Think I need to change my break
- Thread starter Willowbrook Wolfy
- Start date
Looks like another great example of quick drying epoxy.
Lol
By chance, do you bend the shaft into the table like Cruise in the color of money?
Willowbrook Wolfy
Going pro
Yep. You know the break is right when it sounds like a jet taking off…..
Honestly. Thats the biggest reason why I have an elky on my break cue though. Worried a hard tip will rip the cloth.
Willowbrook Wolfy
Going pro
You are probably right. I’ve been breaking at 24-25mph lately. Probably a bit of overkill on the 7’ers. But the 8 gets moving at that speed occasionally. 21 or 22 mph it doesn’t move much.Probably need to work on your fundamentals
Is that effective? All cue breaking aside
dquarasr
Registered
I wish I knew how this is done.
I’ve been stuck at 14.5 - 15.5 MPH with a 19 oz cue / hard tip, usually dry. Any attempt at going harder and no one, including me, knows where the CB will go (assuming it stays in the same zip code of the table.)
I recently purchased a 25 oz break/jump cue with a phenolic tip and I’m at 16.5 - 17.0 with a nice, long smooth stroke. I’m mostly parking the CB mid-table and I am making balls, on 8-and 9-footers. (Haven’t tried much on 7s.)
I suppose if that’s the case, I don’t need any more speed. But I'm working on it, trying to slowly increase speed without losing the rock.
Willowbrook Wolfy
Going pro
Kind of. I was bored so I was playing with the predator Break Speed app one day. My normal break was around 21 mph. The 8 didn’t move much. It started moving around 23 mph. That’s breaking from the middle straight through the rack. The only time I ever make the eight on the break is when I hit it as hard as I can.
Willowbrook Wolfy
Going pro
I don’t think the Break Speed app is 100% accurate. I tested a bunch of people with it and only one other person was able to even get to 20 mph. Maybe it’s right. maybe not. But I don’t see how my average break could be 3 mph higher than everybody else’s hardest break. And my hardest is 7mph more. It just doesn’t make much sense.
bpeacock
Well-known member
With the way you break, that might be the cost of doing business
Willowbrook Wolfy
Going pro
Honestly. Breaking from the middle and on only one APA team. I’ve made the 8 on the break 5 times in the past 2-1/2sessions(6mos) in league play. More often than a lot of people that break for the 8. Plus there’s a lot nicer spread from the middle IMHO. It’s not BS on the whole 23+ miles per hour. Made it once on Sunday the break before the cue broke break.With the way you break, that might be the cost of doing business
So it’s good for APA 8. But If you’re not careful or if the rack is loose that CB is gonna fly
If you want to move the eight ball, use a second ball break.
No real reason to really kill it either. A good firm stroke will get it going…
Better yet, stop playing APA
Willowbrook Wolfy
Going pro
See now. This is where I’d like a better explanation. I get you can get the eight ball moving. But if you don’t need to kill it on breaks why do all the pros average around a 20mph break speed? There has to be a reason for it. Or they would break softer. So that’s where my disconnect comes in on breaks. Or when talking about breaking. People can say 16 or 18 mph is great but why are the pros breaking at 20 then?No real reason to really kill it either. A good firm stroke will get it going…
Better yet, stop playing APA
2nd ball break is the only way I know how to make the 8.
Predator says mine is between 16-18 on the 9'( head spot/ head ball). I usually make a ball.
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Flakeandrun
Well-known member
Do all of them? Are you talking just 8-ball? Or all pursuits?
Performstarscom (I think is the handle of the page) is a good instagram, where someone tracks the movement of balls. I rarely see the breaking speed in the high 20mph range (he measures in meters per second). It's usually 16-22mph as an estimated average (not that I am sat here going through them all).
MR 9-ball, I am going 14-16ish mph, 10/8-ball 18-20ish mph pop break (I also end up with a little bit of cue bending like yourself, but I don't think it's a necessity, it just helps me know I've driven the cue through straight and reached the limit of follow through) and for One on the spot 9-ball, 22-24ish mph, I'd try and push to my max when I am feeling confident.
I think the videos he posts reflects similar speeds. Check out the page. I find it quite useful for tracking cueball paths.
Happy to DM links to the page, or example of my break.
First time I read this, I thought you are hitting a second ball break at 18mph... Look out on the table next door!
- For 8/10-ball I break in line with second ball of the pack, one ball full in the face. Similar speed to you. I make a ball more often than not, leaving a nice CB that doesn't get kicked back up table. Maybe I hit 8-ball with slightly more gusto.
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Flakeandrun
Well-known member
What joint are you using? Is there a way to amend your technique? Bending the cue is more a comfort thing, than it is a mechanical thing.
Willowbrook Wolfy
Going pro
Ah. This one was a viper cue with phenolic joint. I had an extra Viper butt once the first one broke. But now it is making more sense why the pin bent on the Joss with the phenolic joint I was using before-twice. Maybe phenolic sucks! Never had any issues with a stainless to phenolic or a one piece. Ruined one that was wood to wood once.
watched that color of money break again after whoever had mentioned it. Well my cue looks like that in the middle of the break. Maybe even worse than that but is off the table by the end of the follow through. Might be better to leave it down instead of popping it back up and putting all that spring effect stress on the joint. But in reality, with a straight stroke, the deflection of the cue plus the angle of the cue when breaking with any bottom is going to send the cue into the cloth automatically. I don’t think many people realize the cue deflects downward when using draw. Just like with sidespin. So it’s the natural line for the cue to bend on the table some when hitting hard with bottom and a big follow through.
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Well, Pros really don’t play 8 ball. They will once a year in the World 8 ball championships to attempt to pad their earnings but as soon as the event is over they will return to the other disciplines of the game and relegate 8 ball to the people who play it, league and recreational players so your reference to “pros break speed” really doesn’t correlate.
In other disciplines “pros” break speed generally varies. Back in the day before players really started dissecting the break, all Pros attempted to break “as hard as possible”, I.E. Wade Crane, Tony Ellin, Busti, Larry Nevel. Things changed though, players started studying the break more, more importantly racking templates came into being and as a result Pros attempting to make certain balls and play position on others vary their break speeds to achieve the results they desired. Templates really changed it as balls tend to “hop out” of a template at higher speeds, clump together and not spread as well. Lower speeds lend to balls “rolling out” of the template and giving a better layout. Given this, they came to understand you can “over hit” the break and they dial it down to get the results desired instead of just smashing the
out of it and hoping for the best. The fact that by your own admission of being fascinated by making the 8 on the break, that you’ve broken 1 butt, 1shaft, and bent the pin at the joint on a 3rd cue, that irrelevant of these multiple “incidents” you remain firmly convinced that the break is about high speed and power. The truth is that an effective break is more about timing than anything else. As your previous incidents have done nothing to dissuade you to change your break I imagine nothing you read here will dissuade you either. So hey brother, whatever you can afford. I will leave you with this, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Good luck
