Cue Tip Contact Myth-Busting Truths in Super Slow Motion

My understanding is a leather cue tip helps spin the cue ball by providing a larger surface area for the cue to make contact with. This increases friction between the cue and the ball, allowing for more spin to be applied. The leather also provides a softer surface than other materials, which helps to absorb some of the force of the shot, allowing for more control over the spin of the ball.
 
jollyrodger said:
My understanding is a leather cue tip helps spin the cue ball by providing a larger surface area for the cue to make contact with. This increases friction between the cue and the ball, allowing for more spin to be applied. The leather also provides a softer surface than other materials, which helps to absorb some of the force of the shot, allowing for more control over the spin of the ball.
Click to expand...
that's a myth, bro.

get with the program
 
dr_dave said:
However, I am not sure the miscue limit is based solely on the effective coefficient of friction (COF) of the chalked tip because for all the chalks I have tested, I was not able to find any differences in miscue limit. Honestly, I was surprised by this because I thought there would be a difference, assuming different chalks would have different COFs. I think the miscue limit is determined more by the complicated dynamics of a tip on a flexible shaft hitting the slanted surface of the CB. When the angle of the ball surface exceeds the angle at the typical miscue limit, I suspect no amount of added friction can prevent a miscue, maybe because the tip is being pushed away from the CB surface, so the friction isn't able to grab the surface.
Click to expand...

dr_dave said:
It is also possible that the particles in the chalk that embed into the tip and CB surfaces during impact (effectively locking the two surfaces together) cannot embed or stay embedded in the surfaces when the angle of the surfaces is greater than the angle at the miscue limit.
Click to expand...

Does anybody else have any qualitative theories for why all tip hardnesses (within the typical range) and all chalks tested seem to have the same miscue limit (with the same spin-generating capability)?
 
dr_dave said:
Does anybody else have any qualitative theories for why all tip hardnesses (within the typical range) and all chalks tested seem to have the same miscue limit (with the same spin-generating capability)?
Click to expand...

I think the answer is simple. With the aid of chalk both hard tips and soft tips, regardless of shape, are transferring forces with near one hundred percent effectiveness at some time during contact. There isn't room for noticeable improvement after a player matches his or her playing style to their equipment.



dendweller said:
Friend used to say don't let the truth get in the way of a good story
Click to expand...

I had a friend that lived at the race track so he got a lot of company. One weekend I arrived just as he got back from a hunting trip with his friend Nick. He had carried a pistol and Nick a rifle, both .22's. Bobby, my pool partner in crime later, told me that Nick had shot all four squirrels with his rifle, Bobby got skunked with his pistol.

Somebody else arrived a little later. "Nick got three of them with his rifle, I got one with my pistol." Next visitor: "I got three with my pistol and Nick only got one with his rifle." All following visitors: "I got these four with my pistol, poor Nicky got skunked with his rifle."

Hu
 
jollyrodger said:
Aliens!
Click to expand...
In your dreams, bro. You're probably one of those guys that thinks China is a continent in Asia, but that's 'cause you're dumb. It's the other way around, bro.

Do you even have a PhD in science?

Physics, bro. Get it? Doubt it.
 
So, to save me from having to read all the previous posts in this thread, do I have a correct impression that research has demonstrated the softest tip cannot apply more spin to the CB than the hardest tip?
 
dr_dave said:
It is also possible that the particles in the chalk that embed into the tip and CB surfaces during impact (effectively locking the two surfaces together) cannot embed or stay embedded in the surfaces when the angle of the surfaces is greater than the angle at the miscue limit.
Click to expand...

I wonder if there's some sort of friction limit of a smooth pool ball, after all, it is the interaction between the two surfaces? You need to find an old ball and rough it up with some sand paper and try and cue it beyond the traditional miscue limit (obviously making sure it is free of particles from the sanding) ...
 
Gary Jones said:
I wonder if there's some sort of friction limit of a smooth pool ball, after all, it is the interaction between the two surfaces? You need to find an old ball and rough it up with some sand paper and try and cue it beyond the traditional miscue limit (obviously making sure it is free of particles from the sanding) ...
Click to expand...
might increase the miscue limit, would certainly ruin the rest of the game.
 
Gary Jones said:
I wonder if there's some sort of friction limit of a smooth pool ball, after all, it is the interaction between the two surfaces? You need to find an old ball and rough it up with some sand paper and try and cue it beyond the traditional miscue limit (obviously making sure it is free of particles from the sanding) ...
Click to expand...
why would anyone ever do this???? sheer fkng boredom?????
 
Gary Jones said:
I wonder if there's some sort of friction limit of a smooth pool ball, after all, it is the interaction between the two surfaces? You need to find an old ball and rough it up with some sand paper and try and cue it beyond the traditional miscue limit (obviously making sure it is free of particles from the sanding) ...
Click to expand...

There are new coatings that can be used on billiard balls or table cloth to produce a variety of effects. Silicon spray is the most widely known one.

I have tried dust sized particles of magnetic material on cloth and balls. Weak magnetic forces are fun to study.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top