who has the hardest break?

This needs be offical

I think that either at Derby City or at the US OPEN they should sell tickets and get a radar gun and put this in the plans. I was at the Derby this year. One of the stick vendors across from the 3 cushion billiards room had a radar gun. I was with James Roberts, who crushes the balls, hit at 28 then 30! I clocked in at 24 and 26! My friend David Broxston with similiar results. The guy running the booth said a mexican kid came in the day before with an amazing 34!! I think it would be fun and entertaining to do something for charity and give out a trophy. 1ST anual US OPEN break CHAMPION!! Or Derby City Classic Break Champion!! What do you all think??
 
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I'm really suprised no one has mentioned Charlie Williams. He has a high powered break for sure an certain. Power with control an a lot of action on the nine ball.
Pinocchio
 
Gerry said:
this topic reminds me of the loooong drive competitions. every time I watch one, I say....who the heck are these guys? :D not that the named players in this thred are unknowns, I just don't put much creedence in breaking hard if there is no control.

I'd like to know who has the best combined break percentage....power/control of cueball/ball made/shot on next ball. The control part could be subjective since you can park it, then get kicked in.

Gerry
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Agreed. I play with a guy who has went deep into long drive competitions (but hasn't made it to Vegas in REMAX yet). And while it'd be fun to carry the ball over 350 yards (yes, I said carry), he can't outscore me. He works VERY hard on his long game though...if he practiced in a more balanced way, he'd probably be a + handicap. I hit a HUGE drive for me on a 550 yard par 5 (had 215 left in), and he was 40 yards ahead of me....I hit 5 iron, he hit 8 iron; we were both around 20 ft. I easily tapped in for bird, and he 3 jacked for par. This is not an uncommon occurance (well, hitting it 335yds for me is :) ).

Wanna really impress me with speed??? Do it with distance control in all situations. :)

I guess I probably break pretty hard, but I don't "park" the ball. I've found I have better luck with follow (less scratches, and no flying cue ball). But, like it says under my pic....I'm MUCH better with a wedge (in my hands). Not a very good pool player - but learning :)
 
After watching Danny Harriman in the DCC 9 Ball Bank Ring game, I have to agee with him...pound for pound he has the hardest break. I probably would have said Nevel before witnessing that exhibition. Not only was he crushing the rack, he had complete control of the cue ball. Best power breaking I have ever seen.
 
The hardest breaks (often confused to be the best breaks) have to go to Bustamante followed closely by Hillbilly, Breedlove, Alain Martel, and Nevel to name a few.

In terms of maximum power coupled with maximum control the BEST break in the game would probably belong to Wu, The Lion and Archer are right up there for having great power and great conrol as well, Fong-Pang Chao also has a devastating break.
 
Rodney Morris

I would say its not how hard you break or how fast it what you do with it after you make a ball............Rodney Morris easliy can break with the best of them and look at his B&R stats from the infamous IPT world open.
 
Luat is it!

:) I haven't seen the actual action, but dozens of witnessess (some are pros) claimed up to these days that in his younger years, skinny Rodolfo "Boy Samson" Luat (2006 US Open runner-up) smashed the rack hardest.... the one ball cracked and few fragments splintered on the table.....No wonder he was called Boy Samson in the Philippines!..... :)


bing
www.filipinopool.com
 
Pinocchio said:
I'm really suprised no one has mentioned Charlie Williams. He has a high powered break for sure an certain. Power with control an a lot of action on the nine ball.
Pinocchio
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LOL this is a joke right? Charlie is a GREAT player, but his break is sub-par by pro standards. Same thing with Parica....great player but doesn't break that hard. I used to think Efren had a weak break, but until I watched TCOM against Earl, that changed my mind. Efren was smashing the rack to bits. He was breaking harder than Earl was in the last 30 or 40 frames.
 
sniper said:
The hardest breaks (often confused to be the best breaks) have to go to Bustamante followed closely by Hillbilly, Breedlove, Alain Martel, and Nevel to name a few.

