Can someone expalin the Term "Pro Taper"

naji

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The tip strikes the CB in the same place you pointed it during your practice strokes - nothing changes.

pj
chgo

Hi PJ,
Have you ever in your pool journey parked the cue on top of the CB shooting with high english with CB frozen to the rail? where only the cue shaft moved and parked the CB in its place under it...
 

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
Hi PJ,
Have you ever in your pool journey parked the cue on top of the CB shooting with high english with CB frozen to the rail? where only the cue shaft moved and parked the CB in its place under it...
I don't understand your question - maybe you can just make your point?

pj
chgo
 

ENGLISH!

Banned
Silver Member
The cue ball is up against the rail & you have to bridge close or you are playing on a table with high curved rail frames & you want to bridge on it.

You're cueing at near the miscue area anyway & if the stroke of the conical taper raises the tip at all, say 1mm or more, there is a possibility that a miscue could occur. But if one is conscious (or subconscious) of the taper one can make an adaptation to hopefully avoid miscueing.
 

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
The cue ball is up against the rail & you have to bridge close or you are playing on a table with high curved rail frames & you want to bridge on it.

You're cueing at near the miscue area anyway & if the stroke of the conical taper raises the tip at all, say 1mm or more, there is a possibility that a miscue could occur. But if one is conscious (or subconscious) of the taper one can make an adaptation to hopefully avoid miscueing.
Once again... the tip strikes the CB in the same place you pointed it during your practice strokes - nothing changes.

pj
chgo
 

naji

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Once again... the tip strikes the CB in the same place you pointed it during your practice strokes - nothing changes.

pj
chgo

Ok PJ, you are making it difficult, say the tapper is 10 mm for argument sake, and cue is parallel to rail and sits on the rail holding it with your two fingers, as you slide the cue forward what happens then if you shoot parallel (not elevated)
 

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
Ok PJ, you are making it difficult, say the tapper is 10 mm for argument sake, and cue is parallel to rail and sits on the rail holding it with your two fingers, as you slide the cue forward what happens then if you shoot parallel (not elevated)
The same thing that happened when you were taking practice strokes and deciding where you could hit the CB. This is a non-issue.

pj
chgo
 

Dunnn51

Clear the table!
Silver Member
Verrry amusing !

English and Naji,.................... I see what you are saying ,and since I shoot an 11mm long(or conical) taper, I know exactly where you are coming from! I Even have opponents who purposely leave me against the rail so I am forced to shoot top- follow from the rail. Most (like 75%) of my miscues come from this situation. It takes a little more angle on the cue, and some dilligent concentration of the hit in those situations. In short: It does change!

Sorry PJ, . I'm disagreeing with you again.
 

ENGLISH!

Banned
Silver Member
Mr. Dunn,

You know what Mr. Naji is talking about because you've done it. I too have done it. There's no substitute for experience, good or bad.

Best Regards,
 

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
English and Naji,.................... I see what you are saying ,and since I shoot an 11mm long(or conical) taper, I know exactly where you are coming from! I Even have opponents who purposely leave me against the rail so I am forced to shoot top- follow from the rail. Most (like 75%) of my miscues come from this situation. It takes a little more angle on the cue, and some dilligent concentration of the hit in those situations. In short: It does change!

Sorry PJ, . I'm disagreeing with you again.
No prob. This isn't really important enough to continue with, but I have nothing else to do at the moment, so I'll take one more stab at explaining.

To shoot a rail-frozen shot with a level cue that has a conical taper (assuming that's possible) you don't hold it with its center axis level; you hold it with its bottom edge level - the way your practice strokes have showed you it's possible to hit the cue ball below the miscue limit. If your practice strokes haven't showed you this fact, then you need to work on your cueing precision.

pj
chgo
 

ENGLISH!

Banned
Silver Member
No prob. This isn't really important enough to continue with, but I have nothing else to do at the moment, so I'll take one more stab at explaining.

