snooker cue balance point front heavy characteristics

[choku]

hi everyone... i'm new here but have been playing the game for more than 10 yrs... but there's something i still don't understand: what are the pros & cons, advantages & disadvantages of a front heavy balanced cue? what are the characteristics of a front heavy cue? thanks in advance for ur advice:snooker:

[Terry Davidson]

No need to post the same question 3 times. The balance of a cue is a matter of personal feel.

Some players feel a cue balanced at 18" helps them get through the cueball better while others feel a cue balanced butt-heavy at 14" helps them get through the cueball better.

I don't think there is a correct answer but maybe an ergonomics engineer can work on it for a couple of years and come up with the correct answer.

Most good cues are balanced around 17" in a range of 16" to 18" and personally I like 17" which seems to suit my cue action

Terry

[choku]

snooker cue balance point front heavy characteristics

thanks for ur advice terry... i've read some of ur advice abt biting our tongues like steve davis the mental side of the game, and also how to find the correct potting angle and it had helped me immensely when i played a tough opponent last night, thanks a bunch for ur advices. hey terry i read in a post somewhere that a front heavy balanced cue tend to put too much weight onto the bridge hand and so causes lots of friction on the bridge; so wouldn't that added friction on bridge cause our cue to be less straight? oh yeah, as an after thought do u know of any pros who use front heave balanced cues? thanks again for ur advice terry... :snooker:

[choku]

snooker cue balance point front heavy characteristics

thanks for ur advice terry... i've read some of ur advice abt biting our tongues like steve davis the mental side of the game, and also how to find the correct potting angle and it had helped me immensely when i played a tough opponent last night, thanks a bunch for ur advices. hey terry i read in a post somewhere that a front heavy balanced cue tend to put too much weight onto the bridge hand and so causes lots of friction on the bridge; so wouldn't that added friction on bridge cause our cue delivery ( sorry abt the typing error) to be less straight? oh yeah, as an after thought do u know of any pros who use front heave balanced cues? thanks again for ur advice terry... :snooker:

[Terry Davidson]

I sometimes wonder where these weird ideas come from. Whoever posted that wasn't thinking too clearly. What we're talking about here is the centre of gravity of basically a lever that weighs let's say 18oz.

The difference in the centre of gravity between a forward balanced cue and a cue considered butt-heavy is about 4in (18" to 14") so the difference in weight at the 'V' of your bridge in the address position, about 33" for a butt heavy cue and 29" for a forward balanced cue.

The difference in the weight balance between the grip and bridge in those 4" would prabably be about 1/8th of an ounce (I'm guessing as I haven't actually tried to measure this - i.e. - who cares?).

However, if you choose to believe this then by all means order a cue with a balance point at 14" or even 12" from a good cuemaker (if they will agree to do it) and play happily because after all, your perception is in fact your reality and if you believe that small difference in weight on the 'V' of your bridge actually hampers the cue then you would likely play better as that's one more worry you've cleared from your mind.

Terry

[choku]

snooker cue balance point front heavy characteristics

thanks for ur so enlightened advice terry... ok i'll try to get used to my front heavy cue... anyway, do you know if the pros use front heavy cues? or do they all use butt heavy cues?

[Terry Davidson]

I don't really know about professional player's cue balance point as it just isn't important enough to ask them.

I would think not too many pros (if any) would request a butt-heavy balanced cue from a cuemaker and as most good cuemakers balance their cues are around 16" to 17" I doubt if any of the pros are concerned at all about their cue's balance point.

Perhaps I'm wrong though. There are a couple of pros here on TSF (Stuart Bingham for one) so why don't you ask one of them or check with the next pro you come across that you can talk to.

If you feel your cue is forward balanced (i.e. - more than 17") then why don't you get another cue with a more normal balance point. Perhaps it will set you mind at rest as you seem to be overly concerned with a very minor item such as your cue's balance point. Now if you cue is balanced at 20" or more then I would definitely get another cue as there is likely something wrong with it.

Terry

[Snook1]

In the past I always had/played with 2 piece center joined cues so I am used to a forward balanced cue. I tried a 3/4 and couldn't make anything of it too butt heavy and just didn't have any feel or control. Now using 1 piece MW CC-02 and really love it, but Mike's cues are well balanced ;-)