What exactly are you looking for when seeing "how the table is breaking"?

W

wontonny

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've heard this term thrown around on here, but no one has ever really gone into specifics of what they're looking at. I am speaking in terms of when breaking, and trying to find the sweet spot that is most conducive to pocketing a ball on the break.

Whether it be 8/9/10 ball or 14.1, what are you looking for when playing each discipline? For example, I read in an article about Corey Deuel's breaking advice. Talking about 9 ball, he said to watch the wing ball and where it hits the rail in relation to the corner pocket it. If it goes above, take some speed off. If it goes below, increase your speed. I would like to know what key balls you keep your eye on when breaking in the other games, and how to adjust when there's a certain outcome.
 
wontonny...I don't know about the wing ball, but Corey did make people take notice about making the head ball in the side pocket with the exact same advice. Every pro has a "secret" sweet spot for breaking. If they don't make something after 3 or 4 breaks, guess what? They find a NEW secret sweet spot. :D

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

wontonny said:
For example, I read in an article about Corey Deuel's breaking advice. Talking about 9 ball, he said to watch the wing ball and where it hits the rail in relation to the corner pocket it. If it goes above, take some speed off. If it goes below, increase your speed.
Click to expand...
 
I'm a terrible pool player, but I'm looking for the right spot to place the cueball so that:

8-Ball:
One of the two balls in the second row find the side pocket
The two inside corner balls in the back row 4-rail to the corners.
I'm still straight enough that I can park the cueball.
Finding the right amount of power for this to happen on that table.

One-Pocket:
Tight rack
Cue ball is on the side rail after.
A ball high, a ball low, nothing bankable.
 
I look at both wing balls with my 9 ball break as well...if i know i made a clean hit i should pocket at least one if not both of them. On some tables changing speed or switching sides of the table can be beneficial

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Different houses and different tables I look for different balls.

But either way you just need to see which balls out of the rack are heading towards a pocket. Make a noteof how they are missing and then adjust your break, speed/angle/etc and watch those same balls to see what effect that change had. Then dial it in until something goes consistantly.
 
9b: If I have control over the rack (either I'm racking myself or I can nag the other guy into freezing everything)
I look to the rack first if the wing ball doesn't go. If it's perfectly tight then the speed doesn't matter so much.
But if it's out of my control, or the rack is shitty and racks are inevitable, I look to see if the wing ball can drop
anyway by favoring either the left or the right side.

With a typical rack with small gaps, the wing ball will almost always hit too high.
By default, it's wired to go too high and only by moving an interfering ball can you "rewire" it to go lower.
Changing speed or cut breaking might help move that interfering ball first.

Anyway, if I ever see a ball go too low, I know I got that interfering ball moving, so I got the kind of
ball action I was looking for*. Therefore that break spot has "potential"
and I'll keep breaking from there and tweaking it until the wing ball goes.

If two breaks from each side don't work then I go from the center instead.
The theory is that there are probably gaps on both sides of the rack. But they'll never be
exactly the size on both sides. So if you break from the center, you get half the rack
moving a little faster than the other half, which is what's necessary for the wing ball to drop.


10b: I don't break this well enough to say "it's the tables fault" if I don't make a ball.
I just keep playing with my break mechanics rather than look for a different spot, because usually
my mechanics are the problem. If the 2nd row ball consistently goes high even after 4-5 solid breaks,
I move closer towards the center. If it goes low, I move closer to the rail.

8b: I just focus on hitting the 2nd ball as square as I can. Adjustment is seldom needed.

[size=-3]*what she said[/size]
 
First and foremost, I look at the CUE ball. It does no good to try to read the reaction of the balls if your not hitting the rack consistently. In nine or ten ball I look to see if my cue ball is going to a rail without being kicked (unless using a cut break). If it is, I'm not hitting the rack square.
 
its more like how the table is racking.

if you can get a good rack, the wing balls are very makeable a number of different ways.
 
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