Decoding the exact balance of a cue
- Thread starter icem3n
- Start date
i belive around 18"-19" is generally considered neutral. heres a long thread on the subject.
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=61506&highlight=balance
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=61506&highlight=balance
I think the balance point can sometimes be a little deceiving. For a very long time I wanted my cues to balance at 19-19.5'' (on a 58'' cue). Recently I started playing with a Chudy cue, with a G-10 pin that balances at 18"... and it feels the same as the more foreward balanced cues that I am accustomed to. That light pin allows a much better OVERALL balance, IMO. When playing with my new cue I don't notice the cue feeling foreward or rear balanced. Truely neutral. It now seems to me that there is much more to the balance of a cue than the balance point.icem3n said:
icem3n said:
Imo, the neutral balance point for a 58" cue is 18 1-2" from the end of the butt.
merylane said:
Thanks for the input Mr.Showman. But i'm confuse with the unit you use.
What are they in inches?
Sorry I'm not so technical.It look's like 33 1/3 : 66 2/3, so that is 1:2 right? so 19.33 inches from butt if i'm not mistaken?
What is your waiting time now for your cue? Thinking to get one from you next year.
Charlie Edwards said:
Charlie, I think that got something to do with the place where you grip the butt of the cue and also the bridge of your cue. Some style of play may find forward balance better and viceversa. Long bridge and short bridge will favour different type of balance. Different type of games may also prefer different type of balance in cue. A 5 feet tall man and a 6 feet tall man may find the same cue weighing differently during play. A 6 foot guy may hold a cue more toward the rear. Hence the cue feel more lighter and may favour rear ward balance cue. Position of both hands on a cue has different weights to it. I may be wrong, after all what do I know.
\icem3n said:Thanks for the input Mr.Showman. But i'm confuse with the unit you use.
What are they in inches?
It look's like 33 1/3 : 66 2/3, so that is 1:2 right? so 19.33 inches from butt if i'm not mistaken?
What is your waiting time now for your cue? Thinking to get one from you next year.
percent...... 33 and 1/3 % of total length.
i guess i left out the " % " sign
icem3n said:
There is no such thing.
Every cue has a balance point, there is nothing neutral about it.
If all cues were made to exacting standards then they all would play exactly the same.
Find a cue you like the balance of and measure it.
That is YOUR preference and a good starting place when talking to a cue maker about a custom cue.
Some players like forward weighted cues and some like butt heavy cues.
Each can tell you why their preference is the right one.
A cue maker should make a cue that HE likes.
If he is making a cue that he would not like to play with he is making a mistake.
I will tell you that all WilleeCues are forward weighted cause that is the way I like them. I would not attempt to make one otherwise unless my arm was twisted with a large sum of money.
However, that would surely be a mistake for both of us.
Willee, you got a point there. Abit confused, Im not that technical,lol.
You mentioned about forward balance in your cue,how do you determined that it is a forward cue? i mean you must have a standard point which provide you a guideline saying this is the centre of the mass. Do you use the 33.33%:66.66% like John use?
You mentioned about forward balance in your cue,how do you determined that it is a forward cue? i mean you must have a standard point which provide you a guideline saying this is the centre of the mass. Do you use the 33.33%:66.66% like John use?
icem3n said:
You feel it when you lay the cue out for a stroke.
You can feel if it is butt heavy or is forward weighted by that.
A forward weighted cue feels lighter than a butt heavy cue of the same weight.
Where the balance point is has less importance that how it feels when you stroke it.
Willee
balance point
The cue feels like an extenction of your arm. The cue should feel natural to you when playing. When you draw the ball, with a forward balance, you don't have to mussle or get so low on the ball, because of the forward balance, the cue works for you, and by doing that you have more control. Same goes for a top english shot, forward balance doesn't require to be up on top so high. High english shots are the hardest to make, because your so high, with forward balance you have more control because you don't have to get so high to make that hard shot, so you have more control....
Controling the ball as we know, makes or breaks you.
blud
All of my cues are forward balance. This is for several reasons,icem3n said:
The cue feels like an extenction of your arm. The cue should feel natural to you when playing. When you draw the ball, with a forward balance, you don't have to mussle or get so low on the ball, because of the forward balance, the cue works for you, and by doing that you have more control. Same goes for a top english shot, forward balance doesn't require to be up on top so high. High english shots are the hardest to make, because your so high, with forward balance you have more control because you don't have to get so high to make that hard shot, so you have more control....
Controling the ball as we know, makes or breaks you.
blud
Everyone keeps saying what they like and reasons for it, which is fine, but no one seems to want to answer the question, Where would the neutral balance point be? I feel that a 58" cue would be neutrally balanced at about 17 to 18" from the rear of the cue, not counting the bumper. Less is rear weighted and more is forward balanced. Holding the cue in different places will affect your perception of balance but it doesn't change the physical aspects of the cue. On my cues the balance is from 19 to 19.75 unless the customer wants a different balance point. I no longer build cues for general sale. All of my cues are custom built for the person placing the order and is built 100% to his specs. I tell him my preferences and explain why, but in the end, the customer is ALWAYS right. After all, the reason he is having a cue made is because he can't get his specs. from a production cue. Why pay the extra and have a custom made if it is still not what you want?
Dick
Dick
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It seems we all might have a slightly different opinion on it. I've always considered 18" to be the divider between butt heavy and forward.
ps: The customer is not always right~~~But they are always the customer!
ps: The customer is not always right~~~But they are always the customer!