Pin size hit
- Thread starter riding9
- Start date
I dunno
Don't wanna burn out your lungs and all that, but not pin size...go for gold!
Don't wanna burn out your lungs and all that, but not pin size...go for gold!
Unilock is fine, just keep clean with dry Qtip. Friend has a Lucas's with Unilock, work to sink balls.
Type of pin used in a cue joint is not the sole determining factor in how a cue will feel in terms of the "hit" You need to look at the butt joint materials- is it wood only, metal, ivory, implex (artificial materials), etc. - is it flat faced or piloted, what woods are used in the butt construction, what is the butt design ( points or solid wood) - now for the shaft- material? shaft taper- stiff to flexed- Ferrule ( ivory, plastics, etc.) and the tip ( very hard to very soft) -- also overall cue balance -
Bottom line is that you have to play with the cue to determine the answer to your question, any other answer is just guessing.
Bottom line is that you have to play with the cue to determine the answer to your question, any other answer is just guessing.
In more than one blind test shooters have been unable to identify a cue by its joint type. As stated above a lot of factors other than joint type are responsible for the way a cue hits.
And the type of tip can have far more effect than the joint assuming the joint is solid.
The softer the cue tip- the more you will actually "feel" the rest of the cue construction factors in regards to the hit. Stands to reason, a very hard tip will tend to block or mask the rest of the cue behind it; due to the density/hardness factor. Some cues continue to hit relatively stiff, even with a softer tip, because THAT is the true feedback from the entire cue - if the cue construction lends itself to a stiff hit in and by itself.
Therefore, I always recommend that when assessing how a cue plays- one should begin with a softer tip - it is much easier to adjust upward from there in terms of hardness to get the cue "tuned" to how one desires it to play. Start by choosing a softer tip from a tip brand that you also like for it's other factors - holding its shape, transferring spin, holding chalk, etc.
You may end up with a harder tip on your cue, BC that is just what works for you with that particular cue.
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Everything you mentioned is true. That said, the "feel" of the tip used is the biggest factor on how a cue "feels" to the end user. Two different tips on the same cue with all the same factors will feel completely different to the same player.
Scott Lee
2019 PBIA Instructor of the Year
Director, SPF National Pool School Tour
Is that a proven theory I can read about somewhere? In my experience, the softer the tip the less I "feel" the cue as the tip soaks up the vibrations. This is why the more I learn about cues and types of woods I actually prefer a harder tip.
My experience agrees with yours.
Besides the CB leaves the tip within 2 milliseconds which is before the shock wave of the tip-CB impact gets 6" down the length of the shaft.
I prefer tips with 82-85 on the durrometer for my play cue, and 88+ on my break cue.
The speed of that shock wave is about 13,000 feet per second (speed of sound along the fiber in maple), so in fact it can make a couple of round trips in 2 milliseconds.
That's for the longitudinal (along the length) wave. The transverse (or wiggle) wave is much slower. That's the vibration you see if you whack the side of the stick to get the tip to wiggle back and forth. That speed is something around the length of the cue in 40 milliseconds. I think both waves contribute to the overall feel of the hit.
Folks- I am not talking about my preference in cue tip hardness. The impact for the cue begins at the tip, and the feel of a cue is how it feels in your hands during the "hit" So the transfer from the cue ball to the cue tip to your hands will definitely be more absorbed by a softer tip- it is less dense than a harder tip.
So my point is with a harder tip - you are actually getting the feeling of the tip strike more than the feeling of the cue itself. With the softer tip absorbing more of the vibration or whatever you want to call it- that feeling from the hit gets more directed down the shaft and cue butt to your hands.
No written theory that I know of- just makes sense to me that the more "energy" absorbed by the less dense cue tip would pass that energy from the tip downward to the cue butt. A denser cue tip will retain more of the cue ball strike effect on the tip itself - that is probably the hit feeling that some people prefer and why they use a harder tip on their cue - but I contend that the softer the cue tip the greater the tip energy absorption; resulting in one feeling the entire cue response in their hands more than you will get with a hard tip- it is all a matter of personal preference. No right or wrong answers here IMO.
My experience is that you can get a soft hit feeling when you have a soft tip installed on a a wide variety of cues; but I never get a soft hit feeling on any cue when I have a very hard tip installed on that cue. Never. So that alone tells me that a very hard tip will mask the hit of some naturally softer hitting cue configurations. As I said, some will like the harder hitting tip - but it is the hard tip doing most of the talking to you- not the cue itself - from my own experience.
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That is badass billiard brains, bob.
My son and I tried out a bunch of Predator cues during several trade shows, to try out some shafts, we both prefer the Radial pin on the same shaft design vs the quick release pins.
"You wanna know why i dogged that damn shot?? 'Cause of that f%^&*n' transverse wave. SOB gets me every time"
I have found that most pool players do not genuinely understand the anatomy of a cue
and how the various individual components come together, almost like a cooking recipe,
to achieve the desired outcome. There is a lot more to a cue than a shaft and butt. And
the construction method and materials used assume a major role determining the hit and
feel when you stroke the cue ball. Pool cues can reflect artistry but the look seldom decides
how a cue plays and feels. Nope, it comes down to how the cue was built and with custom
cues, what the customer ordered to be made since people often have preferences, like myself.
and how the various individual components come together, almost like a cooking recipe,
to achieve the desired outcome. There is a lot more to a cue than a shaft and butt. And
the construction method and materials used assume a major role determining the hit and
feel when you stroke the cue ball. Pool cues can reflect artistry but the look seldom decides
how a cue plays and feels. Nope, it comes down to how the cue was built and with custom
cues, what the customer ordered to be made since people often have preferences, like myself.