Break cue.. the most over hyped cue in our bag?

[trob]

6'3, 330. I win

I hadn't played seriously for many years and didn't even have a breaker. If in a rare match I would use one of my other cues but mostly I just broke with something off the rack. Well I finally needed to bite the jump cue bullet despite my disdain for the gimmick stick and opted for a jump-break. The jumps are fine, but the break cue has become a massive weapon. Not a huge diff in 8b where I'm whacking it, but the level of control on my 9b break has skyrocketed. I think a lot of that has to do with what TheJV said above about getting more out of putting less in resulting in a higher level of control.

imho, break cues are closer to underrated than overrated.

The sledgehammer and j and j jump/break was the only two I felt could do both well. Usually if breaks well it‘s a terrible jumper or vice versa.

I’m more talking the price of a break cue. I think you can spend $100 and have a great break cue. Paying $800 for the predator just doesn’t seem worth it. I’m not getting anymore for the money spent.

 

[The_JV]

I believe in size and strength. At 6-3 and north of 270 I can generate a lot for a break shot.

I'm 6' and average 200lbs. I generate enough. May not be earth shattering. Possibly under achieving for my size, but effective none the less

Now if someone wants to try or think they can reduce the randomness of a break shot, with a cue, and a +/- strength of stroke and they feel they have some level of repeatability. Good for them, I won't knock it. I don't knock anyone for trying or believing something different than I.

I won't try and convince you either. ...but for the record, I do exactly what I believe your claiming to be unrealistic. So do countless strong to uber elite players with controlled yet still adequately powerful breaks.

If you are going to tell me that a 19 oz break cue that I am slinging at max force is going to somehow do something less random with a tip change, I will think you are full of sh*t, I just won't say it out loud.

There's the trick... The tip itself wouldn't do anything differently. However it could very well be a tool that allows you to not swing at max force, retain that power and gain some level of additional control. Again, I'm under the impression you think such a notion is bunk. Which is fine, but consider "Dunning Kruger" before you completely write it off as heresy.

 

[The_JV]

I’m more talking the price of a break cue. I think you can spend $100 and have a great break cue. Paying $800 for the predator just doesn’t seem worth it. I’m not getting anymore for the money spent.

My transition from pretty cheap to very expensive has robbed me of a truly objective opinion on the matter. I don't regret the 1100 I paid for the Mezz PB-G. However if I had been playing with something more mid tier before that big purchase, then that may not be the case.

 

[Dunnn51]

This has been on the back of my mind all day today.
For the OP: ..... here's a link for ppl in the S/L 4/5 area. Jasmin Explains SPIN.
Seems at that level E-1 is learning ENGLISH. <---- anyone remember that dude??

As for the break: Yeah, a power break is nice, but Cory Duelle and his soft break has merit. There's times when you don't want a good spread and want to "muddy" the table up so no one gets out in 1 turn. Damn the spread; gimme clusters!, lol

 

[maha]

if you move better than your opponent and he shoots better than not opening the table is usually better for you if you are not a run out player.

you can easily go from a 6 to 5 favorite breaking hard to a 2 to 1 favorite that game if you tie up balls and out maneuver him.

 

[8intheside]

I want to start this by saying this is just my personal experience . We are all different so for you it may not be the same. If a break cue helped your break your not wrong. but I feel that expensive break cues are way over hyped. At the expo this year I bought the new bk rush and air rush. While I think the air rush is head and shoulders better then then the air 2 I was using the bk rush has added nothing to my break. I broke every bit as good with my bk2. Well recently I’ve had some tip issues On my bk rush that I’m not going to go into but I had it replaced and it came off. So I grabbed a sneaky Pete with a medium tip out of the rack at home and found I was getting the same break playing 9 ball. Still dropping the wing ball. Still stoping the cue ball in the center of the table. Now I don’t break hard. I find it unnecessary on a barbox. I stay down and shoot through the ball with the same stroke With I would say and 8 out of 10 power wise. I don’t break coming out of my shoes like some.

Then I pulled out a 314/2 shaft I have and broke with that On my bk rush butt. Again with a medium tip (back then that what I preferred) and honestly I like it better then the revo shaft that was on it. I was Averaging 2 balls on the break. Easy to control the cue ball And just had a better feel at contact.

