The Break?

R

ricky9ball

Member
I expect this question has been asked before, but I've not found out much doing a search. So, is it really necessary to hit the pack so hard on the break, do you do it, and do you use top, middle or bottom on the cue ball? It seems by watching You-Tube a small minority can strike less hard, but still pocket balls?
 
Some food for thought:

You do not have to hit it hard. Different people break differently.

On a 9B rack I like to break from the right side, about a chalk cube away from the rail, as close to the head string as possible. I have it down good enough that I don't really think about anything but getting the appropriate pop on the CB. I want to shoot the CB at the 1st diamond from the left on the end rail. Hitting it with low right, but the low right almost goes away, I want it to deflect off of the tip and directly pop down into the 1B. The goal is to shoot the 1B into the left side pocket. The wing ball is a gimmie, but the 1B can be hit with great regularity into the side. The CB stops near the center and usually leaves a shot. Hard to explain but the low right clears the CB from double kissing the 1b, so it can make it's way to the side pocket. It takes practice but you can learn a break from almost anywhere on the table that gives good results. My advice is to have fun with it.

With loose racks, like triangle racks on league night, you better break hard. With template racks or a good rack with a triangle, you don't have to hit it as hard.

Also check out Dr. Dave's info about breaks, you'll find a lot of good info there.
 
On an 8 ball rack I've been having good success around 14.5 -15 mph at a half ball off the center line, striking the head ball full with half tip high. On a second ball break anything between 12-14 mph has been consistently making a ball. Been using the Predator break speed app.
 
ricky9ball said:
Boggieman. Watched another video of this guy from 2001, with his soft break. However the comments suggested that it was banned, is that correct?
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He's the reason for all the break rules. They pretty much put a stop to that powder-puff derby shit. Look, its not rocket science. You have to have good speed of course but you also have to hit the cb pure and head-ball square. Where from is a matter of personal pref. and how the table is breaking at the time. SVB works on his snap hours at a time.
 
The break at nine ball has been a large source of concern and problems since about the year 2000. If the rack is tight and the one ball is on the spot and there is no restriction on the cue ball placement, the wing ball is automatic. In the 2000 World Championship (9B) in Cardiff, on the TV table the wing ball went 90% of the time and another 5% some random ball went in, giving about 95% break success rate.

I remember seeing Bustamante breaking a few years later. He had been known for his tremendous power. He was breaking at about the speed of a stop shot on the head ball. Many traditionalists don't consider it 9 ball.

Here's another video about the break at nine ball:

 
garczar said:
He's the reason for all the break rules. They pretty much put a stop to that powder-puff derby shit. Look, its not rocket science. You have to have good speed of course but you also have to hit the cb pure and head-ball square. Where from is a matter of personal pref. and how the table is breaking at the time. SVB works on his snap hours at a time.
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🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣:unsure:
 
Thanks Bob, its really interesting. So now I gather a number of balls have to touch a rail, or pass the middle pockets. So if you can pot the 9 ball from the off, it's game over? And you can also pot it off the ON ball too, if you get a chance.

Think it's going in now, info goes in more slowly when your older however. Very grateful for all your support. and advice.
 
When taking the break-off shot in 9 ball pool, you must always hit the cue ball into the number 1 ball positioned at the diamond's head. The rules for the break shot are the same as for regular shots except that the breaker must either pocket one of the balls or at least make 4 object balls hit into the cushion rails. I picked this off the official rules page 2022.

So just to get my head around it. If you pot a ball off the break, soft or hard, the 4 ball cushion rail rule does not apply. But if you don't it does, and you lose the break off, yes? :unsure:
 
ricky9ball said:
When taking the break-off shot in 9 ball pool, you must always hit the cue ball into the number 1 ball positioned at the diamond's head. The rules for the break shot are the same as for regular shots except that the breaker must either pocket one of the balls or at least make 4 object balls hit into the cushion rails. I picked this off the official rules page 2022.

