Break Cue questions.

[Garet Jax]

Why the need for a break cue?
What to look for in a break cue.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Very strong players use break cues because they try to hit it as hard as possible. Doing that deforms the tip and creates a slightly flat spot where the tip struck the cue ball. That's a problem for normal play as the flat spot won't make full contact with the cue ball on later shots and you won't be able to accurately predict how much english it's going to pick up. If you're shooting in a public place, use a house cue as your break cue and save yours for normal shots. If you're buying one for home use, just pick up something cheap and heavy, at least 23 ounces.

 

[Ns1]

i hope you're talking about pool

i just use a house cue to break. you don't wanna use your regular cue to break cuz you'll fux0r it up

 

[DurocShark]

Originally posted by: NeuroSynapsis
i hope you're talking about pool

i just use a house cue to break. you don't wanna use your regular cue to break cuz you'll fux0r it up

 

[Garet Jax]

Originally posted by: NeuroSynapsis
i hope you're talking about pool

i just use a house cue to break. you don't wanna use your regular cue to break cuz you'll fux0r it up

My mind is a little slow right now, but what else would I have been talking about?

 

[Electric Amish]

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
Very strong players use break cues because they try to hit it as hard as possible. Doing that deforms the tip and creates a slightly flat spot where the tip struck the cue ball. That's a problem for normal play as the flat spot won't make full contact with the cue ball on later shots and you won't be able to accurately predict how much english it's going to pick up. If you're shooting in a public place, use a house cue as your break cue and save yours for normal shots. If you're buying one for home use, just pick up something cheap and heavy, at least 23 ounces.

Works for me.

 

[spidey07]

If you want to get really fancy you can buy a "break cue" for just that purpose.

What to look for - heavy, little flex, large tip.

 

[Garet Jax]

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
Very strong players use break cues because they try to hit it as hard as possible. Doing that deforms the tip and creates a slightly flat spot where the tip struck the cue ball. That's a problem for normal play as the flat spot won't make full contact with the cue ball on later shots and you won't be able to accurately predict how much english it's going to pick up. If you're shooting in a public place, use a house cue as your break cue and save yours for normal shots. If you're buying one for home use, just pick up something cheap and heavy, at least 23 ounces.

I have been told by two people in the business that a lighter break cue is better. They have both said that the amount of extra speed you can generate (because of the lighter weight) far outweighs the benefit of the extra couple of ounces.

Do you think this is reasonable?

 

[Parrotheader]

Originally posted by: Garet Jax

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
Very strong players use break cues because they try to hit it as hard as possible. Doing that deforms the tip and creates a slightly flat spot where the tip struck the cue ball. That's a problem for normal play as the flat spot won't make full contact with the cue ball on later shots and you won't be able to accurately predict how much english it's going to pick up. If you're shooting in a public place, use a house cue as your break cue and save yours for normal shots. If you're buying one for home use, just pick up something cheap and heavy, at least 23 ounces.

I have been told by two people in the business that a lighter break cue is better. They have both said that the amount of extra speed you can generate (because of the lighter weight) far outweighs the benefit of the extra couple of ounces.

Do you think this is reasonable?

If they're 'pros' they probably no better than us. I personally like the feel of a heavier cue though on my break as I might be more prone to mishit with a lighter cue in my efforts to generate speed.

 

[Garet Jax]

Originally posted by: Parrotheader
If they're 'pros' they probably no better than us. I personally like the feel of a heavier cue though on my break as I might be more prone to mishit with a lighter cue in my efforts to generate speed.

One was a professional table installer (who is a professional pool player on the side to make a little extra money). The other was the manager at a pool store.

 

[Electric Amish]

Originally posted by: Parrotheader

Originally posted by: Garet Jax

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
Very strong players use break cues because they try to hit it as hard as possible. Doing that deforms the tip and creates a slightly flat spot where the tip struck the cue ball. That's a problem for normal play as the flat spot won't make full contact with the cue ball on later shots and you won't be able to accurately predict how much english it's going to pick up. If you're shooting in a public place, use a house cue as your break cue and save yours for normal shots. If you're buying one for home use, just pick up something cheap and heavy, at least 23 ounces.