Maybe 9 foot tables its different. Maybe you can take advantage of what a break cue with break tips can do But honestly I think a lot of us our wasting our money on these cues. I’m not saying don’t have a break cue. I play with soft tips now and I’d rather not beat that tip up breaking but do you really need to blow $800 on the new predator or any break cue for that matter. For me no.

I want to start this by saying this is just my personal experience . We are all different so for you it may not be the same. If a break cue helped your break your not wrong. but I feel that expensive break cues are way over hyped. At the expo this year I bought the new bk rush and air rush. While I think the air rush is head and shoulders better then then the air 2 I was using the bk rush has added nothing to my break. I broke every bit as good with my bk2. Well recently I’ve had some tip issues On my bk rush that I’m not going to go into but I had it replaced and it came off. So I grabbed a sneaky Pete with a medium tip out of the rack at home and found I was getting the same break playing 9 ball. Still dropping the wing ball. Still stoping the cue ball in the center of the table. Now I don’t break hard. I find it unnecessary on a barbox. I stay down and shoot through the ball with the same stroke With I would say and 8 out of 10 power wise. I don’t break coming out of my shoes like some.

Then I pulled out a 314/2 shaft I have and broke with that On my bk rush butt. Again with a medium tip (back then that what I preferred) and honestly I like it better then the revo shaft that was on it. I was Averaging 2 balls on the break. Easy to control the cue ball And just had a better feel at contact.

Maybe 9 foot tables its different. Maybe you can take advantage of what a break cue with break tips can do But honestly I think a lot of us our wasting our money on these cues. I’m not saying don’t have a break cue. I play with soft tips now and I’d rather not beat that tip up breaking but do you really need to blow $800 on the new predator or any break cue for that matter. For me no.

You can say the same thing about playing cues, especially the really expensive ones.

 

[trob]

You can say the same thing about playing cues, especially the really expensive ones.

Oh of course. A sneaky Pete from your favorite cue maker should play the same as a monster cue. The difference to me is they aren’t trying to convince you that the expensive cue will make you play better. Predator or cuetec etc seem to have us believing that that $800 break cue will break better then that cheap break cue.

 

[fjk]

For my first 40 years of playing, I tried to smash the rack as hard and square as possible and hop / squat the cueball in center table. Old skool style .

About 5 years ago, I was playing with my Gus and out of laziness, decided to break with it. Obviously I didn't try to break hard, so I concentrated on hitting where I was aiming and better controlling the cueball. Guess what. For me, my break became more effective. Now I can't speak for everyone and maybe some tables or conditions would call for the sledgehammer, but I'll stick to my controlled medium speed break.

 

[sudocrushms]

Oh of course. A sneaky Pete from your favorite cue maker should play the same as a monster cue. The difference to me is they aren’t trying to convince you that the expensive cue will make you play better. Predator or cuetec etc seem to have us believing that that $800 break cue will break better then that cheap break cue.

$800 isn't far off of a high end, but not fancy playing cue though. So a $500-550 CF break shaft and a $200-250 plain butt makes sense when compared to playing cues.
How much are those prices inflated to begin with? I have no idea.

 

[iusedtoberich]

If you can't run out, the break cue will mean zero as far as game performance goes.

 

[boogieman]

I know how to slow break. I know how to medium break. But alas I really enjoy smashing the piss out of a 9B rack. I try to hit em so hard that the opposite wing ball goes. I have 4 reasons:

1. It makes a nice sound
2. It usually makes 2-3 balls
3. Clusters them up if nothing falls
4. It annoys opponents and sometimes seeing me break "incorrectly" will put them on tilt, especially when multiple balls drop

Oh and a bonus, if you play league where opponent racks with a hard rack, they ain't tight.

You can hit them hard as hell but make sure you control the CB.

 

[Coos Cues]

if you move better than your opponent and he shoots better than not opening the table is usually better for you if you are not a run out player.

you can easily go from a 6 to 5 favorite breaking hard to a 2 to 1 favorite that game if you tie up balls and out maneuver him.

I'm in this camp. I break with my player for control. If I don't make a ball I usually get back to the table.

