Soft(er) vs hard break?

F

Fastolfe

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hey guys,

Our club received good players from another club for the league championship. 3 very good players each played each a race to 8 in 8-ball and a race to 7 in 9-ball against 3 of our good guys, so I stuck around to watch.

All the visiting team members seemed to break their racks like thunder, while our guys tended to use more sedate breaking speeds. Out of curiosity, I kept tabs on how many balls were sunk by them and by us, and surprisingly, there wasn't much difference.

So, is there a true advantage to breaking hard? Obviously more energy to spread the balls means balls keep rolling longer, and so theoretically, there are more pockets to reach, but it seemed that once a player had found a sweet spot for breaking, the results were almost identical.

This said, I'm asking this for tight, proper racks. Our tables and triangles never really allow tight racks, which may account for the lack of difference.
 
The quality of the rack plays a HUGE difference in what is going to happen on the break in my experience. That being said, if you can get fairly consistent racks, it's just a matter of finding that "sweet spot" on the particular table for your own personal break speed, particularly for 9-ball.

I've been shiite-racked by opposing players in different situations over the years, and I can tell when it happens immediately after I break. I need to get back in the habit of really looking over the rack before I attempt the break shot. I used to do this fairly religiously in the past, but got out of the habit.

I really like rack your own rack, but I rarely run into that type of a set-up.

As a case in point recently I was playing 8-ball against a guy on his own turf, at his house, on his table (a tight pocketed, deep shelved table) that I hadn't played on in several months and we played over 30 games and I came out ahead on total games about 22-13 or close to that and I'm sure he wasn't too happy about it. Then a few days later he wanted to play 9-ball so I went over and played him. After several racks of breaking hard and getting no results I switched to breaking soft and began to consistently pocket balls on the break then and after several breaks like this I noticed my soft break was beggining to fail me as well so I intently watched the guy rack and began noticing why my break started failing me, he was racking a little bit looser. :(

I started checking the rack and even had to re-rack a few myself because I saw gaps in between the 1 ball and the balls behind it. He never said anything when I re-racked them and tightened them up but I have a feeling he knows I figured out what he was doing. I scratched several times that night because I was starting to become too aggressive in my play trying to make up for lost ground due to my poor breaking (with a little help from him) and ended up on the short end of the percentages that night, probably 60-40 in his favor. After all was said and done and after I thought about it more that night as I lay in bed, I realized I need to pay much more attention to the rack, especially in 9-ball, as it can become a big difference maker in the overall sets of games being played.

Lesson re-learned for me.

Pay close attention to the racks guys, it will pay off.

Trevor
 
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Get Joe Tuckers Racking Secrets. Know your gaps +++, and know how to break given each rack your breaking.

Now, did you know, given a tight consistent rack, the same side wing ball goes lower the:

- harder you break
- the more draw you use
- the more you cut it???

Did you know the 1 ball goes lower to the opposite side (of your CB position on the break), doing the same 3 things? And everything I just said is reversed given the reverse.

Just popping the cue ball at the 1 ball, and not understanding racks and action/reaction is frankly ignorant. The advantage you've left on the table is Gi-F'g-Gantic..

That'll be $49.99 please. :thumbup:
 
If you have a spot where you know you can pocket at least one ball with a moderate-speed break, then there's no reason to break super-hard. This has become the professional strategy; find out how to make a ball using a controlled break, and do that. The only time you should be smashing the rack as hard as you can, is when you DON'T know where to break from, or which ball you're playing in which pocket (one in the side, same-side wing ball, etc.), and the only method you have available to pocket a ball is to hit them really hard and hope.

-Andrew
 
8Ball48043 said:
Good thread. I can't seem to get my break to work (8-ball or 9-ball).
Click to expand...

As said above, get Joe Tucker's Racking Secrets. I got the book {now out of print} long before I got the DVD and my 9 Ball break improved almost immediately.
 
Thanks for your replies guys. Really interesting read. I'll endeavour to find Joe Tucker's book, although it's out of print. I don't play 8- and 9-ball as much as I play straight pool, so I'm not too used to thunder breaks. At any rate, I don't find them very elegant. So if it's possible to consistently break softly and effectively, I'd love to know.

When I play 14.1, I do pay close attention to the rack, because a less-than-perfect rack is a sure way of leaving your opponent a shot after the opening break. Each time I have to make do with a crappy rack and the rack flies apart at the opening break, I have to restrain myself from pulling my cell phone and ordering one of these rack press thingamabobs.
 
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