The Cut Break - Az Billiards Article
A few days after the Mosconi Cup, I was in Best Billiards hitting some
balls when a few people got chatting about the break and how the
Europeans had it mastered like an art. They continued about how the
Americans were really struggling to come to terms with it, not making
the 3 points for a legal break, as well as losing the cue ball.
For anyone who doesn't understand the 3-point rule, I will explain it
briefly. Every pocketed ball counts as a point and every ball that passes
the head-string also counts as a point. The breaker needs 3 points to
make a legal break; otherwise, control of the table is handed over to the
other team.
I was asked if I could explain why the Americans were struggling so
much with the break as well why the most important shot of the game
was in fact, the break.
I explained that it's my opinion that the break should have been
practiced religiously everyday before the cup until it was second nature
to the players. I'm not sure if the coach had done this, but it would be the
first thing on my list in preparing my team (as this is where the cup is
won and lost).
The difference with the break in the Mosconi Cup compared to most
other tournaments (especially where the American players are
concerned) is that the European players are used to the 9 ball being on
the spot and not the 1 ball (as it's played in the Mosconi Cup, Euro tour,
GB9 tour etc.).
The cut break is a controlled medium power shot, one tip of draw and
half a tip of outside english. The cue ball should come off the side rail
and out into the centre of the table. The wing ball (and balls behind the
wing ball) will be squeezed into the corner pocket and the one ball will
come off the side rail and up towards the top pocket.
Breaking with the nine ball on the spot requires a totally different break
technique. This, combined with the 3 point rule, made the American
players think they have to hit the balls harder with the cut break in order
to make the 3 points. This is a big no-no in my book as you lose the cue
ball. But, did they adjust and figure this out?
This made me ponder on whether the American team was much worse
than the European team at the cut break, or if the match was lost
elsewhere? So, I decided to study every break in the Mosconi Cup and I
came up with my own break-analysis for every player below.
I also ranked them with the following metrics:
How I think they performed with their break compared to
their team mates
If they hit the one ball too hard or too thin
If they applied too much spin and lost control of the cue ball
And how and if they adjusted to the break each day
Team Europe
Ralf - Day 1, 4 breaks - Too hard. Controlled. (touch too thin). Too thin.
Good break controlled.
Day 2, 5 breaks - Too thin (lucky). Good break. Too thin.
Lee Brett was born in 1974 in
Tranmere, on the Wirral, to english
parents, he grew up in Birkenhead,
England. Lee started coaching
snooker in 1993, and was also a local
snooker champion himself. Lee
helped numerous local players over
the years, and through his coaching
they went on to win many local
amateur titles between the numerous
players he taught.
In early 2009 Lee travelled to Canada
to coach snooker, where he was then
asked to coach Canadian Junior
champion John Morra at pool, he then
went to America in the summer of
2009, to teach pool after deciding to
switch from snooker.
Lee has coached and advised top
players John Morra, Shane Van
Boening, Darren Appleton, Mike
Dechaine and many others. Lee is
now known in his field as one of the
world's top billiard coaches, with a
record to match with the success his
players have achieved.
Lee's book the secret art of pool,
reached the #1 & #2 spot on the best
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Too thin & hard (lucky). Good break.
Day 3, 2 breaks - Good break. Good break. (touch hard).
Niels - Day 1, 4 breaks - Controlled. (kicked unlucky). Controlled. Touch hard. Controlled (unlucky).
Day 2, 3 breaks - Good break (kicked unlucky). Good break. Too thin.
Day 3, 5 breaks - Good break touch hard. Good break (lucky). Good break. Too thin. Too thin.
Day 4, 4 breaks - Good break (unlucky). Too full. Good break (unlucky). Too thin.
Daz - Day 1, 3 breaks - Controlled. Too thin. Good break (kicked).
Day 2, 3 breaks - Too thin. Good break (unlucky). Too thin.
Day 3, 6 breaks - Good break. Too thin. Too full. Good break (touch left). Good break (touch left).Too thin.
Day 4, 4 breaks - Too thin. Too thin. Too thin. Good break.
Nick - Day 1, 3 breaks - Controlled (lucky). Good break controlled. Good break controlled.
Day 2, 6 breaks - Good break. Too thin. Too full (lucky). Too full, Too thin (lucky). Good break.
Day 3, 6 breaks - Too thin. Good break. Too thin. Good break. Good break (kicked). Too much spin.
Day 4, 4 breaks - Good break (touch too much spin). Good break. Too thin. Good break (touch too much spin).
Chris - Day 1, 9 breaks - Controlled (unlucky). Too thin (lucky). Too full. Too thin. Good break (unlucky). Touch too full (lucky). Good break. Controlled. Good break (unlucky).
Day 2, 5 breaks - Good break. Good break (unlucky). Good break (kicked scratch unlucky). Perfect break, Good break (unlucky).
Day 3, 4 breaks - Good break. Good break (kicked). Too thin. Good break.
