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Over the past year or so the word throw has become almost a cliché here on the forum to the point where some people are looking for cues with less throw and certain manufacturers actually claiming that their hafts tips or ferrule/ferrule systems actually reduce throw. Also added to this mix are the claims from customers that the above mentioned products actually work. I just want to add my six pence or take on all of this.
To my simple understanding the concept of squirt is that when you play with English or sides as some call it left or right of the cue ball the cue will generally move a bit off line in the opposite direction to the sides applied to the cue ball. I asked myself what would cause the cue ball to move (throw) in the opposite direction more than normal when sides or English is applied to the cue ball. I read an article on the theory of throw and I must say that it’s very well argued but I can find no experiments to go with this theory so it shall always remain theory and not LAW. The biggest single contributor (in my limited experience) to throw is an unchalked tip. Try playing sides with no chalk on the tip and guaranteed you would throw way more than with a chalked tip. The next question is what chalk do that helps with reducing throws? Answer is very simple. Chalk helps the cue tip grip to the cue ball. The longer the cue tip remains in contact with the cue ball, the more the cue is able to influence the direction of the cue ball direction, the less would be the resultant throw. So a good tip with a good chalk can help reduce throw very significantly (softer tip should then theoretically reduce throw). The next question comes to the issue of shaft tapers and the flex on a cue. Again, I would be guessing that the stiffer a cue shaft, the more the throw. But here again the results are marginal at best.
I have watched videos on you tube where the guy playing the cue ball shows exaggerated throw with one shaft over another. I personally like to watch the video without the guy playing the ball. The same shot played entirely by a mechanised system and I am pretty sure that the amount of throw would be nowhere near the amount shown in the vids. Also with the claims that some manufacturers make with respects to shaft tapers, ferrules and stuff reducing throw significantly. Not saying that they are not true. My question is just how much of a reduction is there in throw? Is it a mm or 2 or a few inches. No one as far as I know has been able to back this up with scientific experiments subjected to rigorous testing. I am not having a dig at anyone here just stating things as I see them and I would like to be proved wrong. I for one applaud people for thinking outside the box and coming upt with improved products but when claims are made I also feel they should be backed up with solid indisputable proof. With many of the customers, feedback may be positive with many of these products. It can also be the case of the emperor’s new clothes syndrome. I am writing this bit not to poke a stick in the hornets’ nest but rather to understand better, what throw is. Yes, yes, there are many articles here and there and everywhere on this phenomenon. And there was much research done especially when developing said products. However show me the proof or else they remain just theoretical concepts. Theory of throw can thus become LAW of THROW with solid proof. It should not be too difficult to prove???? Maybe my ramblings might be nonsense to some but I am just putting down my thoughts for discussion here.
To my simple understanding the concept of squirt is that when you play with English or sides as some call it left or right of the cue ball the cue will generally move a bit off line in the opposite direction to the sides applied to the cue ball. I asked myself what would cause the cue ball to move (throw) in the opposite direction more than normal when sides or English is applied to the cue ball. I read an article on the theory of throw and I must say that it’s very well argued but I can find no experiments to go with this theory so it shall always remain theory and not LAW. The biggest single contributor (in my limited experience) to throw is an unchalked tip. Try playing sides with no chalk on the tip and guaranteed you would throw way more than with a chalked tip. The next question is what chalk do that helps with reducing throws? Answer is very simple. Chalk helps the cue tip grip to the cue ball. The longer the cue tip remains in contact with the cue ball, the more the cue is able to influence the direction of the cue ball direction, the less would be the resultant throw. So a good tip with a good chalk can help reduce throw very significantly (softer tip should then theoretically reduce throw). The next question comes to the issue of shaft tapers and the flex on a cue. Again, I would be guessing that the stiffer a cue shaft, the more the throw. But here again the results are marginal at best.
I have watched videos on you tube where the guy playing the cue ball shows exaggerated throw with one shaft over another. I personally like to watch the video without the guy playing the ball. The same shot played entirely by a mechanised system and I am pretty sure that the amount of throw would be nowhere near the amount shown in the vids. Also with the claims that some manufacturers make with respects to shaft tapers, ferrules and stuff reducing throw significantly. Not saying that they are not true. My question is just how much of a reduction is there in throw? Is it a mm or 2 or a few inches. No one as far as I know has been able to back this up with scientific experiments subjected to rigorous testing. I am not having a dig at anyone here just stating things as I see them and I would like to be proved wrong. I for one applaud people for thinking outside the box and coming upt with improved products but when claims are made I also feel they should be backed up with solid indisputable proof. With many of the customers, feedback may be positive with many of these products. It can also be the case of the emperor’s new clothes syndrome. I am writing this bit not to poke a stick in the hornets’ nest but rather to understand better, what throw is. Yes, yes, there are many articles here and there and everywhere on this phenomenon. And there was much research done especially when developing said products. However show me the proof or else they remain just theoretical concepts. Theory of throw can thus become LAW of THROW with solid proof. It should not be too difficult to prove???? Maybe my ramblings might be nonsense to some but I am just putting down my thoughts for discussion here.
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