Low Follow

[acedotcom]

Maybe it's my imagination, but, while I consciously try to hit the cb below center when I'm breaking a rack of 9-ball, nine times out of ten whitey hesitates a second then shoots forward with more follow than I can muster when I'm actually applying high stuff.

Now, am I so far out of whack that on my final stroke I miss the spot on the cb where I am aiming, or is some other spherical phenomenon at work?

[acedotcom]

Well, I failed to include in my previous post that I've been setting the cueball up about 6-8 inches from the head rail and using a rail bridge. For the heck of it, I broke today from a point even with the spot holding the cue with a regular bridge and, lo and behold, only one time out of 20 breaks did I inadvertently put follow on the cb.

As far as my intentions go, I'm looking to bring the ball back and stopping it at the center of the table so as to increase my chances of having a shot if I pocket something. I watch a lot of guys who crush the balls on the break but have no control of whitey. I'm at a stage now where I have a pretty good chance of running the rack if I can get that first shot.

[BVal]

Originally Posted by acedotcom

Well, I failed to include in my previous post that I've been setting the cueball up about 6-8 inches from the head rail and using a rail bridge. For the heck of it, I broke today from a point even with the spot holding the cue with a regular bridge and, lo and behold, only one time out of 20 breaks did I inadvertently put follow on the cb.

As far as my intentions go, I'm looking to bring the ball back and stopping it at the center of the table so as to increase my chances of having a shot if I pocket something. I watch a lot of guys who crush the balls on the break but have no control of whitey. I'm at a stage now where I have a pretty good chance of running the rack if I can get that first shot.

When I break I hit the cue ball as dead center (no english) as possible and can get the cue ball to hit the head ball and stop in the middle quite often. I break from just behind the head spot with a closed bridge. I have experimented in many different ways and for me - this is the best way that I have found to pocket a ball and have control of the cue ball.

[Hustl3r]

One good quick way of seeing if you truly hit center cb is empty the table, minus the cb obviously. Set the cb at one end of the table and hit it straight down to the opposite rail and watch the path the cb travels on the way back.

One thing that has helped me tremendously is something my buddy told me one day. It sounded so profoundly stupid, but so correct it wasn't funny. How many times do you watch people break, and just before they finish the stroke, there looking at the racked balls instead of the cb? Or they will focus on the racked balls while actually breaking.

I was doing this to a slight degree and my buddy comes up to me and goes.....'Hey, do you think after you racked those balls.....do you think they moved any?" I'm like moved, of course not...it's a racked set of balls. He said exactly, then why concentrate on them....there not going anywhere until the cb hits them.

Now I line up stance, my line and where I want to hit the rack, and then stroke and do nothing but concentrate on where I hit the cb. Litterally watching my tip approach the cb every stroke and then break. I don't actually look at the rack until my follow through stroke. I've become much more accurate with cb hits. I always have a tendency of breaking hard, and would sometimes not hit correctly on the cb and it would fly all over...including off the table.

[BVal]

I also do the same thing as Hustl3r. I line up - watch the cue ball and then concentrate on where I am hitting the cue ball.

[acedotcom]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll give them each a try. I really need to get my breaks under control, especially whitey.

[Milty]

Originally Posted by Hustl3r

One thing that has helped me tremendously is something my buddy told me one day. It sounded so profoundly stupid, but so correct it wasn't funny. How many times do you watch people break, and just before they finish the stroke, there looking at the racked balls instead of the cb? Or they will focus on the racked balls while actually breaking.

I was doing this to a slight degree and my buddy comes up to me and goes.....'Hey, do you think after you racked those balls.....do you think they moved any?" I'm like moved, of course not...it's a racked set of balls. He said exactly, then why concentrate on them....there not going anywhere until the cb hits them.

But since you're aiming for a specific point on the head ball -- probably to get a full hit -- why is it different from any other shot where you look at OB?