advantages of heavy cues

D

deanoc

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
what are the advantages of a heavy cue

i know many champions who have played 21 oz and more

i just bought a 21oz cue from bob farr

the reason i like them is i can hit hard shots without swing as hard

please list advantages and your names if you have played or are now playing a cue over 20 oz
 
Dean, congratulations on picking up the Bob Owen cue. That cue caught my eye, too.

As a caveat in answering your question, I am not a champion. I prefer heavier cues (>19.3 oz.), forward balance (>19.5”), traditional heavier (>4 oz.), thicker shafts (>=13 mm), and MH/H tips. Like my golf swing, I play better pool when my stroke is more simple. I have to keep telling myself to quit trying to kill the object ball. For me, cues with these specifications allow for shooting with a very light touch. While heavier cues may have been favored on older slower cloth, those cues do not present control problems for me on Simonis. I don’t find advantages in LD shafts. For the past two years or so, I gravitated toward my Szamboti cue at 20.4 oz. Gus was the master of 20+ oz.

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showpost.php?p=3765138&postcount=33

Congratulations again,
Greg
 
deanoc said:
what are the advantages of a heavy cue

i know many champions who have played 21 oz and more

i just bought a 21oz cue from bob farr

the reason i like them is i can hit hard shots without swing as hard

please list advantages and your names if you have played or are now playing a cue over 20 oz
Click to expand...

I think a heavy cue is a little steadier in the hand especially for a beginner. A heavy cue does get follow better.

As ability increases, players tend to gravitate to lighter cues. Lighter cues seem to get draw better because you can accelerate them faster for the snap needed.

just my opinion


Mim
 
I am betting that once you get used to playing with ANY weight cue, your playing ability will be just about the same.

Just as with Earl, one minute he has a long cue, heavy cue, light cue, short cue, batting gloves, weights, earphones, artificial finger tips, who knows what else.
 
Dean

Here's my opinion (and I'm no champion). I think heavier cues do move the ball around with less effort, but for that gain, the player sacrifices a certain amount of feel. I think that modern cues are going lighter and lighter as the equipment gets faster, both rails and cloth. It takes less weight and effort to move the ball on modern tables, so a player can go lighter in the cue and have more feel and still get cue ball movement.

Lots of champs played with heavy cues, but they were playing on nappy tables with deadish rails and needed the help to move the ball around.

Same thing when I see guys raving about the hit of their Gus or George and talking about how those cues move the ball so great. I think what's really happening is those cues are heavier (made for old tables) so when you hit them on modern equipment the change feels stunning. That's not to say that I don't think those cues have value, I just don't think its in the hit.

Maybe more than you asked for, but that's my ramble.

Thanks

Kevin
 
I play with a 20.5 oz cue and I find I can get more action with less effort and can play with a smooth, flowing stroke. With a lighter cue, however, I feel accurate with shots that require a jab stroke and especially hitting near center ball. Kvnbrwr is right as well, as tables have gotten faster, cues have gotten lighter to match.

I have had the pleasure to meet some great players and always ask if I can hold their cues and like the OP said, you'd be surprised how many champions play with heavier cues. (Younger pros seem to lean towards ligter cues though).
Bustamante's cue was heavier than my own at close to or over 21 oz and he has one of the smoothest strokes out there. I believe that a heavier cue combined with a perfectly-timed stroke is what allows players like Efren and Busty to get godly action with minimal power.
 
My break cue comes in at 23.5. My playing cue weighs about 19 with a forward weight that gives it a slightly lighter feel

I've watched a lot of people play and or break with both sides of the coin.

I only use my 23.5 for breaking. I don't have to lean on it or jump 12' in the air to get a good break. For me it's an energy saver. I just swing the arm and let the weight of the cue do the work but I would also have to follow up and agree with the other reply in that you do have a sacrifice of feel.
 
I like a 21 oz cue. Corey Deuel came through and I asked him the weight of his cue and he said 21 ounce.

The MIZ used a 21 oz. I think the heavier cue actually gives you better touch and you can do more with less effort.
 
In my view a 19.25 ounce cue (which I use) is not a heavy cue. A heavy cue to me is 21 and 22 ounces.
The trade off between the two, of course, is control. A light cue is more easily controlled at higher stroke speeds, where as a heavy cue is less so, generally speaking. :smile:
 
Matt_24 said:
I like a 21 oz cue. Corey Deuel came through and I asked him the weight of his cue and he said 21 ounce.

The MIZ used a 21 oz. I think the heavier cue actually gives you better touch and you can do more with less effort.
Click to expand...

But don't you get tired lugging that club around all night?

Oh wait, maybe you aren't a million years old like me.

