Tip diameter?

J

jmeier1981

Registered
Will a smaller diameter tip miscue easier or more often than a larger one. Im guessing a lot of miscues come from a bad stroke or from hitting too far off center of the cue ball and a real high level player wont have those problems very often with any size tip but for arguements sake how about the average run if the mill player that doesnt always have a perfect stroke.
The reason I ask is because for the last few years Ive shot with a 12.25mm tip and the cue Im shooting with now is 12.75 and feels huge so Im wanting to have it turned down and thinking about also getting a separat shaft for it as well but Im a little worried about going to a 11.75. Id really like an OB classic shaft but I know I wont be happy with the 12.75mm tip so Im just kinda wondering if there are any significant draw backs to the smaller 11.75mm tip for an average player that doesnt always have a perfect stroke.

Sooo should I just have mine turned down to 12.25 or do you think I should bite the bullet and go to 11.75... Im just worried that with that much less surface area on the tip I might miscue more often. So any pros or cons of an 11.75 would be greatly appreciated
 
jmeier1981 said:
Will a smaller diameter tip miscue easier or more often than a larger one. Im guessing a lot of miscues come from a bad stroke or from hitting too far off center of the cue ball and a real high level player wont have those problems very often with any size tip but for arguements sake how about the average run if the mill player that doesnt always have a perfect stroke.
The reason I ask is because for the last few years Ive shot with a 12.25mm tip and the cue Im shooting with now is 12.75 and feels huge so Im wanting to have it turned down and thinking about also getting a separat shaft for it as well but Im a little worried about going to a 11.75. Id really like an OB classic shaft but I know I wont be happy with the 12.75mm tip so Im just kinda wondering if there are any significant draw backs to the smaller 11.75mm tip for an average player that doesnt always have a perfect stroke.

Sooo should I just have mine turned down to 12.25 or do you think I should bite the bullet and go to 11.75... Im just worried that with that much less surface area on the tip I might miscue more often. So any pros or cons of an 11.75 would be greatly appreciated
Click to expand...

If you are going down bad, and intending to put left or right english, you will tend to steer the shaft left, so for extreme outside english you will miss cue, and for inside english you will not have much of inside. Elevation is worst enemy of tips. Finally good chalk and tip being rough is good. Soft tips miss cue is not as often as hard tips.
 
jmeier1981 said:
Will a smaller diameter tip miscue easier or more often than a larger one.
Click to expand...

To be fair, you should always check your tip to make sure it is not glazed over.
Now assuming it is not, then..

I don't think the diameter has much at all to do with it.
The reality is that your stroke is off.
If you go down to the 12.25 or what ever you want you will still have a flawed stroke.

Take a few dollars and get at least one lesson and take a video camera wih you.
There is a great value in getting feedback on what you are doing bad, as well as good.
 
I agree; its stroke. I went from 11.75 to a 12.60. It was weird at first but I'm completely used to it now. You'll get used to it. I still like the skinny one somtimes but you're stroke has got to be on to not get something you didn't want.
 
The only thing tip diameter does is to limit how low you can stroke the CB without hitting the cloth before hitting the CB.

However, a larger tip diameter invariably comes with a larger diameter shaft which is invariably stiffer than the same taper at a smaller diameter. The stiffer larger diameter shaft also has more end mass and thus larger deflection.
 
How often do you see snooker players miscue? Not very often.
It is not tip size.
 
twal said:
To be fair, you should always check your tip to make sure it is not glazed over.
Now assuming it is not, then..

I don't think the diameter has much at all to do with it.
The reality is that your stroke is off.
If you go down to the 12.25 or what ever you want you will still have a flawed stroke.

Take a few dollars and get at least one lesson and take a video camera wih you.
There is a great value in getting feedback on what you are doing bad, as well as good.
Click to expand...

Yeah Im not saying I have a miscue issue now with the larger tip ir that I did with the 12.25 or even that Im hoping to fix any problems by going down in size... just simply that the 12.75 that Ive currently got feels huge and I dont like it. I was very comfortable and seldom had an issue with the 12.25 and my tip condition is always great I chalk before every shot and keep the tip scuffed but I was just thinking of getting an OB shaft and since I know I wont like the bigger size I didnt know if there was any disadvantage or con to the smaller 11.75 because Ive only shot a few racks ever with a cue in that size.

Basically I know I dont always have a perfect stroke and normally if I do miscue it is for that reason and thats at a 12.25 & 12.75mm tip size so I was just worried that maybe I would run into that problem even more with a smaller size or if it would be about the same.
For the most part when I do miscue I hit the cueball too low and bunny hop/jump it a bit, now Im not sure it the tips.hitting the felt first and causing the CB to hop or what goes on it doesnt happen often but thats normally the outcome when I do miscue.
 
st_michael said:
I agree that it's not the tip size... however snooker balls are smaller than pocket billiard balls...
Click to expand...

The ball size is not very significant. About 1/16 of an inch or so.
Many out here use snooker cues for pool, but very few ever use pool cues for snooker.
It is the chalk that grips the ball. The tip is just a carrier for the chalk.
 
No matter what size tip, the tip to cue ball contact size is always the same. Right about 3mm.

randyg
 
I think the main difference, as someone has always pointed out, is with a smaller diameter tip it is possible to hit lower on the cue ball, to low=miscue.

I have tried to play with a "fat shaft" but it just seems wrong, to me.
mine is a 10 mm, I get very little deflection, and rarely miscue. But it does happen, mostly if I get tired, or hungry. low blood sugar.
trying to do "too much" is another good way to miscue. I am guilty here as well.

Mostly I would say use whatever is most comfortable, and work on getting every last little bit of wiggle out of the stroke.
Joe Tucker is the resident stroke guru. Check it out if you haven't already.

Like Randy said, the contact between the tip and cue ball is the same, It really shouldn't matter.

edit: A couple different grit pieces of sandpaper is an excellent way to reduce tip diameter. Do you have an old shaft or maybe a house stick you can experiment with?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top