How to Break 9-Ball Billiards

The break shot in many of the various billiard games is perhaps the most important part. Steve Mizerak agrees, and was said in an article he wrote that, "Possibly the most important element in 9-Ball is the opening break. Many times a good player will sink a ball on-the-break and then run out the table, with his opponent never getting a chance to shoot."

How to Break in 9-Ball Billiards According to Steve Mizerak

Mizerak says that there is a common problem in most people's break, so we'll cover that off before getting in to the details. He says that "the major mistake people make on the break is having a wild cue ball." So with that, remember that control is of the utmost importance during a break. Don't sacrifice it for power.

In the 9-ball Break, your main goal is "to sink a ball to have a shot at the next one," says Mizerak. This is unlike the straight pool break shot, where you are simply trying to block your opponents. Additionally, Steve says that "your best chance to accomplish the goal is for all of the balls in the rack to be frozen." He goes on to note that in straight pool, at least the back five balls in the rack must be tight, and in 9-ball, all of the balls must be tight. Since 9-ball is the name of the game, you are going to need to move that ball, which is in the middle of the rack. If the balls are loose, as opposed to frozen, it will not move anywhere. This happens because if the balls in the rack are not frozen, they will not travel as far when your cue ball comes in to contact with them, so you need to make sure "all the balls in the rack are solid-frozen."

When breaking in general, you should keep the following points in mind about how to to a proper break shot:

Don't shoot from next to the head spot on the head string and hit the 1-ball in the rack straight on. Here, you will contact the cue ball just above center. some players still do it this way, but most professionals do not.
Use "floating cue ball" where you can move it anywhere along the head-string and shoot.
Hit the cue ball a tip's height above center and have it strike the 1-ball flush. This will cause the cue ball to carom away from the 1-ball slightly and come to a dead stop. This is what we want to happen.
Remember, a major mistake on the break is allowing a wild cue ball, which can fly off the table or scratch in a pocket.
The key is to control the cue ball. If necessary, sacrifice speed, but always be sure to get control of that cue ball.

The last bullet Steve emphasizes often, saying that "wild cue balls occasionally plague even the best competitors." He remembers when an opponent's weakness in this important area allowed him to take victory.

"About what seems like a hundred years ago, I played Allen Hopkins. With the score 10-10, he broke, and his cue ball jumped the table. He left me with a 1 and 9 combination. It was a tough shot, but I made it. His wild break cost him the game."

He also repeats his theory on cue ball position for the break, and in fact did so when talking about a Houston tournament. He won that, and he says that cue ball position played a large part in that.

"Early in the tournament, I was breaking from the right side of the head string and not making anything. So I moved over to the left side and started making everything. The one place you shouldn't move it, though, is back near the head rail. That's one of the worst things you can do, because you lose power, and when you lose power you're sacrificing the strongest part of your break."

Mizerak says that If you want to know how to break properly in billiards, you need to remember that Whenever you hit something, the velocity is greatest right at impact. The closer you get to the rack, the better so hug the line. "The closest you can legally get on the break is to have your cue ball stationed along the head string, so get your cue ball as close to the rack as possible and hit it with authority, but without letting it go wild," Steve says.

In a nutshell, you should sacrifice a some speed and power for control, which is the most important thing.