tip/ shaft size - your comments?

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AzB Silver Member
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So tonight I was hanging around with some friends - Mark of Diamond Billiard Products/ BCA Pool League, Al of Southwest Cues, and a couple of others. One of the guys that had just been shooting was using a Predator Z-Shaft that is around, I believe, 11-3/4 mm, and we got to talking about tip/ shaft diameter.

Of course we all had different opinions. Myself, I shoot with a 12mm shaft (actually like 12.04, but who's keeping counting?). Mark shoots with a little larger (in comparison to me) tip at 12-3/4 and Al shoots with about a 12-1/2 to 13 he said.

Some of the different comments made were of course the typical, skinnier shaft means more deflection, you have to be a little more conservative with english so the ball doesn't swerve on you, etc, etc. Myself, when I got one of my shafts turned to a 12 from a 13 I started shooting better, most likely because I had grown up shooting snooker with my 10mm snooker cue.

So this brings us to the question - what do you think about shaft/ tip diameter and why? The why is the big part here. I'm curious to see what everyone thinks and what their explanation is.
 
To be honest i dont keep track of shaft size,i tend to play with shafts from 12mm to 13.25,i prefer a fuller shaft i suppose as right now my cue has a standard 13mm but i never think of taking them down.I guess for guys with smaller hands the smaller shafts might be more comfortable.
 
First of all, a skinnier shaft DOESN'T mean more deflection. The more mass, the more deflection. A skinnier shaft usually deliver less deflection. The Predator Z-shaft is a low-deflection shaft.

The second, tip-diameter is always a personal preference. There are peoples, who think that it's more difficult to play with a small tipsize. To me, I like playing with a small tipsize. Right now, I'm playing with a 12mm. I'm considering to buy a new cue with 11-3/4 tip. It is much more easier for the tip placement, when using a smaller tip. I've played with a 13mm a few times, but I just can't see where on the cueball I'm hitting at. There is also one problem when using a small tipsize. You just can't go to small. It will give you bad feedback, because of the heavy and bigger balls. Just try to play pool with a snookercue, you will notice the pro and the cons of the cue.
 
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With myself I tried different tip shapes and liked the dime shape the best.

I believe that always having the same shape of tip on my cue will help me be more consistent. And when installing a new tip, I can give it the same shape as the old tip (dime) so the new tip will play exactly the same as the old tip.

With that said, a dime shaped tip has a limit so far as the shaft size at the tip can be. If the shaft size gets to be around 13mm, the edges of the tip go down to the ferrule. So you can't reshape the tip many times before you would need a new tip! A smaller shaft size like 11.75 will leave more tip material there so you can reshape or scuff the tip many times before the edges get down to the ferrule.

Another consideration is that with a larger shaft/tip diameter, a dime shaped tip will hold its shape longer (more material there to help tip keep its shape). So I don't need to reshape it as often. A hard tip (as opposed to a medium or soft tip) will help the tip to retain its shape as well.

So for a dime shaped tip, I want as large a shaft diameter as possible to help the tip keep its shape. And I also want it smaller than 13mm so I can reshape/scuff my tip many times. So 12.5mm or 12.75mm is just about right for me.
 
My cue has a 10 mm front shaft .I can have tips from 10mm to 14mm. The tips just interchange.
 
Klopek's last sentence in the first paragraph of his post is pretty much the way I see it.