To shoot a rail-frozen shot with a level cue that has a conical taper (assuming that's possible) you don't hold it with its center axis level; you hold it with its bottom edge level - the way your practice strokes have showed you it's possible to hit the cue ball below the miscue limit. If your practice strokes haven't showed you this fact, then you need to work on your cueing precision.

pj
chgo

PJ,

You make an assumption that everyone makes practice strokes & that they do it very near the CB. When the cue ball is frozen on the rail & one is bridgeing to hit a harder shot one may choose to bridge with one's hand off of the rail frame only supported by their fingers. This is often done to allow more stroke than bridging on the rail. When doing this on some tables there is a slight danger of catching the rail where it meets the rail frame with the tip & it bouncing up. So assuring that the tip clears the rail is of some importance & is warranted of some focus. When one is trying to keep the cue as level as possible a miscue is more likely if one 'forgets' that one is playing with a conical tapered shaft. No one said it was inevitable or could not be avoided with the proper technique. Knowing & acknowledging your equipment parameters is a good thing & that is what Mr. Naji was saying.

I do not mean to offend you, but many times you seem to assume that everyone plays in the same manner that you have been taught. When doing so you seem to close your mind to other options. Please do not take offense as non is intended. I'm merely making an observation that might be helpful for you to consider in the future. I also know I take a risk in pointing this out, but I think the risk may be worth it if it helps in any way.

Regards,
 

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
ENGLISH!:
... assuring that the tip clears the rail is of some importance & is warranted of some focus.
You're careful enough to assure the tip clears the rail but not enough to see where it hits the CB?

pj
chgo
 

Dunnn51

Clear the table!
Silver Member
PJ,

You make an assumption that everyone makes practice strokes & that they do it very near the CB. When the cue ball is frozen on the rail & one is bridgeing to hit a harder shot one may choose to bridge with one's hand off of the rail frame only supported by their fingers. This is often done to allow more stroke than bridging on the rail. When doing this on some tables there is a slight danger of catching the rail where it meets the rail frame with the tip & it bouncing up. So assuring that the tip clears the rail is of some importance & is warranted of some focus. When one is trying to keep the cue as level as possible a miscue is more likely if one 'forgets' that one is playing with a conical tapered shaft. No one said it was inevitable or could not be avoided with the proper technique. Knowing & acknowledging your equipment parameters is a good thing & that is what Mr. Naji was saying.
I do not mean to offend you, but many times you seem to assume that everyone plays in the same manner that you have been taught. When doing so you seem to close your mind to other options. Please do not take offense as non is intended. I'm merely making an observation that might be helpful for you to consider in the future. I also know I take a risk in pointing this out, but I think the risk may be worth it if it helps in any way.

Regards,

Very well explained..... My sentiments too. I don't think PJ means any harm; he just fails to see other viewpoints objectively.

You do indeed learn to have a good hand-bridge from all the rail-shots you are forced to make. Again, I jack the angle of my cue,(ok jack isn't a good word to use here perhaps),which in turn gives you a little room under the miscue limit. This creates a minute amount of spin which must be adjusted for in aim on the OB when making the shot. I think everyone who has a thin tapered shaft has had their cue roll right over the CB at one time or another!
 

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
Dunnn51:
I think everyone who has a thin tapered shaft has had their cue roll right over the CB at one time or another!
Everyone with any kind of shaft has had this happen. It's called a miscue and there's no reason it should be a special problem with conical shafts. This is all unfounded speculation.

pj
chgo
 

naji

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
PJ,

You make an assumption that everyone makes practice strokes & that they do it very near the CB. When the cue ball is frozen on the rail & one is bridgeing to hit a harder shot one may choose to bridge with one's hand off of the rail frame only supported by their fingers. This is often done to allow more stroke than bridging on the rail. When doing this on some tables there is a slight danger of catching the rail where it meets the rail frame with the tip & it bouncing up. So assuring that the tip clears the rail is of some importance & is warranted of some focus. When one is trying to keep the cue as level as possible a miscue is more likely if one 'forgets' that one is playing with a conical tapered shaft. No one said it was inevitable or could not be avoided with the proper technique. Knowing & acknowledging your equipment parameters is a good thing & that is what Mr. Naji was saying.

I do not mean to offend you, but many times you seem to assume that everyone plays in the same manner that you have been taught. When doing so you seem to close your mind to other options. Please do not take offense as non is intended. I'm merely making an observation that might be helpful for you to consider in the future. I also know I take a risk in pointing this out, but I think the risk may be worth it if it helps in any way.

