Break cues

[Whaplodedave]

Hi
just looking for advice re break cues

I usually side / cut break as due to stomach surgery I cannot risk doing full on power breaks at the moment.

I use an 8mm cue that was damaged by local retipper several years ago that now bends.

I am looking into getting a break cue but have heard so many things about them.
Is light or heavier better? Some say light as you can move the cue quicker others say heavier as you get better split.

What size tip is best?
Ive used my friends 9ball cue but cant get on with it too well

My normal cue is a robin cook 8mm and dont want to risk it

Thanks for any advice

[Whaplodedave]

I have seen several old cues on ebay given a different type of ferrule and a break tip and being called a break cue, is this the same as getting a new soecific break cue or just a way to sell old cues that are not good enough to play with

[Mark187187]

I prefer a heavier cue to break, but the main thing is to get a larger (10mm+) hard tip. For english 8 ball I usually use a cue from the rack, because I don't have a case which fits 2 cues. I play a bit of US pool, and for that my cue is about 1oz heavier than my playing cue, and it has a rock hard and very flat leather tip. I used to have a break cue with a phenolic tip, which was great, but only really suited to power breaks as you tend to miscue with anything other than centre ball. Friend of mine has a Cue Craft break cue for english pool, which breaks well and was pretty cheap. For a cut break you could probably buy any old 10mm tip cue and stick a le pro or other hard leather tip on.

[OscarTheFish(pak)]

The choice of weight (cue) depends more on how the break shot is executed. Rather very fast in acceleration or controlled. Higher weight of the cue supports the effect of controlled breaking and hinders rapid acceleration. People have different muscular makeup of fast-twitch and slow-twitch fibers that support endurance.

[vmax]

I simply don't understand why people need such small tips for UK 8 ball as the cue ball is so light one can easily screw back the length of the table using a cue with an 11mm tip which is more than adequate with breaking the balls at full power.
Also it's so much easier to find the middle of the cue ball with a larger tip and sidespin is not a problem either. I played UK 8 ball with an old pro tapered 11mm tipped machine spliced racker with no ferrule and won my league's division one singles with it.

[OscarTheFish(pak)]

I simply don't understand why people need such small tips for UK 8 ball as the cue ball is so light one can easily screw back the length of the table using a cue with an 11mm tip which is more than adequate with breaking the balls at full power.
Also it's so much easier to find the middle of the cue ball with a larger tip and sidespin is not a problem either. I played UK 8 ball with an old pro tapered 11mm tipped machine spliced racker with no ferrule and won my league's division one singles with it.

Basically, you can play specifications however you want, as long as you play well with them and they don't violate any regulations. For my style of play and for ball feel, I have long preferred very thin and light cues. For American Pool this is 10.5 mm. I have two favorite cues. One weighs just over 18 oz. (18.1), the other only 15.9 oz. (!!!) and is built from carbon fiber and Juma. In the snooker range I feel at 8.75 mm (9 mm is also okay) and the weight is in the 16-16.8 oz range.

I'm currently having a cue built for English pool that only has 6.2 mm on the ferrule. But this is more of a fun cue or a test cue in an extreme design.