Sweat the break Pt. 3

C

clint3612

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hey guys, I took about a whole year off and i'm starting back hitting some balls, mainly the break. Anyways, my control has come up alot, however, there is tons of room for improvement. Its obvious that have to get my body moving before my stroke comes through, and it seems i need to stand up a little higher. Please feel free to give any type of advice or critique, postive and negative. (Blackjack excluded) Thanks again!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPjiLPv1kjg
 
JUSTABANGER 2 said:
Whats wrong with Blackjacks break?
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Blackjack's break may be fine but he doesn't like free advice to be circulated among players. I'm not trying to throw in a dig, but it is what it is. My first break videos came under scrutiny with Mr. Blackjack...
 
Like they say you learn something new every day. I didn't know Blackjack was like that. I bet he hates utube. And I'm not trying to start anything either. I just didn't know.
 
You seem to worry more about how fast you're breaking instead of how well you're controlling the cue ball. Work on your mechanics, as you even said you need work on, and the speed will follow.. along with control.
 
FTR, I have a lot of free material available on youtube. I always have offered free material.at one tiome I had an entire website full of free material. Admittedly, I went off during a thread that Clint started, and in retrospect I was 100% wrong to do so and I sincerely apologize to you - publicly.
 
Blackjack said:
FTR, I have a lot of free material available on youtube. I always have offered free material.at one tiome I had an entire website full of free material. Admittedly, I went off during a thread that Clint started, and in retrospect I was 100% wrong to do so and I sincerely apologize to you - publicly.
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No problem! You really didn't have to issue an apology. I understood your perspective at the time and still do.
 
wontonny said:
You seem to worry more about how fast you're breaking instead of how well you're controlling the cue ball. Work on your mechanics, as you even said you need work on, and the speed will follow.. along with control.
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Yes, I'm really focused on speed but if you would have seen some some my previous videos, then you'll see that my control has come up immensly. I had terrible control. It will get better, but i have mucho work to do!
 
Just my ignorant opinion. Your fundamentals are wrong for breaking. First, stand up, put more weight on your front hand. Then develop a smooth slow accelerating stroke where your body follows through to the joint with your cue and bridge hand down on the table. From slow good fundamentals, you can start adding speed until you are really cracking the balls and the cue stays put. The joint area/forearm of a level break cue should be right down close to the rail and sometimes get scuffed.
 
your control problems stem directly from your grip.. fingers clenching and regripping constantly ..

you never actually grip the cue because you are in a constant state of regripping...

slow down your backswing... intentionally loosen up your grip (my cue slides through my hand about 5 inches on my break)..

and move your stroking arm FAST.. not strong... not powerful..not HARD

fast and loose.. trumps hard and rigid...

good luck:thumbup:
 
The power is there you just need to work on control. I would also suggest slow down your back stroke and stand up a little higher. Always have an exact aim point, line up behind it and get down on that line so you arent adjusting while your down on the shot. I would recommend this to anyone who is seriously trying to improve their break http://www.breakrak.com/
 
Blackjack said:
FTR, I have a lot of free material available on youtube. I always have offered free material.at one tiome I had an entire website full of free material. Admittedly, I went off during a thread that Clint started, and in retrospect I was 100% wrong to do so and I sincerely apologize to you - publicly.
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Blackjack, my hats off to you there aren't many men who will stand up and admit that they were wrong and apologize. You sir are a class act.
 
JUSTABANGER 2 said:
Blackjack, my hats off to you there aren't many men who will stand up and admit that they were wrong and apologize. You sir are a class act.
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Trust me, I wasn't a class act that night, and to make it up I have a little something for Clint -

Clint send me a PM and I will send it off to you.
 
clint3612 said:
Blackjack's break may be fine but he doesn't like free advice to be circulated among players. I'm not trying to throw in a dig, but it is what it is. My first break videos came under scrutiny with Mr. Blackjack...
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Strange...I remember Blackjack having tons of excellent pool advice available for free on his website. This includes some very good breaking advice. Perhaps that has changed, but I thought he was genuinely interested in helping people out.

KMRUNOUT
 
Here are some things I would try:

1) (and this is a BIG # 1): keep your bridge hand on the table. Pretend that your bridge is a block of iron bolted to the slate. Trust me, there is NO downside to this. I break 27 mph and can squat the CB center table regularly. This one thing will double your control.

2) Delay your swing more. I have found after many years of practice and observation that I do my best when the first thing that moves is my front knee. Basically, when I set up, a lot of my weight is on my front foot. I just relax my front thigh muscles, letting my knee move forward just a bit and flexing slightly. This is the very beginning of my movement. It results in a slight hip turn. Ideally, I strike the CB with my stick at the point where my waist has almost fully turned to face the table, and my hand is right beside my hip. Watch any of the great power breakers. You will see that the grip hand making contact when beside the hip is a recurring theme. I like to keep in my mind the concept that there is a LOT of time between when my knee first flexes and I actually pull my hand through. When I watch your video, it looks like you want to rush through that movement as fast as possible. Watch Shane break in this video (at 11:20): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtGe0FouC6A Watch how slowly he moves. The whole thing is slow and leisurely, whereas yours looks fast and jerky. I find that the slow movement not only greatly enhances control, but also keeps my power consistently high.

3) Experiment with holding the cue loosely, but at the moment of contact snap your fingers closed. Imagine that your hand is like a rubber band or something--your fingers, that is. They are soft and flexible, and the cue hangs on them like a spring. At contact, you snap your fingers closed, like you are trying to slap the cue into your palm with your fingers. This advice comes first hand from Francisco Bustamante. He showed me this for quite some time. I was doing something similar, but he helped to solidify it. His only words here were: "loose here....then TIGHT". The point here is that you can achieve considerable power with just your hand, and don't need all the lunging body movement.

Give these things a try. Let me know if any of it helps.

KMRUNOUT
 
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I work on my break shot alot and when I say alot I mean it , the way I set up is when i keep my Bridge hand on the rail I try to keep it steady and not moving around alot , I plant my weight with my left foot and keep it slightly bent at the knee , Now I only hold my cue with my thumb and forefinger when I do my practice storkes and I alway keep my wrist loose , On my last practice stroke I shift my weight forward and with my arm I snap my wrist into the break shot , But when I contact the cue ball all my fingers are wrapped around the cue . This is not the best video of my break but it works . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDz9BGnP4Bg
 
took some of the advice

Hey guys, i worked on my break and employed some of the tactics that were mentioned. I did work real hard to keep my hand on the table. This seemed to help alot! I did lose control a few times, i was really trying to unwind tonight, hit them real hard. The one thing I'm having trouble with is transferring my weight and getting my body higher and further throughout the break. Any comments are appreciated!! I'll have the link here in a little bit.
 
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