Accurate
More than ten times the accuracy of a radar gun.Break Speed combines high-resolution audio data with new Break Recognition technology, created specifically for Break Speed, to provide you with extremely accurate results.
Revealing
Does that small change in your grip hand really make a difference?Break Speed is the only solution that provides the kind of accuracy you need to squeeze that last bit of performance from your break shot.
Portable
Take it with you to league and tournaments.Let Break Speed provide you with the feedback you need to understand how you perform under pressure.
Low-Cost
$4.99 - that's all.- Buy it once and use it forever
- Unlimited lifetime support
- Free lifetime updates
Frequently asked questions
What is Break Speed?
Break Speed is software that runs on your smart phone. Break Speed can capture a pool break shot and tell you how fast your cue ball was moving.
Why do I care how fast I break?
Breaking faster, with accuracy, results in a better spread of balls and a greater chance of making a ball on the break.
How fast is a good break?
The average player breaks at around 17mph. Professional players, breaking for power and control, break around 24mph. Achieving a consistent break over 20 MPH is a significant achievement. Breaking purely for power, with no concern for control, break competitions have reported speed over 30 MPH!
How can Break Speed help me break better?
Getting above 20 MPH requires coordinating a number of muscles in your arm, body and even your hand. As you are working on your break, try just changing one component of your body mechanics at a time and let Break Speed provide feedback on the impact of each individual change. For example, if you incorporate a wrist-snap, use Break Speed to determine if the change is a benefit? Without feedback it is very difficult to determine how small changes effect your break.
How do I get and install the software?
Simply search for "Break Speed" on the Apple App Store of Android Play Store. You can also get a direct link by visiting this page from your device.
Do you accept credit cards or debit cards?
Yes, we accept major credit cards and often your debit card can be used as a credit card as well. You don't even need a PayPal account.
Where do I put the phone?
I've had great luck with the phone just about anywhere in the vicinity of the breaker or
on the drink tables near the pool table. Usually, though, I just put the phone on the side
rail near the head string. Just be careful not to put the phone in a place where it might
get damaged from flying balls.
Do I need to break any differently?
Nope. Just break like normal.
Can Break Speed capture any break?
Yes. There is one catch, though. If you are hitting a second-ball break, then Break Speed will
give you a speed that is just a bit slower than the actual speed because the cue ball actually
has to travel a bit further than Break Speed thinks. To counter-act this, adjust the cue
ball position (within Break Speed) back by about a ball's diameter.
How do I know how big the table I am playing on is?
Use your cue stick! User Danny was kind enough to provide this helpful guide:
Most cue sticks are a standard 58" long (house cues can be a little shorter, so be sure to use a two-piece cue.) Lay your cue stick on the table length-wise, with the butt of the cue stick up against one of the end rails. Count the number of diamonds (include the side pocket as one diamond) that are adjacent to your cue stick. Then use the following table as a guide:
Most cue sticks are a standard 58" long (house cues can be a little shorter, so be sure to use a two-piece cue.) Lay your cue stick on the table length-wise, with the butt of the cue stick up against one of the end rails. Count the number of diamonds (include the side pocket as one diamond) that are adjacent to your cue stick. Then use the following table as a guide:
- 6-foot - 7 diamonds
- 7-foot - Almost 6 diamond
- 8-foot - A couple inches more than 5 diamonds
- Oversized-8 - 5 diamonds
- 9-foot - About 4 and a half diamonds
Can I check other people’s breaks?
Yes. I do this all the time.
How does Break Speed know how fast I break? Is there a radar detector in my phone?
In order to calculate speed, you need distance and time. This is why we say “55 miles [distance] per hour [time]”. So here’s how it works in a bit more detail:
Distance
Break Speed allows you to select your table (8-foot, Oversized 8, 9-foot, etc.) and gives you a visual interface to set the cue-ball position to specify where you are breaking from. From this, the software can calculate the distance.
Time
Break Speed records the audio of your break shot and locates the exact moment in time when your tip hits the cue ball (this is when the cue starts moving) and the exact moment when the cue ball hits the rack (this is when the cue ball has reached its destination.)
Speed
That’s really all there is to it – the accuracy of the final speed value is dependent up on the accuracy of the distance and time values going into the formula.
Distance
Break Speed allows you to select your table (8-foot, Oversized 8, 9-foot, etc.) and gives you a visual interface to set the cue-ball position to specify where you are breaking from. From this, the software can calculate the distance.
Time
Break Speed records the audio of your break shot and locates the exact moment in time when your tip hits the cue ball (this is when the cue starts moving) and the exact moment when the cue ball hits the rack (this is when the cue ball has reached its destination.)
