How to Break in 9Ball
from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can EditThe opening break shot in 9ball pool is the most important part of the game. A good opening break shot can make you the winner of the game in less than two minutes!
Steps
- Balls 1 through 9 are racked in
a diamond shape. If you do not have a specialty rack for 9 ball, you can
use a standard triangle rack and arrange the balls in a diamond using your
hands to hold the back balls in place. The 1 ball must be at the apex of
the diamond and should be centered on the foot spot. The 9 ball must be in
the center of the rack.
- The cue ball is placed behind
the head-string at the other end of the table. If the head string is not
marked, it is the imaginary line that connects the second diamonds on the
2 long rails.
- Your cue ball must hit the 1 ball first and you must hit it hard enough to send at least four balls to a rail (counting the cue ball).
Tips
- Stay loose during the break.
Gripping the cue hard will not make you hit harder: tense muscles do not
move as fast as relaxed ones.
- Break with control. You want
to hit the rack hard enough to spread the balls but not so hard that you
risk a miscue, scratch or can not predict where your cue ball will end up.
- Try to hit the 1 ball as full
as possible so that all of your energy is sent into the rack.
- Attempt to bring the cue ball
to the center of the table after the break. This will give you more shot
opportunities if you pocket a ball on the break.
- Some players like to break
with the cue ball close to the side rail. Others like to break from the
center. Find what works best for you.
- When refining your break,
practice with a moderate speed until you feel comfortable with the
control. Then speed up while maintaining cue ball control.
- Once you have control of the
cue ball, the key to a big break is speed, not strength. Focus on getting
the cue moving as fast as possible. Lighter cues tend to be better at this
than heavy ones. Bridge a little farther back than normal to give yourself
room to accelerate. Stand up a little straighter to maximize leverage.
Take a few warm-up strokes and follow through when you release.
- Remember that even pros only
pocket balls about half the time on the break.
Warnings
- Break with as much speed as
you can while maintaining control of the cue ball.
Things You Will Need
- Pocket billiard table
- set of billiard balls
- cue
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Sources and Citations
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