What weight are you using for your playing cue on 9ft tables?

wakuljr said:
I am 6'2", my cue 60 1/2" 20oz weight forward
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7stud said:
58" => 20.4 oz
+ 4" mid cue extension => 21.6 oz
+ 8" rear extension => 24.85 oz

I like playing with both extensions if there's enough room around the table, so a 70" cue that weighs 24.85 oz. However, pros move the ball around the table with ease because they are playing on lightning fast cloth, and they hit the cue ball with extreme precision. When I aim at a spot on the cue ball, my spread of chalk marks around my aim point if I hit the shot 20 times is going to be dispersed over, say, an 8mm diameter circle (the size of a dot on a measles ball). A pro's dispersion will be contained within a 2 mm diameter circle around their aim point. I may aim at a spot on the cue ball that gives me outside english to go three rails, but I may miss my aim point towards the center, and the cue ball ends up only going two rails. So, the next time I have a similar shot, I adjust and hit the shot harder, but this time I miss my aim point to the outside, and the cue ball ends up going 3 rails and scratches.

If you are interested in working on your stroke, you should consider getting Mark Wilson's "Play Great Pool", which teaches the fundamentals, like stance, grip, bridge, what you should be doing on your practice strokes, your eye movement during your practice strokes, etc. For instance, do you think about where your feet are in relation to the shot line when you shoot a shot? He is going to teach you where to place your feet and why. Do you think about how you hold the butt of your cue? He is going to teach you how to hold a cue in great detail. It's a great book for those coming back to pool after a long break. He teaches you step by step how to build a pressure resistant, repeatable stroke. I think you need to film yourself at every step to make sure you are doing things correctly before you put in too much practice, so that you don't hone a flaw into your stroke. If you like practicing--I do--he has plenty of advice on how to work on your stroke, and if you have your own table and you are really hardcore, the end of the book lays out a rigorous practice schedule.
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Thanks for the great advice
 
SSP said:
I just returned t playing pool again after a 10 yr hiatus, started in Jan., I have always used a cue with a weight about 18.5 oz, In my quest for knowledge I became a member on this forum and found great people with lots of good advice, One of the things I read on here is a lighter cue gives better control on the cue ball while a heavier cue will give more action on the cue ball, I had to shoot on the 7ft tables last Monday because a league was using all the 9fters, they were Diamonds so tight pockets and nice cloth, shot pretty well, played last Wednesday on the 9ft tables and shot pretty well until I had to really move the cue ball for position, while watching the pro's, I know, I know I'm not a pro, I noticed that they did not hit the ball as hard as I did to move the cue ball around, I also noticed they didn't have to move off center as far to get the same spin, It got me thinking should I try changing the weight of my cue? Has anyone else had the same experience? Any advice or ridicule accepted Thanks
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SSP, Howdy;

You are comparing your outta practice/stroke to folks that have been in stroke and playing/practicing
for as long as you've been away from the game or longer.
Stick with the cue you have (better the devil ya know), why throw another variable into the equation?
The only "thing" you need to compare your game to is your game. Make notes draw up the difficult
shots so you can work on them later.
Keep your comeback simple, there are enough idiots out there trying to complicate our universe as it is.

hank
 
I like the 18 to 19oz range myself. It doesn't matter to me the table size. I also got so I prefer a 11.8mm or so tip size
 
Here's a Dr. Dave video I just watched, which made me think of this thread. It shows how the direction of the cut (back cut v. cutting into the rail) affects your ability to get around the table:

 
7stud said:
Here's a Dr. Dave video I just watched, which made me think of this thread. It shows how the direction of the cut (back cut v. cutting into the rail) affects your ability to get around the table:

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Thanks for the video, I read some on cue weight from him yesterday, I also had some 600 fargo rated players watch my stroke last night, they said I was using a punch stroke, I'm going to try a little more weight to see if it helps with my follow through
 
I like between 19 and 19.4 ounces with a balance point between 18.75-19.5". I play at a place that has real heavy ball sets, so I use my heaviest cue when playing there.
 
SSP said:
they said I was using a punch stroke, I'm going to try a little more weight to see if it helps with my follow through
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I think that is a really bad way to fix stroke problems.

As for the best weight, I think anything between 18 and 21 will be fine. In the grand scheme of things that's a small percentage variation. A friend of mine used to play with a 14.
 
I use the same 21 oz cue for every table and every game.
Only exception is my break cue which is 19 oz.
Never heard of anyone needing different cue weights depending on the size of the table.
I've also not felt that a lighter cue gives me any more control on the cueball either.
Just get used to stroking it differently. That's where your control and action comes from.
 
