How much difference does a balance point make?

8

8up

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I was able to compare my old cue today to my cue while my son in law was here. I have always thought the new cue felt a little heavy and different. I have no scale to weigh them but the balance point are very different. The new cue balance 1-1/2 - 2" farther back. How much of a difference will this make?

Should I try taking 1/2 ounce out of the cue to get the balance back to what feels right?

How would change the way the cue plays other than making it feel better in my hand?
 
Most people say the balance point doesn't matter because you stroke the cue as a "whole". The difference I find is in the response of the shaft on any off center/english shots. I feel more shaft flex when the weight is farther back on the cue. JMHO.
 
8up said:
I was able to compare my old cue today to my cue while my son in law was here. I have always thought the new cue felt a little heavy and different. I have no scale to weigh them but the balance point are very different. The new cue balance 1-1/2 - 2" farther back. How much of a difference will this make?

Should I try taking 1/2 ounce out of the cue to get the balance back to what feels right?

How would change the way the cue plays other than making it feel better in my hand?
Click to expand...

Does your cue have a weight bolt? If so, remove it and see how this changes the feel of your cue.

I am not so sensitive to balance points. I just don't want a cue to be overly butt-heavy or overly front-heavy.

Hope you find what you're looking for in your cue!!!

Maniac
 
Balance is very important to me. I'm a soft stroker and like a front/shaft heavy balance. 1/2oz. can make a big difference in feel.
 
It's very important to me as well. I prefer a forward balance. To me, if a cue has the balance farther back it will feel heavier when stroked....it's a false perception of course.....and that's just me.
 
Chopdoc said:
It's very important to me as well. I prefer a forward balance. To me, if a cue has the balance farther back it will feel heavier when stroked....it's a false perception of course.....and that's just me.
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+ 1

Lighter cue, forward balance point of 19 to 19 3/8" is my best combo. Tried a lot of custom cues before the light bulb finally came on. As to why I played so well with one cue vs another. I'm not saying it's for everyone, just that it works for me.


Sent from my SCH-I400 using Tapatalk
 
8up said:
I was able to compare my old cue today to my cue while my son in law was here. I have always thought the new cue felt a little heavy and different. I have no scale to weigh them but the balance point are very different. The new cue balance 1-1/2 - 2" farther back. How much of a difference will this make?

Should I try taking 1/2 ounce out of the cue to get the balance back to what feels right?

How would change the way the cue plays other than making it feel better in my hand?
Click to expand...

It does matter a lot. Wrong balance point will throw cue off a straight line cueing when doing power shot.
 
no butt weight

i believe it has a lot to do with the way a cue plays, i have always hated butt heavy cue so much, i refuse to build a cue with a weight bolt. i use a open bridge for a lot of my shots and i believe the weight forward balance point helps hold the cue to my bridge hand.
 
desi2960 said:
i believe it has a lot to do with the way a cue plays, i have always hated butt heavy cue so much, i refuse to build a cue with a weight bolt. i use a open bridge for a lot of my shots and i believe the weight forward balance point helps hold the cue to my bridge hand.
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Interesting.

I have two cues, very similar, both built by the same company. One earlier with no weight bolt, one later with a weight bolt. The resonance of the two cues is completely different. The one without the bolt has a "sweeter" more natural feeling to the hit. They are Vikings by the way. One about 80/81 and the other mid nineties. I also have a much earlier Viking but it is so different from the two later ones it isn't valid to compare it on these points.

I also have a 100 year old Brunswick two piece. Classic fat butt with no weight bolt. The balance is extremely neutral. I have not shot with it yet but it feels so odd holding it. I am betting the hit is nice but that it won't stroke right for me because of the balance being too far back. We'll see when I get it to the table.

When talking to a cue maker recently about what I would want I told him the balance was the first most important thing.

I am really beginning to like your ideas and understanding about cue construction.
 
For me to feel really comfortable with a cue, no matter what the weight of the cue happens to be, the balance point has to be forward of 18.5" from the butt cap. I started playing initially with cues that felt rear weighted and could play well with them but once I felt a neutral to forward balance cue I never looked back. The rear weighted cues made me feel like I had to hold the cue down more with my bridge hand and that I was hitting the balls with a hammer.

