Use of Legs on the Break

[bigbro6060]

Overall i must say i'm pretty happy with my break, i do practice it a lot. I don't really use my legs much on my break but recently i have been experimenting exploding into the shot with my legs. My earlier feedback is that it is indeed possible to generate more power but your timing has to be spot on. Breaking like this, once in every say 4 or 5 breaks the whitey flies off the table, due to me stuffing up the timing and coordination of body parts and hitting the whitey too low. I hardly ever have whitey fly on my normal break. I see the use of legs in the pool break like the use of legs in the tennis serve. You aren't jumping into to the break, you are reaching forward dynamically and that is what causes either your back leg to flip up or even both legs to be off the ground. It's the same with the tennis serve, you don't jump into the serve, you reach up to the ball and that takes you off the ground

I'm sure with much more practice i will be able to add more control to the power but at this point in time i don't feel in control enough of the hit

has anyone else gone through this when developing a full body power break ?

I've been a tennis player for 24 years, and I often compare the break in pool to the serve. I've seen several posts recently about the "power break", and read all the opinions on generating cue speed with your body. I recall from an old tennis book how one of the great Aussies (I forget which one) was able to hit serves well in excess of 100 MPH without moving his feet at all. It was all done with timing, shoulder rotation, and a loose wrist. I break much better when I keep my entire body fairly still, and I get plenty of power. Watch Mizerak break. The guy can break with as much power as anyone (ok, maybe not Busta) and he just does it with his stroke...almost no body movement. I think using your body is fine, but only if it works FOR YOU. I have a hard time keeping my head still (which is necessary on any pool shot) if my body is moving. Practice, experiment, and do what works for you. I personally feel that a break stroke executed without any unnecessary body motion will be more consistent in the long run (and easier to execute when I get older). And one other tennis analogy: to generate power on the serve, many instructors teach the server to tuck your off arm into your stomach or side as you swing up and forward at the ball. Tucking the off arm stops the rotation of the shoulders so your swinging arm can then snap through with greater speed. I find if I lock my bridge shoulder down on the break, I'm able to drive the cue forward with my stroking arm with greater speed and accuracy. This made a huge difference in my break.

[bigbro6060]

thanx for your reply Banker mate, i'm always interested in discussion and info on biomechanics of techniques etc

Looking at Busty's break, he gets his whole body moving down the line of the shot, it's really a beautiful stroke.

i do agree that it's not necessary to use every single building block of power on the break. The more blocks you use, the more practice and the better timing you need.

[snipershot]

I don't really use my legs on my break, I do however position them quite a ways back from the table, this puts more of my weight from my upper body into the break and generates quite a bit more power.

[bigbro6060]

no other opinions ?

[NBC-BOB]

Sounds to me like you were breaking ok using your normal break and not losing control of the cueball.I think if you have the cueball flying off the table when you try this new method, your breaking to hard and losing control of the cueball.I've noticed when watching the women on ESPN that a lot of them, seem to have reduce the power and maintain the control!I think thats the way to break!

[Sid_Vicious]

I don't use my legs. It frustrated an instructor(money player I paid time to once) that I never would adopt that into my breaks, but just like you are noticing, the CB many times ends on the carpet, plus I'm making 1-2 balls(when my break is working) on my breaks WITH control by taking some off of the killer attitude. You watch pool on TV these days and you will notice fewer "Archers and Stricklands" and more of the "make a ball and control whitie" breakers. Just my 2c.

As a recent example, I decided to break with my new pride and joy instead of getting the break stick, so being a friendly game, I under stroked with less speed. I made 2 balls and rolled the nine to the jaws of a corner pocket. I broke the second rack the same way, and again made 2 balls and rolled the 9 close to the same hole. What's that tell you about control vs hammer???.sid

[L.S. Dennis]

Sid, I thourghly agree with you. I think the day of the power break in nineball is over or about to be over. Control of the cue ball is paramount if you have any intention of stringing racks together, therefore breaks like Archer's or Strickland's are quickly fading into the past. I think this was done largely in part by the breaks and results performed by Corey Deuel who seemes to have paved the way of the softer and more control break in recent times.

Control beats power everytime!

[Fran Crimi]

Hi Dennis,

Obviously the Sardo rack contributed to the softer controlled break. It's not as if players weren't aware of the controlled break over the years. They knew all about it. Players have been experimenting with breaking since day one. But what they've found out is that more often than not, with a REGULAR rack, a power break will pocket one or more balls more often than a softer more controlled break.

Remember Little David? He jumped clear out of his socks when he broke, totally let the cue ball fly and still won tournament after tournament. It didn't seem all that important to control the cue ball on the break, at least not for him. After all, do we really, honestly know what the outcome of a break is going to be, even if we DO try to control the rock?

Fran

[L.S. Dennis]

Hi Fran,

I know that Strickland Archer or David Howard are no strangers to stringing racks together with their power breaks. I think you put your finger on it when you said Little David let the cue ball fly with that hard break. I know people have been experimenting with all kinds of breaks from day one, and every table plays differently. I still maintain on balance I would opt for a more controlled break and suffer the consequences or benifits of it rather than cranking up and letting the cue ball go.

On the other hand who am I to argue with Archer who just a few years ago ran 13 and out on Bustamante with that big break!