Maniac
 
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This is probably out of the ordinary, and it probably hurts my consistecy, but in a 3-4 hour practice session on my home table, I may use three or more cues with tip diameters ranging from 11.75mm to 13mm. For some reason, when I shoot pool, my bridge hand rarely ever feels the same from one day to the next. Some days I am more comfortable with a smaller diameter shaft, and some days I am more comfortable with a larger diameter shaft. Some days I feel the need to use a glove, and other days not. I haven't as yet figured out the "why this is" variables, but I shoot just as well ( or bad in my case :o ) with whatever diameter shaft/tip I am using, it just depends on how my bridge hand feels on any given day. And, for the record, I have run just as many racks (again, in my case isn't very many, but every once in a while even this 'ol blind hog finds an acorn :D ) using a $28.00 Rage cue as I have using my high-dollar Jacoby w/314 shaft. I am starting to think that one of the keys to good shooting is how comfortable any cue feels in your hands on any particular day, whether it is a high-end cue or a cheap "house" cue. Again, just my opinion, and I'm not really qualified to give advice, but I do play many hours of pool weekly and I do a lot of experimenting with different cue sizes/weights/tip choices, etc.

Maniac
 
I always played with a 13mm shaft until last SBE I bought a Z shaft and I love it. I have played much better and I draw the ball a lot better as well. I have no idea why, but I have played better.
 
Maniac said:
This is probably out of the ordinary, and it probably hurts my consistecy, but in a 3-4 hour practice session on my home table, I may use three or more cues with tip diameters ranging from 11.75mm to 13mm. For some reason, when I shoot pool, my bridge hand rarely ever feels the same from one day to the next. Some days I am more comfortable with a smaller diameter shaft, and some days I am more comfortable with a larger diameter shaft. Some days I feel the need to use a glove, and other days not. I haven't as yet figured out the "why this is" variables, but I shoot just as well ( or bad in my case :o ) with whatever diameter shaft/tip I am using, it just depends on how my bridge hand feels on any given day. And, for the record, I have run just as many racks (again, in my case isn't very many, but every once in a while even this 'ol blind hog finds an acorn :D ) using a $28.00 Rage cue as I have using my high-dollar Jacoby w/314 shaft. I am starting to think that one of the keys to good shooting is how comfortable any cue feels in your hands on any particular day, whether it is a high-end cue or a cheap "house" cue. Again, just my opinion, and I'm not really qualified to give advice, but I do play many hours of pool weekly and I do a lot of experimenting with different cue sizes/weights/tip choices, etc.

Maniac
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Maniac, are you an A player? The reason I ask is, if swapping cues is WORKING...like the major loop in Django's stroke, the let not God nor man talk you out of it.

But, if you're not an A player then there is little doubt that swapping shafts/cue sticks will lead to inconsistency in your game.

But, if it is FUN for you to swap cues....then swap away!!

(-:

Jim
 
av84fun said:
Maniac, are you an A player? The reason I ask is, if swapping cues is WORKING...like the major loop in Django's stroke, the let not God nor man talk you out of it.

But, if you're not an A player then there is little doubt that swapping shafts/cue sticks will lead to inconsistency in your game.

But, if it is FUN for you to swap cues....then swap away!!

(-:

Jim
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Nah, C player on a good day :) !!! Most of the time, I couldn't hit a turd if I stuck the cuestick up my a$$ :D :D !!! It's just that some days a skinny shaft feels better in my bridge hand and some days it's the fatter one. No rhyme nor reason as to why that is.

Maniac
 
Some say the size of tip is what makes the difference. Some say the size of the shaft. Some say both. But each woman is different.

Wait, what?
 
hmm

i like a 13 but i know a guy that is lights out and he plays with 14 so its whatever you feel that most comfortable with i dont think it really matters......... if you like it thats all the matters ive seen a guy that came through and ran everybody over and he played with a spiderman cue so its all relative haha
 
Maniac, your hand does not feel different from one day to the next. It's all in your head.

Just wondering how many cues do you bring to the PH?
 
poolplayer2093 said:
is that whippy?
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Not at all.
Hit better and stiffer than 13MM "pro-taper" imo.
A lot of players like this taper. I call it the Filipino taper.:D
 
JoeyInCali said:
Not at all.
Hit better and stiffer than 13MM "pro-taper" imo.
A lot of players like this taper. I call it the Filipino taper.:D
Click to expand...


hay don't you make cues? is that the kind of taper you put on your shafts?

i'd like to see that sometime
 
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