Shaft/Tip Diameter Help - Good/Bad Reasons to go smaller

[BRussell]

A couple of my friends who didn't start playing pool until five or so years ago couldn't believe that cue shafts came standard at 13mm with a few notables over 13mm (Meucci and Joss).


Freddie <~~~ 12.75

I played with house cues as a kid, and I think they mostly had smaller-diameter shafts. When I got my first cue 20 years ago it had a 13mm shaft and it never felt right - it was too big, like I was playing with a broom handle, but I stuck with it. Then about 5 years ago I bought an OB with an 11.75mm shaft, and it immediately felt right to me again.

 

[Bavafongoul]

I shoot using a closed bridge the majority of the time (75-80%).

When I was younger, my fingers and grip were more flexible.
I could play with a closed bridge and my index finger was like
a serpent curling around the shaft regardless of its size (12mm
or 13mm+). It felt comfortable and tight and I could raise & lower
my bridge height by squeezing my others fingers inwards or out.

Felt great....could hold my closed hand bridge position a long time,
could jazz snap my fingers between shots, touch all my other fingers
with my thumb, could do the Mr. Spock handshake......you get it, right?

Nowadays I cannot touch either pinkie with my thumb. snapping my fingers
just hurts and the Spock handshake........Hah, that turned into the middle
finger salute.....what I am saying is things do not remain constant as one
ages, Back aches you don't recall having, sore feet, hip & knee problems,
eyesight.....Hah again, "Forget about it" .......reading the numbers.....Well.
all I can say is thank God the colors of the balls haven't changed, except
for the TV colors of some sets.


I guess what I am saying is play with whatever you like but trust me, for a lot
of us, time changes things and what felt great in our 20's and 30's and 40's
can start to change in our 50's 60's 70s', 80's & 90's (God willing and the
Devil be damned). You may play with a tooth pick today but who knows what
15-20-30 years from now (God willing and ....blah, blah, blah).



Matt B.


p.s. Scott, just had a new MRI performed last month. The results aren't good.
Three new tears & get this, a 7mm misalignment of my right arm and shoulder
glenohumeral joint . The joint has become more than 1/4" higher than my right
arm which is why my pool stroke hurts so much and the cause for shoulder drop.

 

[JMASTERJ]

Amazing outstanding info guys... I actually kinda like the fact that a lot of you have slightly differing opinions, I can learn more from this than if 20 people said the exact same thing.

I think I will go with a 12.5 shaft and tip for now as a starting point. I think on the Schmelke or McDermott I have narrowed down to, deflection on a 12.5 will be negligible for my current skill level.

Smaller shaft isn't going to help with spin. If you want to get more spin with the same cue position, put a smaller radius on the tip. It will make it more sensitive AND keep the hit closer to the center line of the cue.

A bigger shaft has disadvantages shooting a frozen ball off a rail and when putting draw on the ball, simply because to hit the contact point you want on the cue ball you start running into the rail or the slate. With a 13mm+ shaft, you need to get quite close to the table and/or angle the cue down to get a powerful draw, and that can be awkward on the bridge hand. A smaller tip radius actually hurts you a bit with the ball frozen to a rail unless you're looking for lots of follow.

It's all a balancing act. I like a relatively stiff taper and something under 12.75mm for the tip....12.6, maybe...something like that, and always with a dime radius. The tiny little tips you see are usually on low deflection cues, and they're like that just to make the tip end as light as possible. It's nothing to do with spin.

Best I can tell, 12.75 is the new standard. When I was growing up, it was always 13mm. Lots of pros used to play with a 13mm, or even bigger. I think Ray Martin used to play with a 13.25mm. That's the same as my break cue, which feels absolutely ENORMOUS to me.

Someone told me that the tip and the shaft HAVE to be the same size, or else it wont fit/play right, no? Now I am confused about this part. Not that I want to get them different, but I would like to know the proper info. So you are saying you can put a 11 tip on a 13 shaft?

I played with house cues as a kid, and I think they mostly had smaller-diameter shafts. When I got my first cue 20 years ago it had a 13mm shaft and it never felt right - it was too big, like I was playing with a broom handle, but I stuck with it. Then about 5 years ago I bought an OB with an 11.75mm shaft, and it immediately felt right to me again.

Do u happen to know what most house cues in bars are for tip size? I am not expert but I do have decent eyes being a graphic designer, and I am certain I see cues that look like AT LEAST 13 sometimes, including the clear mushrooms, and also some that are way below 13. I usually try to pick the smallest and cleanest tip first out of the bunch and then make sure its straight.

 

[KMRUNOUT]

:shocked:


Make sure you tell your cue repair guy when you have a tip replaced

and have scratches in the ferrule removed.







.

As a tip repair guy, scratches in the ferrule is one thing. Sanding the shaft is something else. I agree the need to sand the shaft is minimal. Sometimes cleaning can raise the grain up a bit, so smoothing it back down with like 1200 grit or 2000 grit is not going to remove much material. As for the ferrule, if you want any scratches out, you either sand it or get a new ferrule. Plain white toothpaste works pretty well, but it isn't going to take out deep scratches.

So you both really made good points...

KMRUNOUT

 

[john coloccia]

Someone told me that the tip and the shaft HAVE to be the same size, or else it wont fit/play right, no? Now I am confused about this part. Not that I want to get them different, but I would like to know the proper info. So you are saying you can put a 11 tip on a 13 shaft?

When people talk about shaft or tip size, they mean the size at the end of the ferrule. It's assumed that the tip is fit properly to the ferrule.

 

[JMASTERJ]

When people talk about shaft or tip size, they mean the size at the end of the ferrule. It's assumed that the tip is fit properly to the ferrule.

Which means they have to be the same correct?

 

[Kimmo H.]

^ Generally yes. Snooker players seem to orefer a slightly larger tip than their ferrule but pool cues always have the same diameter ferrule and tip fit flush with it.