What's your break speed?

I recall that at the SuperBilliardsExpo, you could have your break speed measured on a radar gun. One year, I tried it.

My consistency was awe-inspiring but not my break speed. I recall hitting six breaks and they were all at least 20 mph but not one of them reached 23 mph. I felt pretty good about how I'd done until a WPBA pro named Tiffany Nelson went immediately after me and was consistently a couple of MPH better than I was.
 
Pathetic Shark said:
Blimey, Larr, you actually play pool? :eek:
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More surprising than that, he actually made a post that didn't blame the "far left" for something. I think it's the first time I've seen that.

My top speed is about 22 mph. My usual 9-ball break is around 19.5 mph.
 
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LWW said:
I just bought a PREDATOR BK2 shaft that I'm using with my PREDATOR sneaky with SS joint ... sorry PREDATOR fanboys, but the big cat on the BK butt is too loud for my tastes ... and while waiting for it to arrive I downloaded the PREDATOR break speed app onto the iPAD.

I ranged between 20.23 MPH and 23.30 MPH on five racks.

I was surprised how consistent thespeed was, but maybe I should be more consistent?

On the break I made 1, 0, 2, 1, 1. Control of the CB was reasonable, that's always been my break weakness, but I was never left ith out a shot.

Anyone else ever use this program or have their break speed measured?
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My break speed is 39.6
 
Simple question

Do you guy's have radar guns where you play? To say what speed you break at, it would take at least a 100 breaks to establish an average, and really who cares if the table...etc.... How much does this cost? :groucho:
I go by sound, for what it's worth.
 
LWW said:
I just bought a PREDATOR BK2 shaft that I'm using with my PREDATOR sneaky with SS joint ... sorry PREDATOR fanboys, but the big cat on the BK butt is too loud for my tastes ... and while waiting for it to arrive I downloaded the PREDATOR break speed app onto the iPAD.

I ranged between 20.23 MPH and 23.30 MPH on five racks.

I was surprised how consistent thespeed was, but maybe I should be more consistent?

On the break I made 1, 0, 2, 1, 1. Control of the CB was reasonable, that's always been my break weakness, but I was never left ith out a shot.

Anyone else ever use this program or have their break speed measured?
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Dub, good to see you on this end of the forum.

Fellow AZ libertarian, Colin Colenso, has made a nice tube of how to break faster:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW1tsONEI_U

It's worth a watch for those who want to increase their breaking speed. He gets into how to transfer weight, muscle uses, etc. Good stuff.


Jeff Livingston
 
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DAVE_M said:
25 mph. Any faster and the cue ball is going into orbit.
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I love watching the people that can break like this. I remember watching Danny Medina break and watching the cue ball jump straight up and hearing that thunder crack, the pool hall would go dead silent for a second or two. I don't know what his break speed was but it was fun to watch. When I found out my break speed was under 18 mph back I felt very small.
 
I haven't checked it in a good while, but my guess would be in the 20-22 range. One day I figured I would make some adjustments to see just how hard I could smash the rack.

I started at 27 and stopped after hitting between 30.2 and 30.4 five times in a row. This was playing 9 ball where you don't need near that break. I was well past the point of negative return when you consider CB control. I never did try it with 8b which I'm guessing would produce much better results.
 
I've got the breakspeed app too and with cueball control to plant the white in the centre of the table I am averaging between 24-26mph. I have done 30+ a few times but have ZERO cueball control.
 
I used the app on my phone and Nexus tablet at the same time just to verify the app. After 5 breaks the average on my phone was 24.5mph and the average on my tablet was 24.7mph.
 
moccabee said:
I used the app on my phone and Nexus tablet at the same time just to verify the app. After 5 breaks the average on my phone was 24.5mph and the average on my tablet was 24.7mph.
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We measured the same breaks with three phones. Two with a predator app and one with a similar app for baseball. They were all within 1/10th's of a second.

Fastest I've witnessed, with control, was a little over 28mph.
 
I think some of these numbers are misleading. Sure if you're going for top speed these numbers make sense, but in real games from what I've timed with good players, 16 - 19 breaking from the rail in 9 ball is about average. 18 - 21 from the box. The goal of the break in 9 ball is to make a ball and position the one ball. It's hard to play position the one with really hard breaks.
 
TATE said:
I think some of these numbers are misleading. Sure if you're going for top speed these numbers make sense, but in real games from what I've timed with good players, 16 - 19 breaking from the rail in 9 ball is about average. 18 - 21 from the box. The goal of the break in 9 ball is to make a ball and position the one ball. It's hard to play position the one with really hard breaks.
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Very true. The OP title should be "What's your top break speed?"

I can break in excess of 20mph consistently, but I break between 15-16mph playing 9/10ball.
I push my break to the limits with 8ball, but I'm not a very good 8ball player.

I can hit face melting speed of 5mph in one pocket :)
 
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