Kevin
 
its a funny thing but at clubs with fast green
members play heavy putters
more weight more feel of speed

we have heard about the theory of touch improving with lighter cues
at the same time we hear of effryn,bustamonte,cory and steve using heavy cues

i wonder how many people have actually developed their opinions from experiment
and given it a fair test

i have played light cues,but always had trouble hitting shots requiring speed
 
deanoc said:
its a funny thing but at clubs with fast green
members play heavy putters
more weight more feel of speed

we have heard about the theory of touch improving with lighter cues
at the same time we hear of effryn,bustamonte,cory and steve using heavy cues

i wonder how many people have actually developed their opinions from experiment
and given it a fair test

i have played light cues,but always had trouble hitting shots requiring speed
Click to expand...

You might be on to something there Dean.
 
I was introduced to pool before the color of money came out. I recall older cues were between (19-21) ,shorter (57") and stance were more upright.
 
kvinbrwr said:
But don't you get tired lugging that club around all night?

Oh wait, maybe you aren't a million years old like me.

Kevin
Click to expand...

I have much better control and accuracy with the heavier cue. In my personal playing cue my cue repair guy has played with the weight placement as well and the balance...and it is so fine tuned for me that I can't play for crap with other cues. I like a forward balance/forward grip.
 
deanoc said:
its a funny thing but at clubs with fast green
members play heavy putters
more weight more feel of speed

we have heard about the theory of touch improving with lighter cues
at the same time we hear of effryn,bustamonte,cory and steve using heavy cues

i wonder how many people have actually developed their opinions from experiment
and given it a fair test

i have played light cues,but always had trouble hitting shots requiring speed
Click to expand...

This is exactly right. I think that heavier cues are better for faster tables for that "feel" and "speed judgement". Efren used to have like a 26 oz $100 cue when that he used for years. I heard Johnny Archer describing it in an old Accu-Stats tape and he said it was a beast of cue. Of course I've hit with Brandon Shuff's cue here at Diamonds and that thing is SUPER LIGHT (to me), but Brandon plays world class with it, so as with anything, everyone is different.
 
I've played with cues from 16.5-24oz and I have real trouble controlling draw and follow with heavier cues. I don't know about a heavier cue making it easier to draw the CB, in my experience its all pretty much the same.

For break cues I prefer really light, I break with 16.5oz. I much prefer to have the extra acceleration compared to the extra momentum, but each to their own.

My playing cue is 18.2oz, and it suits me perfectly. Cue weight is very subjective to personal preference and there is no "a heavy cue will let you draw the CB easier". For some maybe, for others, maybe not. There are other components of a cue that are far more important to being able to move the CB around with less effort, and the number 1 thing for moving the CB around easier isn't even the cue...its your technique IMO.

Regards,
 
Matt_24 said:
I think the heavier cue actually gives you better touch
Click to expand...
Assuming by "touch" you mean speed control...

You have to stroke a lighter cue faster than a heavier cue to achieve the same cue ball speed. In other words, with a lighter cue it takes a wider range of stroke speeds to produce the same range of cue ball speeds, which makes it possible to have finer control of cue ball speed.

and [with a heavier cue] you can do more with less effort.
Click to expand...
With a heavier cue you get the same cue ball speed with less stroke speed, but it takes the same amount of effort to move the heavier cue at that slower speed. Maybe what you're experiencing is that slower stroke speeds are better matched to your stroke speed "comfort zone".

pj
chgo
 
My cue is around 20.5.
I find that, because I don't play an awful lot and my stroke isn't all that great, that it helps keep a level stroke. My cue is also forward balanced for the exact same reason.
I can shoot with a lighter cue but not nearly as well.
 
In terms of straight stroke...

If you have a pendulum type of stroke, a heavier cue does all the work for you and you basically let your arm drop and you stroke straight.

With a lighter cue, there is the possibility that muscle tightness in your arm (due to whayever reason) might cause you to pull the cue one way or the other, and prevent you from stroking straight due to some hitch.

If you have muscle tightness that might affect your stroke, the heavier cues weight, "pulls through" and doesn't let muscle fatigue or tightness affect your stroke to the same degree that it might with a lighter cue.

This does not apply to chicken wings, sidearms, wrist undercurl cradles, or shoulder pumps (think Mike Davis), only to pendulum strokes.
 
Six Shooter said:
My break cue comes in at 23.5. My playing cue weighs about 19 with a forward weight that gives it a slightly lighter feel

I've watched a lot of people play and or break with both sides of the coin.

I only use my 23.5 for breaking. I don't have to lean on it or jump 12' in the air to get a good break. For me it's an energy saver. I just swing the arm and let the weight of the cue do the work but I would also have to follow up and agree with the other reply in that you do have a sacrifice of feel.
Click to expand...
I'm with you with the break cue.I've experimented for
years with different weights,and for me a heavy breaker works much
better.My player is 20 plus but the odd thing is,that I can play well with
a lighter cue but find myself playing quicker.
With a heavier playing cue I never play as quick due to the difference
the weight plays on my swing arm.
 
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