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I was asked to post my reply to an email on here to see what other players feel about my comments !!
I've had an email this morning asking about a shafts stiffness and playability, in the reply I ended up going into a bit of detail about deflection !!
I believe deflection is probably one of the most important factors to why players can or can't get on with a cue.
When players are looking for new cues they generally have an idea to design, size and weight of the cue they want but deflection is never mentioned ?
Stiffness of shaft is brought up by some players but that doesn't always give a true indication to how the cue will play.
Players with knowledge about cues will have learned that a cue with a stiff shaft will create less deflection, or that is what they are to believe, the fact is this is very inconsistent !
There are players using stiff shaft cues that have a good amount of throw / deflection, and players using cues with a lot of flex in the shaft that producing very little throw / push / deflection.
There are countless players looking for new cues every day, looking for the perfect cue, for players who want the right cue for them to play with it's important that they read this post !
It comes down to a combination of experience & expectation
Less experience less expectation
More experience more expectation.
Able to adapt / compensate, some players do this well some don't.
We do deflection test on cues day in day out in the shop, this is to help give an indication of how the cue plays.
Here is how we do it, test your cues deflection to see how much throw / push / deflection your cue produces, you might be surprised !!
This was what I wrote to the gentleman this morning.......
It's hard for me to say/ give advice to which will be best for you, it's personal preference.
What you are used to / know I can't say.
You can check your current cue to see how much deflection your cue is producing by placing the cue ball on the brown spot, aim your cue to play directly down the line of the spots over the black spot, now move your cue to either the left or right of centre ( which side you are most comfortable with ) to add side spin, now move your cue over to the side of the cue ball making sure you keep your cue parallel to the line of spots, so you should be aiming your cue just a little to the left or right of the black spot depending which side you've chosen keeping your cue parallel to the spots, ( I hope this makes sense ) Make sure you cue straight through the cue ball keeping your cue on the line of shot - finishing delivered tip towards the side of the black spot you've been addressing.
What will happen next is the cue ball will travel down the table towards the black spot, watch carefully to see how the cue ball travels down, also where the cue ball goes when it gets to the black spot, this will give you an indication to how much your cue is deflecting when using side.
Repeat this a few times to check consistency.
Things to make sure you keep the same, the height / position you strike through the cue ball, ensure you do the same amount of off centre striking, height is very important as well as when striking below centre you create drag which lessens the deflection, striking above centre will create slightly more deflection, so try and keep central height.
After doing this you will have had the chance to see how your cue is reacting using side and the deflection being created, this is one of the main reasons that players can or can't get on with new cues, players with experience have an expectation to how they expect a cue to play when using side or shots at distance.
If you've been using a cue with a lot of deflection it's very difficult to use, players do get used to them over time and learn to compensate.
A cue with little deflection is easier to use and get used to, most cues will naturally create deflection, about half a cue ball ( the edge of the cue ball will go over the black spot ) when doing the deflection test correctly.
Less than half a cue ball is good, very few cues produce no deflection.
I've had an email this morning asking about a shafts stiffness and playability, in the reply I ended up going into a bit of detail about deflection !!
I believe deflection is probably one of the most important factors to why players can or can't get on with a cue.
When players are looking for new cues they generally have an idea to design, size and weight of the cue they want but deflection is never mentioned ?
Stiffness of shaft is brought up by some players but that doesn't always give a true indication to how the cue will play.
Players with knowledge about cues will have learned that a cue with a stiff shaft will create less deflection, or that is what they are to believe, the fact is this is very inconsistent !
There are players using stiff shaft cues that have a good amount of throw / deflection, and players using cues with a lot of flex in the shaft that producing very little throw / push / deflection.
There are countless players looking for new cues every day, looking for the perfect cue, for players who want the right cue for them to play with it's important that they read this post !
It comes down to a combination of experience & expectation
Less experience less expectation
More experience more expectation.
Able to adapt / compensate, some players do this well some don't.
We do deflection test on cues day in day out in the shop, this is to help give an indication of how the cue plays.
Here is how we do it, test your cues deflection to see how much throw / push / deflection your cue produces, you might be surprised !!
This was what I wrote to the gentleman this morning.......
It's hard for me to say/ give advice to which will be best for you, it's personal preference.
What you are used to / know I can't say.
You can check your current cue to see how much deflection your cue is producing by placing the cue ball on the brown spot, aim your cue to play directly down the line of the spots over the black spot, now move your cue to either the left or right of centre ( which side you are most comfortable with ) to add side spin, now move your cue over to the side of the cue ball making sure you keep your cue parallel to the line of spots, so you should be aiming your cue just a little to the left or right of the black spot depending which side you've chosen keeping your cue parallel to the spots, ( I hope this makes sense ) Make sure you cue straight through the cue ball keeping your cue on the line of shot - finishing delivered tip towards the side of the black spot you've been addressing.
What will happen next is the cue ball will travel down the table towards the black spot, watch carefully to see how the cue ball travels down, also where the cue ball goes when it gets to the black spot, this will give you an indication to how much your cue is deflecting when using side.
Repeat this a few times to check consistency.
Things to make sure you keep the same, the height / position you strike through the cue ball, ensure you do the same amount of off centre striking, height is very important as well as when striking below centre you create drag which lessens the deflection, striking above centre will create slightly more deflection, so try and keep central height.
After doing this you will have had the chance to see how your cue is reacting using side and the deflection being created, this is one of the main reasons that players can or can't get on with new cues, players with experience have an expectation to how they expect a cue to play when using side or shots at distance.
If you've been using a cue with a lot of deflection it's very difficult to use, players do get used to them over time and learn to compensate.
A cue with little deflection is easier to use and get used to, most cues will naturally create deflection, about half a cue ball ( the edge of the cue ball will go over the black spot ) when doing the deflection test correctly.
Less than half a cue ball is good, very few cues produce no deflection.
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