62 Break - Analysis and Commentary

[alabadi]

Thanks for putting that up. As alabadi said. It was very useful to understand the thought process in break building.

One thing I did notice is that you are rock solid still on your shots. I need to practice that.

My problem is that I play my mate who has little positional skills, not great at potting short or middle distant balls but for some reason is a good long potter. So he normally gets in after my safety on a long red, fails to get position on a colour and then attempts a ludicrous cut into the top pocket or tries to double it. He fails. There is no easy red so I play safe.
Within a few minutes the table is a complete mess and it's very hard to get a break together. I do much better in practise where I regularly make 20 and 30 breaks with the occasional 40.

Ho hum.

me and you are playing the same player....lol

its a carbon copy of how my mate plays, he can get some ludicrous long pots that a pro wouldn't attempt a pot at. however never gets the postion on the next colour and as you messes up the table badly.

maybe this is the reason i can't get bigger breaks, not much chance with most colours tied up.

[thelongbomber]

Very humble LB, it was actually a good insight in to your break building which is just as valid as everyone else's.

Break building is down to shot selections that enables shot continuation and each player has a different outlook on the map of the table. Each person chooses their shots based on their belief that they can successfully achieve the pot and position from certain balls and not others. These beliefs are founded upon previous experience of attempting these shots and the resulting success or failure.

Quite simply our SHOT SELECTIONS (ACTIONS) are based on our PRESUMPTIONS OF SUCCESS (BELIEFS) that are formed through the PREVIOUS OUTCOMES (EXPERIENCE).

Players have a fairly predetermined style of break building that can be developed through practice of a variety of scenarios that will help in creating opportunities to build new experiences at the table. For example I have worked with a player who would comfortably build a break in the 40s and 50s around the black but it would all cease after going in to the pack from the black. What we found was by creating situations where he was getting in to the pack from the spotted blue improved his game because this way put more reds in to his preferred area around the black. He has regularly added another 20-30 points on to his breaks and we are working towards the century break.

Keep your mind open, ask questions, and be willing to adapt and you will develop your game and your coaching ability.

Very good comments Stu. I have found based on my own experience as well that until I learned some new "tools" my breaks stayed around 20-30-40. Once I started adding more cue ball control and cue striking abilities to my game, breaks became that much easier because I could then "see" what I wasn't seeing before. For anyone reading, the more ball striking and cue ball control skills you have, the more shot variations you can play which then also opens your eyes to positional possibilities you were blind to before.

The shot you mentioned, off the blue into the reds, and in my case, off the blue into and out of baulk are two shots I need to work on. Also, shots around the black as well, among others.

Stu, would be really really helpful if you could spend some time on Skype with me so I could ask you a bunch more questions. Would you be able to do that?

[thelongbomber]

well done bomber, seems like your quite chuffed with this break, though i would have gone about it another way.
i would of worked around the black first, then if i lost my ideal position or i cannoned half ball off the reds bellow the pink, i know i would of had those three reds in the middle of the table, as savers

Hehe.. satisfied yes, but not "chuffed" no. When I'm "in the zone" and concentrating, I would have made this break much easier to deal with. I would say I was probably at 7/10 on cue ball striking and really not that much into the zone at all.

[thelongbomber]

well done bomber, seems like your quite chuffed with this break, though i would have gone about it another way.
i would of worked around the black first, then if i lost my ideal position or i cannoned half ball off the reds bellow the pink, i know i would of had those three reds in the middle of the table, as savers

Watching it, I also made that realization. It's the funniest thing though about leaving balls on. My m8s laugh at me because I'm what they call a "duck shooter". That is I take all the easy ducks. I think it's old habits from a time when I was just a raw potter and nothing else. My potting and cue ball control is much more refined now, but my shot selection still haunts me.

[thelongbomber]

Yeah, if I get chance I will gladly chuck a video up of what I'm thinking when I make a break.

I might need some help of what software to use to create the voiceover... I only have a phone camera too. If someone wants to pm me.

Then again, I could just comment as I go along I guess?

What you should do is just make the break first so that you are in rhythm. And then afterwards, bring the video to your PC, and you can use video playing and screen recording software to do the commentary. I used VLC to replay the video on my computer. I can pause, and slow down the video, and zoom with it. I played the video full screen in VLC, and then I used BB Flashback Recorder to record my computer screen. BB Flashback lets you export to FLV and it also has the option for two audio inputs (one is what you hear, the speakers, and the other is your microphone). PM me, and if you have a Windows PC, I can install and setup for you remotely (I'm a computer tech)

[thelongbomber]

On a side note, in the 15 years playing, I have seen a century made maybe less than 10 times live and never seen a maximum live. There is very little high level skill available here. Most club players are 20/30/40 break players and only a handful are a match for me. I'm very good at watching and learning from replicating and have relied mostly on online video and commentary from Willie and others on break building to understand the nuances, but you still miss a lot from the video (their eyes, their body position, etc).

[bolton-cueman]

+1

I would also wager that a lot of the 'thought process' was only actually thought about upon watching the tape back then reflecting - more post shot justification rather than pre shot thinking.

I only watched the first minute before it irritated me... The table is too small and the pockets too big for me to take seriously.

I would not cite this as a good example of shot selection. From the first red, you had a simple 32 without any problems and you elected to play up in the the centre of the table and was fortunate to land on a red to the yellow pocket.

[Stupree]

Stu, would be really really helpful if you could spend some time on Skype with me so I could ask you a bunch more questions. Would you be able to do that?

Happy to do this - PM me with times that are good for you and we will make a Skype date

[jrc750]

I think it's just habits. I know in UK it's much more common for the opponent to spot balls, but in Canada, it's not as common.

I think it's an unwritten rule that the non striker respots the balls, I certainly would kick up a fuss if he sat down

[thelongbomber]

I think it's an unwritten rule that the non striker respots the balls, I certainly would kick up a fuss if he sat down

Haha.. ya, well unfortunately it's unwritten, but if it was in the rulebook, I suppose I could call a foul on HIM if he doesn't respot the balls and take an extra 4 points each time

[jrc750]

It's also good manners to do it, so it allows the player to concentrate on the break, i guess you lot are not very friendly

[tedisbill]

It's also good manners to do it, so it allows the player to concentrate on the break, i guess you lot are not very friendly

Plus when you're playing well, you never get the pleasure of your opponent banging the balls back on the spots in a sulk

[j6uk]

if someone was banging the colors on the spots for what every reason, i'd advise them not to do it because of what it dose to the table, make sure they don't see another ball and, not play them again

[itsnoteasy]

I don't like the idea of balls getting banged down not just because it does the cloth ,balls and table no good, but it's very disrespectful to the player who's making the break. If you are in a huff because someone is making a break against you there are two solutions to this
1, don't miss and leave him in, he can't score if your at the table, or
2 , go and play something else your not wanted or needed in this game.

[tedisbill]

It was more of a joke really

Tends to happen more in tournaments when you're reffing your own games.