The Nine Ball Break Shot

Many top players will tell you that the break shot is the most important shot in Nine Ball. Control the break and you control the table. Control the table and you control the game. Here are some suggestions on how to approach this shot.

First, understand the importance of a good rack. Make certain the balls are frozen together without gaps, particularly at the front of the rack. A loose rack reacts sluggishly and will not give you the action you need to have positive results. If the balls won’t freeze up try brushing the table in the area of the rack to remove dirt and put down a new spot if the old one is worn or dimpled.

The first break should be from the area of the side rail. Aim to hit the one ball as squarely as possible. That means square to the cueball, not the table. You want to hit the rack so that the cueball stops dead in its tracks or bounces back off the rack in the exact track it took ti get there. (If you strike the one ball square to the table, head-on, it will reflect off to the side and will not impart maximum energy to the rack.) The reasons you hit a nine ball rack from the side are numerous. First, it gives the one ball a path to escape and fall into the side pocket. Second, it distributes the force of the break a little more strongly on one side of the rack than the other. This makes it easier for the cueball to overcome the initial inertial resistance of the rack. Third, it gives the nine ball a sideways impetus which helps carry it towards the corner pocket.

But the nine ball break is a fickle shot. Many times the above-described break just doesn’t want to work on your table on that particular day. If you don’t get positive results from this basic break technique, then change it! Start moving the cueball along the length of the headstring until you find a point that ‘works’. Experiment with english. Sometimes you may have to violate the basic laws and apply bottom english to the cueball. Here you will aim to hit the rack square to the table so that the cueball rockets to the side rail and back into the rack where you are hoping for a happy collision with the nine.

So start out hitting ‘em hard and square with centerball from the side rail. But if that does not work, keep experimenting with position and english. Some combination is bound to work!