Why not try a soft(er) break?

[berlowmj]

Reading the table?

It depends for me.. I play on some tables that are slow and some are fast. on the fast ones i would use a 65% ish break and park the cue ball with a nice spread.. then after a while of getting used to the speed on the table i increase the strength of my breaks just enough to try to pocket more balls.. on the slow ones i would smash the rack.

Scratches,miscues, spread, & CB position are no longer a problem for me.

But, how do you read the table? On some tables, I consistently pocket balls on the break. On others, I do not. I can't explain it or solve it. I use a long loop bridge, follow through keeping cue down, & a hard break.

 

[predator]

The reason my power break doesn't usually work is in my stroke. Even with moderate body and head movement, I struggle to make my intended target. I miss by a quarter ball most of the time. Of course I'm not the only one. Most lower class players in fact don't have a controlled hard break, many have worse than mine. But they stick with it not even thinking about trying something else for a change. People don't realize how hard it is to be precise on a break stroke with lots of body movement. More often than not I hear comments like 'I can break hard, make a ball and park the CB in the middle...'. Yes, but can you do it 5 times in a row? I think not.

If I'm still on the shot, even shooting slightly harder, results are so much better. Suddenly I can predict where the cb is going to be and the balls spread out nicely.

 

[djkx1]

I personally think the softer break is a great idea if and when the hard break isn't working. You hear almost all pros, with maybe Corey Deuel as an exception, saying they went to the soft break because the hard break wasnt working for them. I cant recall hearing anyone say it the other way around.

So I suppose they generally believe the harder break should be the first choice, but as others have said, go with whatever provides the best results. I think it would be unwise to not develop a good soft break for those occasions.

 

[Maniac]

More often than not I hear comments like 'I can break hard, make a ball and park the CB in the middle...'. Yes, but can you do it 5 times in a row? I think not.

I think not also, no matter what they say. Especially on a rack with 15 balls in it . There's just too much of a chance of 'ol whitey gettin' kicked on a hard break. I can break hard, stop the cue ball in the middle of the table on many of my breaks, but inevitability it ends up getting kicked somewhere else. You can control the cueball on a hard break, but you will never be able to control the object balls!!!

Maniac