Champ with 18oz, Chump with 20?
- Thread starter Mitchxout
- Start date
weight
Nothing wrong with your question. It's obviously important to you.
The weight has less to do with your stroke or timing than balance. It's simply more how the weight feels to you and thus how it can affect your game.
I think most high level players would agree with me that while they have a favorite weight, they can also adjust somewhat to a heavier or lighter cue rather quickly.
I've played well at times with any weight between 16 and 21 ounces, when I didn't have my own cue with me. Just took me a few games to adjust. Once when I didn't have my 19 oz. cue I borrowed a friend's 21 oz. stick. I missed three shots the first game and then ran six racks.
So it's quite normal for a heavier (or lighter) cue to feel uncomfortable at first. That's why players experiment with different weights, and give them a good try before settling on their favorite.
And how the weight feels to you can change from day to day! I currently have three "favorite" shooting cues. One is 18.5, one is 19, and one is 19.5.
Nothing wrong with your question. It's obviously important to you.
The weight has less to do with your stroke or timing than balance. It's simply more how the weight feels to you and thus how it can affect your game.
I think most high level players would agree with me that while they have a favorite weight, they can also adjust somewhat to a heavier or lighter cue rather quickly.
I've played well at times with any weight between 16 and 21 ounces, when I didn't have my own cue with me. Just took me a few games to adjust. Once when I didn't have my 19 oz. cue I borrowed a friend's 21 oz. stick. I missed three shots the first game and then ran six racks.
So it's quite normal for a heavier (or lighter) cue to feel uncomfortable at first. That's why players experiment with different weights, and give them a good try before settling on their favorite.
And how the weight feels to you can change from day to day! I currently have three "favorite" shooting cues. One is 18.5, one is 19, and one is 19.5.
Hi Fran,
I learned with & played with a 17 oz. cue for the longest time. My thinking was that I could always add uuumpf, but toning down a heavier cue for the very finesse shots was not as easy, at least not for me.
Then I finally went to a 19 oz. & played very well with it, but it always felt a hair heavy to me.
I'm now playing with a 18.5 oz. cue & love it.
Like Mr. Donnie said balance is important.
I was just wondering what your thinking is when you say '18 is light'.
Best 2 You,
Rick
Modern tables are too fast to let your stroke out. This is the same reason golfers use lighter putters on modern, fast greens. It seems like if I let my stroke out with a 20oz cue on Simonis cloth, the cueball might not ever stop. Lol
P.S. I may have answered my own question. At the same cue speed, the heavier cue should impart more energy, no? Plus, the timing of my stroke has to be thrown off unless I adjust in some way I haven't figured out yet?
Last edited:
Ahhh, but now you're on to something. What weight cue best suits your inner innate timing.
It's easier to change a cue than it is to change your true self or at least it is for me.
Best 2 You & All,
RicK
PS Also, tips & tip hardness are easy to change. A suit does not look good on a man or woman if the coat is too big or too small. The whole 'ensemble' has to fit well to 'look' good.
Last edited:
I like Fran's comment about stroking "big." This is similar to a term in golf meant to let your stroke out as opposed to guiding the club (cue).
I agree.
If I go too long without letting my stroke out, I start to get a 'feeling' of 'leprocy' in my arm from the shoulder down. But there still has to be a good fit for that. For me 19 oz. with a medium or hard tip is a bit too much. If I pick up a house cue like that it's not long before I'm looking for another one either lighter or one with a softer tip.
I hope you find YOUR ensemble where all pieces fit you well.
Best,
Rick
I have a theory but not sure how relevant it is to your situation.
I find that when it comes to stroking a shot, there are two extremes in approach....
those who use a lot of arm and rely on feel and experience to dictate the sensation of a straight stroke and those who use very little arm influence. These players let the stick do the work and simply allow the weight of the stick to interact with their timing to execute a straight stroke.
It seems to me that if you're using a very light weight stick, you may be using a lot of arm to influence the stroke. There is simply not enough weight in the stick to effectively displace the weight of the cue ball and execute many shots without the added arm strength or at the very least....added momentum.
When you go to a heavier stick then the subtle adjustments you may have been making to ensure a straight stroke predicated on a greater level of arm influence do not immediately correct because the added weight slows or in some cases overcompensates the response to the adjustment you were using with a light weight cue.
You may be familiar with the old rule in physics. "A body in motion tends to stay in motion."
The heavier the mass, the more force necessary to change it's course.
It may simply be that you use a lot of arm in your stroke and going to a heavier cue stick is throwing the alignment off track because you are not adjusting for the added weigh in your technique. Play with a heavier cue exclusively for a week and I'll bet your game goes back to the standards you had while using a light weight cue.
I find that when it comes to stroking a shot, there are two extremes in approach....
those who use a lot of arm and rely on feel and experience to dictate the sensation of a straight stroke and those who use very little arm influence. These players let the stick do the work and simply allow the weight of the stick to interact with their timing to execute a straight stroke.