9Ballr said:
I use the same 21 oz cue for every table and every game.
Only exception is my break cue which is 19 oz.
Never heard of anyone needing different cue weights depending on the size of the table.
I've also not felt that a lighter cue gives me any more control on the cueball either.
Just get used to stroking it differently. That's where your control and action comes from.
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I'm a bit opposite of that. I feel I can draw the cueball better with a lighter stick. I must be getting better acceleration with less effort before contact.
 
I was wondering the same as you and I removed the weight bold from my old Falcon cue. I weighted the cue with the bolt and it was 21oz, so I assume without it it is probably 19oz. To tell you the truth it doesn't make any difference. Or at least I am not good enough to notice if the cue plays differently, I cannot put any more or less spin on it, doesn't make a difference on how hard or easy I can move the ball around for me. Maybe it's because I am a big guy or something like that but here is something funny. I recently got back into pool just like you. Now I have space and I built a man cave for me and I have an 8ft table in there. The table came with a cloth that is probably inferior in quality or something like that, the point is it's quite slow but because I haven't played in a few years I just got used to it and I really put some power on the shots when I need to get from one end to another while using 2 or 3 rails. Then I went to a club for a tournament, all tables there are 9ft and have Andy cloth on them and they are quite fast. I had to really adjust my speed because only half the speed I would use normally is enough to get the ball where I wanted. Lost position so many times when I let that back hand do what it was used to do at home...
I know the pro tournament cloths are very fast so don't think the pros have some magic cues that will make the ball fly with less effort because the cushions rubber and the speed of the cloth is much more important when it comes to that. That is my opinion from my recent experience.
 
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Been a few years since I have shuffled weights around. Generally, 19 to 19.5 ounces is the ideal balance between moving the cue ball around easily and control. Heavier and speed control becomes more difficult for most people. Twenty ounces is getting noticeably heavy and few want to play with more than that.

When going the other way, dropping below 19 ounces you start feeling the hit more, you have to do more of the work instead of the weight of the cue. By the time you get to eighteen ounces most feel they are having to do the work instead of the cue but speed control may become easier.

When not playing much I favor a heavier cue and a bigger tip. When playing more I favor a lighter cue and a smaller tip. I always shoot with a soft tip and a sixty inch cue. The tip on my Cynergy is a medium just because that is what it came with.

Hu
 
The total weight of the cue can play, hit, and feel completely different even when it's the exact same weight.
Let's take 19.5 ounces as an example but you can choose any weight from 18-21 oz.

If you have a 15.8 oz. butt with a 3.7 oz. shaft, that's 19.5 ounces. You can also have a 14.9 oz. butt with a 4.6 oz. shaft which is also19.5 ounces. Those two cues will feel and play differently in your hands with your stroke. Couple that with a 13mm tip thicker
shaft vs. an 11.25mm tip thinner shaft in addition to the balance difference and the total weight becomes a moot point.
More to it than just the weight.
 
ShootingArts said:
Been a few years since I have shuffled weights around. Generally, 19 to 19.5 ounces is the ideal balance between moving the cue ball around easily and control. Heavier and speed control becomes more difficult for most people. Twenty ounces is getting noticeably heavy and few want to play with more than that.

When going the other way, dropping below 19 ounces you start feeling the hit more, you have to do more of the work instead of the weight of the cue. By the time you get to eighteen ounces most feel they are having to do the work instead of the cue but speed control may become easier.

When not playing much I favor a heavier cue and a bigger tip. When playing more I favor a lighter cue and a smaller tip. I always shoot with a soft tip and a sixty inch cue. The tip on my Cynergy is a medium just because that is what it came with.

Hu
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sounds exactly what I am experiencing
 
I like 18.5 to 19.5 for playing and 21 for break cue .. something that may help you shoot a little softer is working on your angles of leave and cheating pockets to gain more angle .. I put pennies in the pockets when I want to practice shooting into left, right and center .. works well with an audible and visual when you hit the pennies .. it helped me get more accurate on were I was shooting tha ball in the pocket instead of just hitting the pocket
 
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Bob Jewett said:
I think that is a really bad way to fix stroke problems.

As for the best weight, I think anything between 18 and 21 will be fine. In the grand scheme of things that's a small percentage variation. A friend of mine used to play with a 14.
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My cue is new to me and just coming back from 10yrs of not playing I'm going to see if 1 or 1.5 oz of weight feels better to me, my cue feels forward weighted and I like that but it feels like I have to force through the ball too much on tip contact, the worst thing that could happen is there is no change, I will continue working on stroke regardless
 
If the balance feels good, it won't matter. What kind of tip your using, may also play a part in you having to the hit balls harder, to put on the spin. Could even be the shape. Some tips just won't react.
I play with a cue that's 21.85 oz and 57.5'' long. I sometimes use a 18.5 oz cue the balance is similar. Only difference is the weight going Foward. And thay both Foward Balance cues.
Keep working hard on your game, and you will get there. Try not to mess around with cues too much:)
 
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