balance point on cue

It varies from cue to cue. My Kikel balances about 10 inches below the joint (with the shaft attached). It's a little bit butt heavy. I know my buddy's Schon is only about 6 or 7 inches below the joint.

There's an unnatural hyping of break cues these days. If you ask me, a break cue is something to use to protect your playing cue. I used to break with my playing cue but I've gone through 6 shafts and countless ferrules. I'm not going to risk my new cue. Now I just use a house cue. Why spend a couple hundred bucks on something I'll probably break (no pun intended). I say, "If you like, use it."

P.S. I break hard. Really hard. 40 mph is about 80%. Any harder than that and I risk injuring people on the other side of the room.
 
Drew said:
It varies from cue to cue. My Kikel balances about 10 inches below the joint (with the shaft attached). It's a little bit butt heavy. I know my buddy's Schon is only about 6 or 7 inches below the joint.

There's an unnatural hyping of break cues these days. If you ask me, a break cue is something to use to protect your playing cue. I used to break with my playing cue but I've gone through 6 shafts and countless ferrules. I'm not going to risk my new cue. Now I just use a house cue. Why spend a couple hundred bucks on something I'll probably break (no pun intended). I say, "If you like, use it."

P.S. I break hard. Really hard. 40 mph is about 80%. Any harder than that and I risk injuring people on the other side of the room.[/QUOTE]

Please tell me that you aren't joking about this. I'd be happy to know that someone out there really was looney enough to think they could break 50 mph. 40mph is pretty sporty too! :eek: I'll start calling you Fast Drew.
 
sorry, but I really have a problem comprehending a 50mph break, woould love to see that on film.

cheers
 
I have a speed trap and I actually set up speed break contests at VNEA events and have some interesting news for you. Anything around 30mph is huge. For example, SVB comes in at about 29.5 and I have clocked him. Most people think the ball is going much faster than that on a break but that is simply not the case. I have a local guy that breaks right at 30 mph and he did shatter a 1 ball. Split it right in half. The fastest I heard of was like 36 mph but I can't remember the name.
 
berlowmj said:
Where should it be? Is it different for playing cue vs break cue?
Where it "should be" is entirely a matter of personal preference.

Of regular cues, Viking has the most natural feeling balance point to me. Some others have a different preference. A break cue, of the same weight, seems to feel a little better if it is more rear weighted. That perhaps is why a lot of people "feel" that a heavier cue breaks better.

Ultimately it's whatever feels better to you my friend. You play the game, the cue is merely a tool.

LWW
 
it's all preference, but i believe you can get more stuff on the cb if there's more weight in front of the grip because you have better momentum on the cue pushing through the cb......while a butt-heavy cue means you are dragging the weight of the cue behind you and with a lighter front there would be less momentum and mass carrying the cue through. just my thoughts.
 
berlowmj said:
Where should it be? Is it different for playing cue vs break cue?


Line up ten people of a range of heights and ask them to get down on a shot. Give them all replicas of the same cue. They all put their bridge hand some distance from the tip that has nothing to do with their heights. Say they all bridge at 9 inches.

Where then do their rear hands go?

If they all have the same stance, then the rear hands will go different places depending on body dimensions.

The shortest person will have nearly all the weight of the cue on his rear hand because he grips close to the balance point. The tallest person will feel the most weight on his bridge hand. So the different players will feel a different balance for the same cue.

It might be reasonable for shorter people to use a more forward-weighted cue than taller people use, so that they feel closer to the same weight distribution.

Shown here are some balance points on several of my cues. They're suspended a few inches above the table at their balance points.

1. Patrick (closest)
2. Sherm
3. Layani
4. Pechauer
5. Sledgehammer (Mcdermott butt)
6. Schon
7. Huebler J/B
8. Schuler
 

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mikepage said:
[...]

1. Patrick (closest)
2. Sherm
3. Layani
4. Pechauer
5. Sledgehammer (Mcdermott butt)
6. Schon
7. Huebler J/B
8. Schuler

Here's a view of the same cues from the tip -- the more relevant direction.
 

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Where then do their rear hands go?

Many players, regardless of their wing span, often put their grip hand in an incorrect position.

On a typical shot, the grip hand position should be positioned so that the forearm is perpendicular to the cue at the moment of contact with the cue ball. If the bridge length varies, or the bridge arm bends, the grip position needs to vary accordingly.

Where the balance point is for your cues is a personal preference for how the cue feel to you.
 
bob_bushka said:
I have a speed trap and I actually set up speed break contests at VNEA events and have some interesting news for you. Anything around 30mph is huge. For example, SVB comes in at about 29.5 and I have clocked him. Most people think the ball is going much faster than that on a break but that is simply not the case. I have a local guy that breaks right at 30 mph and he did shatter a 1 ball. Split it right in half. The fastest I heard of was like 36 mph but I can't remember the name.
36mph - probably one of 3 players. Busta, Yang, or Da Luna.
 
40 mph power break

DeadPoked said:
Drew said:
It varies from cue to cue. My Kikel balances about 10 inches below the joint (with the shaft attached). It's a little bit butt heavy. I know my buddy's Schon is only about 6 or 7 inches below the joint.

