Importants of the Break Cue!!

RunoutJJ

RunoutJJ

Professional Banger
Silver Member
Does having a break cue matter all that much?? I ask because i dont have a break cue. I dont slam a rack of nine ball to get the balls to spread out nice but rather hit it firm and solid. I dont use a Corey Duel soft break either so is it nessecary to have a break cue??

I use my playing cue (Zinzola) for pretty much ever shot. So if im breaking with it will it weaken the joint? As far as it go's with Zinzola cues the joint is pretty tight and the screw and thread of the joint are strong.

What do you think and should i consider investing in a break cue???
 
If you use a LD shaft I would definitely go with a break cue. I never went without a break cue just because I didn't wanna mash the tip of my playing cue.
 
Thats the point im trying to make. It im not crushing the ball (or tip) on the break is it nessecary to have a break cue?? I wouls say i hit the break around the 10mph mark. Not hard but FIRM and level. No jumping on one foot or a heavy back swing... Just a FIRM solid center ball hit.
 
Well then with you it would probably be a preference and not a necessity. I suppose that if you would like to start jumping or sledgehammer breaking you would want a j/b. If not then keep things the way they are.
 
But it just looks so cool carring in a suitcase full of cues into a pool room. I used to break soft too. In the last month I have been playing around with a hard break. If you are going to break hard I would recommend a break stick. It saves wear on the shooting stick and, with me anyway, it helps keep the cue ball from running all over the table.

Larry
 
I always use a break cue. I look at it like this... A dedicated break cue (one made specifically for that purpose) is usually designed a bit different than a normal cue. Mine has a different taper, a different shaft thickness and a completely different tip. I had Jerry Powers make a Stinger for me to match my playing cue, but when I did (anticipating the outlawing of phenolic tips for breaking) I had him make two shafts, one with a phenolic one with leather. With the ongoing rule changes in many organizations, I use the leather tip to break almost exclusively and it out performs my normal cue for breaking by a long shot. I can hit softer, yet get a greater transfer of energy because of the cue's design. I'm not promoting Stingers, although that's probably the only break cue I'll every use, but most good break cues are designed to break balls and nothing else.

I equate it to driving. If I want to go on a nice long drive on the highway, I jump in my wife's Pontiac. If I'm going up in the mountains on logging roads, in search of obscure streams to fish, I use my SUV. To me, playing pool is the same; use the tool that was designed for the job and you'll get better results. But, that's just my opinion, and I was wrong once... :smile:
 
Golf

I see it similar to golf. You do not use a driver to putt with nor do you use a putter to get out of a sand trap. Different cues are designed for different situations that is the reason for the development of the J/B cue. The same is also true for a carom cue and a masse cue..
JMO!!!!!!!!
 
Been thinking about getting one.. That and a jump but if thats the case i will need just that.. A bigger case :lol:
 
A break cue is not necessary based on your description, but it still might help. For one, your cue will hold up so no worries there, but your tip may suffer. I don't like breaking w/my playing cue because if I get the tip just the way I like it, breaking may reduce the life of it, make it harder, or create a glaze so I misscue more often. And as others have mentioned, if you are using a LD shaft with some special ferrule configuration, that would not be good for it - or if you use an ivory ferrule I would be nervous.

You might just find that you get a little extra action on the balls hitting it exactly the way you hit them now by using something designed for breaking. SVB always broke w/his playing cue until he recently started using his sponsor's break cue, now he uses a break cue.

JMO

Dave
 
RunoutJJ said:
Thats the point im trying to make. It im not crushing the ball (or tip) on the break is it nessecary to have a break cue?? I wouls say i hit the break around the 10mph mark. Not hard but FIRM and level. No jumping on one foot or a heavy back swing... Just a FIRM solid center ball hit.
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If you are hitting them soft like that you don't need a break cue. The primary reason for having a break cue is to protect the tip of your shooter. You are hitting it no harder then alot of shots you would shoot with your shooter at any time in a game, so that problem is moot.

I know some great players that break with their players. Mind you one is a guy who builds cues, so he gets his new tips installed real cheap. I myself had the tip pop off my break cue and had to break with my shooter for a night of league, that is how I found out that the hard gluetip I had on my break cue was crap and I went the opposite direction putting on a softer triangle. Truth be told my shooter is flat out a better break cue then my break cue itself, but I do tend to hit the rack hard (~20-21MPH) as I mainly play 8-ball and I don't really want to break with my shooter as I play with soft tips and I don't want to mushroom or compact them.
 
Quesports said:
I see it similar to golf. You do not use a driver to putt with nor do you use a putter to get out of a sand trap. Different cues are designed for different situations that is the reason for the development of the J/B cue. The same is also true for a carom cue and a masse cue..
JMO!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

That is a terrible analogy. There is a tremendous difference between a driver and a putter. The difference between a predator break cue and a predator shooter is smaller then the difference between a Nike driver and a Cobra driver for that matter. There is more variation in putters used for the same shot in golf then the difference in almost any 2 pool cues out there.

