Heavy Cues?

ridewiththewind

ridewiththewind

♥ Hippie Hustler ♥
Silver Member
So, I have been looking at vintage cues for years...window-shopping, as it were, and have often wondered why it would seem that the majority of those out there being offered are in the the 20oz+ range, while the majority of those being offered in more recent years tend to run in the 18.5oz-19.5oz range. I was just curious as to why that might be? Any ideas?

Lisa
 
I would suggest it's because of the faster cloths that the game is played on today. In the "old days", the slow cloth would require players to stroke the ball harder on certain shots. This was partially accomplished by playing with a heavier cue. Nowadays, with modern cloth being so fast, most shots are hit comparably softer than they were on the older cloth. Thus, lighter cues. Just my thoughts....anyone else?
 
ragbug74 said:
I would suggest it's because of the faster cloths that the game is played on today. In the "old days", the slow cloth would require players to stroke the ball harder on certain shots. This was partially accomplished by playing with a heavier cue. Nowadays, with modern cloth being so fast, most shots are hit comparably softer than they were on the older cloth. Thus, lighter cues. Just my thoughts....anyone else?
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I agree with Ragbug74, also the balls are faster today... more action when they strike each other. I have several cues one in piticular that was made in 1993 that is 20oz.
 
I suppose that would make sense. Unfortunately, most of the places I get to play for league still have crappy felt and even crappier balls, had to play on one table one night that was so bad that every single shot had to be hammered to make the pocket, and I just hate shooting that way!
 
ridewiththewind said:
I suppose that would make sense. Unfortunately, most of the places I get to play for league still have crappy felt and even crappier balls, had to play on one table one night that was so bad that every single shot had to be hammered to make the pocket, and I just hate shooting that way!
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It's been a while since you posted. You still playing with that beautiful Skip of yours?!
 
Well, i will make no claim to know why VINTAGE cues were heavier, as i am not that old, but i will give an opinion as to why some people might prefer them over a ligher cue.
First let me say, that i have a long pendulum style stroke (on par with any of the longer bridging filipinos)
In the past, i was afforded the opportunity to hit balls with Efrens old cues, and some of Parica's old cues. (maybe about 12 years ago)
To my complete amazement, these things (especially efrens) weighed a TON.

I could not fathom how they could possibly make balls with these things, and have some semblance of cueball control.
To me, they felt like playing with LOGS.

Then, in the numerous discussions that resulted, it was told to me that a heavier cue makes for a straighter stroke. (IF you have a pendulum style stroke where you just basically drop your arm)

The theory behind it is, that using a lighter cue, you actually have to do more muscle work when delivering a stroke, and that if your stroke is off a little, or that if your arm is tired for instance, that it would be very easy to falter, and have a hitch or some other problem that would throw your stroke off by a little, occur
With a heavier cue, you don't need to use as much muscle to force the cue. You basically just let your arm drop, and assist the cue in the motion, but you never really have to force it till a power shot comes up.
The heavier cue does most of the work FOR you, and by the mere weight of the cue, PULLS your arm as it's swinging like a pendulum, and keeps the stroke straight. (this is assuming that you have one of these strokes to begin with) The heavier the cue, the less your arm will pull it out of the strokes path.

Now i know your gonna have people that say 1 or 2 ounces can't make that much of a difference in a stroke being straight, but at the same time, i'm pretty sure that the majority of serious pool players are going to know instantaneously if a cue is to heavy or to light and if the balance is what they are accustomed to or not, based on only 2 or three shots attempted with it.

SO...i'm willing to bet that a couple of ounces CAN make a difference, even if it is just a slight one.

i know that most of my cues are about 21.5 ounces, with 1 being 20.75. and i know that i never wonder if my stroke is straight when using them. I wonder when i'm using a cue that feels like a feather, but never with one of the heavy ones.

Just some food for thought.
 
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I was told to go to a heavier cue by my teacher in college. He said it was for that very same reason..heavier cue equals steadier stroke with less muscle work.

I have always been curious about Santos's PFD and some of his cues. How much do they weigh? He only weighs like 5 pounds more than me HA HA

I now am trying to make myself go back to a lighter cue, it doesn't tire me out as quick toting around a lighter cue...and I can feel the ball in the hole better with more control with a lighter stick. My playing cue remains a 20.1...but my Schick is much lighter at 18.5.

I was told that a golfer can tell the difference even when you tape a dollar bill on the end of his club...so I would say an ounce or two would definately be noticeable by a player.

Shorty
 
SUPERSTAR...that makes so much sense, it's almost scary! :-) Thanks for the informative posts to all.

Zeeder...I PM'd you :-)
 
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