 

[Mensabum]

Total waste of money. Only reason I use one is not to damage the playing cue. The tip and ferrule are made for breaking. My break cue is made by CueTec.. around $150

Nice inexpensive cue with whatever tip suits your fancy to save your daily from the abuse.
Many of us play with cues we wouldn't think of breaking with.
I picked up a nice Pierce snap stick for around that price that does the job quite well. Swapped the phenolic it came with for a Bulletproof break tip.
Other than that...

 

[Mensabum]

play onepocket and fuggetaboutit!!!!

Sacrilege!! Burn the witch!!

 

[Mensabum]

Prepare yourself to get run out of AZB for suggesting shaft stiffness has something to do with squirt.

There's gotta be an aiming system for jump cues.

 

[Bavafongoul]

Here’s what I think about break cues……..if you have a powerful break, a good break cue will make it even better.
If you have an avg. break, let’s just call it mediocre or acceptable, it will help but you could get by just a house cue.
Now if you have a weak break, a break cue will improve it a lot but not to the point it justifies getting spending the $.

Better players typically have a good break & I consider myself one but my shoulders are a wreck so it hurts to break.
On a 7’ table, I’d otherwise imagine most players should have a good break and break cues are really unnecessary.
Where this changes and can really help is on much bigger 9’ pool tables. On a 10’ table, break cues help a great deal.

I have a 40 year old McDermott Stinger that is still in immaculate condition and I just put a Kamui Sai Break Control tip
on my cue. I might as well leave it at home because I can’t swing my arms hard on a break. i’’ve actually had to drop
my cue on the pool table after trying a hard break because of the sudden, excruciating pain in my glenohumeral joint.

On 2nd thought, I don’t represent the vast majority of pool players that from time to time wonder about developing
a thunderous break pocketing multiple object balls resulting in a wide open table with few clusters or rail object balls.
My physical limitations restrict my break swing. Maybe there’s a mph break speed where break cues perform best?

 

[CanadianGuy]

so what exactly can a break cue do? not a ton of data on this subject

adding 2mph means little and I'm not sure many break cues can even add that

limit unintended spin on the cue ball? maybe

let you smash around without worrying about hurting your playing stick? for sure

there is a place for them

I do see the huge mistake of players getting the high end break cue before the high end jump cue

when budget constrained, always get that good jump cue first

 

[SeniorTom]

let you smash around without worrying about hurting your playing stick? for sure

To me this is the main reason for a breaking cue.

I do see the huge mistake of players getting the high end break cue before the high end jump cue, when budget constrained, always get that good jump cue first

I disagree with you here, as a player should get a break cue well before a jump cue. I have been learning to jump and can do it decently. Although, I don't recall too many situations where I need the jump cue in competition, more like only on occasions. A break cue you can use every game. I will say this, that you don't need to spend the bank on a break cue because I think the main advantage is keeping the playing cue tip nice and shaped, and not flattened. Break cues aren't much faster than playing cues on breaks, but I still like to have a separate break cue.

 

[The_JV]

Here’s what I think about break cues……..if you have a powerful break, a good break cue will make it even better.
If you have an avg. break, let’s just call it mediocre or acceptable, it will help but you could get by just a house cue.
Now if you have a weak break, a break cue will improve it a lot but not to the point it justifies getting spending the $.

Interesting... I don't agree with any of the above. Other than the weak breaker shouldn't waste their money.

• Strong break already = no real benefit (great timing and maintains stroke, get by with house cue)
• Mediocre break = greatest benefit (Solid controlled contact but lacks power)
• Weak break (likely from stroke) = near zero benefit (needs to work toward 'mediocre' ability before looking for magic pill)

The only performance advantage to a break cue is the additional transmission of power, and this is quite minimal. A break cue doesn't fix a bad stroke. A successful powerful breaker has already figured out how to swing for the fences and keep his stroke clean. The mediocre breaker (me) tends to lose control when attempting to swing for the fences, so having the extra tiny bit allows them to stay in the comfort zone on spd and generate more powerful results. A "weak breaker" is someone who hasn't figured out what they're doing yet, so no amount of money on equipment will get them to a mediocre level. For them it's about fundamentals.

All just my opinion of course

 

[Poolmanis]

I play and break BK2 that have Z2 Shaft and Elkmaster. That is all i need. I heard Efren plays with same combo. I started using it because i use it 3-cushion too. Normal playing butts are too soft for that.