Do you break with your playing cue??

If you had no "break cue" what would you choose?

  • Always break with my playing cue.

    Votes: 21 22.3%

  • Break mostly with my playing cue but occassionally a wall hanger.

    Votes: 11 11.7%

  • Would mostly break with a wall hanger and play with my player.

    Votes: 17 18.1%

  • Never break with my playng cue.

    Votes: 45 47.9%
  • Total voters
    94
  • Poll closed .
our_auctionguy

our_auctionguy

The Wall.....
Silver Member
I have been breaking with my playing cue 95% of the time for as long as I can remember. Motteys, Dishaws, Omens, Bluds, PFD, Cogs, my current Blevins, and every custom cue I have owed. I have never suffered a loosening of the joint, fracture, or any other problems. I am not a crush breaker like some of you guys, but I have rung the corner pocket bells on so many breaks I care not to count and almost always send 3+ or better close or off to the back rail. I break faster than maybe 70% of the players I have played over the years.

I believe that if you buy a serious $$ custom cue, it should be as strong and hold up to the break action witout concern, so I am kind of surprised when other players aslk me if I break with my playing cue like I am gonna hurt it.

I have no desire to own a break cue except to maybe increase the speed, but not because i am afraid to break with my player.

How many people here would choose to break with their playing cue over a wall hanger if they didn't own a break stick? How many would never break with their playing cue unless there was no other alternative??
 
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curiosity killed the cat... but how often do you have to replace the tips on your cue? I only use my playing cue to break in one-pocket and 14.1. Otherwise it seems a waste of a soft or medium tip... Just IMHO...:D
 
There is no real harm in breaking with a quality custom. The harm is in what it does to your tip. I'd rather not break with my player just so the tip doesn't get too hard much quicker than normal. When I get my tip dialed in just perfect the way I like it....I don't want to abuse it. Breaking is truly rough on many of the softer layered tips. I guess if I prefered a hard Moori or similar then it wouldn't be such an issue.
 
JoeyInCali said:
Only when I'm breaking in the tip.
When it gets hard enough, no more.
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Same here. I'll be breaking with my SouthWest for the next 2 or 3 weeks and then it's back to my break cue. Gotta say though that this SW breaks really well.

The real question here is if breaking is a problem with ivory ferrules? If I didn't have ivory ferrules I'd probably always break with my play cue.
MULLY
 
I'm sure opinions vary but it's nothing to do with whether my player can 'handle' it as any decent cue should be able to.

It more of keeping the tips integrity as well as limiting potential damage from the table rails , pocket liners , etc.
 
I play with hard tips that hold their shape longer and on a new fast cloth with clean balls you really don't need phenolic tips to get a big break but it does provide a faster break with a slower stroke and if you play for many straight hours it's harder to maintain a fast break with a leather tip.
Besides hard tips can get too hard and dull just the same.

But it's not just the tip.
I like light cues, I like my playing cues to be around 18.5oz but I prefer a break cue that is under 18oz
I also don't like wraps on a break cue while I do prefer a wrap on my playing cue.

In some occasions I will use my playing cue as a break cue, like on a drinking night when pool comes in second but never on serious pool sessions or competition.
If I play with a Z shaft then I would not break with it either and I would prefer to take my BK out or use a house cue, but then again on those drinking nights I'll probably won't be using the Z anyway....
 
mullyman said:
Same here. I'll be breaking with my SouthWest for the next 2 or 3 weeks and then it's back to my break cue. Gotta say though that this SW breaks really well.

The real question here is if breaking is a problem with ivory ferrules? If I didn't have ivory ferrules I'd probably always break with my play cue.
MULLY
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My SW is also the best break stick I've had.
In general I always use my playing cue to break with, never had a problem.

I take that back, once someone put an ivory ferrule on my cue even though I didn't ask for one and it cracked in about 3 mos.

Ivory no good for break stick.
 
Pii said:
My SW is also the best break stick I've had.
In general I always use my playing cue to break with, never had a problem.

I take that back, once someone put an ivory ferrule on my cue even though I didn't ask for one and it cracked in about 3 mos.

Ivory no good for break stick.
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Yeah, I've never had a ferrule crack on me, because I don't regularly use my playing cue to break, but I was suspecting breaking all the time with an ivory ferrule isn't the best thing for it.
MULLY
 
I finally bought a break cur when I figured out that it was less than 1/3 the price of a refinish! My SW breaks a ton, but I waited too long to destroy the finish. I break with as level a cue as possible and lots of times I actually drag the rail. $80 for Kaiser JB and no worries.
 
It's not a matter of fear of harming my playing cue. I prefer preserving the tip on my playing cue and using a break cue which is designed and optimized for breaking balls.
 
i like to break as hard as I possibly can most of the time to improve my break - unless there's a lot at stake i'll take a bit off it then. but i never use my playing cue because i'm fussy about my tip and also the shaft - it's nice to just be able to completely let go and break the balls as hard as you can without worrying about getting dings on your shafts or killing your tip.
 
Breaking and playing tips

I play with Moori Slow tips (the softest Moori) and like some of the other posts I wouldn't use my playing cue to break with because I want my playing tip's shape to stay the way I like it as long as possible. I have a cue lathe and I can install and shape my own tips, but since a good break cue is so cheap then why put the added stress on my playing tip. I don't care for hard tips and if I used a real hard tip it wouldn't be so bad to break with my playing cue.

I don't use ivory ferrules, but I do use predator shafts and I have a couple of the first generation predator shafts and they have a soft plastic ferrule that I don't think is good for breaking either.

James
 
SCCues said:
I don't use ivory ferrules, but I do use predator shafts and I have a couple of the first generation predator shafts and they have a soft plastic ferrule that I don't think is good for breaking either.

James
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Francisco Bustamante used to break with the first generation 314 shaft (on a Bear butt), that was before the phenolic tips era... and I don't think he had a problem with it...

I had the first generation Predator BK which I think had the same ferrule and I never had any problems with it either besides a few minor scratches on the ferrule.
I know a few players that used their 314 shafts for breaking and none of them had any ferrule issues.
 
When I first started playing I used a house cue for about 3 months. Then I bought a break cue with a phenolic tip. I think it helps me break harder and better. Maybe it's just me but I wouldn't break with anything else now.

Don't you think that the break cue is a better cue that is built for the purpose for which it was designed?:D
 
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