase velocity to our stroke, we tend to increase chances of error so break shots take that much more concentration on the mechanics of your stroke. I think you'll find working on this will also be conducive to working out the various placements and types of breaks.
 
When you break, does the cue ball tend to go left or right after striking the head ball?
 
Appreciate all the replies and the pm's.

As far as going left or right, I'm not sure , because I'm putting the cb in different places.
One thing I noticed last night was the cb was going through the rack like I hit with top. And I wasn't trying to do that. I was trying to squat it. So I'm thinking I lifted as I hit the cb.
 
sounds like your lifting the cue before impact. I think its necessary to have some body movement to get the power I want into the cue ball. try to move your body forward not up and concentrate on keeping your hands on the same plane. Try to hit slightly below center, just a hair. try to hit through the ball, imagine the ball isn't even there. follow through to a point in space past the ball. I find a shorter bridge length helps.
 
JE54 said:
Appreciate all the replies and the pm's.

As far as going left or right, I'm not sure , because I'm putting the cb in different places.
One thing I noticed last night was the cb was going through the rack like I hit with top. And I wasn't trying to do that. I was trying to squat it. So I'm thinking I lifted as I hit the cb.
Click to expand...

This is impt to know.
 
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