So just to get my head around it. If you pot a ball off the break, soft or hard, the 4 ball cushion rail rule does not apply. But if you don't it does, and you lose the break off, yes? :unsure:
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If the 4 ball rule is being used, it becomes the ruling factor. Also,there are now requirements beyond the 4 ball rule. The most common is the 3 point rule which states that balls pocketed and or balls propelled beyond the headstring shall total a minimum of 3. There are other requirements stipulating type of rack and how and where you can rack and/or break from.

For my own purposes, a ball that drops in a back pocket counts as 2 points but BJ says not. For general action, ball on the break is sufficient for continuance.
 
If you review the vids of Corey's soft break, he was making a ball AND 4 or more balls hit a rail. He played by the rules. It was just a bunch of whiner losers that bitched about it because it was so effective. Like Shane, he probably practiced it for hundreds of hours.

My only bitch about his success with the soft break was the pattern racking with the template rack. If you watch closely, you can see him do it.
 
swwyocoyote said:
On an 8 ball rack I've been having good success around 14.5 -15 mph at a half ball off the center line, striking the head ball full with half tip high. On a second ball break anything between 12-14 mph has been consistently making a ball. Been using the Predator break speed app.
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This is my big table 8 ball break (same speed). I strive to hit as accurately as possible, and it's legitimately just a firm stop shot. No body movement required. With a very square hit and a tight rack, I have a good chance of making at least one ball, and the cue ball will even do a small pop and then stay center table. It also results in a full spread of the balls. Very little chance of scratching if the hit is perfectly square, as the cue ball doesn't really drift and rarely gets kicked in because there's just not enough speed for that to happen.
 
ricky9ball said:
When taking the break-off shot in 9 ball pool, you must always hit the cue ball into the number 1 ball positioned at the diamond's head. The rules for the break shot are the same as for regular shots except that the breaker must either pocket one of the balls or at least make 4 object balls hit into the cushion rails. I picked this off the official rules page 2022.

So just to get my head around it. If you pot a ball off the break, soft or hard, the 4 ball cushion rail rule does not apply. But if you don't it does, and you lose the break off, yes? :unsure:
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Did you just start playing last week? Asking a lot of really basic questions for anyone that's played at all.
 
Yes, exactly garczar :eek: Just starting, and the kindness of the members answering my questions. Why so cynical about it?:unsure: If it annoys you , I'm comfortable of you don't answer my basic questions, I will not get offended promise.:cool:
 
ricky9ball said:
I expect this question has been asked before, but I've not found out much doing a search. So, is it really necessary to hit the pack so hard on the break, do you do it, and do you use top, middle or bottom on the cue ball? It seems by watching You-Tube a small minority can strike less hard, but still pocket balls?
Click to expand...

This all depends on how the rack is setup, the game being played, the rules and the table conditions. Many instructional videos out there on breaking specifically, for several decades. One of the best that explain things well is Joe Tucker's Racking Secrets, well worth the money to get, but there are many shorter ones out there as well, easy to find with a web search. One thing to keep in mind, the older videos, say 20 yrs or older, do not always get things right about why balls go in. For example both the Miz and Sigel videos see the break as some mysterious thing that is mostly luck when you make a ball, the modern thinking and facts is that you can aim pretty well to make a ball of the break with angles and speed almost no matter what the break rules are. Miz stated "if you make a ball on the break it means you crossed a finger, if you made two, you crossed two fingers" LOL
 
ricky9ball said:
Yes, exactly garczar :eek: Just starting, and the kindness of the members answering my questions. Why so cynical about it?:unsure: If it annoys you , I'm comfortable of you don't answer my basic questions, I will not get offended promise.:cool:
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He's like this all the time. Clicks on and reads stuff under his own free will. Then gets mad he had to read it. Then he has to author apost about being annoyed and will tell you to use the search function
 
ricky9ball said:
I expect this question has been asked before, but I've not found out much doing a search. So, is it really necessary to hit the pack so hard on the break, do you do it, and do you use top, middle or bottom on the cue ball? It seems by watching You-Tube a small minority can strike less hard, but still pocket balls?
Click to expand...
Well, i play mostly one pocket, and hell yes if you play me hit them as hard as you can
 
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