A few quick questions

SMG

SMG

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hello I will make this as short as possible. Your answers and suggestions are much appreciated.

I have been playing with a 18-18.9 oz cue with 12mm-12.5 mm tip and shaft diameter for awhile now (6-12 months) and recently been to a few bars which I do not bring my cue into. I use the bar cues which are 13 mm and I have noticed or at least think I have noticed that I am more consistently pocketing balls and getting better shape with the bar cues then with my playing cue. I also played with a friends cue that is 13mm tip and about 20-21 oz. and had the same "improved" performance. Is it that my ''natural stroke'' with my cue is the difference in me noticing the difference in results?
Does the heavier cue and wider diameter make-up for my flaws more?
 
SMG said:
Hello I will make this as short as possible. Your answers and suggestions are much appreciated.

I have been playing with a 18-18.9 oz cue with 12mm-12.5 mm tip and shaft diameter for awhile now (6-12 months) and recently been to a few bars which I do not bring my cue into. I use the bar cues which are 13 mm and I have noticed or at least think I have noticed that I am more consistently pocketing balls and getting better shape with the bar cues then with my playing cue. I also played with a friends cue that is 13mm tip and about 20-21 oz. and had the same "improved" performance. Is it that my ''natural stroke'' with my cue is the difference in me noticing the difference in results?
Does the heavier cue and wider diameter make-up for my flaws more?
Click to expand...

If what you're doing is working, don't screw it up by over-analyzing it. Relax and enjoy it, and forget about "why" - and forget about what you're playing with. Just shoot pool.
 
Blackjack said:
If what you're doing is working, don't screw it up by over-analyzing it. Relax and enjoy it, and forget about "why" - and forget about what you're playing with. Just shoot pool.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's just I would like to shoot as well as I do with my personal playing cue as I do with a bar cue. I was thinking maybe the standard 13mm and heavier weighted cues are just more natural for me and my stroke/style of play. I know with practice it becomes what you get used to but I was just wanting insight on what other people thought. Thanks.
 
Pool is about swinging a weight in a straight line. It is possible a heavier cue feels more natural to swing than your lighter cue. If it travels straighter then your accuracy will be improved. A larger tip can be more forgiving on slight miss-hits than a smaller one.

I think you need to ask yourself which one feels comfortable to swing. That and do you prefer the feel of the larger shaft size over the smaller one. At some point when or if you upgrade your cue you'll need to know the specs that work for you. No one can answer your question for certain. All they can do is similar to how I answered. Its up to you to do the testing to find out what you like..

Rod
 
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Don't know if this is true for everyone but when play with a heavier cue I feel like my aim is more accurate but i lose a bit of my touch when is comes to position and vice versa when I play with a lighter cue.
 
some possibilities

SMG said:
Hello I will make this as short as possible. Your answers and suggestions are much appreciated.

I have been playing with a 18-18.9 oz cue with 12mm-12.5 mm tip and shaft diameter for awhile now (6-12 months) and recently been to a few bars which I do not bring my cue into. I use the bar cues which are 13 mm and I have noticed or at least think I have noticed that I am more consistently pocketing balls and getting better shape with the bar cues then with my playing cue. I also played with a friends cue that is 13mm tip and about 20-21 oz. and had the same "improved" performance. Is it that my ''natural stroke'' with my cue is the difference in me noticing the difference in results?
Does the heavier cue and wider diameter make-up for my flaws more?
Click to expand...


First off, most people building cues with a hinge in the middle are just trying to make them play as well as a decent one piece cue. Quite a few custom and higher end production companies don't meet that goal and very very few don't let a stinker get out the door now and then.

Something else to consider is that we always pay a little more attention when we make any change so you may be seeing improved play because of the "any change is better" syndrome.

Another possibility, particularly if you use a long bridge length, is that a 13mm tip and shaft is a little more tolerant of small errors than a 12-12.5mm shaft and tip. You are making a lot of changes in the way a cue plays just taking .25mm off of the shaft particularly if it has a long "pro taper".

The best playing cue I ever owned didn't have a hinge in it. The one piece cue was just too awkward to tote around so I went back to my hinged cue, a Meucci original, that didn't play as well for me. As I have commented many times on here, for the first six months or so I owned the Meucci I was subject to grab a house cue when I was playing poorly. When I did my game jumped too. Finally adapted fully to the Meucci and it played well but I never liked it as well as my one piece twelve dollar cue with a ten dollar tip on it.

Hu
 
SMG said:
... Does the heavier cue and wider diameter make-up for my flaws more?
Click to expand...
It might be that your cue puts side spin on the ball differently. Do you particularly notice that your side spin shots are more accurate?
 
your personal cue doesn't get the job done.the cue ball pushes your personal stick around. the house cue pushes the ball around.sell your cue and look for something that moves the cue ball with less work.

bill
 
SMG said:
Hello I will make this as short as possible. Your answers and suggestions are much appreciated.

I have been playing with a 18-18.9 oz cue with 12mm-12.5 mm tip and shaft diameter for awhile now (6-12 months) and recently been to a few bars which I do not bring my cue into. I use the bar cues which are 13 mm and I have noticed or at least think I have noticed that I am more consistently pocketing balls and getting better shape with the bar cues then with my playing cue. I also played with a friends cue that is 13mm tip and about 20-21 oz. and had the same "improved" performance. Is it that my ''natural stroke'' with my cue is the difference in me noticing the difference in results?
Does the heavier cue and wider diameter make-up for my flaws more?
Click to expand...

It could very well be that the increase in pocketing is just in your normal range of ball pocketing variance. It could be many things, the cue is near the bottom of my list (unless something is broken/in need of repair on your two piece cue). It could be as simple as comfort or as I stated above, it could just be your normal variance.
 
Another thing to think about is that most bar cues are rear-weighted and the butts are rather meaty....and it's fairly noticeable.


Lisa
 
Sometimes changing cues to ANY different weight, etc. causes me to play better, I have no idea why. I began playing in 1955 with a bumper table cue, then 57", 17 oz. Used bar cues at 57/18, then 57/19, then 58/19, then 60/21 (!), then back to 58/19 by 1970. The bar cues were around 12.5 mm; the long cue was 13.5. I stuck pretty much to 58/19/12.5 purchased cues till '91 when the trend was back to 13 and 13.5 mm. I went back to the 12.5 mm when the Predators appeared. Hard to say which performed the best, so many variable factors. I still like a little shorter cue for bar boxes and a little more weight on nappy cloth. By the way, I'm 5'8". I think very tall or very short players should at least try longer or shorter cues. The size of your hands is another factor. Have I confused you enough? My advice is - experiment!
 
Okay here is my opinion.
I think it has nothing to do with your cue, shaft, weight, etc...
This is all mental.
What happenes when you pick up a different cue than your own is that you really focus what is different.

Does not matter if you are using the latest LD shaft made with ??? your favorite custome cue builder.

Most of us, if not all, will be very conscious of what the cue does or does not do. Bascailly you slow everything down and you become very aware of your stroke, tip, chalk, speed etc...

That is why you see everyone who gets a new cue will say wow! My new cue does this and that. Kind like the new car smell.

My guess is your current cue is just fine. Just start paying attention to your storke and how it feels all over again. Most likely you will pocketing balls again in no time.

Another point: I think I did read somehwere that it is easier to pocket balls with a bigger tip compared to a smaller tip. The trade off is that you can spin the ball more/easier with a smaller tip. Maybe some here has more info on that.
 
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