X Breaker Review!

[ryeth]

I recently ordered a X Breaker from Joe at Nielsen's Billiards. He's a great guy who I highly recommend doing business with by the way. I also talked to Richard who makes the X Breaker throughout the transaction. I can definantly say that he is a stand up fellow who stands behind his product 100% and would never hesitate to buy another one of his products!

I received it last friday and have played with it a bit since then and wow, I'm impressed It was definantly worth every penny I paid for it. I was using a Players jump/break cue with a plain leather tip on it before for reference. I also have borrowed a friends sledgehammer several times.

I personally feel like the X Breaker gives me a better spread on each break. Also, I must comment on the tip on it. I don't know what that thing is, but its pretty crazy. It chalks up much like a leather tip and holds the chalk every bit as good. It also grips the cue ball very well. Running balls with it and using english is actually no problem with it. Sounds a little funny, but works

My old jump/break cue was 19oz and I ended up getting the 18oz version with a few weight bolts thrown in by Joe. After trying it in a few different configurations (18, 18.5, 19), I have come to like it at the 18oz weight.

Also as odd as it sounds, I find it easier to jump with the cue whole rather than broken apart. Yea, I know... I'm weird This is where I felt even the added ounce made a difference and I was able to get the cue ball up a bit faster with it at 18oz. Also, after a bit of practice I was able to control how much draw I could get on the cue ball when jumping it. This allows me to get a much more controlled jump shot instead of the cue ball flying off after hitting the object ball. This coming from someone who was doing good to clear a piece of chalk before

Of course the first thing I did with it when I got it was rack up a 9 ball rack and hit it with everything I had Did I mention that the tip grips really well? The first thing that really jumped out at me was how much spin was transfered to the cue ball from where I hit it off center. No miscue, just the cue ball flying/spinning around the table wildly after breaking the rack.

After a bit of practice with it, I'm able to get a much better spread on the rack. My position after the break still leaves a bit to be desired ... but that is my fault, not the cue's. The extra grip from the tip on the X Breaker has shown me a few flaws in my break stroke that I still need to work on I also have a consistent jump shot now I can use instead of always having to kick at balls.

I know that's a bit long, but hopefully it will help someone else considering the purchase of one

Cliff Notes:
Worth every penny

 

[X Breaker]

John,

Thank you so much. I am glad you enjoyed dealing with Joe. We selected him to be one of our US dealers because of his excellent track records on ebay with his customers(almost 6000 all positive 100% feedback!)

I am very suprised and grateful that a lot of my customers are nice enough to take their time to post a review on the X Breaker after they tried theirs out. Thank you very much.

If you have any more question, please do not hesitate to ask me.

Once again, thank you for choosing the X Breaker.

Richard

PS, I will be in the Derby for two days around the end(13, Jan), if anyone would like to try out the X Breaker, please let me know and I will be more than happy to meet with you.

 

[CaptainJR]

It happened again last night. I don't use the jump shot every time I'm behind a ball just because I can, but when in the correct situation I will take out my new X-Breaker. So I don't hit a lot of jump shots. What happened again last night? The cue ball was still in the air when it hit the object ball. I just can't seem to get it through my head that I don't need to hit the cue ball as hard with this stick. Everyone knows you have to be firm on a jump shot with any stick. No, firm isn't the right word. What's the right word Richard? Anyway, I'm going to have to adjust my jump stoke because this has happened a couple of times and if your still airborne when you hit the object ball it's trouble. Anything can happen from just missing the shot to the cue ball flying off the table.

In my review I had mentioned I was having a little control problem because of the extra grip you get with this tip. I'm doing much better with it now. I just have to make sure I hit it where I mean to.

 

[Flex]

It happened again last night. I don't use the jump shot every time I'm behind a ball just because I can, but when in the correct situation I will take out my new X-Breaker. So I don't hit a lot of jump shots. What happened again last night? The cue ball was still in the air when it hit the object ball. I just can't seem to get it through my head that I don't need to hit the cue ball as hard with this stick. Everyone knows you have to be firm on a jump shot with any stick. No, firm isn't the right word. What's the right word Richard? Anyway, I'm going to have to adjust my jump stoke because this has happened a couple of times and if your still airborne when you hit the object ball it's trouble. Anything can happen from just missing the shot to the cue ball flying off the table.

In my review I had mentioned I was having a little control problem because of the extra grip you get with this tip. I'm doing much better with it now. I just have to make sure I hit it where I mean to.

Here's an idea for you to consider.

