Break Cues Vs Reg. What hits harder?

M

mgdietrich

New member
I went to a 9-ball and 8-ball tourney this past weekend, and got severely killed. However, I did really enjoy and learned alot by watching the better players run racks.

The tourney was on Bar tables, but still good nonetheless.

Anyway, I was having a terrible time breaking. I have a Sledgehammer and it hits a ton, however I wasn't connecting well. Watching the other guys scattering balls made me realize that a big hit does less for you than a good hit in the right spot. Needless to say I have done some changes, taken off some speed, and the Cue is really breaking the racks apart.

I have an Olhausen 8' table, I wanted to see just how hard my break cue hits against my playing cue. With a HARD hit, my break cue was 1 diamond away from 5 table lengths. My playing cue was 2 diamonds away. So we are comparing a 19 oz sledge Vs a 18 oz McDermott with a new Moori medium tip.

I guess I thought that the difference would be more, just goes to prove that a good break cue will help some, but how much is very subjective.

How much difference do the rest of you guys have between your playing and break cue? Or if you don't know, try what I did and see, I was suprised!
 
Speed isn't necessarily the only thing that a break cue will help with. Some people are using low-quirt break cues. Some very stiff break cues. Some heavy, and some light. I think you're right in that accuracy is very important in breaking. Would you rather have a 250 yard golf drive that is in the middle of the fairway, or a 300 yard drive in the rough?

I think that the sound of a hard-tip'd break cue makes people think they're hitting harder. Plus the fact that they spent money on a special cue, so it is supposed to perform better.
 
I think there are 3 factors that make a nice break cue, hardness of the tip, stiffness of the shaft and weight of the cue. I bought a Quest cue off ebay and made it into the best break cues I've ever used. First it has 2 shafts, one I got tipped with a phenolic top the other a hard leather, I think it was a Triangle tip. I use the phenolic for breaking 8-ball and the Triangle for 9-ball. 8-ball I break from the rail, one diamond out and one diamond to the left or somewhere in between straight into the lead ball. I get a really good spread and generally pocket 2 balls, makes for a nice run-out. That is just all power center ball. In 9-ball I break with the Triangle tip, I break right on the head string one diamond to the left. Coming from the right side of the rack I put top right english, sometimes bottom, but always right hand english on the CB for breaking and hit the one ball head on or a little on the left hand side. Two things happen, the one ball heads straight for the side pocket and if it misses it gets banked into the top corner pocket, the CB heads for the side rail and heads back into the rack breaking them up even more. The phenolic tip doesn't allow any English to get put on the CB tis why I had to use the Triangle.

The stiffness of the shaft is most important because you don't wanna have a lot of deflection when you are hitting at full strength. I just lucked out in this department, the shafts were plenty stiff.

Lastly would be weight, a lighter cue is a harder hitting cue, it moves faster in your hand and that translates into a faster moving CB. I removed the weight bolt from the cue and its about 17oz now.

This combination makes for a great breaking cue.
IMHO.
 
Buddha: Stiffer shaft = more "deflection", doesn't it? I don't want to get into a debate on the topic, as it has been argued to death. I think I understand your point, so it is probably just a terminology difference. I take deflection to mean cue-ball squirt.
 
Yeah, less cue ball squirt, becuase, well for me, the harder I hit, the less control I have so I play a more finesse game. Sorry for messing up the jargon.
 
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