What makes a break cue a break cue?

Celophanewrap

Celophanewrap

Call me Grace
Silver Member
I got to looking at the cues I call my breakers and then got to thinking about what other people break with, they're all a little different, some are really different. I personally prefer a lighter cue with a harder tip, about a 12.5 - 12.75 with a longer taper. If I change the shaft on any of them they become a decent player. So, what makes them breakers? What goes into a breaker? Is it just the tip, is it the material, the taper? Is the construction of a breaker different than the construction of a player? What makes a breaker a breaker?
 
I am no expert at all, but as far as I can see is weight, tip, shaft differences. I know when I break I like a more of a heavy cue, with a hard tip. Normally a heavy house stick will do it. But I do not own a dedicated breaking cue yet. I just break with my playing cue. I just plan to add a weight bolt to it and maybe a firmer tip if need be.
 
Tip makes all the difference for me. I use a cheap cue with a taom tip

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There is no agreed upon standard for a break cue, but a small ish tip diameter like 12.5mm and a long pro taper is not what I would wantbin a break cue.
Stiff parabolic taper, short G-10 ferrule, 13mm tip diameter is how I make break shafts.
 
Celophanewrap said:
I got to looking at the cues I call my breakers and then got to thinking about what other people break with, they're all a little different, some are really different. I personally prefer a lighter cue with a harder tip, about a 12.5 - 12.75 with a longer taper. If I change the shaft on any of them they become a decent player. So, what makes them breakers? What goes into a breaker? Is it just the tip, is it the material, the taper? Is the construction of a breaker different than the construction of a player? What makes a breaker a breaker?
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IMO mostly the Shaft and tip.

Weight is subject to ones liking.

The firmness of a shaft and a harder tip generally will be a better breaker. BUT that is again subject to ones liking. My Erwin break cue has a purple heart shaft and HAD a white diamond tip I really did not like the tip I could not control the cue ball very well. I changed the tip to Andy Gilbert's jump/break tip and love the setup.

I also had a Tony Layne jump break. IMO it was ok. I could not get used to the forward weighting of the cue. My breaks were either no making a ball or making a ball or two with no cue ball control. I sold it and went back to my Erwin.
 
Break cues are kind of like the flavor of the month.

One says use a lighter cue to get more speed.

Another claims more weight will aid in putting more force into it.

Stiff shaft.

Phenolic tip

Large diameter tip

Small diameter tip

Then it gets into kicking up your leg and moving your body forward.

Basically it come down to what you are comfortable with to have control.

I will use my playing cue, don't hit that hard but as hard as I can to keep control. I usually make balls on the break and many times the game ball. I get better results doing it way than those that hit as hard as they can, miss the target, scratch or have the CB fly off the table.

I am not a pro as most aren't. To get results like the pros you need to practice break shots for hours and then fine tune it by experimenting with break cues. The break cue will not automatically make you better at breaking

It also depends on the game you are playing.

So what makes a break cue? The player, the game they are playing and for the majority of us bangers looking for the magic feather or wand, marketing and hype. Best is to use what you can control.

🎱
 
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take everything that makes a cue hit good, remove it, and what you have left is a break cue!
 
IMO, Nothing really.

My break cue is nothing but a sneaky from the same maker as my playing cue. I dont like breaking with phenolic or other super hard tips and prefer leather so I use a Kamui Black Hard on it, which is still just a playing tip.

I think all the "break cue tech" from other companies is just a gimmick.
 
Celophanewrap said:
I got to looking at the cues I call my breakers and then got to thinking about what other people break with, they're all a little different, some are really different. I personally prefer a lighter cue with a harder tip, about a 12.5 - 12.75 with a longer taper. If I change the shaft on any of them they become a decent player. So, what makes them breakers? What goes into a breaker? Is it just the tip, is it the material, the taper? Is the construction of a breaker different than the construction of a player? What makes a breaker a breaker?
Click to expand...


I used to subscribe to the whole break cue thing (also used to
subscribe to the "LDs make your game better bs but that's another post lol).
Got one with phenolic tip, hated it, had the maker make me another
shaft and install the Kamui hard on it.
Liked it a lot and would still use it if I hadn't been honest with my self one
day and realized that my best breaks are always, no exceptions, with my player.
So I decided I'm just gonna change tips a little more often and break with
my player from now on and the break cue hasn't been in the case,
another plus making it lighter.

My break cue is very forward weighted, about 18.5 oz same as my
player and both shafts are super stiff, made from diamond wood.
 
As I understand:

The main deal with breakers centers around transmitting the most energy to the cueball, i.e, least amount of energy loss within the stick.This is accomplished with a hard tip, least amount of shaft deflection as possible (reason for break-taper), and the correct weight for each individual to transmit the most momentum to the cueball. Usually lighter is more effective than heavier but varies with the shooter.

More emphasis on durability, not playability. Tradeoff between speed vs. cueball control (reason why some go phenolic tips and some stick with a hard non-phenolic like the Samsara tips.)

If you want best performance breaking, you'll want a stick designed for it, provided you're not soft or 3/4 breaking with the intent to make a wired ball (a player is fine for that).

Hope that helps
 
To me the most important thing is a really stiff shaft.

Secondly I think more weight is good - to a point. I believe the force you can deliver is a multiple of the weight and speed. Some people say that more weight will slow down the speed of your break stroke. I say - that might be true - but not by that much. And that the increased weight makes up for the difference. But if the weight is so much that it doesn't feel right and/or messes up your stroke, then you have reached the point of diminishing returns. But I admit I haven't put this theory to the test yet. Presently I'm just using the same weight as my playing cue.

Thirdly, I like a very hard leather tip. I think with a plastic/phenolic tip, you lose too much control, which brings me to another point...

The effectiveness of your break is not just about how much force you deliver to the cue ball, but also about how accurately you hit the right spot on the rack. I've always believed that say 75% force with good accuracy is is a lot better that 100% force with low accuracy.
 
Pre-Flag Master said:
To me the most important thing is a really stiff shaft.

Secondly I think more weight is good - to a point. I believe the force you can deliver is a multiple of the weight and speed.
Click to expand...

The energy delivered is a multiple of mass (weight) and speed SQUARED.

Some people say that more weight will slow down the speed of your break stroke. I say - that might be true - but not by that much. And that the increased weight makes up for the difference.
Click to expand...

From the relation above we can see that weight needs to make up for more than the lost speed. Additionally the amount of energy that actually gets transferred is dependent on the difference in weight between the cue and the ball, but the speed transferred has a maximum of twice the initial speed of the cue. A tank moving at 1 foot per second, is not going to beat my puny 18oz cue at 25 feet per second.

We also need to bring human physiology in it. People have varying ability to move a cue forward at maximum speed. The weight of your break cue should be only as heavy as you can achieve maximum speed, but no lighter than that. Everybody is going to vary on this (and vary over their lifetime).
 
I prefer a cue with the weight and balance point as close to my player as possible, and only real difference is the type of tip. I have tried many different ones but all I use now is a Dufferin conversion with a Gator tip. Very consistent mid 20 mph breaks with superior CB control
 
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