In my use of jump sticks, and I have two different shafts that jump somewhat differently, I've found that a major part of how the stick jumps is directly related to its overall weight. I have three different butts I use for jumping, going from extremely light, to very light, to normal. What happens with the extremely light one (which I made from a balsa wood dowel and when installed makes the stick a little over 40 inches long) is that it will jump over a ball that's extremely close quite easily. It's almost as if you are jumping with the shaft alone. One day when I was fooling around I jumped a ball that was less than 1/4 of an inch away. I couldn't believe it. However, it's not much good for jumps if the intervening ball is 8 or 9 inches or more away. Not enough power. The intermediary butt is also made from a balsa wood dowel, but is longer, overall the cue with this butt is about 49 inches long, and I use this one most of the time. It probably weighs about 5 ounces total. It jumps well. The third butt is made from a sawed off broomstick handle. The overall weight is about 7 ounces. Now this baby will jump over intervening balls that are perhaps up to 3 feet away. Much more powerful. Easy to lose control with this one, and bouncing balls off the table can happen easily, depending on the shot. However, for longer shots, it's more accurate. Each of them plays differently and have their specific application. If I need to just get over a close ball and make contact with the object ball and it's close to a rail, you can guess which one I'll use. That super light one is the ticket for those situations. Almost exclusively, I use the dart stroke for jumping, with my bridge hand using a closed loop bridge, not touching the table, that is in the air, above the ball perhaps 6 or 7 inches away. I also use a glove.

I have phenolic tips on both of the sticks, and no ferrule. I've compared and tried jumping with anybody's jump cue who would let me try, and IMHO, mine are better. However, I've never tried the X-Breaker. It might just do it better than mine.

Cheers! And jump them balls!

Flex

 

[CaptainJR]

Here's an idea for you to consider.

In my use of jump sticks, and I have two different shafts that jump somewhat differently, I've found that a major part of how the stick jumps is directly related to its overall weight. I have three different butts I use for jumping, going from extremely light, to very light, to normal. What happens with the extremely light one (which I made from a balsa wood dowel and when installed makes the stick a little over 40 inches long) is that it will jump over a ball that's extremely close quite easily. It's almost as if you are jumping with the shaft alone. One day when I was fooling around I jumped a ball that was less than 1/4 of an inch away. I couldn't believe it. However, it's not much good for jumps if the intervening ball is 8 or 9 inches or more away. Not enough power. The intermediary butt is also made from a balsa wood dowel, but is longer, overall the cue with this butt is about 49 inches long, and I use this one most of the time. It probably weighs about 5 ounces total. It jumps well. The third butt is made from a sawed off broomstick handle. The overall weight is about 7 ounces. Now this baby will jump over intervening balls that are perhaps up to 3 feet away. Much more powerful. Easy to lose control with this one, and bouncing balls off the table can happen easily, depending on the shot. However, for longer shots, it's more accurate. Each of them plays differently and have their specific application. If I need to just get over a close ball and make contact with the object ball and it's close to a rail, you can guess which one I'll use. That super light one is the ticket for those situations. Almost exclusively, I use the dart stroke for jumping, with my bridge hand using a closed loop bridge, not touching the table, that is in the air, above the ball perhaps 6 or 7 inches away. I also use a glove.

I have phenolic tips on both of the sticks, and no ferrule. I've compared and tried jumping with anybody's jump cue who would let me try, and IMHO, mine are better. However, I've never tried the X-Breaker. It might just do it better than mine.

Cheers! And jump them balls!

Flex

Yup, that's what I'm going to do. Carry 3 sticks for a shot that comes up once in an evening, maybe not at all. LOL

 

[DougT]

Yup, that's what I'm going to do. Carry 3 sticks for a shot that comes up once in an evening, maybe not at all. LOL

No different than Golf.
I have 2 cues in my bag, plus a jump that has 2 ends (Chilton), plus one of the jump shafts fits my break cue.

 

[iacas]

No different than Golf.

Not true at all.

Golfers are given 14 clubs, and narrowing it down to 14 is often difficult. Players will struggle between leaving a 2-iron in or going with a 5-wood that week.

If you don't expect to hit a club, you likely leave it out to make room for a club you will use.

The only clubs most golfers won't hit in a given round is a middle iron or two. And even then, there's a good chance they may need that same club (or two) four or five times in a round depending on how they play.

Pool is a lot more two-dimensional than golf. Trees, sand, wind, etc...

Anyway, I don't think "three cues for a shot that likely won't come up at all" is like golf at all.