Forward or neutral balanced cues just felt to me like they took less effort to stroke and control the tip. Chuck said they tend to stay down better on an open bridge and I agree. I'd much rather stretch over the table to take a shot with a cue that leans into that shot naturally tracking straighter with your stroke then one that if you make a stroke error requires steering to get it's rear loaded weight back on track.

It's almost always easier to pull something in a straight line then to push it and that's the effect of a neutral to forward balanced cue.

my 2cents.

Kevin
 
balance is more important to me than the weight. i like my balance point 18.5-18.75" and i prefer weights of around 18.5-19oz, but i can play with cues up to 20oz as long as the balance is right.
 
Someone brought up weight distribution in another thread and i find this to be just as important. If you have a heavy weight bolt and a heavy joint the feel will be completely different than an evenly balanced cue.

I personally prefer a well balanced cue with a slightly rear balance point. Having the weight near my grip creates a natural swinging pendulum feel stroke while a weight forward stick for me feels like pushing the cue into the ball.
 
8up said:
I was able to compare my old cue today to my cue while my son in law was here. I have always thought the new cue felt a little heavy and different. I have no scale to weigh them but the balance point are very different. The new cue balance 1-1/2 - 2" farther back. How much of a difference will this make?

Should I try taking 1/2 ounce out of the cue to get the balance back to what feels right?

How would change the way the cue plays other than making it feel better in my hand?
Click to expand...



Well, for what's it's worth, Keith McCready has said on here that he likes forward weighted cues.

IMHO, I cannot feel a cue having a neutral balance. The Pendulum effect is minimized as you cannont feel the cue. I cannot stand cues that are too light, unless of course they are forward balanced. I can tolerate a cue that is heavy, no matter where the weight is, but then if it is too heavy you can't play as well.
 
To me, balance and taper are everything. I can do a whole lot with a range of weights if the balance and taper are to my liking. I can do a whole lot of nothing if the either of those are not to my liking.

Freddie <~~~ a whole lot of nuttin'
 
At this point the balance and weight simply feel like my different cues. My M33A with a Quick Release joint seems to carry it's weight furthest forward which seems to make sense. This thread mentions Bal pt and wt, are there other specs people keep about their sticks?
 
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I am an open-minded skeptic.

I believe the balance point might change how the cue feels, but I will believe it can change how the cue plays when I see it demonstrated on a robot.

I have never had two cues that were "identical-in-every-respect-except-for-the-balance-point."

JMHO.
 
Shaft said:
I am an open-minded skeptic.

I believe the balance point might change how the cue feels, but I will believe it can change how the cue plays when I see it demonstrated on a robot.

I have never had two cues that were "identical-in-every-respect-except-for-the-balance-point."

JMHO.
Click to expand...

the robot holds the cue in the same spot and the weight distribution means nothing. It does not know if its back heavy or front heavy it just holds it level. When I got the new cue it had more weight to the rear which changed my stroke and had my tip coming up through the ball using the same (flawed maybe) stroke. I removed the 1oz weight bolt which changed the balance point making it feel right and I started making shots that I had been mising often after I changed cues.
 
The cue is THE most personal instrument of play in sports...mmmm maybe along with the golf club. It is just you, the cue, the ball, and a whole lot of quiet to think. This makes every aspect of a cue's spec a personal preference. Everything about the striking of the ball is nuanced, so hell yeah the bp makes a difference.
 
Since, regardless of where the balance point is, it is almost always forward of the grip hand, and the position of the balance point merely changes how the weight is distributed between the two hands:
1. More weight on the bridge, or
2. More weight in the grip
If we are just comparing choices of balance points, all other things being equal, you have not changed the total weight or the total mass. By moving the balance point forward you may have reduced the moment of inertia slightly, but that would not make the cue more stable in the stroke.

And, since the avilable range of BP varies by only a few inches between most cues, the changein weight distribution would be very slight - all other things being equal. (That is an important phrase here.)

When you remove weight bolts you are doing more than merely shifting the BP forward. You are removing weight (mass) as well.

So, I will say again, I have never owned two cues, and I doubt many people have, that are identical in every respect (size, weight, taper, stiffness) except for the balance point. It would be a bit of a challenge to make a pair of cues like that. Definitely a special order.

I am open minded. I also respect your preferences, whatever they may be.
 
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