Strange Cue Phenomenon

[Oldgit]

I have just received a new cue and like I always do I take it down to my snooker club and try it out. I always hold my cues with the badge in the 'up' position but sometimes when the cue doesn't 'feel' right I then try holding the cue with the badge facing out or down or in.

Today, my new cue is a very old maple cue with a lovely old golden colour and no visible marks on the maple. I began by holding the cue with the badge facing up and the cue played really nice and felt good but I always experiment and so tried holding the cue in the main four different positions. When I held the cue with the badge facing 'in' then the feel and hit felt perfect. I couldn't believe what a difference in the feel of the cue between my normal 'badge up' and the 'badge in' position and then spent the next hour doing line ups and potting long blues and couldn't believe what a difference there was.

I have tried this before with ash cues and have found similar differences of the 'feel' of the cue depending where you hold it so just wondered if anyone else has found the same or do you just persevere with holding the cue in the same position all the time?

I suppose it could depend on the tip and what part of the tip hits the cue ball!!

Oldgit

[jrc750]

I only ever play badge up Mike, but might give it a go next time, might end up having "4 cues for every 1" ehh

[Big Splash!]

A shaft has grain and I guess it will feel different on the hit when rotated because timber isn't a uniform material in terms of sonics and feel. In an old cue, the weight might not be centred as well, so that's another factor. I've done the same thing as you do, now and then and it does feel different. I think Judd Trump is a badge in or is he a badge out, always get mixed up. But he's not a chamfer on top guy. He certainly hits the ball sweet. With the smoothness of lovely maple it won't matter so much where the badge is but with ash, badge in or out definitely feels more resistant across the bridge with the grain rubbing over the V. Interesting thread.

[GeordieDS]

I've always played badge down because i just find it easier to hold the cue in the same place

[DeanH]

Strange Cue Phenomenon

My old maple cue that I had used for many many years I always used with chamfer down.
when I got the ash DS cue, I of course did the same (chamfer and badge down) and I was not playing well or liking the cue at all.
The major characteristic that was it felt back heavy and the tip end would lift up after contact.
Then after a number of sessions with it I turned it over, so now badge up and the cue transformed into a player for me
The cue felt balanced and struck through straight.
I have said to others since when they say they don't like their cue try it at different rotation and often they find a better feel.

[jrc750]

Err Dean how can a butt heavy cue suddenly not be by turning it over lol

[DeanH]

Strange Cue Phenomenon

I know but one way it feels wrong and the other not

and the way it feels wrong to me is the balance/butt weight "feels" different

[Oldgit]

That is my point exactly!! difficult to explain but some cues just seem to play totally different when held in different positions.

Of course if you buy an ash cue because you love the arrows and use them for sighting and then find that the cue feels and plays better when looking along the side grain or even the bottom of the shaft then it must be really annoying!!

I know but one way it feels wrong and the other not

and the way it feels wrong to me is the balance/butt weight "feels" different

[DeanH]

Strange Cue Phenomenon

I don't play "the arrows" to assist my aiming - maybe playing with maple for so many years it is not ingrained to my setup.
got to add, that with the badge up the arrows are in view and aligned with the tip

[Big Splash!]

My old maple cue that I had used for many many years I always used with chamfer down.
when I got the ash DS cue, I of course did the same (chamfer and badge down) and I was not playing well or liking the cue at all.
The major characteristic that was it felt back heavy and the tip end would lift up after contact.
Then after a number of sessions with it I turned it over, so now badge up and the cue transformed into a player for me
The cue felt balanced and struck through straight.
I have said to others since when they say they don't like their cue try it at different rotation and often they find a better feel.

It's to do with where the weight is birthed. Ideally, it should be birthed low to reduce the centre of gravity. If it's birthed high it ruins cue feel. I added a weight to my pool cue by removing the bottom splice and birthing the weight right underneath the front of the splice, so it has a BP of 18.5. If I roll the cue on the table, it rolls back to chamfer upright. And it feels lovely. The weight should generally be centred but not all cue makers get this right! If you play chamfer up and the weight is above dead centre (thinking about the cross section of the cue in your mind) it will feel all wrong; topheavy. That's because the weight is delivered separate to the cue, though constrained by the splices. When delivered, the weight wishes to leave the cue, it's lead not wood.

The direction of the grain is also important. If you turn the cue to the side, the grain is now playing across the shot because most cues have a flat belly and chevrons on top. With the chamfer/badge side on, look down the cue, you will see slices of cue across the cue line; this is bound to affect feel/waves in terms of structural dynamics.

[DeanH]

Strange Cue Phenomenon

you may be right
I do think you mean "berthed" and not "birthed" :biggrin:
or "located"

[Big Splash!]

you may be right
I do think you mean "bearthed" and not "birthed" :biggrin:
or "located"

No, I do mean birthed, I gave birth to that cue weight postion. lol Heck of a job it turned out. Bearthed*

But yeah, the weight carries more momentum than an equivalent volume timber around it due to greater density. It is being thrown forwards. This affects the reverb waves and behaviour of the cue. I've read that J6 spends a fair bit of time adjusting cue feel to a 'player' and I wonder if messing around with weight position helps? I certainly found the best place for the weight in my cue was way down low. But it may be different for other cues and timbers.

Was there a cue maker in the past who would put a thin strip of metal in the butt, running on the cue surface from the top of the splice to the end of the cue, to make it as low slung as possible?

[Byrom]

You mean the gravity cue I think

[Hello, Mr Big Shot]

Radial consistency.

[Big Splash!]

You mean the gravity cue I think

Have you got a link or some photos mate?