Break cues - Does the butt have an impact?

[Texas3cushion]

I think it's important because the longer your shaft is in front of your bridge hand, the more power/leverage you have when going to break.

Also, I would be surprised if you guys don't move your playing hand and bridge hand for different shots. I shorten up my stroke on short ticky and finesse shots. while I lengthen my stroke for long power shots.

but I think we're getting away from the conversation with that a little.

how does the diameter and taper of a butt makes one break harder?

 

[NathanDetroit]

Mosconi and Greenleaf and other old timers ran 100's and probably didn't think about their cues much.
If it felt good they played with it.
I know back in the '60's we didn't talk about cues, specs,tips or chalk at all.

How was this better?

 

[measureman]

How was this better?

I didn't say it was better,just different.

 

[garczar]

That was Anal the Greek from Queens

He always came in the back door of the poolhall.

 

[measureman]

He always came in the back door of the poolhall.

… Wha, yeah
C'mon, yeah
Yeah, c'mon, yeah
… Oh, yeah, ma
Yeah, I'm a back door man
I'm a back door man
The men don't know
But the little girls understand
… Hey, all you people that tryin' to sleep
I'm out to make it with my midnight dream, yeah
'Cause I'm a back door man
The men don't know
But the little girls understand, all right, yeah
… You men eat your dinner, eat your pork and beans
I eat more chicken than any man ever seen, yeah, yeah
I'm a back door man, whoa
The men don't know
But the little girls understand
… Well, I'm a back door man
I'm a back door man
Whoa, baby, I'm a back door man
The men don't know
But the little girls understand

 

[garczar]

How was this better?

'simpler' may be a better term. a good player can play great pool even with a pos cue. seen it happen a lot. the importance of the cue IS real but this is often way overblown. i see guys all the time at the hall with $1000+ cues that can't play a lick. players back in the day just got one that felt right and off they went.

 

[measureman]

'simpler' may be a better term. a good player can play great pool even with a pos cue. seen it happen a lot. the importance of the cue IS real but this is often way overblown. i see guys all the time at the hall with $1000+ cues that can't play a lick. players back in the day just got one that felt right and off they went.

1963 I ran 101 balls with a house cue,slow cloth,unknown tip and the old composition balls and probably Masters chalk on an old Anniversary table.
But that is how we played back then,like the old time golfers with hickory shafts and wooden heads.

 

[Texas Carom Club]

How was this better?

just shows how all this obsession over every detail doesnt add up to making a better player

 

[Texas3cushion]

just shows how all this obsession over every detail doesnt add up to making a better player

I don't think that's true. how would one prove/disprove that?

My preference of my playing cue is because I can DO MORE with it than other cues. Or it takes less effort to do the same thing.

So I prefer my cue because it does what I need to do better.

Same with my break cue.

The magic rack is better for getting a better break than the triangle is. Better breaks mean more run-outs, therefore playing better.

 

[garczar]

I don't think that's true. how would one prove/disprove that?

My preference of my playing cue is because I can DO MORE with it than other cues. Or it takes less effort to do the same thing.

So I prefer my cue because it does what I need to do better.

Same with my break cue.

The magic rack is better for getting a better break than the triangle is. Better breaks mean more run-outs, therefore playing better.

A LOT of this (with every player) is in their heads. If someone can play well they will play well with just about any cue. I like my Mezz a lot but i try other cues all the time and within minutes usually my game is the same. Cue is an inanimate object and does NOTHING until we as players put in gear. They can't do magic tricks.

 

[Texas3cushion]

Garczar, for the sake of the argument, let's take it to the extreme. How many players would play better with no tip on their cue?

 

[Texas3cushion]

There is a reason why beating people with a broom stick was always a ridiculous handicap.

 

[fastone371]

Depends on what you mean by "play". Pocket the ball as easily, yes. Have the same balance, hit feel, and make you feel all nice and fuzzy that you own one, no. There is nothing past the joint of the shaft that will help anyone pocket a ball or enable it to move in any way different outside of what the person can do with it. Sure, a super light or heavy butt will have an effect on the stoke, but given a similar enough build, the butt makes no difference in the performance. Having a $40,000 custom interior or paint in a Ferrari won't make it corner or accelerate any faster than a cheaper version of the same car model, same thing goes for the cue butt. It may feel nicer, but it won't pocket the balls any better with the same shaft.

However, the term "how a cue plays" is probably thought by most to be a combination of deflection, the action it gets on the cueball, hit feel, construction quality, taper and diameter of the shaft and butt, and balance all combined into what one would feel was a good thing to have.

Having a cue from a well-known maker is as much for the art and cachet as anything else. I have played with some cues in the multi-thousand-dollar range that I don't like how the hit was as much as my $75 Lucky cue with its stock shaft that I used as my travel cue. The cue in my avatar is from Arthur, was ivory inlays, joint and ferrule, all highly sought after things. I played with it for maybe a few months before trading it for something else, did not like how it hit and moved the cueball much at all. Still liked having it to have it.

The butt may not make much difference when trying to pocket balls but it can have a huge effect on how the cue feels and sounds.m I have a Z3 for my Schon that also fits my original Titlist. That shaft feels a lot nicer on the Titlist than it does on the Schon.

 

[Texas3cushion]

If a Predator break shaft performs at 100 percent with the matching 14oz Predator Butt, will the same shaft perform at 100 percent with a 14 oz Players butt?

Fish2 I would recommend getting a few extensions and trying out different tips and shafts. It's easy to overcomplicate how to break better and you can get all caught up in the equipment labyrinth.

And most of all work on your break technique. There is probably more value in that than your equipment. I break with a super light 14oz cue with a wooden maple shaft that has a white diamond tip on it. which is a great tip.

Also trying breaking from the rail. this will lengthen your bridge and create more power.

 

[garczar]

Garczar, for the sake of the argument, let's take it to the extreme. How many players would play better with no tip on their cue?

no one would so why even ask? i just don't like using equipment as a 'mental crutch'. BTW, i have seen a really good player, Fat Randy Wallace, use a cue with no tip as part of a proposition bet. He ran two racks of 9b on a Valley with it. Won the bet too. Just played center-ball shots. He was stealing and the other guy thought he was. Classic.

 

[Texas Carom Club]

I don't think that's true. how would one prove/disprove that?

My preference of my playing cue is because I can DO MORE with it than other cues. Or it takes less effort to do the same thing.

So I prefer my cue because it does what I need to do better.

Same with my break cue.

The magic rack is better for getting a better break than the triangle is. Better breaks mean more run-outs, therefore playing better.

the cue specs are never the reason why a shot is missed or made

 

[Texas3cushion]

the cue specs are never the reason why a shot is missed or made

Not sure how one would prove that. Maybe they would have hit the object ball straighter with a low-deflection shaft while using a ton of spin.

 

[Texas Carom Club]

Not sure how one would prove that. Maybe they would have hit the object ball straighter with a low-deflection shaft while using a ton of spin.

not sure it needs to be proven

 

[atlas333]

Why is that important?

JK

 

[Texas3cushion]

not sure it needs to be proven

Can't remember where I read this, maybe Predators website.

But I remember it was once said that a 12.4 tip diameter is the most optimal diameter for pocketing balls. while an 11.8 diameter would be more difficult to pocket balls with yet easier to get spin.