Break cue.. the most over hyped cue in our bag?

trob

trob

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I want to start this by saying this is just my personal experience . We are all different so for you it may not be the same. If a break cue helped your break your not wrong. but I feel that expensive break cues are way over hyped. At the expo this year I bought the new bk rush and air rush. While I think the air rush is head and shoulders better then then the air 2 I was using the bk rush has added nothing to my break. I broke every bit as good with my bk2. Well recently I’ve had some tip issues On my bk rush that I’m not going to go into but I had it replaced and it came off. So I grabbed a sneaky Pete with a medium tip out of the rack at home and found I was getting the same break playing 9 ball. Still dropping the wing ball. Still stoping the cue ball in the center of the table. Now I don’t break hard. I find it unnecessary on a barbox. I stay down and shoot through the ball with the same stroke With I would say and 8 out of 10 power wise. I don’t break coming out of my shoes like some.

Then I pulled out a 314/2 shaft I have and broke with that On my bk rush butt. Again with a medium tip (back then that what I preferred) and honestly I like it better then the revo shaft that was on it. I was Averaging 2 balls on the break. Easy to control the cue ball And just had a better feel at contact.

Maybe 9 foot tables its different. Maybe you can take advantage of what a break cue with break tips can do But honestly I think a lot of us our wasting our money on these cues. I’m not saying don’t have a break cue. I play with soft tips now and I’d rather not beat that tip up breaking but do you really need to blow $800 on the new predator or any break cue for that matter. For me no.
 
I use an $80 brake cue that came with the set of cues with my table.
I use it to take the wear and tear off my z2-S-tuned shaft.
It also has a harder tip on it.

So, I completely agree with you on the expensive part, just not on the "other than my play cue" part.
 
Yep, I have a shitty 30€ hybrid jump/break cue with a phenolic tip. For me, the break cue's only purpose is to not damage the playing cue.

As for the jump cue, I don't really mind it being low quality. I'm a bad jumper but a good kicker, so usually I'll just go for a kick when most pros would jump. Maybe some day I'll learn it properly...
 
I have a BK a rush and I really like it, it feels great as a break cue, but I don’t think it breaks noticeably better than my wood shaft OB Break cue. A hard tip and a stiff shaft are really all one needs. Still don’t regret getting the BK Rush, it does the job wonderfully, but it’s certainly far from necessary
 
I have an elite break cue that I bought years ago for $120 or something. Wood pin. Ungodly heavy weight bolt. Once the weight bolt is removed, it's a really sporty break cue. I even changed the tip to a HH2 and that improved it a lot. They still sell them and IMO it's got good bang for the buck.

I'm not gonna lie though, I've been eyeing the Rhino jump cue that has a US flag on it. There is a package deal where you can get it, a break cue and a playing cue. I might just do that. They are a bit flashy but I wouldn't mind trying a different break cue.
 
GoldCrown said:
Total waste of money. Only reason I use one is not to damage the playing cue. The tip and ferrule are made for breaking. My break cue is made by CueTec.. around $150
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I spent about a hundred or less on my J&J about 5 to 10 years ago. It hits hard/transfers energy to the cue-ball well, and saves the wear and tear on my players. One of the best $100 bucks I've ever spent.
👍
 
Oikawa said:
Yep, I have a shitty 30€ hybrid jump/break cue with a phenolic tip. For me, the break cue's only purpose is to not damage the playing cue.

As for the jump cue, I don't really mind it being low quality. I'm a bad jumper but a good kicker, so usually I'll just go for a kick when most pros would jump. Maybe some day I'll learn it properly...
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you know there is something to be said for the jump cue lol some people have a natural skill. A friend I’ve been playing for years with has an old Lucasi jump cue. Like from when jump cues first hit the market and he makes everything with it lol I’m talking long jumps cutting in the pocket from center table lol
 
j2pac said:
I spent about a hundred or less on my J&J about 5 to 10 years ago. It hits hard/transfers energy to the cue-ball well, and saves the wear and tear on my players. One of the best $100 bucks I've ever spent.
👍
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They always get brought up as best bang for your buck for years and years
 
I have a Dufferin Sneaky Pete I bought over 30 years ago and it was pretty cheap at the time. It's 16 oz and had the shaft turned down to 11.5 mm with a Le Pro tip. I had a collar installed in the joint so it didn't look like a house cue. I break pretty good with it and can't see myself upgrading.
 
I use a bk rush. I like it. Do I think it’s worth the $700 I paid, not at all. Now they are $850 which is crazy. I bought a used poison break cue years ago for $80. I could use it instead of the rush and not feel hindered in any way.
 
Buy the Predator break speed app for $4.99. It works like sonar. I think you will find there is basically no difference between cues and CB speed. It's all technique.

apps.apple.com

‎Break Speed

‎How Fast Is Your Break? Break Speed Powered By Predator can tell you! To use the app, set your phone on the rail and tap the screen. Now you're ready to break. Tap the screen once again after your break and the app will display your Break Speed speed. Break Speed is more than 10x the accuracy...
apps.apple.com
 
j2pac said:
I spent about a hundred or less on my J&J about 5 to 10 years ago. It hits hard/transfers energy to the cue-ball well, and saves the wear and tear on my players. One of the best $100 bucks I've ever spent.
👍
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Same here, J&J, $80 about 15 years ago.

I don't hit a ton anyway.

I watched someone use a BK Rush at league a few weeks ago, and raved about it, especially for jumping (we have to use a full-length cue to jump with, if we're going to bother) so I looked them up. Damned near choked when I saw the price. I'll stick with my cheap a$$ J&J.
 
To me spending top dollar on those new break cues is like shelling out $100k for a car to use at the drag strip. $10k to $30k with the appropriate modifying would work fine.
 
I sold my BK Rush within 6 months of purchase - I break with a cheap cue with a fairly stiff 13mm triangle tipped shaft .
I wanted to go state of the art with an $800 Predator break cue and It added nothing to my cheap $100 break cue - I think that good breaking technique is the key to success for almost everyone.
 
justadub said:
Same here, J&J, $80 about 15 years ago.

I don't hit a ton anyway.

I watched someone use a BK Rush at league a few weeks ago, and raved about it, especially for jumping (we have to use a full-length cue to jump with, if we're going to bother) so I looked them up. Damned near choked when I saw the price. I'll stick with my cheap a$$ J&J.
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Yes Sir. My J&J does everything I need it to do. Absolutely a great value IMO.
 
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