It seems to me that if you're using a very light weight stick, you may be using a lot of arm to influence the stroke. There is simply not enough weight in the stick to effectively displace the weight of the cue ball and execute many shots without the added arm strength or at the very least....added momentum.
When you go to a heavier stick then the subtle adjustments you may have been making to ensure a straight stroke predicated on a greater level of arm influence do not immediately correct because the added weight slows or in some cases overcompensates the response to the adjustment you were using with a light weight cue.
You may be familiar with the old rule in physics. "A body in motion tends to stay in motion."
The heavier the mass, the more force necessary to change it's course.
It may simply be that you use a lot of arm in your stroke and going to a heavier cue stick is throwing the alignment off track because you are not adjusting for the added weigh in your technique. Play with a heavier cue exclusively for a week and I'll bet your game goes back to the standards you had while using a light weight cue.
I believe you hit the nail on the head. I use my arm more than letting the cue do the work. Makes sense, thanks.
I understand the logic behind the sentence in bold but I'm not really in agreement that it's the case when it comes to playing pool. If the person is stroking bigger with a lighter cue, they must be extremely proficient because it's much harder to shoot big shots with a lighter cue. Much more can go wrong with the stroke.
It's easier to accomplish the bigger shots with a heavier cue, therefore it's more logical to assume that the player is shooting with a more reserved type stroke with a lighter cue.
Also, to respond to a different post, letting your stroke out is often mistakenly thought as needed only for more power. Sure, it's true in many cases, but not all. It goes back to the misunderstanding that the less moving parts, the better it is. Not necessarily. Players really need to experiment more and find out what more gives them.
Last edited:
Fran, thank you for your response. Just to be clear, what do you consider too light?
Well, in general for the average adult, I would consider 18 too light and 18 1/2 pushing the envelope of possibly being too light.
We're talking pool here, not snooker, just to be clear.
Fran, I can certainly understand where you're coming from and in a sense you are correct under certain conditions.
If the physical fundamentals and the alignment are true, then the added weight makes no difference because the alignment and weight of the cue are not competing with each other; however, if a player is using poor fundamentals and their stroke arm is not aligned properly, then they are likely using more arm to make adjustments in the stroke delivery to ensure a straight line.
In this case, since the fundamentals are really working contrary to the alignment, added weight would play a factor as it would create minor variations in the delivery that will not have been accounted for under the players previous programming.
Hi Fran,
Would you say that there might be a correlation of the weight of a cue that one likes, prefers, or what ever to the type stroke that one uses or whether one has less or more wrist in their stroke & whether that wrist action is well or not well timed, or if one is a puller or pusher of the cue?
Is that a run on question?
I'm asking you firstly because I respect your expertise & secondly because I find the interrelation of stroke to cue interesting.
I've built golf clubs & know a bit about flex, bend point, overall weight, & swing weight & the effects those & a misfitted grip can have.
Also, I've coached baseball & seen many a player using a 'bad' bat for them.
Thanks in advance for any insight & Best 2 You,
Rick
I play with a 17oz cue and break with a 16oz cue. Its a very personal thing such as tip size and balance point. I agree, it is a timing thing. Your game falls apart because its a weight you aren't used to. If you played with a 20oz cue for long enough then went back to your current cue your game would fall apart again.
Stick with what you are used to is my advice. A heavier cue won't make you play better in the long run. What will help you play better is sticking to a cue you know inside and out.
The type of cue or weight of cue you use is not a reflection on the type of player or stroke you have. It is purely a reflection of what you like in a cue. I have a long bridge, a long back stroke and a long follow through. I choose to play with a 17oz cue. I've seen others play the exact same way with much heavier cues.
Like I said, stick with what you like and know. In snooker, it is the norm for players who have the potential (or not in some cases) to play at the highest level buy a cue early on that's usually fairly expensive and very well made and stick with that cue for their entire playing careers. When they have to switch due to loss or damage, it looks like the best players who do this are playing with broom sticks even when it has the same specifications.
I started off with a dufferin 70$ cue, and when I knew I was going to be playing pool for a long time, I invested in an OB classic shaft. I found it personified all my beginner flaws. I could just not get used to the 11.75 mm tip, even though in my mind, I wanted to be a finesse player, with a finesse cue. I humbled up, and got a HXT 12.75 mm shaft, and I'm thinking about getting another HXT cue, just to have a second shaft.
My question is: If I get another HXT full cue, with the same weight as my current one, will it feel the same? I plan on sticking with this shaft for the rest of my playing career, because I like it and am used to it. I just wanna know if it's a good idea to stock up, in case they get discontinued (It's a good cue for about 150 bucks that comes with a tip I like. My tip is wearing down on my current player, and for 30 bucks, I could get another Kamui S installed, or for an extra 100 on top, I could get another low deflection shaft, or for an extra 50, I could just have a whole entire cue. It's such a good deal, I don't know what to do. I would definitely like a second spare shaft, but the HXTE10 looks so nice.....sorry I'm rambling.)
Good question and I don't know the answer. I haven't studied the relationship between types of strokes grips and cue weight, but I think it would make a very interesting study.