What is a cue’s “hit”?
- Thread starter Patrick Johnson
- Start date
J's in >> Tards out...... potential report withdrawn.
Along these lines- tip hardness has very much to do with the feel of a cue hitting a cue ball - from my experience. If I change out a very hard cue tip to a soft cue tip - the difference in the “hit” of that cue is most often night and day. I cannot play with tip hardness in the hard to very hard category and I prefer medium soft as a tip hardness rating.
That was my first thought.
There are maybe 4 or 5 cues I’ve ever hit a few balls with where I thought, “I have to have this cue.” I own one of them. They all have that same crisp hit and the weight of the cue feels evenly distributed across its length (best description I can provide). I would love to have the opportunity to measure the cues I couldn’t acquire to see if there are common characteristics. I own other cues that measure similarly to my favorite that are very good, but not in the same class.
I’m not so sure I could order a cue from a cuemaker and anticipate receiving that 6th cue with that magic hit. Maybe from a couple of cuemakers from whom I couldn’t get an agreement to build me a cue.
I own a cue that based on build and some of its measurements, I should not like. Weight, balance point, joint type, and ferrule material are all different from the cues I’ve gravitated toward. One day, I measured the taper of that cue’s shaft and it was identical to my favorite cue. It’s a non-whippy Meucci sneaky Pete. It doesn’t make my Top 5, but I can play pool all day with it and not want to change.
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Oh, so you’ve done that before too huh?
Hey, I wanna be reported!!!!
I think to really understand a cues "hit" or feedback you need to try at least 2 specific cues, one that you really don't like the "feel" of and one that you love the "feel" of. I absolutely know what I don't like in a cue, its one where all you get is a real dull thud when you strike the cue ball. Most cues with soft and super soft tips feel like that to me. If you want to change the "feel" of your cue try taking the bumper off of it for a few shots, it has drastically changed the feel of every cue I have tried this with so far.
Done...and a 2 week bonus Ban. You're welcome.
I have one bumper between two cues. I use them for different things so find myself swapping the bumper back and forth. I thought I could just leave it off of one. Nope, very different hit!
I don't like either extreme of hit. If we start at very hard and very soft, I like a hit about 3/4 towards hard and the softness needs to be in the tip or tip/ferrule. At the same time I don't like a pingy cue so a shaft or butt that creates a pingy hit or sound is out.
My cues are generally long and light with a tip on the soft side. Many people have asked to try my cue over the years. After hitting a bit with it they politely return it without comment. I don't need to be told it ain't their cup of tea!
Hu
I love a cue that pings when I hit it. I started gravitating to medium tips, I have been playing with Tiger Everest tips for quite awhile now. I like them best when they are beyond half worn, there is a big difference between a new one and a worn one, maybe because I usually break with my player, they definitely harden up after use.
When I first came back to pool after basically twenty years off the ping from other player's cues damned near made me crazy. Everybody in the hall was miscuing! The constant ping from the much harder tips than I was used to was awful! I got used to it but I still set my sticks up on the soft to very soft side.
Hu
qolbrand
Well-known member
agreed, i should have mentioned it was the same tip. i have used nothing but pooldawg8 milk duds for years
. Works well when using a little english.
I find this interesting as I recently bought a Canadian maple shaft with an advertised Tiger Everest medium tip. The hit from that shaft was way too hard for my liking - I had a soft Ultraskin put on it and for me the shaft is now very playable.
The Everest tip was new - but it was not a mediium hit in any respect. I have settled firmly in the not so firm hit of Ultraskin sorts.
If the cue doesn't break when you clobber somebody with it then it's probably a good hitter.
There are a lot of variables in that theory like the force used on the swing compared to the force used when clobbering somebody and actually damaging the cue
House cues are not good hitters in a bar fight, I prefer an old Brunswick like a 1940s Willie Hoppe signature cue.
There are a lot of variables in that theory like the force used on the swing compared to the force used when clobbering somebody and actually damaging the cue
House cues are not good hitters in a bar fight, I prefer an old Brunswick like a 1940s Willie Hoppe signature cue.
If it breaks it is meant to be replaced
Use the cue as an impact tool...go for the abdomen.
Bumperless cues are good for that
Old school hitter...
Rusty in Montana
Well-known member
For a few months my oldest brother's pool cue of choice was the butt end of an aluminum pool cue wrapped with electric tape then some friction tape over that to the best of my memory ha ha
He loved to get into fights too way more than I ever did .
He loved to get into fights too way more than I ever did .
I witnessed a master cuegilist first hand and the proper way to wield it is to grasp it by the ferrule with two or three fingers and gracefully swing it around your head to a temple shot on the victim with the butt end.
No sweat, one shot, one kill.
No sweat, one shot, one kill.
Single layer tips tended to last if they were Hard tips.
Mediums back in the day tended to be too soft and you could easily miscue/blowout the tip side.
Why many players had at least 2 shafts.
I've played many yrs with Moori Hard, just switched to med. I hand razor cut tip with only a new blade.
I noticed immediately how much easier it is to trim than the hard, and like mentioned, the hit will be quite different, hoping to get more draw with less arm speed.