Regards,

Great explanation Rick. I add, we are not saying you will miss cue all the time, but the opportunity for new player is there for conical taper than a pro taper with high english-level shaft. For draw shot there is opportunity to prevents miss cue.
 

Dunnn51

Clear the table!
Silver Member
My LAST post on this issue.

me quoting you ?
Everyone with any kind of shaft has had this happen. It's called a miscue
Yepp, PJ you got that part right anyway.
and there's no reason it should be a special problem with conical shafts. This is all unfounded speculation
.Sorry PJ, yer wrong here. What Naji & ENGLISH! were referring to is that there is more of a chance for a miscue with a conical than a straight taper when using force(or top) follow, and that since the view of the sweet spot on the CB is small, it is easy to hit the rail with the cueand have it interfere with whitey on a close tight shot. For a longer shot,(when CB & OB are more than say 2 feet away), you need to hit under miscue limit and with some "ooomph" to get whitey to the OB. This creates some slight negative spin
For a sharp eye, a straight merits over a conical in these situations which is why ENGLISH made a mental note of what Naji said


Actually, its quite founded.

You seemed a bit confused over this......
I don't understand your question - maybe you can just make your point?

pj
chgo

and here as well, you don't understand what he is trying to tell you. (possibly from inexperience in making such shots?)............

You're careful enough to assure the tip clears the rail but not enough to see where it hits the CB?
pj
chgo
Honestly PJ,..... I'm NOT going to get into a "discussion" with you over it here. I am sure you are going to have some droit reply, and I think we have highjacked this thread enough without you wanting to increase your thread count replies. You are entitled to your opinion as we all are; however whether it is "unfounded" or not is subjective at best.

My apologies to the OP for going a bit off-topic. :embarrassed2:

I'm Done ! Dunnn51
 

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
there is more of a chance for a miscue with a conical than a straight taper when using force(or top) follow
No more than with any cue. If you're inexperienced or careless enough to not figure out where your cue is going to strike the cue ball before you take the shot, then it won't help you to have a pro taper and it won't hurt you to have a conical one. It's not the taper.

pj
chgo
 

ENGLISH!

Banned
Silver Member
dsoriano,

Sorry the thread went off topic after Mr. Naji tried to help.

However, I think you got a fairly good explanation of pro taper vs conical/European taper. To be honest I feel that I play a bit better with a conical than pro taper & am actually trying to decide on which LD conical I want. That may be because I learned how to play & played with a conical taper from 13 to about 33 years old.

I do not know if it has yet been mentioned in the thread but another seemingly advantage to the conical taper is that the converging outer lines of the shaft seem to 'guide' one's eyes toward the center point of the tip vs. the more parallel lines of the pro taper.

In the old days, the conical cues seemed to hit firmer & with less vibration than the pro tapers, especailly when hit with 'english' or off center. With the lamenated build of most LD shafts that whippy vibration has been taken out.

Good Luck with your decision & if you have any questions that have not been addressed please feel free to PM me if you would like MHO.

Best Regards,
 
Last edited:

alstl

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Pro taper means same shaft diameter for several inches back from the tip. Examples of pros with a long pro taper are Van Boening and Strickland.
 

ENGLISH!

Banned
Silver Member
You're careful enough to assure the tip clears the rail but not enough to see where it hits the CB?

pj
chgo

PJ,

Is that question meant to be of a sarcastic, retaliatory, insulting nature or does it have a useful purpose?

I would suggest that anyone read my entire post & put it in the context of which it was intended.

Mr. Naji was & later I was merely explaining how & why a miscue could happen if one is not consciously or subconsciously aware of the different taper of a conical shaft vs a pro taper shaft. We were merely trying to help anyone from miscueing with one in the future as Mr. Naji, I & Mr. Dunnn have.

I guess by your comments that you have never miscued because you pay such perfect attention to everything.

Have you ever played with a conical taper shaft & tried to hit a 'force follow' shot from off of the rail?

Well it is quite obvious that the three(3) of us have... & have not been 100% perfectly successful.

Regards,
 
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