Break Building Development

[Danger Steve]

Hi Chaps!

I’m struggling to move from practice routines such as the line-up, clearing colours, blacks off the spot etc etc... to actually break building in a real frame scenarios! I was getting so frustrated with it that I’ve recently had a couple of sessions with Steve Barton. Initially I wasn’t sure if it was technique letting me down once I moved away from my ‘safe mode’ of practice routines, but after 20 mins of assessing my stance, cue action, straight potting, Steve assured me I had the best cue action he’d seen all week! And no this wasn’t Monday morning, cheeky beggers !! It was a Thursday afternoon! I discussed the issues with Steve and we started some angled blacks to red routines using different amounts of side, we also practiced some 6 ball routines, setting up 6 reds, gently splitting the pack and then trying to clear up by thinking 3 shots ahead.. next session he focused a little more towards splitting the pack from the black and from borg colours etc..

Despite the coaching help and practicing the break building routines I’m still struggling with the 3 shots ahead! I know what I want to do 50% of the time, but then I’ll either miss the first pot or finish slightly out of position! I’m hoping it’s just a case of sticking with it and keeping going? For now I have abandoned the line up, since I actually had a century break from it the other week, I’m now not as obsessed with it, so maybe that’s a good thing!!?!

I guess the question is how do/did you guys take your break building to the next level? From practice to real frames? From small breaks to larger frame winning breaks? How quickly should I be expecting to see results with regular practice? Help!!

[Starsky]

Hi Steve,

There are a couple of things that come to mind after reading your post .

Firstly, try not to put too much pressure on yourself with trying to beat your highest break. Try to focus on increasing what your making consistently instead. People can get too obsessed with increasing their highest break and anxiety can creep in when approaching it while playing. Counting your break while doing line up’s while add to this as you will become frustrated comparing the breaks your doing in line ups to actual gameplay . Instead I would count how many reds you have left as a marker of your consistency. As your consistency improves so will your breaks .

When playing position on reds are you playing to get on one red or to leave the white in an area where you have more than one option of a red ?. Doing the latter is what better players to help with break building.

Getting on the right side of the black and leaving an angle to come of the bottom cushion really helps you to control the cue ball around the black area. A good practice routine for this is to place a single red between pink and black and practice potting the red and coming high on the black, pot the black using the bottom cushions and try to come high on the red and then repeat . Set yourself targets in how many reds you can pot and don’t count the break !.

Another good practice I’ve found that is a bit more game like than straight line ups is the ‘Xmas Tree’ line up . It’s too difficult to explain on here so search for it on YouTube . It’s what I would call semi random and includes going into a pack of six reds.


A problem I’m having since coming back to playing again is not having enough people to play against so I’m spending most of my time doing solo practice. Then what I’m finding is that im so desperate to play people that when I do I’m putting pressure on myself to perform . Not sure how often you play games but if it’s not very often try I would suggest you try to increase your match play .

[Starsky]

Forgot to add, don’t stop your straight line ups as it’s good for consistency and that is what will help with you missing balls over time . I would just mix it up with other practice routines. Set yourself targets to track your consistency and record them but don’t do this by counting your breaks more like how many reds are left.

[itsnoteasy]

Steve, it can be a step backwards before a step forwards when you try something new. Maybe because you are trying to plan ahead now, there is too much going on in your head but stick with it and really try to learn from every shot, especially the ones that go wrong, so you can do it better next time. Once it becomes second nature, your brain will settle down again and you will do it without thinking.

[Mark187187]

I find that I am a better player when spectating than playing, in terms of seeing the shot. It helps me sometimes to survey the table from further away every few shots.

[Danger Steve]

Hi Steve,

There are a couple of things that come to mind after reading your post .

Firstly, try not to put too much pressure on yourself with trying to beat your highest break. Try to focus on increasing what your making consistently instead. People can get too obsessed with increasing their highest break and anxiety can creep in when approaching it while playing. Counting your break while doing line up’s while add to this as you will become frustrated comparing the breaks your doing in line ups to actual gameplay . Instead I would count how many reds you have left as a marker of your consistency. As your consistency improves so will your breaks .

When playing position on reds are playing to get on one red or to leave the white in an area where you have more than one option of a red ?. Doing the latter is what better players to help with break building.

Getting on the right side of the black and leaving an angle to come of the bottom cushion really helps you to control the cue ball around the black area. A good practice routine for this is to place a single red between pink and black and practice potting the red and coming high on the black, pot the black using the bottom cushions and try to come high on the red and then repeat . Set yourself targets in how many reds you can pot and don’t count the break !.

Another good practice I’ve found that is a bit more game like than straight line ups is the ‘Xmas Tree’ line up . It’s too difficult to explain on here so search for it on YouTube . It’s what I would call semi random and includes going into a pack of six reds.


A problem I’m having since coming back to playing again is not having enough people to play against so I’m spending most of my time doing solo practice. Then what I’m finding is that im so desperate to play people that when I do I’m putting pressure on myself to perform . Not sure how often you play games but if it’s not very often try I would suggest you try to increase your match play .

At the moment with the 6 reds routine it’s more about thinking 3 shots ahead and trying to get on to 1 maybe 2 reds rather than areas. In turn I guess this will eventually help with more reds and playing for an area and actually getting the white into that area.

