Which will make the cue ball travel farther...?

All other things being equal: which will make the cue ball travel farther...?

  • Hard tip on a soft hitting shaft

    Votes: 17 36.2%

  • Super soft tip on a very firm hitting shaft

    Votes: 2 4.3%

  • Neither

    Votes: 28 59.6%
  • Total voters
    47
Lou Bones

Lou Bones

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Here are two (not three, four, or forty) options:
(Note: both cues are stroked exactly the same speed and the cue is hit dead center; note also, same table, same felt, day, same humidity, same everything. The only things differentiating how far the cue ball travels are the following two options.

Option 1) a hard tip on a very soft hitting shaft; or
Option 2) a very soft (e.g Kamui SS or any very soft) tip on a very firm hitting shaft.

Please say which will make the cue ball travel farther?
 
I selected hard tip on a soft shaft, but I doubt there would be much of a difference. Also, I don't really know what a soft-hitting or firm-hitting shaft is, but I do know what a hard vs. soft tip is.
 
Are the shafts the same density?

Your idea of "very firm" or "very soft" doesn't help at all.
What I 'feel' is a very firm cue, my friend 'feels' is a soft cue.

The shaft/tip combination that would move the ball further, would be the shaft/tip combination that transfers the most energy.

Is that the answer you were looking for or is this another OB+ vs Z2 thread?
 
For any given stroke speed I'd say the harder tip will transfer more energy so I'll go with that one. Don't think the shaft matters that much simply because you're hitting it on the end, not on the side like a baseball bat. If the shaft is so soft that it would bend or vibrate too much as to slow the travel of the ball then it's probably not a shaft I want to be playing with anyway.

Don't know for sure and I'm no engineer, but that's my guess. :thumbup:
 
DAVE_M said:
Are the shafts the same density?

Your idea of "very firm" or "very soft" doesn't help at all.
What I 'feel' is a very firm cue, my friend 'feels' is a soft cue.

The shaft/tip combination that would move the ball further, would be the shaft/tip combination that transfers the most energy.

Is that the answer you were looking for or is this another OB+ vs Z2 thread?
Click to expand...


I definitely was NOT "looking for an OB+ vs. Z2 thread". It is more, I suppose, a question of combination transfers the most energy. Some shafts are whippy, "soft", and others are much more solid and substantial. Some are described by their manufacturers as firm or crisp hitting. Nearly all shafts are maple, but some aren't. I've got a break cue with a purple heart shaft; purple heart is denser than maple and it is about as inflexible as inflexible can get. Thus, it is extremely firm or hard hitting. Generally, break shafts are pretty solid and firm, though certainly not all are. And, of course, a solid shaft with a hard tip is great for breaking and transfers the most energy to a cue ball. But, given the same stoke, would a solid, inflexible shaft, perhaps like a break shaft, with a super soft tip, transfer the same (or less or more) energy to the cue ball as a ball hit the same way with a whippy, flexible, "soft" shaft with a hard tip?

I wasn't looking for a particular answer. I was curious.
 
Your stroke is what's going to make the CB travel. The hard tip will make it travel an insignificant amount further...maybe 5%.

Far more important is the CB going where you want it to go?
 
Huh?

Almost sounds like the question when I'm checking out at the Grocery Store.............''did you find EVERYTHING ALLRIGHT"? to which I respond, I don't have the time to do that.

Sounds like a small dose of Analysis Paralysis....
 
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I would think that the soft tip would absorb some of the energy where the hard tip would want to get back to it's regular shape sooner thus it would repel the cue ball quicker from the hard tip. Something to do with elasticity.
Maybe the shafts will nullify the effects.
 
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dabarbr said:
I would think that the soft tip would absorb some of the energy where the hard tip would want to get back to it's regular shape sooner thus it would repel the cue ball quicker from the hard tip. Something to do with elasticity.
Maybe the shafts will nullify the effects.
Click to expand...

Interesting reasoning. I think if it were simply a matter of a soft versus a hard tip on THE SAME SHAFT, then the hard tip would definitely transfer more energy, and possibly for the reason you came up with. But doesn't that presuppose that the using different shafts has little to no effect? And if that were the case, then why does nearly everyone have strong personal preferences about shafts? Part of the point of my initial question is rooted in the relationship of opposite shaft/tip combinations and the relative effect each would have if all other things were equal.
 
ENGLISH! said:
I started to reply but change my mind. What is the purpose of your question?

Best,
Rick
Click to expand...

Hi Rick. The purpose of my question was a theory I had that was guiding my choice of a new shaft/tip combination I want to buy that I "thought" would work with my playing style and ability. I like to hit the cue ball softly and find I am much more accurate when i do that than when I hit more firmly. My theory, which has been thoroughly shot down by the results of this poll, was that a firmer shaft would transfer more energy to a cue ball than a "softer" one; and that this would me as or more important than than the harness of the tip.

Yes: this exposes my ignorance and naiveté. I started playing pool years ago but didn't play often back then. Just in bars for drinks. Then a few years ago, I joined the APA. Then I started learning fundamentals and falling in love with pool. My first cue was very inexpensive; just something to use while I looked to see if I was going to really get into this. Then about 2 1/2 years ago, I bought a McDermott playing cue with a G core shaft (and Everest tip). Shortly after that I had a break cue made (with a solid, purple heart shaft, because I read that purple heart is very dense, so I reasoned it would be good for a break cue). Gradually, I improved. My game got better.

And, well, to make a long story short, I decided to buy a low deflection shaft. I narrowed my search down to three shafts, but I have no way to try out two of them before purchasing, So I started a separate thread about those and got lots of great info. I also got a private message from someone at OB cues who told me that one of my choices (the OB-1 +) is the softest hitting shaft on the market. And another comment from someone else told me that a certain Mezz shaft was the firmest hitting shaft. Another post I saw actually assigned a number to how hard or soft hitting certain shafts are. So people who know more than I do describe shafts in terms of soft- or firm- or crisp- or hard-hitting. And all tip manufacturers rate their tips as soft, medium, hard, etc. So I wondered what combination of shaft and tip would transfer the most energy to a cue ball while working with my playing style which is to hit softly.

That's why I started this thread and poll.
 
Lou Bones said:
I definitely was NOT "looking for an OB+ vs. Z2 thread". It is more, I suppose, a question of combination transfers the most energy. Some shafts are whippy, "soft", and others are much more solid and substantial. Some are described by their manufacturers as firm or crisp hitting. Nearly all shafts are maple, but some aren't. I've got a break cue with a purple heart shaft; purple heart is denser than maple and it is about as inflexible as inflexible can get. Thus, it is extremely firm or hard hitting. Generally, break shafts are pretty solid and firm, though certainly not all are. And, of course, a solid shaft with a hard tip is great for breaking and transfers the most energy to a cue ball. But, given the same stoke, would a solid, inflexible shaft, perhaps like a break shaft, with a super soft tip, transfer the same (or less or more) energy to the cue ball as a ball hit the same way with a whippy, flexible, "soft" shaft with a hard tip?

I wasn't looking for a particular answer. I was curious.
Click to expand...
To put it another way: which absorbs more energy, a soft tip or a whippy shaft?

pj
chgo
 
The hard tip with soft hitting shaft will send the cue ball farther.

The energy lost during the contraction of the soft tip during impact will be greater than the energy lost from the soft hitting shaft.
 
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