Pool cues are mostly very close to identical with very small differences in weight, sometimes length (an inch or 2 +- at the most normally), slight differences in balance point, slight difference in tip hardness. But the scale of these changes is microscopis when comared to the difference in a putter in golf to a driver.
 
I regularly break over 20mph. I break & play & even jump with one cue. My tip is a medium hard & it takes a few reshapes due to flattening out but once broken in requires no more maintenance.

I could easily build myself a break cue. I have done several times. But I always go right back to breaking with my playing cue. For me it's just comfortable. My breaks are cleaner & more controlled with my playing cue because i'm so comfortable using it. I could never get used to controlling a break cue because I only used it one shot per game.

This is just my preference. Something to consider, maybe.
 
The answers to you questions are: no, no, no, and no. If you are worried about damaging your player, go grab a house cue off the wall and break with that.
About the only real damage you are going to do to your own cue is beat up the tip a little, but that's what shapers are for.
 
Shane broke with his playing cue for years, until his contract with Cue-tec. I dont break hard, just dont have the coordination so I used my playing cue as a break cue for years. I only changed to break cue a y wont hurt year ago because I break terrible with my current player.

So if your happy with your break nd your using your player then no need to change, I break with a playing cue not a break cue, I just happen to break real good with it, and I do use it as a player sometimes. Point is its not necessary to have a break cue-unlessthere is a need and thats your plan toi figure out. you hurt a cue breaking 90% og the time, if you can break at 30mph then you need a break cue. Corey dosent use a break cue, and he dosent awalys break them soft. It might wear tip out faster/
 
I am sure this has been mentioned in the past, but the old road players almost always used their playing cues to break with, and they seemed to do just fine...with much slower cloth on the table, I might add! Besides, it was kinda hard to pull a hustle with a case full of cues...LoL!

Me...if I am going to carry extra gear while out playing, it's gonna be for an extra player, not a breaker or jump. (I don't jump, preferring to play 'ol' school' and utilize my rails.)

As I have stated previously in more than one thread concerning break cues....a great break is more about technique than it is about power. My break used to be just flat out pathetic...and it did not improve much when I did have a break cue. It wasn't until I got a few tips from an old timer, and really knuckled down and found a technique that worked for me, that my breaks improved dramatically. It's not just about potting a ball on the break, but also leaving the CB in a decent position for you to be able to follow up and hopefully run out.

The last statement is applicable whether it's 8 or 9 Ball.

Lisa
 
Fatboy said:
Shane broke with his playing cue for years, until his contract with Cue-tec. I dont break hard, just dont have the coordination so I used my playing cue as a break cue for years. I only changed to break cue a y wont hurt year ago because I break terrible with my current player.

So if your happy with your break nd your using your player then no need to change, I break with a playing cue not a break cue, I just happen to break real good with it, and I do use it as a player sometimes. Point is its not necessary to have a break cue-unlessthere is a need and thats your plan toi figure out. you hurt a cue breaking 90% og the time, if you can break at 30mph then you need a break cue. Corey dosent use a break cue, and he dosent awalys break them soft. It might wear tip out faster/
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I once broke at 45 miles per hour.
After drinking Quervo all night, I paid my tab and walked out to the parking lot. I got in my car and started to leave when my foot slipped off the brake pedal and mashed the excellerator to the floor. I took off like a shot and crashed through the corner of the poolhall, slamming into table eighteen just as a guy was getting ready to break. I don't really know what happened after that, but they said I made the nine-ball on the snap. Fancy that. :wink:
 
In my experience my tips last allot longer if I use a break cue. This is my primary reason for using one. My tip gets flat quickly when I break with my playing cue.

If you use a medium break you'll probably get a little more action for less effort with a break cue. I tend to get better results with my bk2 with a softer break than I would with my playing cue.



Dudley
 
I played for many years w/o a break cue. Like most folks I just found a house cue in reasonable shape and used it. Just recently I discovered the joy of LD shafts....more specifically the OB-2 shafts. I found these shafts allowed me to make the most of my meager skills and enhanced my ability to finesse some shots. The only drawback, if it may be regarded as one, was the smaller tip dia. (11.75mm) made the possibility of miscueing on an all out power break much greater. I now own a J&J jb cue. I play barbox 8 ball almost to the exclusion of other games. I usually try to use the (ball behind the head ball) break with draw to the side rail and back out to the middle, with the 8 ball hopefully drifting into one of the side pockets. I have trouble executing this break with the break cue......don't know why.... I just do...but when the table isn't co-operating and I just need to scatter the rack and keep center table cb position....The j&j and a head ball hit does the job better than any house cue ever did.
 
I have a predator le-5 that I break with and have since i bought it in 97 still have the original tip (original 314 shaft) on it as well. I hit em hard also 20+ mph.
 
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