In need of opinions

[Norm Craig]

I've been playing pool lately with a 10 millimeter tip on my Joss cue. I was wondering if the smaller snooker tip on the larger pool balls could be adversely effecting my cue ball control, and therefore the amount of balls I'm running. I personally feel much more comfortable with the smaller shaft/tip, but its seems farely evident that 99.9% of good 14.1 players use normal sized tips.
Any thoughts or comments?

 

[driven]

mine is 10.25. My fat shaft is 12 but I can't use it. I don't know what it is about the small tip but it works for me. Maybe because I am so used to it.
The way I see it is the contact point between the ball and the tip is so much smaller than the tip itself I really don't think it matters. The only downside I see is you will be more prone to a miscue when hitting it low. With the small tip you can hit much lower than with say a 13 mm. To low. I say play with what feels best, but would also like to see what some others think about it.
steven

 

[jwpretd]

I've been using a 10mm tip for a little over eight years now; the shaft is radially laminated, has a pure conical taper from joint to tip, and has a 1/8 inch pad of ferrule material instead of a normal ferrule. This was made for me by Ron Kilby when I got a new cue from him. The tip radius is fairly large (i.e., flat) - no tighter than a nickel, maybe even a little larger.

I think it helped me improve my cue ball control, probably mostly through helping with tip placement accuracy. I don't remember ever having any more problems with miscuing with it than with any other shaft, not even when drawing the ball. It also has noticeably less squirt than a more normally sized and tapered shaft due to the reduction in end mass.

The next step, when I can get the money together, is to laminate some 10mm shafts out of spruce. That would give a further significant reduction in mass - on the order of 30% less than the same size and taper in maple.

 

[Ratta]

If it works for you- keep it

Most guys using bigger diameters (12-13mm) because they feel better with it. And many saying, that it is a bit easier to hit centerball with it.

But the result is important for everyone- if you take advantage from using a 10mm tip-use it!
Your opinion is important about your material-not what other guys tell you.

 

[topcat1953]

Tip Diameter

I just want to comment that it was a common conclusion when I was learning to play straight pool, the more tip on the ball led to more accuracy and less dramatic English. There were several very good shooters I knew who played with 14 mm shafts. Almost every cue I ordered 30-35 years ago had 13 1/4 or 13 1/8 mm shafts. There was even a poll in one of the Billiard Magazines then, listing the size of the shafts used by the Pros. Jim Rempe, who won more tournaments than anyone in the 1970's, thus the King James moniker, was using a 13.78 mm shaft. Very few, if any, were using a shaft with a diameter less than 13 mm.
Today, I am most comfortable with a 12 3/4 mm shaft.
But, now, with all of the technology, many players are down to shooting with 10 and 11 mm shafts.
I don't know, but when I am watching the Pros, it appears they are using shafts that have some girth or at least 12 1/2 mm, if not larger.
To me, using any shaft with such a small diameter would lead to certain inaccuracies or unwanted spin. But, maybe all these low deflection shafts don't produce maximum spin on the cue ball and throw on the object ball.
Call me old fashion, but I still like a shaft that gives a little spring and feels alive. Especially when I give it that hi inside to reverse the cue ball off the rail. "Hmmmm baby, how'd he hit it?"

 

[jwpretd]

... it was a common conclusion when I was learning to play straight pool, the more tip on the ball led to more accuracy and less dramatic English.

The size of the area of the tip that comes in contact with the cue ball is determined by the radius of the tip's curvature, not its diameter (above some minimum size, anyway). A soft tip will also squish (a technical term) a little more than a hard one, slightly increasing the contact area. There are pictures on dr_dave's site that show what happens when the tip strikes the cue ball.

English snooker players need very precise tip-ball placement, and commonly use tips in the 8mm to 10mm range. This is about 60% to 80% of the diameter of the normal diameter range for pool cue tips. If they felt that they could improve their accuracy with a larger tip, they would certainly use it. That was my reasoning when I had the 10mm shaft made: since the tip diameter didn't affect the contact area size, I figured I'd be better off if I could better see where the tip contacted the ball.

 

[sausage]

for many years i played with a 12mm shaft and did well. i won a university championship and many local tournaments. i've been trying to like my new 13mm shafts but i think i'm going to switch back to the 12mm. i find that the thinner shafts draw the cue much more easily. in fact, years ago i perfectly executed the one pocket power draw shot a couple of times with a 12mm shaft. it wasn't easy though and my cloth suffered but at least i can say that i made this shot. http://books.google.com/books?id=42M6GkKSThcC&pg=PT208&lpg=PT208&dq=one+pocket+power+draw&source=bl&ots=le3yJ6y3EF&sig=YJ29Yt9P1tr1yhEjjTv4HC8f-gw&hl=en&ei=B8t-TZ6SBoy10QHdgbn3CA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=one%20pocket%20power%20draw&f=false