I have been told by two people in the business that a lighter break cue is better. They have both said that the amount of extra speed you can generate (because of the lighter weight) far outweighs the benefit of the extra couple of ounces.

Do you think this is reasonable?

If they're 'pros' they probably no better than us. I personally like the feel of a heavier cue though on my break as I might be more prone to mishit with a lighter cue in my efforts to generate speed.

I wouldn't think such small differences in weight (I mean we're only talking ounces) would make that much difference, but I'm not a pro...

 

[Vic]

A break cue should be at least 21 oz, have almost no flex, and a large tip. You want to hit it hard, with heavy follow through (literally almost to the rack), and you don't want to put any English on the ball.
People generally have a seperate break cue because (1) the characteristics you want in a break cue are the opposite of what you want in your regular playing cue (where you want the cue to be somewhat lighter like 19 oz., have a lot of flex, and a smaller tip), and (2) because using your regular playing cue to break is a good way to damage it.

 

[Parrotheader]

Originally posted by: Electric Amish

Originally posted by: Parrotheader

Originally posted by: Garet Jax

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
Very strong players use break cues because they try to hit it as hard as possible. Doing that deforms the tip and creates a slightly flat spot where the tip struck the cue ball. That's a problem for normal play as the flat spot won't make full contact with the cue ball on later shots and you won't be able to accurately predict how much english it's going to pick up. If you're shooting in a public place, use a house cue as your break cue and save yours for normal shots. If you're buying one for home use, just pick up something cheap and heavy, at least 23 ounces.

I have been told by two people in the business that a lighter break cue is better. They have both said that the amount of extra speed you can generate (because of the lighter weight) far outweighs the benefit of the extra couple of ounces.

Do you think this is reasonable?

If they're 'pros' they probably no better than us. I personally like the feel of a heavier cue though on my break as I might be more prone to mishit with a lighter cue in my efforts to generate speed.

I wouldn't think such small differences in weight (I mean we're only talking ounces) would make that much difference, but I'm not a pro...

I'm not a pro either, but I did play a TON when I was growing up since we had a pool table and used to go to pool halls all the time. But I could easily feel the difference in weight between a 19oz cue and a 21oz cue. And on such a long and forceful stroke like the break, even that tiny weight difference could mean the difference between hitting the ball square (as you want to do on the break) or overcompensating for speed-sake and mishitting and putting english on it.

I don't play much at all anymore and haven't done too good the last few times I played so take my words with a grain of salt though.

 

[manly]

Weight is a matter of personal preference, for both the break and everyday play.

It's a similar argument to hitting a baseball. Some guys think a light bat allows them to turn on pitches better. Some guys think lighter cues allow them to accelerate the cue ball better for the break.

I was never a fan of heavy cues, and felt comfortable shooting with a 19 oz. cue. Shooting the break is mostly about technique anyway, and not raw aggression.

 

[boyRacer]

I dont have one... I only use the house cue since i dont have my own table.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: manly
Weight is a matter of personal preference, for both the break and everyday play.

It's a similar argument to hitting a baseball. Some guys think a light bat allows them to turn on pitches better. Some guys think lighter cues allow them to accelerate the cue ball better for the break.

I was never a fan of heavy cues, and felt comfortable shooting with a 19 oz. cue. Shooting the break is mostly about technique anyway, and not raw aggression.

So true. I always preferred a 19 or 20 oz cue but I'm a big guy.

Breaking is all in where you strike the cue ball and how you hit the object ball. But when I got really good at breaking i struck the ball well, on target and with a pretty good amount of force.

 

[pennylane]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: manly
Weight is a matter of personal preference, for both the break and everyday play.

It's a similar argument to hitting a baseball. Some guys think a light bat allows them to turn on pitches better. Some guys think lighter cues allow them to accelerate the cue ball better for the break.

I was never a fan of heavy cues, and felt comfortable shooting with a 19 oz. cue. Shooting the break is mostly about technique anyway, and not raw aggression.

So true. I always preferred a 19 or 20 oz cue but I'm a big guy.

Breaking is all in where you strike the cue ball and how you hit the object ball. But when I got really good at breaking i struck the ball well, on target and with a pretty good amount of force.

I concur. I've heard lots of people that prefer light cues for breaks and lots of others that prefer heavy.