Balance point?

Gio Sr.

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Does the balance point that is good for you have anything to do with your size( tall long arms or short with short arms). Is it just a personal preference?

Thanks
 

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
Does the balance point that is good for you have anything to do with your size( tall long arms or short with short arms). Is it just a personal preference?

Thanks
Both, I think. If your arms are shorter you might grip farther from the butt, which can make the cue feel more back-weighted unless your balance point is farther forward too. But what's good for you is probably mostly personal preference.

pj
chgo
 

Rak9up

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've been struggling with that question for years....where a stick balances on your finger means nothing.
What does matter is the downward weight at the tip when stroking an open bridge topspin shot.
For and experiment hold your cue on the balance point and stroke a ball with an open bridge topspin shot and see how much cue control you have after the shot an the amount of spin created.
Then do it again and again each time moving further and further back, as your hand moves back from the balance point more downward weight that is added to the tip.
The question is what is optimum weight? And where should the forward weight be added in the forearm close to the hand or in the joint a little further away.
 

Gio Sr.

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've been struggling with that question for years....where a stick balances on your finger means nothing.
What does matter is the downward weight at the tip when stroking an open bridge topspin shot.
For and experiment hold your cue on the balance point and stroke a ball with an open bridge topspin shot and see how much cue control you have after the shot an the amount of spin created.
Then do it again and again each time moving further and further back, as your hand moves back from the balance point more downward weight that is added to the tip.
The question is what is optimum weight? And where should the forward weight be added in the forearm close to the hand or in the joint a little further away.

Interesting, I'll check it out tomorrow during my drill time.

I notice that I have to grip my cue almost at the rear end of the wrap in order to get the right angle (pendulum) and not feel cramped. That is what got me wondering about balance point and cue lenght.

Thanks
 

lfigueroa

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Does the balance point that is good for you have anything to do with your size( tall long arms or short with short arms). Is it just a personal preference?

Thanks


For some folks, a change in balance point can easily change the way you set up. If you're not one to pay attention to such things, you may just notice that one cue, vice another, just plops you down one way and feels better than another cue. You should leave it at that.

Lou Figueroa
 

Gio Sr.

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
For some folks, a change in balance point can easily change the way you set up. If you're not one to pay attention to such things, you may just notice that one cue, vice another, just plops you down one way and feels better than another cue. You should leave it at that.

Lou Figueroa

The K.I.S.S. system is good. Thanks.
 

oldgame

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
What is the optimum weight? And what effect does a light cue differ from a heavy cue?
 

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
Rak9up:
What does matter is the downward weight at the tip when stroking an open bridge topspin shot.
For and experiment hold your cue on the balance point and stroke a ball with an open bridge topspin shot and see how much cue control you have after the shot an the amount of spin created.
Sorry, but there's just no way that the tiny amount of weight difference at the tip has any practical effect on this.

pj
chgo
 

measureman

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The K.I.S.S. system is good. Thanks.

Thats my system. I pick up a cue and play with it. All the specs in the world mean nothing if it hits good to me. And i don't care who made it.
In fact Cuesblues had a Fury sneakie pete at Felts last week and it played solid.
 

Rak9up

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Sorry, but there's just no way that the tiny amount of weight difference at the tip has any practical effect on this.

pj
chgo

if you have an 18 ounce cue and hold it at the very back of the cue I believe thats close to 18 ounces at the tip a cueball weighs approx 6.5.

or do you just need 6.5 from your back hand to the tip is the rest just overkill

hold the back of your cue and put the tip on a digital scale and see what you get
 

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
if you have an 18 ounce cue and hold it at the very back of the cue I believe thats close to 18 ounces at the tip
I think it's probably more like 6 ounces at the tip, but that's pretty much irrelevant. Unless you miscue the amount of spin you put on the cue ball should be the same, and if hitting hard doesn't cause miscues then an ounce or two less weight at the tip (from moving the balance point a few inches) sure won't.

pj
chgo
 

okinawa77

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Does the balance point that is good for you have anything to do with your size( tall long arms or short with short arms). Is it just a personal preference?

Thanks

Well, if you are using an open bridge, and you grip the cue very loosely with your back hand between the tip and balance point, then the cue tip will float up on you during your shot. Willie Mosconi recommended 6-8 inches behind the physical balance point of the cue for back hand placement.
If you are shooting one-handed (air bridge only), then holding at the balance point works very well.
 

Scott Lee

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Yes he did, but you know that is a fallacy. You hold the cue where your grip hand falls directly under your elbow. Mosconi was 5'3", so that hand placement worked for him. Someone who is taller, like yourself, could never play holding the cue slightly behind the balance point.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

Willie Mosconi recommended 6-8 inches behind the physical balance point of the cue for back hand placement.
 

lfigueroa

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Yes he did, but you know that is a fallacy. You hold the cue where your grip hand falls directly under your elbow. Mosconi was 5'3", so that hand placement worked for him. Someone who is taller, like yourself, could never play holding the cue slightly behind the balance point.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com


I don't recall him being that short -- reference please. (Maybe like 5' 7".)

AND Mosconi held the cue "grip forward," and not where his grip hand fell directly under his elbow.

Lou Figueroa
 
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Rak9up

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
So we know that every player has different armspans. The cues are ALL made differently some with thicker butts or thinner ones it all effects balance and there are many different wood types and weights.
So I go back to what I've been trying to quantify...from where "you" hold your cue to the tip what is the optimum weight at the tip for maximum control of the skipping action of the cue after the shot and topspin during.
See in these modern days people are using technology to improve cues like low deflection shafts but thats just one aspect of a cue. Every aspect of the cue should be examined. In golf they constantly improve club heads shafts even the balls. Why should pool be any different.
Has anyone done any real experimentaion other than playing for 20 years at 20 bucks a rack.
I'm probably overthinking this one issue. I'm sure what cue you have is just fine. I'm sure there's no money to be made or get improved performance from a cuestick.
Predator an OB improved one aspect "the shaft" and they made millions. I'm sure there's nothing left on the cue to improve. Besides how important could balance be "if just a feel thing right". Has anyone out there quantified
from the back hand to the tip a specific weight that provides optimum performance.
 

JoeyInCali

Maker of Joey Bautista Cues
Silver Member
Yes he did, but you know that is a fallacy. You hold the cue where your grip hand falls directly under your elbow. Mosconi was 5'3", so that hand placement worked for him. Someone who is taller, like yourself, could never play holding the cue slightly behind the balance point.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

And he slipped the cue.
God Bless Willie, but he sure did billiard a disservice in writing that fallacy.
 
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