Cue Weight Preference: 18, 19, 20, 21 ounce or?

PoolChump

PoolChump

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Playing Cue Weight Preference: 18, 19, 20, 21 ounce or?

I like a 18.75 ounce cue vs a 21 ounce because I feel I have more control, especially on touchy soft shots. Beginning players most likely will play better with a heavier 21 ounce cue, because the cue stays on track longer and is more forgiving of stroke flaws.
 
Playing pool is about acceleration, timing and accuracy. Cue weight has very little to do with any of those. I disagree that a beginner will do better with a 21 oz cue than an 18 oz cue. I started playing several decades ago with a 19 oz cue. 15 years later I found I actually preferred playing with an 18 oz cue, and I've been there ever since. Performance and playability had nothing to do with it. It was, and is, just a personal preference...just like what brand of tip you like.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
 
When I was a young pup, I always played with the heaviest cue I could find, 22 oz if they had one, 21 if not. When I got older and got my own table & cues, I experimented with adding/removing weight to the butt and found that I liked a lighter cue better. Now I help make cues (do inlays) and have played with both heavier cues and lighter cues. What I found was that the balance point was more important to me as far as feel than how much the cue weighed. About an inch to an inch and a half above the handle is where I like the balance point to be. I went back through my cues that I had changed the weight on and found that all of them had pretty much the same balance point without me realizing that's what it was.

I do have a very light cue that is all maple. It, too, has the same balance point, but I find that I can't get the action I want (draw and force follow) because the cue just doesn't have enough punch. I'm pretty much in the same ballpark as you, around 19 ounces with the balance point where I like works best for me.
 
Scott Lee said:
Playing pool is about acceleration, timing and accuracy. Cue weight has very little to do with any of those. I disagree that a beginner will do better with a 21 oz cue than an 18 oz cue. I started playing several decades ago with a 19 oz cue. 15 years later I found I actually preferred playing with an 18 oz cue, and I've been there ever since. Performance and playability had nothing to do with it. It was, and is, just a personal preference...just like what brand of tip you like.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
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Personal preference, yes. But there is actually physics (science) into the equipment we use in pool. Super soft tips play much different than a very hard tips. Low deflection shaft plays much different than a high deflection whippy shaft. Magic Chalk holds on to tips better than any chalk according to http://billiards.colostate.edu/threads/chalk.html Should I go on?
 
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Play with the heaviest cue you can tolerate. Teaches you to let the cue do the work for you. Not all people are the same size, or have the same strength. So it's like asking what size of jeans fits everyone best. I'm 6'. 210lbs. I play with a 21 oz cue. The 5'3", 115lb girl on my team uses an 18oz cue. To each their own. Regarding "feel" and control, again, personal preference. I find it harder to steer a heavy cue, so I'm much more accurate with a heavier cue. And I don't have to hit the cueball as hard, so my impression is that the heavier cue has a better touch. Again, just my opinion.
 
Weight range.....18.25 to 18.75 when I look to buy a cue.......18.25 to 18.5 when I order a custom.


Matt B.

p.s. But only when the cue has a flat ivory joint.....a prerequisite for the above weight preferences.
 
Shawn Armstrong said:
And I don't have to hit the cueball as hard, so my impression is that the heavier cue has a better touch. Again, just my opinion.
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interesting. I find that since a lighter cue doesn't hit the CB as hard (we agree on that), therefore the lighter cue gives me more "touch"....


( I like the 18 - 19 range )
 
For me, the range of 18.0 - 18.7 is perfect. It just feels right.

:D:D:D:D:D:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
Awizzy....I have a Scruggs that weighs 18.33 ozs......kinda in the middle of your range.......the feel of that cue is so enjoyable you don't want to stop shooting pool using that cue.
 
Depends on balance point. I prefer a 19oz cue with a forward balance. I cannot tolerate butt heavy cues.
 
PoolChump said:
Personal preference, yes. But there is actually physics (science) into the equipment we use in pool. Super soft tips play much different than a very hard tips. Low deflection shaft plays much different than a high deflection whippy shaft. Magic Chalk holds on to tips better than any chalk according to http://billiards.colostate.edu/threads/chalk.html Should I go on?
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scotts right ....all the known and accepted standard ranges of weights (18-21) are at least 3x more than the cue ball.....thus giving more than enough momentum to properly let said equipment handle most of the work for you.

so your saying the same exact thing......basically
 
My last cue was a 22 oz Brunswick Hoppe which I sold in 1970. Stopped playing for 40+ years. Two years ago when I got back into the game, that's right, I got a 21oz. stick and love it.
 
PoolChump said:
Personal preference, yes. But there is actually physics (science) into the equipment we use in pool. Super soft tips play much different than a very hard tips. Low deflection shaft plays much different than a high deflection whippy shaft. Magic Chalk holds on to tips better than any chalk according to http://billiards.colostate.edu/threads/chalk.html Should I go on?
Click to expand...

chalk isn't helping anyones game either.....trust that for certain....most miscues happen because we are too far out on ball or have a really bad stroke thats not accurate.....that being said most shots that people play english on, are using WAYYYYYYY too much english
 
michael4 said:
interesting. I find that since a lighter cue doesn't hit the CB as hard (we agree on that), therefore the lighter cue gives me more "touch"....


( I like the 18 - 19 range )
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To get the same effect on the cueball, you will have to swing a lighter cue faster than a heavy cue. That means I can move the ball the same distance with less "power". That, for me, equals more "touch", or finesse. Lighter cues mask "touch". Guys who like hitting the ball firm tend to like lighter cues.
 
I don't think finesse has anything to do with cue weight but rather the speed of the stroke. Every stroke should be firm, either soft or hard or harder.
 
PoolChump said:
Playing Cue Weight Preference: 18, 19, 20, 21 ounce or?
Click to expand...


Playing: 18.75 to 19.5
Breaking: 20.5 to 21.

I always feel like I barely have to swing my arm when I use a heavy
break cue, others disagree, but for me a heavy and forward
weighted break cue just makes everything so much easier.
 
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bsmutz said:
About an inch to an inch and a half above the handle is where I like the balance point to be.
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Some cues have longer grip section than others.
If you measure this form the very back of the cue how far towards the forearm is this?

Just curious.

I tend to like 18.5 to 19 inches.
 
Very very interesting...

I got caught up with all different cue weight crap about two years ago. Everyone on the planet starting playing with light cues, seems to me that people were saying lighter the better.... 16oz, 17oz, only way to go.

So...

I went to a lighter cue 17.5 oz, and at first I was like this is great.... But over time i could tell something was missing, but i couldn't put my finger on it.... So i started logging long hours on my talbe, to mess around with the weight, adding, and adding, and adding until again it felt weird. Landed right at 19 oz, same spot i was playing with before, and now i'm hitting the ball better then ever.... Never again will i drink the kool-Aid.

Balance point is very important to me as well. 1-2 inches in front of the wrap and 19oz, buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuutta! I havn't played this well in a couple years.
 
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