Balance point and deflection

straightline said:
Intuitively reasoned the fat tip covered such a (seemingly) big area that a couple millimeters give or take wouldn't matter. Never checked that or gave it much thought. I was able to bang out threes on the fly though. All dead outs. This is with the ball spinning like a top on straight ins too. :ROFLMAO:
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Sounds like you've got a natural dip in your forward stroke. That's why you get the spin on straight ins. You're not hitting straight in the CB. Just a guess, but try decelerating a bit on the forward stroke. Go slower and concentrate on keeping that pendulum as straight as you possibly can. Takes work, but it can be done.
Might feel odd for a bit, but small price to pay for re
HawaiianEye said:
When you miscue, you usually have hit the cue ball too far out on the edge with the edge of your tip. More than likely without enough chalk.

A 14mm gives you a "tad" more tip egde to grip the cue ball.

I also always kept a nickel curvature on my tip rather than a dime so that it wasn't so rounded.

A fat shaft seems to give a "smoother" ride, too.

Another reason I gravitated to a 14mm was because there was more money to be made playing on bar tables than there was on big tables. Bar tables always used a BIG cue ball back then.
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I knew guys who always had spin on their shots even when trying for dead stop mid table. They shaped their tip so there was a bit of a flat spot on top. Seemed to help dampen some of the unintended spin.
Idk why or how. Just what I heard.
 
HawaiianEye said:
When you miscue, you usually have hit the cue ball too far out on the edge with the edge of your tip. More than likely without enough chalk.

A 14mm gives you a "tad" more tip egde to grip the cue ball.

I also always kept a nickel curvature on my tip rather than a dime so that it wasn't so rounded.

A fat shaft seems to give a "smoother" ride, too.

Another reason I gravitated to a 14mm was because there was more money to be made playing on bar tables than there was on big tables. Bar tables always used a BIG cue ball back then.
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Amen brother!!😂
 
hello said:
Thanks, thats what I was suspecting, I mean if you have a shaft the width of the cueball, you won't have any deflection, wanted or unwanted :D
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I started with larger bcuz I had glitch in my forward stroke on certain shots. Seemed to follow my arms natural bend angle. B4 fixing that, the larger shaft helped in the meantime...
 
maha said:
ive always played with a 13 or even 14. and cant remember deflection being more than a slight adjustment on your aim and speed.

yet on here it seems everyone agonizes over it. so it must be people missing shots and thinking it was deflection that caused their misses.

years back no one even thought about it and just adjusted your aim and stroke for the amount of english you put on the shot.
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Stroke errors. Mechanics. Deflection isn't the enemy people assume it to be.
 
garczar said:
Problem with larger diameter wood shafts is the increase in mass. They squirt like hell. Sure you can get used to it but why? Yrs ago i had Joss with 14's(no clue why i ordered them) and after about a month i sent 'em back to be turned down. They were ok on the barbox but on a 9ft not so much.
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Exactly!!👍🏻
 
garczar said:
Problem with larger diameter wood shafts is the increase in mass. They squirt like hell. Sure you can get used to it but why? Yrs ago i had Joss with 14's(no clue why i ordered them) and after about a month i sent 'em back to be turned down. They were ok on the barbox but on a 9ft not so much.
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Would you say the smaller the tip size the less deflection..?I heard that the Predator 314 really eliminated deflection but I never tried a low deflection shaft...
 
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hello said:
Would you say the smaller the tip size the less deflection..?I
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Yes, because a smaller tip would have less "end mass" in the first several inches near the tip, so produces less deflection.

hello said:
heard that the Predator 314 really eliminated deflection but I never tried a low deflection shaft...
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They reduce (not eliminate) deflection by reducing "end mass" by boring a hole in the shaft for the first several inches at the tip - they even have a patent on the hole. (In case you’re wondering, the laminations have nothing to do with squirt reduction - just a way to use cheaper materials that won't warp.)