In terms of maximum power coupled with maximum control the BEST break in the game would probably belong to Wu, The Lion and Archer are right up there for having great power and great conrol as well, Fong-Pang Chao also has a devastating break.
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But I always think Chao's break is his greatest weakness. I also heard 3 times world junior champions Wu Yu-Lun has the best break in taiwan, and he has ever defeated Bustamante and many top players to be the fastest and hardest break winner in Japan.
 
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Okay, here's my two cents worth for the hardest breaks i've seen. Among the older players, no one broke harder than Wade Crane aka Billy Johnson. He lit 'em up. Then "little" David Howard came along and broke even harder. He had that karate style follow thru. It was like watching someone break bricks with their hand. Richie Florence could tenderize a rack or two also.

More modern era, and Danny Medina comes to mind first. He had a HUGE break! And Kucharo hit them equally hard, maybe a hair harder. By the way, if Mizerak wanted to unleash all his power (he rarely did as he went for control), his break shot was scary. You thought you heard the balls crying he hit 'em so hard. I would love to have had a speed gun on him. No one EVER went thru a cue ball better than Steve Mizerak!

Bustamante always impressed me and Larry Nevel may hit them harder today than anyone. I have not seen enough of Debbie Wilson's kid Jamie to rate him. And Danny Harriman is a close second.

But the hardest break I can remember in my lifetime belonged to George Breedlove. Before he hurt his shoulder about 12-15 years ago, his break was actually ear splitting. How he went thru the ball that hard I have no idea. I just remember that in the late 80's and early 90's if he was breaking, I made a point not to get to close. His break today is maybe 80% of what it was.

A footnote to this discussion. Believe it or not, Jean Balukas did not have a good 9-Ball break, and she was a big strong gal. Remember she was primarily a 14.1 player. That is until 1984 and David and I got together with Jean at the BCA Trade Show in Fort Worth. We spent a couple of hours with her, working on her stance and stroke. She didn't realize that the break shot was one shot where you 'could' move your body.

Once she started standing more upright and pushing her body thru the shot it was all over. She won every women's tournament she played after that and began to do well against the men too. So you guys and gals can blame me and David for teaching Jeannie to break more effectively.

One other thing, when you are talking about most effective break, I would give it to Earl in his prime. He knew how to break and could adjust to the different tables. His break worked and allowed him to run multiple racks match after match.

I would like to add Jeff De Luna's name to the list of strongest break shots today. He is in a class by himself in Asia. When he breaks a Ten Ball rack, it looks like it was a 9-Ball rack the way they fly around the table. Often he sends eight to nine balls past the side pocket. And regularly makes two or three balls. I would have to bet on him in a Ten Ball break contest.

I should have also mentioned Charlie "Hillbilly" Bryant among current players. He can kill them too.
 
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jay helfert said:
But the hardest break I can remember in my lifetime belonged to George Breedlove. Before he hurt his shoulder about 12-15 years ago, ..... His break today is maybe 80% of what it was.
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JH,
Actually GB is still capable of the same breaking power, perhaps even more than before. You will have a hard time convincing him to do it however; he has stated at one of his clinics that his results breaking at 80% power (exactly where you estimated) are far superior to his full power breaks. During tournaments he will be breaking between 60% and 80% of his full capability.

We did convince him to unleash a few full power breaks at a "mini-Black Widow Experience" here in Indy 2 years ago - it was freaking loud and violent. He is wary of dislocating his shoulder when he does it (he actually did this during a tournament in the past). I have never seen anyone at any tournament approach the power of those few breaks.
 
Hard Breakers ...

The one that jumps out in my mind is a guy that used to play down at Burkes
Steakhouse during the mid 70's to early 80's. He and his brother, Bill, both used to come in, when they took time off from farming. Larry Levitt (pronounced La-vette) was good sized, probably 6'2", powerfully built, strong as an ox, and when he broke, the cue ball often took flight straight up 2-3 feet off the table with a roaring crack of a sound. Larry could play the rest of the game pretty good too ... LOL

I see Bill, who later started playing more and got much better, every now and then at a few tournaments, and I guess Larry quit playing quite a few years back, but I catch a flash of a vision now and then when I think of Larry and his powerful presence he projected when he broke those balls down at Burkes.
 
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