Good post Bob. FYI, I just added a quote on the light grip vs. tight grip resource page.
Regards,
Dave
Regards,
Dave
The main effect on the hit of a tighter grip -- assuming you can achieve the same tip offset and stick speed at impact -- will be that the effective mass of the stick will be slightly greater. As I recall, it was about 1% for a typical grip due to the softness of the flesh of the hand, which keeps the majority of the weight of the hand from really participating in the collision.
(During the time of tip-ball contact, the hand doesn't have time to "wind up" to provide significant additional force on the cue stick. In contrast, as the tip compresses for about half a millisecond (0.0005 seconds) it is hard enough that the tip-ball force builds to around 100 pounds. That is from a compression of about 1-2 millimeters. Most of the compression of the stick is in the tip rather than in the ferrule, shaft, joint and butt, but those other parts of the cue also compress during tip-ball contact.)
So, let's suppose that by gripping really tightly you could get the hand to increase the effective weight of the cue by 3% instead of the normal 1% for a normal grip. Instead of that death grip, you could get the same result by adding 2% extra weight to the stick or about 0.4 ounces.
You could also get the same result by increasing the speed of the stick by about 1% with your normal grip, because speed is more effective than stick weight, percentage wise, for getting more spin and speed on the cue ball.