Unforseen benefit of TOI

[whitewolf]

Yes, that's for sure and that's the "secret" of some of the all time best breakers of the game.

Wade Crane "Billy Johnson" and I were good friends and he helped me with a number of things with the game, especially his insights about Luther Lassitor.

At the US OPEN I was having trouble with my break and I ask Wade to help me, so we went down to Cue Master and got a back table in the back room.

He told me he would break from the right and cue the ball slightly to the right. Then when he went through the one he would LEAN towards the center of the cue ball with "pressure" rather than "body motion". He was veering the cue ball into the one with tremendous force. I had forgot (I had been away from pool for 8 years) how to do this and his guidance immediately improved my break. I was, in effect creating "margin of error" in my cue ball, and "Inside" gave me the ability to hit as hard as I needed to without the fear of scratching or jumping the table.

I ended up finishing 9th with a 11/3 win over Earl Strickland, and just gave out mentally on the 5th day and played poorly. I'll always have fond memories of my buddy Wade "Billy Johnson" Crane and what he added to me as a person and a player. RIP Wade, many of us miss you my friend.

This may be a matter of semantics, but on your TOI CD, which I have watched 3 times, while breaking from the right side of the table you state that you are putting a little bottom right on the cue ball. I can understand that this deflects the cueball directly into the one ball, but my question is: why do you call this "Inside"? To me it seems to be a touch of outside english.

 

[CJ Wiley]

I suggest this is better because it takes into account we're not perfect.

This may be a matter of semantics, but on your TOI CD, which I have watched 3 times, while breaking from the right side of the table you state that you are putting a little bottom right on the cue ball. I can understand that this deflects the cueball directly into the one ball, but my question is: why do you call this "Inside"? To me it seems to be a touch of outside english.

I'm lining up to the right side of the rack and deflecting (to the left) into the rack. When breaking there's very little spin applied and it wouldn't, at that speed, have an effect on the path of the cue ball anyway.

You may want to think of it as "hooking" the cue ball into the rack with deflection. If you slightly miss the "Inside" portion of the ball, it's going to either be more inside (and deflect more) or dead center (and not deflect at all).

Just like in the 3 Part Pocket System (www.cjwiley.com) I am guarding against hitting the WRONG side of the cue ball (and deflecting the cue ball away from the rack). I use the TOI Technique for many reasons that I've described in several ways, the one that shows up on the break is to MAKE SURE I know which way the cue ball will be naturally moving (since I'm hitting it very firm).

If you try to hit "dead center" on the break you are going to scratch a lot and wonder why. This is because on the break, like regular shots (only amplified), you will tend to be off a "hair" and deflect the cue ball slightly. I want to maximize my margin of error on the cue ball so I can be off slightly and still hit a great shot.

I suggest this is better because it takes into account we're not perfect. If, on the other hand, you think you're perfect and CAN hit the center every time - the TOI Technique is NOT for you (you wouldn't need it, however you would still miss out on the other benefits of the "Touch" of inside).
'The Game is the Teacher'