Breaking off, using top right side, or bottm right side?

[mchpddl1]

When you break off on right hand side of the D, do you use top right spin, or bottom right spin? what you feel is advantage and disadvantage? Thanks again . Regards, troublesome Barry

[jrc750]

I break off on left side of the D, using top left spin. Never tried using bottom spin, can't see that working ???

[DeanH]

I am right handed, I break on the right and about an inch away for the brown, with top and a slight touch of right spin.
I usually get a good white behind the green or at least onto the baulk cushion.
I did try for a while breaking from closer to the yellow (about one inch in) I used top and experimented various or no spin. I stopped this as I was often either, hitting the blue or going in the green pocket.

[willtyson]

I break of on this right hand side of the table close to the brown, I hit the ball just below stun with right hand side, does the job for me :snooker:

[Terry Davidson]

It depends on the table somewhat and the speed of the cloth on the cushions. If it's a new cloth and slick then you should use more stun and side (H5R4 in Nic's terminology, meaning centre height with quite a bit of right hand side). On a cloth with more wear the cushion won't slide as bad and you can use less side and maybe a little less height if you prefer.

The crucial bit is to miss the blue on the left and hit the side cushion just before the baulkline to get the cueball on the baulk cushion behind the green (for right side break)

Terry

[Terry Davidson]

Forgot to add, have the cueball about 1" from the brown

Terry

[Cossie]

I think it depends on which red you are making contact with and if you are making a defensive or attacking break. Its always worth practising different breaks so you have a few in your armoury.

[tcollick]

I'm with Terry. Used to have a lot of trouble with the break off...hitting the blue or coming back the wrong side of the blue towards green pocket. Since i've been using Nicks method, centreball and far right hand side, my break off has improved massively. With this break you have to hit the last red.

[deant1982]

I normally have the white in the centre between brown and yellow, and break of hitting the final red fairly thin with just plain right hand side. I don't (intentially at least) put top or bottom on the white, and it is not an excessive amount of side, but enough to give it a sporing when it hits the cushion. If you get the contact correct on the red and have played the weight somewhere near, the angles take the white of the normal 3 cushions, but runs it in behind green on its route to the baulk cushion, if you underhit the shot to recah the baulk cushion, there is a good chance of getting a snooker behind the green. If you get the weight right, the white is on the baulk cushion not quite in line with the brown, but enough to severley hinder your opponents choice of safety return shot. If you hit the red too thick or have a bit too much side, I find the white (obviously) a sharper angle, and goes behind the brown/yellow instead of green/brown.

[nrage]

Over this distance top spin makes no difference to the shot, you may as well play center ball (height). Bottom does have an effect, or rather a side-effect if you will, let me explain the physics..

The physics of the ball on any given shot are.. upon being struck by the cue the white will slide for a distance, this distance depends on the power of the shot. It will next (over a short distance) develop forward roll until hitting the 'natural' forward roll speed. The 'natural' forward roll is a certain amount of roll, dependent on the speed the ball is traveling. Like the wheel of a car rolling down the road, the faster the ball is going, the faster it is rotating, but the rotation matches the distance traveled i.e. it will never over spin, like the wheels of a car on a dropped clutch start - for example. So, the distance the white travels for one complete rotation (once rolling naturally) is equal to the circumference of the white ball.

Top spin causes the ball to slide for a shorter distance, or none at all, before developing forward roll. You cannot achieve over spin with the cue/top spin. So, if you use top spin on the break the white likely reaches natural forward roll speed within 1ft or 2, and well before passing the blue. If you play the same shot with center ball striking, the ball reaches natural forward roll later, but probably still before passing the blue (unless you hit it really really hard). The only difference here is that a shot played with top will have a slightly greater final velocity, as less energy is wasted in friction etc reaching natural roll.

Bottom spin causes the ball to slide for a longer distance, and you can get the ball sliding forward while rotating backward initially. The backward rotation wears off, and forward roll develops until it hits natural forward roll. So, back spin on the break might will have it sliding closer to the blue, before developing forward roll.

So, in all cases the ball is rolling naturally where it hits the red and this means the carom angle off the red is the same for all (and unaffected by side spin etc). The angle off the red for a natural rolling white is approx 30 degrees from the point of impact.

