What do you know about Gaps

In the Rack.....

tylerdurden said:

I think the rack, and what certain gaps in the rack do is much more important to learn about than any of this though.

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Tyler Durden's (I am Tyler's furious 8 and out) comment makes great sense to me. So, since you all have been so gracious in sharing your knowledge.......

Would you please teach .

I really only focus on the 2 corner balls (esp the one on my opponents side). I did see the comment about a gap on the head ball on opponents side. I had no idea.

Any other Rack Gap tips??

Thanks!!!






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Gaps between balls on the side of the rack you plan to break into create a change in how the force is distributed. Without a way to actually show it to you I will try to explain it this way. If there is a gap between the second and third balls along the side of the rack the force of the hit on the first two balls moves first to the ball directly in the middle of the stack. The greater amount of force then moves in a semi circle or arch if you will back out and into the forth or fifth ball along that outside string bypassing the third ball. This causes the forth ball to move out from the stack before the cue ball can pass it on its way to the bottom cushion. This can cause a kiss on the cue ball and that may redirect the cue ball into the corner pocket or even to the side rail first. I hope this was understandable. It is much easier to show what happens than it is to explain it.

Tom

What do you know about Gaps

Tom Wirth said:

Gaps between balls on the side of the rack you plan to break into create a change in how the force is distributed. Without a way to actually show it to you I will try to explain it this way. If there is a gap between the second and third balls along the side of the rack the force of the hit on the first two balls moves first to the ball directly in the middle of the stack. The greater amount of force then moves in a semi circle or arch if you will back out and into the forth or fifth ball along that outside string bypassing the third ball. This causes the forth ball to move out from the stack before the cue ball can pass it on its way to the bottom cushion. This can cause a kiss on the cue ball and that may redirect the cue ball into the corner pocket or even to the side rail first. I hope this was understandable. It is much easier to show what happens than it is to explain it.



Tom

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It does make sense Tom. And.....wow! I play often and didn't know that. Seems so simple now. Lol




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This sounds like a great challenge for slomo -- with a zoomed in slow motion view of how the balls spread with different gaps -- not to mention different ways the cue ball comes into the rack.

Tom Wirth said:

Gaps between balls on the side of the rack you plan to break into create a change in how the force is distributed. Without a way to actually show it to you I will try to explain it this way. If there is a gap between the second and third balls along the side of the rack the force of the hit on the first two balls moves first to the ball directly in the middle of the stack. The greater amount of force then moves in a semi circle or arch if you will back out and into the forth or fifth ball along that outside string bypassing the third ball. This causes the forth ball to move out from the stack before the cue ball can pass it on its way to the bottom cushion. This can cause a kiss on the cue ball and that may redirect the cue ball into the corner pocket or even to the side rail first. I hope this was understandable. It is much easier to show what happens than it is to explain it.

Tom

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Tom, you are right about trying to explain it !..I know you can remember, all we ever tried to do, (in years gone by) was to put up as tight a rack as we could, whether you were racking your own, or racking for your opponent, as was usually the case !...No one ever inspected the rack for 10 minutes, like they seem to do now, and demand a perfect rack every time... Just a quick glance to be sure the main first 3 are tight, is usually good..

Anyway, heres my stab at disecting the break... It has been my observation, that even if the rack is squared away, and semi-tight, there is NO way to predict exactly what will happen on a standard, normal break...A few incidental gaps, usually mean absolutely nothing !..It is almost impossible, to figure out what will happen until the balls are struck..And that's just Pool ! Pool balls, can sometimes be like a football...There are good bounces, and bad bounces...Would we want it any other way ?..Its gambling ain't it ?

Once every 8-10 games,or so, the breaker may make one in his hole, and get a bunch !..This will happen even less, than making the 9 on the break, playing 9 ball...Some tables break better (easier) than others, and it is often just a matter of how good a stroke you put down on your break !

Bottom line is, if you are playing bad...Your break will often reflect that too..It ain't 'rocket surgery' !..I always felt comfortable, trying to just graze the head ball, using about a tip of straight (inside) "side spin" (NO top, and obviously no bottom English) I found I was able to make a firmer, more accurate hit that way, with better action at spreading the balls toward my pocket, and killing the cue ball, further up toward the side pocket, close to, or on the side rail..

The distance you place the cue ball, from the side rail, can vary, from table to table..I usually placed the cue ball, about 7" to 10'' away from the side rail. Some players break closer to the side rail, but I found that created more of a tendency for balls to leak out the wrong way !

Assuming you know how to correctly break the balls..you will be successful most of the time.. If a ball leaks out, and your oppo runs a bunch...You had better learn how to 'adjust'...Otherwise, you are toast, and losing your best advantage every other game.

There are very few ways to 'cheat' on the rack, and fortunately the incentive to do so, has somewhat died out with the 'hard core' hustler of the old days., I guess 'slug' racks may still work in 9 ball, but not so much in a one pocket rack !

Anyway, those are the things that worked for me..I (and many of my opponents) always considered my break, and getting out of the break, to be the strongest part of my one pocket game. You don't have a lot of time to adjust, if you're playing in a short tournament race, so find a method that works most consistently for you, learn it, and go with it..

Awesome to all of this, thanks.

There is one gap in the rack that is by far the most important for an efficacious break. By far. There are a couple more gaps that aren't as important, but still pretty important. I focus on those 3 gaps, meaning I make them frozen, when racking for myself. But, I concentrate mostly on that one gap I mentioned. I only play rack your own too, if I can help it. I never cheat or turn the rack or anything. I will say though, there are gaps spots that will help you when there is a gap. If I see a gap there, I ignore it. I don't know if that is cheating. I don't think there is a perfect rack with all frozen balls too often on your average table, so how can it be cheating After I started doing this, I have not had a corner ball come out to my opponents side for years. It really isn't rocket science. If you think about it enough as you look down at the rack, you can figure it out. Of note: I have people laugh at me when I focus and struggle a tad to rack one hole, but they don't know that the joke is on them.