There's an unnatural hyping of break cues these days. If you ask me, a break cue is something to use to protect your playing cue. I used to break with my playing cue but I've gone through 6 shafts and countless ferrules. I'm not going to risk my new cue. Now I just use a house cue. Why spend a couple hundred bucks on something I'll probably break (no pun intended). I say, "If you like, use it."

P.S. I break hard. Really hard. 40 mph is about 80%. Any harder than that and I risk injuring people on the other side of the room.[/QUOTE]

Please tell me that you aren't joking about this. I'd be happy to know that someone out there really was looney enough to think they could break 50 mph. 40mph is pretty sporty too! :eek: I'll start calling you Fast Drew.

Can you post your break on youtube so we can learn your form? What percentage of these breaks result in a ball pocketed? scratch? miscue?
 
Most cues are balanced around 19 inches from the butt. The problem is how the weight is distributed. Consider a solid shaft that weights 50 lbs and is 60 inches long. The balance point will be at the 30 in mark. Now take a barbell that is 60 inches long with a bar that weights 10 lbs and a 20 lb weight on both ends. The balance point will also be at the 30 in mark. Now if you move you hand a little futher away from the balance point on either one there will be a bigger diiference on the barbell than the solid shaft. That is why two cues with the same weight and balance point will feel different.
 
Sorry to jack the thread.

If I break as hard as I can, only 10 percent of my breaks will stay on the table. Any variation in the cloth/rack will result in balls leaving the table. I've had as many as 4 balls rolling across the room. If I happen to keep my rock on the table, it either draws back a few rails (these breaks are a little slower) or it hits the lights, drops on the table, and flies forward (these are the hardest). I'll try to find a camera so I can put it up on youtube.
 
Mark Avlon said:
Where then do their rear hands go?

Many players, regardless of their wing span, often put their grip hand in an incorrect position.

On a typical shot, the grip hand position should be positioned so that the forearm is perpendicular to the cue at the moment of contact with the cue ball. If the bridge length varies, or the bridge arm bends, the grip position needs to vary accordingly.

Where the balance point is for your cues is a personal preference for how the cue feel to you.

i rarely if EVER see this. don't golfers place their ball slightly ahead of the perpendicular point when they drive?,,,and batters hit better drives when they "pull" the ball.

i believe the "sweet spot" in the arc of a stroke is slightly ahead of the perpendicular as well.
 
bruin70 said:
i rarely if EVER see this. don't golfers place their ball slightly ahead of the perpendicular point when they drive?,,,and batters hit better drives when they "pull" the ball.

i believe the "sweet spot" in the arc of a stroke is slightly ahead of the perpendicular as well.

What would the benefit of having the cue ball slightly ahead of perpendicular be?

Would you define "sweet spot" and tell us why it should be slightly ahead of perpendicular?
 
Mark Avlon said:
What would the benefit of having the cue ball slightly ahead of perpendicular be?

Would you define "sweet spot" and tell us why it should be slightly ahead of perpendicular?
I agree with perpendicular beong correct in pool. The difference between a poolstroke and a golf/bat swing is that the goal is to roll the ball and not to loft the ball.

LWW
 
Mark Avlon said:
What would the benefit of having the cue ball slightly ahead of perpendicular be?

Would you define "sweet spot" and tell us why it should be slightly ahead of perpendicular?

us? :):)

am i the only one who thinks this. here's my question,,,what is perpendicular? perpendicular to the stick or table....and even 1/2" ahead of perpendicular is still that. now,,,i define "perpendicular" as the forearm being STRAIGHT up and down to the table, and if you want , EXACTLY perpendicular to the cue. i don't know,,,,maybe you guys are thinking " 1" + or -". i think most players contact past the perpendicular. here's one guy who does. he's past of perpendicular to the table and thus way more than ahead or perpendicular to the cue since the cue angles down. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INzRX2mf2nw

btw,,i corrected a possible confusion of my terms. i think i've been saying "ahead' of perpendicular. what i meant was "past", ie after the forearm has gone past the perpendicular in the stroke.
 
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Drew said:
It varies from cue to cue. My Kikel balances about 10 inches below the joint (with the shaft attached). It's a little bit butt heavy. I know my buddy's Schon is only about 6 or 7 inches below the joint.

There's an unnatural hyping of break cues these days. If you ask me, a break cue is something to use to protect your playing cue. I used to break with my playing cue but I've gone through 6 shafts and countless ferrules. I'm not going to risk my new cue. Now I just use a house cue. Why spend a couple hundred bucks on something I'll probably break (no pun intended). I say, "If you like, use it."

P.S. I break hard. Really hard. 40 mph is about 80%. Any harder than that and I risk injuring people on the other side of the room.

Bob Meucci speed tested, timed with radar, most of the tour pro's in the late 80's or early 90's (back when they broke as hard as they could) and the high speeds were Lil' Davey Howard, 33mph and Francisco Bustamate,sp, at 34mph. This was timed at the hardest break 100% Effort. Most of the pro's came in around 26-29 mph. 40 mph at 80% would make you seem super human compared to some of the harder breakers of all time. Jay H. you should remember this you were the TD at this event.
 
Hoppe holds cue on balance pt!

You guys make me laugh and laugh. You buy the books but eat the pages.

Hold cue at balance pt. not at extreme butt
Let the weight of the cue do the work and forget the follow through
18-22 oz. hold the cue lightly in griphand between thunb and first two fingers
 
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