Predator Air Jump Cue...nothing but net!

well i got my predator air just recently too and just got the chance to try it out. my other jump cue is a stealth airtime, also a 3 piece cue, but with a leather tip. i've had a variety of jump breaks with phenolic tips, those were pretty much all the same in terms of jumping performance.
a couple measurements...the cue is very light, lighter than the official specs (which is a good thing for a jump cue). with 2 pieces it is 5.4oz and with 3 it is 8.9oz. the tip is 13.56mm. the radial pin joint is very short, the pin is aluminum to keep the weight down. the joint is quite tight, you have to twist the shaft pretty hard to screw it on. probably a good thing as it will loosen a bit over time i guess. my regular radial pin joint protectors fit fine on this cue. also my other radial pin shafts fit on the butt nicely, might be good if you need a short cue. the tip is the same as the bk2. finish seems pretty nice, but i could do without the cheesy orange cat.
i was able to jump just fine with the cue in the 2 piece configuration and a pendulum stroke. tate mentioned that he had some trouble with this, but for me it was no different than any other jump cue. it is a pretty close call when i compare this cue with the stealth. both are very light, which helps a lot. both also have 3 piece configurations, though i like the stealth better in the 3 piece config, because it is a couple inches longer. the stealth's butt is fatter than the predator, which i like as the fatter butt lets me get a better grip on the cue. the predator's phenolic tip does help get the ball up in the air easier, but the stealth's leather has a bit more control. you do have to put a little more oomph into the shot with the stealth because of the leather tip, but it not too hard to do this with the lighter weight. the predator is very good for shorter, higher jumps when the blocking ball is very close. that is really the main difference i've seen. i guess overall i'd give a slight edge to the predator over the stealth, but it is quite close. i would like to try a jester jump cue, it is a also a 3 piece, but even lighter in weight.
 
McChen said:
well i got my predator air just recently too and just got the chance to try it out. my other jump cue is a stealth airtime, also a 3 piece cue, but with a leather tip. i've had a variety of jump breaks with phenolic tips, those were pretty much all the same in terms of jumping performance.
a couple measurements...the cue is very light, lighter than the official specs (which is a good thing for a jump cue). with 2 pieces it is 5.4oz and with 3 it is 8.9oz. the tip is 13.56mm. the radial pin joint is very short, the pin is aluminum to keep the weight down. the joint is quite tight, you have to twist the shaft pretty hard to screw it on. probably a good thing as it will loosen a bit over time i guess. my regular radial pin joint protectors fit fine on this cue. also my other radial pin shafts fit on the butt nicely, might be good if you need a short cue. the tip is the same as the bk2. finish seems pretty nice, but i could do without the cheesy orange cat.
i was able to jump just fine with the cue in the 2 piece configuration and a pendulum stroke. tate mentioned that he had some trouble with this, but for me it was no different than any other jump cue. it is a pretty close call when i compare this cue with the stealth. both are very light, which helps a lot. both also have 3 piece configurations, though i like the stealth better in the 3 piece config, because it is a couple inches longer. the stealth's butt is fatter than the predator, which i like as the fatter butt lets me get a better grip on the cue. the predator's phenolic tip does help get the ball up in the air easier, but the stealth's leather has a bit more control. you do have to put a little more oomph into the shot with the stealth because of the leather tip, but it not too hard to do this with the lighter weight. the predator is very good for shorter, higher jumps when the blocking ball is very close. that is really the main difference i've seen. i guess overall i'd give a slight edge to the predator over the stealth, but it is quite close. i would like to try a jester jump cue, it is a also a 3 piece, but even lighter in weight.
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Thank you for the follow up and comparison to another 3 piece jump cue.

I still can't get the ball to jump in the shorter version with the pendulum stroke on my table, the ball gets trapped and slides away instead of popping up (it has newer cloth). It worked on another table, however, but still I was not consistent.

What sort of shots would you shoot with the cue in two piece form with a pendulum stroke? I was able to elevate pretty well in full length, so I don't know that I would shorten down to two piece unless I was using the dart stroke.

Also, since you know a lot about jump cues, why is the lighter weight desirable? I'm confused about this since my x-breaker was a great jumper but it was heavy.

Chris
 
TATE said:
Thank you for the follow up and comparison to another 3 piece jump cue.

I still can't get the ball to jump in the shorter version with the pendulum stroke on my table, the ball gets trapped and slides away instead of popping up (it has newer cloth). It worked on another table, however, but still I was not consistent.

What sort of shots would you shoot with the cue in two piece form with a pendulum stroke? I was able to elevate pretty well in full length, so I don't know that I would shorten down to two piece unless I was using the dart stroke.

Also, since you know a lot about jump cues, why is the lighter weight desirable? I'm confused about this since my x-breaker was a great jumper but it was heavy.

