Is it impossible to miscue when drawing with a large diameter tip?

DeadStick

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I was wondering the other day: when you use a sufficiently large tip, wouldn't draw miscues become impossible, because the cue would be stopped from going too low by the table surface?

If so, I wonder what the optimum miscue-prevention tip diameter would be. Back of the envelope guess: 50% of the radius is generally regarded as the optimal strike point for max backspin, without tempting fate to 60% out from the equator which is the hard limit iirc from Dr Dave's work. 50% of the cue ball radius is 0.5625 inches, which is 14.287 millimeters.

So would it be theoretically impossible to miscue on a draw with a 14.3mm tip and a nearly level stroke?

Not saying that the larger tip wouldn't introduce other problems in the game, or that the cloth wouldn't suffer from repeated strikes, but imagine how much more stroke you could put on the ball if you knew there was zero chance of going too low.
 
I thought the primary reason for draw miscues was the tip hitting the table?


I think that's a myth, and is instead a side-effect of a miscue. It's easy to hit too low with a 12-13mm tip, and the tip will inevitably rebound down against the cloth in that case.
 
I think that's a myth, and is instead a side-effect of a miscue. It's easy to hit too low with a 12-13mm tip, and the tip will inevitably rebound down against the cloth in that case.

What is too low? You can hit a shot with English at the edge of the cueball. Why should you not be able to draw the ball at the same extreme or close to it?
 
If draw miscues are your issue .. I hate to break it to you but the tip diameter is not the problem.
 
i am curious about this as well, recently i found that i couldn't draw the ball when using my mezz.
i kept miscuing on draw shots.

I can still draw on my 314 without any incident.

I wonder if it;s the tip.
 
What is too low? You can hit a shot with English at the edge of the cueball. Why should you not be able to draw the ball at the same extreme or close to it?

I suspect because a draw shot typically involves a lot more speed than a side-only english shot does. The reduced ability to get the cue level on a draw shot (compared to a side-only english shot) is probably a factor too.

The other factor that the OP has to consider is that the very edge of the tip doesn't make contact with the ball; the "tip contact point" is probably about 10% in from the edge of the tip. So, you'd have to add that amount to the width of the tip.
 
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What is too low? You can hit a shot with English at the edge of the cueball. Why should you not be able to draw the ball at the same extreme or close to it?


Actually, you can't. Hit further than 60% of the radius away from the equator (as measured from a perpendicular line with your shaft) with left, right, top, whatever, and you're going to miscue.

Dr Dave's site has the data: http://billiards.colostate.edu/bd_articles/2009/april09.pdf
 
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billiard-tables-3.jpg NO well maybe
 
The other factor that the OP has to consider is that the very edge of the tip doesn't make contact with the ball; the "tip contact point" is probably about 10% in from the edge of the tip. So, you'd have to add that amount to the width of the tip.


Great point. Ok, I'm gonna up my "draw shot miscue-proof" tip diameter estimate to 15mm. Time to commission some fat shafts and market them to beginners with big hands. ;)
 
I think the only way to make drawing a ball without a miscue impossible is to....



use a pencil :D



Somebody had to do it...
 
I feel 90% of my miscues come from not chalking after every shot. I am using kamui chalk now, not because it is better than master, but because it stays on the cue incase I forget to chalk
 
I've been paying extra attention to cue tip accuracy on the cue Ball. I look at the forces being introduced to the cue ball by my cue which has an 11.75mm tip. Since I started doing this, I have started to be aware of the reasons I miscue.

When I draw a line through the ball with the vector of my stroke, it becomes apparent why the cue tip reflects or in many cases for me, launches the cue call off the table. It's not about the tip.... Though I do agree that a larger tip allows for more forgiveness in regards to not miscueing because the contact area the tip has with the cue ball is indeed larger. Same way a bigger radius seems more forgiving than a dime radius tip.

Regards,

Lesh
 
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I thought the primary reason for draw miscues was the tip hitting the table?

When I draw miscue, I NEVER have two bare spots on my tip, only the one that hit the cueball. ...and I've looked many times.:sorry:

fwiw,

Jeff Livingston
 
Miscueing is due to a crooked stroke. Tip size has nothing to do with it.

Agree. I have always believed, assuming a properly groomed and chalked tip, any miscue is a poor stroke - it's that simple. BTW, I use a 14mm shaft/tip, and yes, I occasionally make a poor stroke which results a miscue.
 
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