Speed
That’s really all there is to it – the accuracy of the final speed value is dependent up on the accuracy of the distance and time values going into the formula.
Are you really as good looking as they say?
Yep. Thanks for asking.
How can Break Speed be more accurate than a radar gun when you only record the audio?
It turns out that audio is actually a perfect fit for the problem of figuring out your break speed. It's only coincidence that it happens to work on portable devices.
High-speed video is often used to determine the speed of something (maybe you’ve seen this in an episode of MythBusters.) Those high-speed cameras run at 1,000 frames (or more accurately, “samples”) per second. When Break Speed is recording your break, it is actually sampling at over 44,000 times per second.
High-speed video is often used to determine the speed of something (maybe you’ve seen this in an episode of MythBusters.) Those high-speed cameras run at 1,000 frames (or more accurately, “samples”) per second. When Break Speed is recording your break, it is actually sampling at over 44,000 times per second.
How accurate is it, really?
The short answer: Somewhere between a few hundredths of a MPH (best average case) to as much as one-tenth of a MPH (worst average case.)
The long answer (this will be for my fellow geeks, but non-geeks are welcome to try to follow along): The theoretical precision limit is 0.0043 MPH (for a 9-foot table, breaking from the spot at 22.6 MPH.) Unfortunately, that’s theoretical and not practical.
In practice, the accuracy of the final speed is determined by the accuracy of the inputs (distance and speed.) If you are placing your cue ball in an arbitrary position, you’re not likely to get that position exactly right within Break Speed’s interface. Also, the rack may not be exactly spotted on the head spot. So some human error will be introduced here. Also, the precision of the auto detection is very good, but even a human will often have a hard time determining exactly which audio sample represents the exact start of a sound event – it’s not always a black and white answer.
The long answer (this will be for my fellow geeks, but non-geeks are welcome to try to follow along): The theoretical precision limit is 0.0043 MPH (for a 9-foot table, breaking from the spot at 22.6 MPH.) Unfortunately, that’s theoretical and not practical.
In practice, the accuracy of the final speed is determined by the accuracy of the inputs (distance and speed.) If you are placing your cue ball in an arbitrary position, you’re not likely to get that position exactly right within Break Speed’s interface. Also, the rack may not be exactly spotted on the head spot. So some human error will be introduced here. Also, the precision of the auto detection is very good, but even a human will often have a hard time determining exactly which audio sample represents the exact start of a sound event – it’s not always a black and white answer.
How can I get the most accurate result possible?
If you can, break from the head spot. Make sure that the cue ball is exactly on the head spot. This maximizes your ability to be precise when specifying the cue ball position within Break Speed. There is a button in the interface which allows you to spot the cue-ball precicely within the app.
Make sure that the head ball on the rack is centered perfectly on the foot spot.
Place the phone near the break. The farther from the break you are, the more the speed is likely to be affected by echoes. I usually place the phone on the rail near the head string diamond to avoid accidental damage to the phone when the balls start flying.
Hit the rack square. This not only gives you more power, but any deviation from a perfectly square hit means that the cue ball travels just a bit farther before it reaches the target (which affects distance, which affects the final speed calculation.)
Break in a quiet environment. Break Speed has some very powerful break recognition technology, which is usually as good at locating the break shot as a human. However, louder environments make the exact start of the break shot harder and harder to determine. Consider what happens when the environment gets so loud that it is louder than the break shot – the break becomes impossible to determine.
Verify your results. Look at the waveform and zoom all the way in to each of the selected points. Make any adjustments you think are necessary. However, if you’re not sure, defer to the automatically detected points.
Make sure that the head ball on the rack is centered perfectly on the foot spot.
Place the phone near the break. The farther from the break you are, the more the speed is likely to be affected by echoes. I usually place the phone on the rail near the head string diamond to avoid accidental damage to the phone when the balls start flying.
Hit the rack square. This not only gives you more power, but any deviation from a perfectly square hit means that the cue ball travels just a bit farther before it reaches the target (which affects distance, which affects the final speed calculation.)
Break in a quiet environment. Break Speed has some very powerful break recognition technology, which is usually as good at locating the break shot as a human. However, louder environments make the exact start of the break shot harder and harder to determine. Consider what happens when the environment gets so loud that it is louder than the break shot – the break becomes impossible to determine.
Verify your results. Look at the waveform and zoom all the way in to each of the selected points. Make any adjustments you think are necessary. However, if you’re not sure, defer to the automatically detected points.