Chris
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I think that lighter is better because it helps the cue deflect out of the way. I may be wrong but I think this is the case?
 
it sounds like your contact point on the cue ball is too high. try hitting it a little lower so you don't trap the ball. start with a lower cue elevation and move your contact point until it is jumping well. then start trying progressively higher cue elevations after you've got that down.
most of the jump shots i do are with the 2 piece. with the 3 piece your hand is too far back and you have to use more of a sidearm action instead of the regular pendulum (for jump shots with medium to high cue elevation). with the sidearm it is less accurate and harder to get power on the shot. the only times i use the 3 piece are if i want to jump long and shallow using a lower cue elevation, or if the cue ball is more in the middle of the table.
the lighter weight is better for a couple reasons:
1. lets you get more speed into the shot with less effort. some of the body positions are uncomfortable when jumping and sometimes its hard to get good accurate power into the shot. especially something like the dart stroke where you aren't using your big muscles
2. it lets the cue bounce out of the way upon impact faster so you don't trap the cue ball
the lighter weight has the most benefit when doing shorter higher jumps where the blocker is closer and for the dart stroke. the mcdermott dr. popper is a dart stroke cue and really good at those close jumps and it weighs like 4oz. that's why i'm really curious to try a jester, in the 2 piece config it is 4oz like the dr. popper, but has more of a regular cue design than that funky pencil thin dr. popper thing. i haven't seen anyone on here that's tried one though
 
McChen said:
it sounds like your contact point on the cue ball is too high. try hitting it a little lower so you don't trap the ball. start with a lower cue elevation and move your contact point until it is jumping well. then start trying progressively higher cue elevations after you've got that down.
most of the jump shots i do are with the 2 piece. with the 3 piece your hand is too far back and you have to use more of a sidearm action instead of the regular pendulum (for jump shots with medium to high cue elevation). with the sidearm it is less accurate and harder to get power on the shot. the only times i use the 3 piece are if i want to jump long and shallow using a lower cue elevation, or if the cue ball is more in the middle of the table.
the lighter weight is better for a couple reasons:
1. lets you get more speed into the shot with less effort. some of the body positions are uncomfortable when jumping and sometimes its hard to get good accurate power into the shot. especially something like the dart stroke where you aren't using your big muscles
2. it lets the cue bounce out of the way upon impact faster so you don't trap the cue ball
the lighter weight has the most benefit when doing shorter higher jumps where the blocker is closer and for the dart stroke. the mcdermott dr. popper is a dart stroke cue and really good at those close jumps and it weighs like 4oz. that's why i'm really curious to try a jester, in the 2 piece config it is 4oz like the dr. popper, but has more of a regular cue design than that funky pencil thin dr. popper thing. i haven't seen anyone on here that's tried one though
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I used the Predator Air in the tournament this weekend and it helped me win a few games that I would not have won with my other Bunjee Jump cue which is not as accurate. I jumped- cross banked the one ball and ran out to win one match. :) And I had a couple of close jump shots, the first one went really bad and I fouled using the pendulum stroke. The second close jump shot I used the dart stroke when I hooked myself behind on my last object ball (playing 8 ball) behind my opponent's ball, made the ball and allowed for a little follow and got shape on the 8 to win that game.

I think the Predator Air will be a BIG success. Look out if I learn how to be as accurate on close shots as I am on long shots. :p

JoeyA
 
I was wondering. Couldn't they stick another 10 " butt piece to it and make it a jump break cue? 18" for the current butt piece is already very long! Neither here nor there. Too long for the long pouch and too short for the cue case. How do you carry one of these things anyway?
 
MasterClass said:
I was wondering. Couldn't they stick another 10 " butt piece to it and make it a jump break cue? 18" for the current butt piece is already very long! Neither here nor there. Too long for the long pouch and too short for the cue case. How do you carry one of these things anyway?
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I think it's too light to be a break cue. I can't imagine breaking with it. To carry it, you unscrew the two butt pieces (11" and 7") and carry it in a standard pouch.

Chris
 
McChen said:
it sounds like your contact point on the cue ball is too high. try hitting it a little lower so you don't trap the ball. start with a lower cue elevation and move your contact point until it is jumping well.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that worked. By aiming a little below the center line it cleared the tip. It's how I hit a jump/draw usually. I have longer arms (35" shirt sleeve) so the longer 3 piece cue feels right to me even on short jumps. you scould see on the side pocket jumps I was doing with all 3 pieces. Maybe that's why I like it better than the shorter cues.

Chris
 
so, how close can the Pred Air jump over the interfering ball? Less than a ball's length (2.25"), more?
 
TATE said:
Thanks, that worked. By aiming a little below the center line it cleared the tip. It's how I hit a jump/draw usually. I have longer arms (35" shirt sleeve) so the longer 3 piece cue feels right to me even on short jumps. you scould see on the side pocket jumps I was doing with all 3 pieces. Maybe that's why I like it better than the shorter cues.

Chris
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i wear a 34/35 sleeve and the 3 pieces is too long except for lower elevations for me. probably anything 45 degrees and up i use the 2 piece. i saw your video and you stand more upright than me, so the longer length is ok for you. i bend my bridge arm much more and am leaning down closer to the cue ball than you are. i also stand squarer to the table and try and keep my forearm vertical as much as possible, less sidearm and less shooting across my body. not saying my technique is right or the best, but that explains why i use the 2 piece and you use the 3.

i found that the tip curvature will change the aiming on a jump shot a lot. if you have a flat tip or a rounded one, the actual contact point will be different because of the curvature and you have to adjust your aim to hit the same point.
 
sygfrid said:
so, how close can the Pred Air jump over the interfering ball? Less than a ball's length (2.25"), more?
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i can do a ball width away pretty easily. could do it maybe a little bit closer, but not much. most of the jump shots where its less than a balls width away is actually a foul stroke. what happens is the cue ball comes up off the table almost vertically and hits the ferrule/shaft and that is what propels it forward. like if you see the videos of the 1mm jumps that i've seen around, that is what's happening.
 
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