 

[Flex]

Yup, that's what I'm going to do. Carry 3 sticks for a shot that comes up once in an evening, maybe not at all. LOL

I'm happy for you that you may need to jump only once in an evening.

Some of the guys I play lay some pretty tough safeties, and not infrequently the best way to make contact with the necessary ball is best done, at least for me, by jumping.

I can't tell you how many times I've avoided giving ball in hand because I jumped successfully. I can kick too, not too bad at it. But some shots just plain lend themselves to jumping.

My cue case will hold four cues and eight shafts, comfortably, plus room for more stuff, which it does quite well. If I were short on space I'd have just one shaft and one butt for jumping, the intermediate one I mention above.

Best,

Flex

 

[AuntyDan]

Yup, that's what I'm going to do. Carry 3 sticks for a shot that comes up once in an evening, maybe not at all. LOL

It's OK Cap'n, you're amongst friends here. The first step is admitting you have a problem. My name is Dan and I too am a cue addict.

 

[CaptainJR]

I'm happy for you that you may need to jump only once in an evening.

Some of the guys I play lay some pretty tough safeties, and not infrequently the best way to make contact with the necessary ball is best done, at least for me, by jumping.

I can't tell you how many times I've avoided giving ball in hand because I jumped successfully. I can kick too, not too bad at it. But some shots just plain lend themselves to jumping.

My cue case will hold four cues and eight shafts, comfortably, plus room for more stuff, which it does quite well. If I were short on space I'd have just one shaft and one butt for jumping, the intermediate one I mention above.

Best,

Flex

I really did mean that to be more funny than anything else but now that I read it again it did sound a little more on the sarcastic side. Sorry.

What I'm meaning to say is that I have complete confidence that the X-Breaker will do any kind of jump shot that I will be called upon to perform. I just have to adjust my touch to it.

Thanks
JR

 

[Flex]

I really did mean that to be more funny than anything else but now that I read it again it did sound a little more on the sarcastic side. Sorry.

What I'm meaning to say is that I have complete confidence that the X-Breaker will do any kind of jump shot that I will be called upon to perform. I just have to adjust my touch to it.

Thanks
JR

Not a problem, JR. I didn't sense any sarcasm there, perhaps a bit of hmmmm.... frustration? or? but it was humorous, I agree.

Gotta tell you something though. Once these ringers find out the hard way how good at jumping you are, some of them will completely give up trying to play safe, or will so change their games that you might get an edge, an advantage that can lead to a win.

Best of all is when you pull off the jump shot and something lucky happens. If it happens more than a few times, that can wreak havoc on some players too...

Cheers!

Flex

 

[X Breaker]

It happened again last night. I don't use the jump shot every time I'm behind a ball just because I can, but when in the correct situation I will take out my new X-Breaker. So I don't hit a lot of jump shots. What happened again last night? The cue ball was still in the air when it hit the object ball. I just can't seem to get it through my head that I don't need to hit the cue ball as hard with this stick. Everyone knows you have to be firm on a jump shot with any stick. No, firm isn't the right word. What's the right word Richard? Anyway, I'm going to have to adjust my jump stoke because this has happened a couple of times and if your still airborne when you hit the object ball it's trouble. Anything can happen from just missing the shot to the cue ball flying off the table.

In my review I had mentioned I was having a little control problem because of the extra grip you get with this tip. I'm doing much better with it now. I just have to make sure I hit it where I mean to.

I know what you meant. The X Breaker is not like any other jump cue with a phenolic tip, with the X breaker, you can jump real easy and try to hold the cue real loose.

Believe me, I had the same problem when I first tried out the jump of the X breaker, I tried to generate more speed by using a slightly longer "throwing" stroke because my last jump cues had tips which were softer than the Xtreme tip. Now, I just try to hit it as light as possible.

Later on, I realize what I had to do was to hold the cue real loose and hit it real easy. I now try to hold my elbow up and keep it still when I jump using a shorter swing. Because the X Breaker tip is much harder and I do not need to worry about the miscue, I can focus on controlling my stroke to shot straight just like with a regular shot. I have very good success when I keep my elbow up and only jump with my lower arm, with a loose grip. I also try to jump with a lesser elevation so I can see the line of aim better.

I am glad you like your cue, it is always funny reading your post as it is sometimes hard to figure out whether you are actually happy with it or not.

Richard

PS, I will be in the Derby on 13 Jan. If any of you have any question or want to try the X Breaker, please feel free to PM me or email me. I will not have any X Breaker to sell there but I will for sure be able to meet anyone who may be interested to try out my X Breaker or talk to me about any questions/concerns they may have.