Tip diamenter poll...

tip diameter and why...

  • Less than 11.75

    Votes: 3 2.9%

  • 11.75-12.25

    Votes: 25 24.0%

  • 12.25-12.75

    Votes: 50 48.1%

  • greater than 12.75

    Votes: 26 25.0%
  • Total voters
    104
cbi1000

cbi1000

It is what it is...
Silver Member
So I've been asking folks around where I play what tip diameter they prefer and why... Some folks say small hands smaller tip, others say larger tip for more tip to cue ball connection, yet others have said less tip more visibility on the cue ball. This last one made the most sense. I've mostly have used something in the 12.75 to 13 range for years but of late I have been trying different diameters, smaller and larger. I'm finding I like something right about 12.25-12.5.

Let us know what you use and the reason behind it.

thanks,
 
Last edited:
greater than 12.75

Because cues with skinny shafts do not hold their value
like cues with full shafts.
 
Last edited:
I prefer skinny, I play 11.5mm pro taper right now for pool (and also use it snooker as often or more often than my actual snooker cues).

It's really a range of factors. 1) It's what I'm comfortable bridging with. 2) It forces you to hit straight down the axis of the shaft, since a flexible shaft will bleed power and control quickly with any steering of the cue off-axis so it reinforces consistency 3) Can reach into tight spots more easily without committing foul - downside is skinny cues make it easier to impart unintended spin when reaching over a ball 4) can keep the overall cue lighter for a bit more speed control 5) skinny shafts can impart slightly more spin for a given forward CB speed using medium and hard tips, whereas with harder tips on a 13mm shaft the CB is going to zing off more quickly than you might prefer -- thus skinny shafts are good for close in slow/medium speed control with a medium/hard tip which usually will compress and react more consistently than a soft tip and have a shorter contact time so there's less drag of the tip across the CB for fewer unknown variables as long as you deliver the cue cleanly. 6) much lower deflection even without hollow front ends, I have to make very little adjustment to pocket a ball even at distance and reverse the CB off the rail, it's amazing.

Of course thin shafts have their drawbacks but you can make up for most of these by continually improving your stroke. Many people when they try out very small tips have a hard time with straight shots, long draw and force follow. You just keep working on it until you can hit pure enough to do it as well with a skinny shaft as you can with a standard. Still, on a 10 foot table a drawing the CB back off an OB on the other end of the table is a bit challenging, for my cuing ability,the skinny shaft doesn't have the oomph to launch the CB down table fast enough that its spin isn't mostly gone by the time it gets where its going, but I'm sure there are people out there with an amazing enough stroke they can do it.

I also have an 59" 7.75mm tip snooker cue with a very thin taper... I loves it. But even for me that's a bit too skinny for playing pool without the all-too-frequent squirrely CB roll... for now.

I still practice with it in the hopes it teaches me to continually improve my stroke. Still if I depended on playing pool to pay my rent and put food on the table, I'd probably be playing around 12-12.25mm just to have some margin for error.
 
Just comes down to preference and what feels and looks right for you. Started, like most, at 13mm with stock shafts. Tried 11.75mm with LD shaft and liked it but felt it was maybe a little small. Had a 12mm made for my cue and it felt just right but still I've tried 12.25mm and 12.75mm since then but I've stuck with 12mm.

I like the look, feel, and performance I get at 12mm. Nothing to do with hand size either as I wear an XL glove.
 
Tip Diameter

Tip Diameter is the first indication of what you are doing with the shaft.

I find shafts diameter in 3 basic areas.

13mm down to around 12.80 with a short taper

12.80 and below with a long pro taper

LD shafts

The reason that I divide them up this way is because of squirt imparting abilities.

I've studied squirt and swerve or squirve, how to figure it according to stroke strength for differing distances etc.

These designation of shaft or i.e. tip diameters are important.

On one extreme you have 13 mm with short taper....like straight from the factory shafts.

The one below start out at around 12.80 with a near perfect division of squirt by half and when you go down to LD you are cutting things in half once again.

The problem with squirt is its said to be the same regardless of the stroke but you cant just stroke a shot, squirt it then have it sit there, its going to fly across the cloth with side spin on it so squirt then swerve= squirve/squerve and your stroke speed is going to affect that. In order to understand the allowances you have a lot more work to do. Choosing your equipment based on what you like is important and then you have to understand a lot more from there to bring home the bacon.

 
Started with 13mm, didn't like it because I have small hands and it's tough to make a close bridge and be comfortable stroking through the ball.

Switched to 11.75mm LD shaft and it was waaaaay too thin, constantly not hitting where I wanted on the CB due to poor stroke.

Lastly went to 12.5mm and haven't looked back, currently waiting on a Jim Pierce bowling alley shaft with a nice extended taper.
 
Tip size for me depends more on your desire to hit a spot on the cue more accurately/precisely (I know theres a difference, but Im being general here), in my opinion. I find that the 13mm on a normal pocket billiard cue is too big for how I hit the ball. Id rather slightly smaller (12.5-12.75). I've had friends use snooker cues, and they run like 9mm. I find them akward to use on a normal pool ball. This happens to also be vise versa on using the normal 13mm on a snooker ball!!...LOL. Oddly, even though I use an 11mm on a carom ball (the cue ball is larger), the shaft is much stiffer as its conical taper makes it so.
 
The size of the tip to CB contact is only 3mm, regardless of tip size, tip roundness, tip hardness, or speed of stroke. Tips are purely personal, and extremely subjective to the individual. I played with 14mm in the 70's and early 80's...switched to 13mm until 2005...switched to 11.75 until 4 months ago, when I started playing with the Predator Revo shaft, at 12.9mm. I can still play well with any size tip.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

cbi1000 said:
others say larger tip for more tip to cue ball connection,
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Scott Lee said:
The size of the tip to CB contact is only 3mm, regardless of tip size, tip roundness, tip hardness, or speed of stroke. Tips are purely personal, and extremely subjective to the individual. I played with 14mm in the 70's and early 80's...switched to 13mm until 2005...switched to 11.75 until 4 months ago, when I started playing with the Predator Revo shaft, at 12.9mm. I can still play well with any size tip.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
Click to expand...

I played with a 14mm for most of the years I played. I am playing with a 13.25mm Predator 314-2 FAT shaft now and just received a new 14mm shaft I had Scot Sherbine make.
 
shanesinnott said:
Shameless plug....

For those that are interested,,,,,we offer LD Made in the USA shafts anywhere from 11.5mm to 13.25mm https://www.obcues.com/categories/OB-Plus-Shafts/

Carry on :)
Click to expand...

Now if only those 11.5mm shafts had a 14" pro taper... I'd bite. I wonder why OB, Predator, Mezz, don't offer skinny pro tapers in addition to the skinny conicals tapers...

Is it because you're afraid people with a mediocre stroke will order a shaft not knowing what to expect and end up publishing negative reviews about your brand instead of understanding that their stroke isn't developed enough to hit well with the (comparatively) whippy skinny pro taper?

I find the OB laminating method of the shafts fascinating. I really think you should open a 'custom shop' letting people order a specified taper and length for the shaft, a maple/ash hybrid laminate, etc. There's a market niche for a high tech but bespoke crafted shaft/cue.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top