Consistently getting to the right side of the black I definitely could improve on, sometimes it’s a simple straight red, roll through and leave the right angle for the next red that weirdly can be tricky! That delicate run through type shot...

I suppose I want to just get on and pot balls but obviously there’s more to it than that, trying to purposely slow myself down and think ahead is counterintuitive for me!

[Starsky]

That practice with the red and black will be really useful for you as it zones in on one area of the game. It will also increase your confidence playing blacks of the spot and around that area.
Once you can consistently can do double figure red and black ( one red and black counts as one ) then you can try increasing the difficulty by putting another red between the black and cushion and alternate between both reds . That’s a hard routine but worth remembering for a later date.

Reading the table comes with experience and is a major part of break building . If your not playing people on a regular basis thr next best thing is to watch lots of matches on YouTube and try to work out what they are going to do before they take the shot while making breaks.

[Danger Steve]

That practice with the red and black will be really useful for you as it zones in on one area of the game. It will also increase your confidence playing blacks of the spot and around that area.
Once you can consistently can do double figure red and black ( one red and black counts as one ) then you can try increasing the difficulty by putting another red between the black and cushion and alternate between both reds . That’s a hard routine but worth remembering for a later date.

Reading the table comes with experience and is a major part of break building . If your not playing people on a regular basis thr next best thing is to watch lots of matches on YouTube and try to work out what they are going to do before they take the shot while making breaks.

I’ve always been pretty good at predicting the next shot when watching it on telly, but when your at the table playing it’s like a different game sometimes! It must be the different viewing angle messing with my head? That combined with the fact I might see the next shot but struggle to position the white where it needs to be...

As suggested I think some match play could help, watching another better player work their way around the table. How far is Warwick from you Starsky? Just 3 or 4 hours?? let me know when your 10 mins away and I’ll get the kettle on! Lol

[itsnoteasy]

If you don't have a playing partner, play frames against yourself. Routines are all well and good but the don't teach you those awkward shots, or how to get the black free if there are balls around it, that type of thing. Play frames and play them hard against yourself, proper safety etc.

[Starsky]

I’ve always been pretty good at predicting the next shot when watching it on telly, but when your at the table playing it’s like a different game sometimes! It must be the different viewing angle messing with my head? That combined with the fact I might see the next shot but struggle to position the white where it needs to be...

As suggested I think some match play could help, watching another better player work their way around the table. How far is Warwick from you Starsky? Just 3 or 4 hours?? let me know when your 10 mins away and I’ll get the kettle on! Lol

Your just over two hours from me , once we get the shed league underway I’ll be there and you can forget that kettle . After that drive I’ll want a beer



Ive said it before and I’m going to say it again as I think it’s important , don’t stop doing the straight line ups ! There’s a reason why the pro’s still use it . If your not able to control the cue ball at the moment around the pink and black spot you need to practice this element as much as possible. Try just putting a few reds out instead of all the 15 and increase the amount as you clear them up. The more you clear them up it means your consistency is improving.
It’s all about consistency ,to increase that all you need to do is have focused practice and repetition , repetition and even more
repetition ....
Then play people and you’ll see what areas need improving next time you practice .

[Cue crafty]

Someone told me that Hendry used to set himself a daily challenge as part of his practice routine, to clear the line up 10 times in a row without any misses. If he missed he would make himself start over until he completed the task.

Imagine the pressure on those last balls on the 10th successive line up and thinking to yourself "if i miss one now I have to do another 10"!!!!

I'm sure that was partly why he was so deadly at clearing up to win frames.

[Danger Steve]

Someone told me that Hendry used to set himself a daily challenge as part of his practice routine, to clear the line up 10 times in a row without any misses. If he missed he would make himself start over until he completed the task.

Imagine the pressure on those last balls on the 10th successive line up and thinking to yourself "if i miss one now I have to do another 10"!!!!

I'm sure that was partly why he was so deadly at clearing up to win frames.

That guy was crazy! Just shows the dedication of the bloke...

[Starsky]

I was practicing ata club a few weeks back and Hendry was there practicing as well...... guess what he was practicing ?

[vmax]

Don't think three shots ahead, 'see' two shots ahead on every shot, you'll find there's a difference between thinking about a shot and actually 'seeing' it where no conscious thought through words in your head is neccessary, then the break will flow.
Remember this, Selby isn't thinking about the next shot or two or three when he's taking a long time, he's already seen it but just wants to put his opponent off by delaying and faffing about; there is no granite like concentration going on, he knows all the shots and all the angles and sees them the same as all the other top players do.

Side isn't just about the cue ball coming off the cushion, you change the trajectory of the cue ball when using side and that is usefull in keeping the right side of a ball on a shot where the cushion isn't used, it's a very subtle change but can be used to advantage. The term 'helping side' isn't a misnomer, it's quite real, so play a few side shots without using the cushion, see where the cue ball goes in relation to the same shot using centre cue ball striking and use it to advantage when it's needed, helping side on a soft screw shot to stay half ball instead of quarter ball on the next one is usefull.

Best advice though is to develope a repeatable cue action so that strength of shot is consistant. Once you've become a good potter, strength of shot is THE most important aspect of break building and hitting shots too hard or too soft and getting out of position means you're always having to start again with seeing two shots ahead and this frustration is when your concentration starts to wander.

[Danger Steve]

I need to get down to this club... would be great to watch in practice!