bald spot after miscue

E

enzo

Banned
ok, kind of silly, but what are people's theories on why the little mark (or bald spot) on your tip is there after a miscue? it doesn't really make perfect sense there is a little mark like that..... any thoughts (or evidence, haha) appreciated.

maybe a reward in finding the answer will be less miscues??
 
Chalk

I would take a guess that is a pre-existing condition of not enough chalk on that spot. IMO Those little f***king bald spots!!!! :eek: :D
 
Exactly! When the tip makes a good hit, it strikes the more or less straight ahead. The chalk on the tip is, for lack of a better word, pinched between the tip and the ball. With a miscue, the tip slides across the cue ball, and wipes the chalk off that part of the tip.
Steve
 
I'd almost guess that the tip is making contact in a side swipe kind of a move and maybe running into the bed of the table a the same time. Since most miscues are either draw shots, or perhaps a jacked up shot that your hitting really thin. At least that is when I miscue the most.

I don't miscue much any more though, and don't pay much attention to what just happened. I usually think its something that I did wrong in my stroke, and just try to focus more and not worry about it.
 
it could be from hitting the cue ball funny, but it could be from hitting the bed of the table with your tip also. I miscue alot:eek: , and there is usually a trail of chalk along the table bed.
 
On miscues the tip actually hits the cue ball at least twice. It is a double hit but it never gets called.
 
rossaroni said:
I thought this thread was going to be about Mr. Helfert!:)
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That's exactly what happened to me. I miscued with my head! I won't tell you what I was shooting at though. :thumbup:
 
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jay helfert said:
That's exactly what happened to me. I miscued with my head! I won't tell you what I was shooting out though. :thumbup:
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Please Jay, We need her name. :wink:
 
I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the alternate theory - that miscues are often (NOT always) caused by a poor stroke; where the bottom of the cue tip strikes the table before the center of the cue tip strikes the ball. I believe this must represent a fair portion of miscues; and in this scenario, the bald spot occurs from the cue tip "wiping" off the chalk onto the cloth. It is a fairly easily tested scenario for those so inclined.

I've seen many miscues after seeing the cue tip chalked well; this scenario explains that phenomenon as well.
 
Williebetmore said:
... alternate theory - that miscues are often (NOT always) caused by a poor stroke; where the bottom of the cue tip strikes the table before the center of the cue tip strikes the ball. ...
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I believe that this rarely happens.
 
Bob Jewett said:
I believe that this rarely happens.
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BJ,
I've seen an awful lot of bangers miscue attempting power draw shots (Valley Bar league); leaving a lot of chalk on the cloth. Several authors describe this phenomenon in instructional books (whether its real or frequent or not - lots of urban myths everywhere). I was also thinking Dr. Dave had some high speed video of this sort of miscue (but I'm too lazy to search....easier to ask you:smile: ).

I guess if miscues are from hitting the cue ball too far towards the edge; I find it easy to believe that hitting it a bit too low on a power draw would occur a fair bit of the time with players whose accuracy in delivering the cue tip is not good.
 
Williebetmore said:
... I guess if miscues are from hitting the cue ball too far towards the edge; I find it easy to believe that hitting it a bit too low on a power draw would occur a fair bit of the time with players whose accuracy in delivering the cue tip is not good.
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If the tip is well-chalked, the miscue will be a result of hitting too far off center. On draw shots, to hit the cloth first, the cue stick would have to be pointed outside the edge of the cue ball. While people who can't play a lick might have this problem, I think anyone who can draw well more than half their attempts has already figured out that if the stick points out beyond the edge of the cue ball, the shot will not go well.

As for why you get chalk on the cloth, you've got a real treat in store. Watch the brief clip from the Austrian high-speed video which is available in several places including the shooter's home page: http://www.bskunion.at/efler.htm

Especially note what the chalk does and what the tip does on the shot from the side. The full video DVD is still offered on the link above.
 
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Bob Jewett said:
If the tip is well-chalked, the miscue will be a result of hitting too far off center. On draw shots, to hit the cloth first, the cue stick would have to be pointed outside the edge of the cue ball. While people who can't play a lick might have this problem, I think anyone who can draw well more than half their attempts has already figured out that if the stick points out beyond the edge of the cue ball, the shot will not go well.

As for why you get chalk on the cloth, you're got a real treat in store. Watch the brief clip from the Austrian high-speed video which is available in several places including the shooter's home page: http://www.bskunion.at/efler.htm

Especially note what the chalk does and what the tip does on the shot from the side. The full video DVD is still offered on the link above.
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Thanks for the video link, that's good stuff.
 
This is a great question enzo. I have thought about this same thing. It happens to me too. It doesn't happened very often but when it does it is a stinker. In my case I don't think its poor mechanics but almost like the chalk is damp and wipes off that spot or you hit a spot on the cue ball that has chalk on it. Its not from hitting too far off center because you shoot the same shot many more times and it doesn't happen. The bare spot is very small about 1/16 to 1/8" and on the edge of the tip I don't know what causes it and have no theory but these are things I have thought of when it happens. Every time I notice it happen I am using an elkmaster. If you install your own tips sometimes a tiny part of glue will get on the edge and there will be a hard spot. It is very humid in my part of the country and most chalk gets damp in a short periods. Sometimes I use a burnishing tool and wonder if I am making a hard spot on the edge. It usualy happens when using english from 2oclock to 4oclock. I use a williard dime radius to shape my tips and maybe should round off my tip more. Thanks for the question.This is what I like about AZbilliards.
 
enzo said:
ok, kind of silly, but what are people's theories on why the little mark (or bald spot) on your tip is there after a miscue? ...
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I see two or three different kinds of miscue marks on the tip that depend on the power of the stroke and the extent of the miscue. On very minor miscues, there just seems to be chalk missing from the miscue area. On power miscues, like a miscue on an attempted extreme draw shot or a break shot, the brown of the leather is visible. There also seems to be an intermediate kind of miscue which leaves a more whitish spot. Part of the miscue phenomenon is due to heat. If you play with an ivory cue ball, you get some burnt hair smell after a miscue. With a plastic cue ball, you can often see a yellow discolored spot on the cue ball after a serious miscue which I'm guessing comes from heat.

On a miscue, the power in the stick clearly doesn't go properly into sending the cue ball forward. When the tip slips on the ball, some of the energy goes into the sliding friction across the surface of the ball. It seems that this is actually enough to locally heat the ball.
 
Hey, I have a related question:

When I play with good balls, whenever I miscue I usually get the normal "bald spot". But once I got back to school and played with these dirty cheapo balls, I've been miscuing occasionally on shots I normally don't miscue on. When I miscue on these types of shots, my tip looks exactly normal, no bald spot. Is this still a problem with my stroke or is it with the ball? And does anybody know why I don't get a bald spot?
 
kingwang said:
Hey, I have a related question:

When I play with good balls, whenever I miscue I usually get the normal "bald spot". But once I got back to school and played with these dirty cheapo balls, I've been miscuing occasionally on shots I normally don't miscue on. When I miscue on these types of shots, my tip looks exactly normal, no bald spot. Is this still a problem with my stroke or is it with the ball? And does anybody know why I don't get a bald spot?
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What kind of chalk do you use at school?

You might try getting your own cue ball to see if that fixes the problem. They only cost $10 or so for a good one.
 
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