Team Europe analysis Rank #1 - Chris Melling 72.22%
13 out of the 18 breaks he had were good or controlled, 3 were too thin and 2 too full.
#2 - Niels Feijen 62.50%
10 out of the 16 breaks he had were good or controlled, 4 were too thin, 1 was too full, & 1 too hard.
#3 - Nick Van den berg 57.89%
11 out of the 19 breaks he had were good or controlled, 5 were too thin, 2 were too full & 1 had too much spin.
#4 - Ralf Souquet 54.54%
6 out of the 11 breaks he had were good or controlled, 4 were too thin & 1 was too hard.
#5 - Darren Appleton 43.75%
7 out of the 16 breaks he had were good or controlled, 8 were too thin, & 1 was too full.
Team USA
Johnny - Day 1, 3 breaks - Too hard,. Too hard. Too hard & thin.
Day 2, 6 breaks - Good break. Touch too thin. Too thin (lucky). Good break. Too thin (kicked scratch). Good break.
Day 3, 2 breaks - Good break. Too full.
Day 4, 5 breaks - Good break. Too thin & hard. Good break (golden). Good break. Too much spin.
Mike - Day 1, 3 breaks - Good break. Too hard & too much spin (lucky). Good break.
Day 2, 4 breaks - Too hard & too much spin. Good break. Good break. Too thin.
Day 3, 6 breaks - Too hard & thin. Good break unlucky. Too thin kicked. Too thin. Good break. Too thin.
Shane - Day 1, 10 breaks - Too full. Too full. Too full (lost control scratched). Too hard & too much spin (lucky). Too hard & too much spin. Good break. Good break. Too full. Too thin. Controlled (unlucky).
Day 2, 5 breaks - Too thin. Too full Too much spin Good break (golden). Good break (unlucky).
Day 3, 5 breaks - Too much spin. Too much spin. Good break. Good break. Good break.
Day 4, 4 breaks - Good break (kicked). Too much spin. Too much spin. Too much spin (lucky).
Shawn - Day 1, 3 breaks - Too hard (lost cueball). Too hard. Too hard uncontrolled (lucky).
Day 2, 3 breaks - Good break. Too thin & hard. Too hard. also under construction, www.leebrettpool.com which will have a members section with access to videos on every subject in the game. Lee is also filming an instructional video for the US army and also his curriculum is going to be taught in numerous colleges in California, where Lee will also be the official coach for the worldppa. To contact Lee for lessons or to buy the secret art of pool, visit lee's website www.leebrettcoaching.co.uk Lee is available for national teams who want to take their players to the next level. Archive The Cut Break
Day 3, 6 breaks - Too hard. Good break. Good break. Good break. Good break. Too full.
Rodney - Day 1, 3 breaks - Too full (Scratch). Too thin & too hard. Too hard (no control).
Day 2, 4 breaks - Good break. Too hard & thin (kicked lucky). Too hard (lucky). Too hard (scratched).
Day 3, 2 breaks - Too thin & hard (scratched). Good break.
Day 4, 5 breaks - Too hard & too much spin. Good break (unlucky). Too hard & too much spin. Too much spin. Good break.
Team Usa Analysis Rank #1 - Mike Dechaine 46.15%
6 out of the 13 breaks he had were good or controlled, 5 were too thin, 2 had too much spin & power.
#2 - Johnny Archer 43.75%
7 out of the 16 breaks he had were good or controlled, 4 were too thin, 3 were too hard, 1 was too full & 1 had too much spin on it.
#3 - Shawn Putnam 41.66%
5 out of the 12 breaks he had were good or controlled, 1 was too thin, 5 were too hard & 1 was too full.
#4 - Shane Van Boening 37.50%
9 out of the 24 breaks he had were good or controlled, 8 had too much spin, 5 were too full & 2 were too thin.
#5 - Rodney Morris 28.57%
4 out of the 14 breaks he had were good or controlled, 3 were too thin & hard. 3 were too hard, 3 were too hard with too much spin & 1 was too full
Ranking table Europe and Usa combined #1 - Chris Melling 72.22% #2 - Niels Feijen 62.50% #3 - Nick Van den berg 57.89% #4 - Ralf Souquet 54.54% #5 - Mike Dechaine 46.15% #6 - Darren Appleton 43.75% #7 - Johnny Archer 43.75% #8 - Shawn Putnam 41.66% #9 - Shane Van Boening 37.50% #10 - Rodney Morris 28.57% Most scratches - Rodney Morris 3. Golden breaks - Shane Van Boening & Johnny Archer 1 each. So do I think was the mosconi cup won and lost on the break, not necessarily. But one thing it does show, the Europeans had a huge advantage over their American counterparts, and the cut break played a huge part of this. Chris Melling played the perfect cut break during his doubles match with Ralf, against Rodney & Shane. Here is the link forward to 9.05 - this is the perfect example of how to play the cut break with the 9 on the spot. Regards Lee Brett
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