So.. what is the side-effect of bottom spin I mentioned above. Well, if you use bottom spin with side spin you can strike the ball harder and achieve the same final velocity as a softer center or top spin shot. What this means is that you can apply more side spin, for the same/correct velocity shot. The side spin is what allows you to get the white into the side cushion, back across the table and into the other side at around the baulk line. Without the side you would strike closer to the corner pocket, and end up in the corner instead of behind the green or yellow.

The physics of the final carom angle are interesting too..

At the point of collision the white looses all forward motion, but retains most/all forward rotation (roll). It will initially move off at 90 degrees to the point of impact, but the forward rotation will cause it to pull forward of this, until reaching approx 30 degrees from the point of impact.

The harder you hit the white, the more forward rotation it will have, the more forward rotation it has the narrower you can make the angle, meaning you can achieve angles of less than 30 degrees with a hard shot with top spin. The key factor is that the white must be rolling naturally at a high speed to achieve the narrowest possible angle.

If the white hasn't quite reached forward roll when colliding with the red it will come off at 90, and spin forward to an angle which is more than 30 degrees, but less than 90.

If the white is sliding with no forward or backward roll, it will come off at 90 degrees and does not deviate.

If the white is sliding with back spin/roll, it will come off at 90 degrees and pull back to an angle greater than 90 degrees.

And that's it really. This is a great video describing it all with drawings etc:

Cue ball control:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J0I6IgLlo8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oii0UhnYjCc

Is maximum top/overspin possible:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WzyxhCl0vs

p.s. I strike the break off from the right of the brown with right hand side, and if I want to get the cue ball further into the middle behind the green I add a bit of bottom and a bit more power to compensate.

[throtts]

I normally have the white in the centre between brown and yellow, and break of hitting the final red fairly thin with just plain right hand side. I don't (intentially at least) put top or bottom on the white, and it is not an excessive amount of side, but enough to give it a sporing when it hits the cushion. If you get the contact correct on the red and have played the weight somewhere near, the angles take the white of the normal 3 cushions, but runs it in behind green on its route to the baulk cushion, if you underhit the shot to recah the baulk cushion, there is a good chance of getting a snooker behind the green. If you get the weight right, the white is on the baulk cushion not quite in line with the brown, but enough to severley hinder your opponents choice of safety return shot. If you hit the red too thick or have a bit too much side, I find the white (obviously) a sharper angle, and goes behind the brown/yellow instead of green/brown.

Thats the exact way I play it and works all the time..

[calgo54]

I use top right hand side but as cossie says if you want to keep the pack tight or open them up there are number of ways to break but with putting top on the ball the in off is not going to affect the break the speed of the table is a factor too but lets not get things too complicated. p.s 2inch right of the brown top right aim for the outside edge of the pack and you shouldnt be far away.

[thelongbomber]

If my opponent is lazy about setting up the rack and I notice loose reds, I normally just line up with a massive swing and give the pack a good ol' big "whack". You always make at least one red

Great for relieving tension and teach your opponent a lesson because he was a lazy racker.

Hehe.. just kidding.. but it sounds like fun and I bet we will start seeing that in professional snooker some day when everyone knocks in centuries.

[Tom Read]

I'm a right hander and play the white between green and brown, roughly G---W--B, so the white marginally closer to the brown (I'm sure you can work out what G and B stand for!). As far as I'm aware I play with plain left hand said, no top of stun, just left hand side, usually end up with the white behind the yellow.

[jarcher]

As Terry said, this totally depends on the table and cloth you are playing on. I'm currently on No.10 match cloth, so I would place the white just under an inch from the brown and break off hitting the last red with bottom right. In doing this, I don't need much pace in the white, though as soon as it hits the cushion, the side whips it round the angles, easily missing the blue and balk colours, leaving the white normally behine the brown.

If I was to try the exact same shot on Hainsworth Smart, 9 times out of 10, i'd go in off into the corner pocket due to the different speed and grip levels of the cloth, therefore I would play just above stun with right hand side, though I also need a little more pace in my shot.

It all comes down to getting to know the reactions from various types of cloth, which in turn will affect all of your shots.