I used an original Predator for many years and liked it a lot - until I had Ed Young make me a custom ultra-low squirt maple shaft (to my specs), which I still have. Still the lowest squirt cue I've come across (about 20" pivot length).

pj
chgo
 
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Mensabum said:
Sounds like you've got a natural dip in your forward stroke. That's why you get the spin on straight ins. You're not hitting straight in the CB. Just a guess, but try decelerating a bit on the forward stroke. Go slower and concentrate on keeping that pendulum as straight as you possibly can. Takes work, but it can be done.
Might feel odd for a bit, but small price to pay for re

I knew guys who always had spin on their shots even when trying for dead stop mid table. They shaped their tip so there was a bit of a flat spot on top. Seemed to help dampen some of the unintended spin.
Idk why or how. Just what I heard.
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This was centuries ago. I, 2 years in. I had been around people who could shoot and play some but I used the Minnesota Fats stance for the leverage. I was also obsessed with seeing the 2 dimensional angles and ghost ball. The sloppy stroke was from running around the table, freewheeling - showtime you know... It wasn't until several years and "semesters" of pool requisites that I was able to get down on the ball and do it with purpose.
 
Patrick Johnson said:
Yes, because a smaller tip would have less "end mass" in the first several inches near the tip, so produces less deflection.


They reduce (not eliminate) deflection by reducing "end mass" by boring a hole in the shaft for the first several inches at the tip - they even have a patent on the hole. (In case you’re wondering, the laminations have nothing to do with squirt reduction - just a way to use cheaper materials that won't warp.)

I used an original Predator for many years and liked it a lot - until I had Ed Young make me a custom ultra-low squirt maple shaft (to my specs), which I still have. Still the lowest squirt cue I've come across (about 20" pivot length).

pj
chgo
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Thanks for your detailed explanations :)
 
I don't have the perfect stroke, so I miscue occassionally. Go figure. Anyway, I found that carbon fiber shafts miscue a little higher percentage than wood, so I quit the carbon fiber.
 
eg9327 said:
I don't have the perfect stroke, so I miscue occassionally. Go figure. Anyway, I found that carbon fiber shafts miscue a little higher percentage than wood, so I quit the carbon fiber.
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this is utter bullshit. the shaft material has nothing to do with how often you miscue. that's a tip/stroke issue.
 
if you cant hit the center of the cue ball or exactly where you are aiming for, then no change of equipment will help you.

most of all the so called squirt problems come from people not hitting where they are aiming so the cue ball goes elsewhere.
 
straightline said:
Intuitively reasoned the fat tip covered such a (seemingly) big area that a couple millimeters give or take wouldn't matter. Never checked that or gave it much thought. I was able to bang out threes on the fly though. All dead outs. This is with the ball spinning like a top on straight ins too. :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
If the cueball is spinning on a straight in shot then you are not hitting the cueball dead center, I had the same problem, for me it was vision center, to me it looked like I was hitting the cueball dead center but I was actually hitting it a little to the right, instead of aiming with my nose over the center of the cue I had aim with the corner of my right eye over the cue, to me aiming looks no different but now the cue is hitting the center of the cueball, it's taken 10 months to make this way of aiming feel normal but the improvement in my game is unbelievable, now when working on drills the cueball reacts like it's supposed to, it's worth looking into.
 
SSP said:
If the cueball is spinning on a straight in shot then you are not hitting the cueball dead center, I had the same problem, for me it was vision center, to me it looked like I was hitting the cueball dead center but I was actually hitting it a little to the right, instead of aiming with my nose over the center of the cue I had aim with the corner of my right eye over the cue, to me aiming looks no different but now the cue is hitting the center of the cueball, it's taken 10 months to make this way of aiming feel normal but the improvement in my game is unbelievable, now when working on drills the cueball reacts like it's supposed to, it's worth looking into.
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Long since gone into remission. The problem then (70s) was I discovered I could bang my way out running around and of course no dependable alignment. CPGCBL now keeps me in line.
 
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