Cue Deflection / Food for thought finding when trying to find the right cue

[ace man]

Throw/deflection is the least of my concern. These days only thing I look for is balance and smoothness of wood. Maple is my choice, no need to change.
Of course it wasn't always like that. Some time ago I was one of those who believed that you need a super low deflection cue to play well.
The reality was that I was a bit of a side spin junkie without realizing. Players like that become heavily dependent not only to a certain cue, but also to specific table in specific club. Took me a while to get rid of that silly habit. Once I switched style to move closer to cue ball centre when applying side and started using more centre ball striking in general, my game became far less sensitive to change in condition...be it table change or even cue change.

[strobbekoen]

I did try this on my table with various cues, but I use an object ball to aim at, in a straight line to the pocket.
Found the differences to be minimal actually, unless you use an extreme amount of side which is hardly ever needed and a bad idea on long pots anyway.
Important objective properties in a cue for me are balance, weight, taper and tip size, in that order.
How it hits and feels is more subjective, you feel it when u play it and that's just a preference I suppose depending on your game.

[The Doctor]

Excellent thread and some very interesting points from you guys.
I believe this to be the most important factor in a cue.
All cues play slightly different and of course over time you can get used to any cue to a certain extent but if you can find a cue with low deflection then I believe it makes this difficult game of ours a little easier.
There are several factors that come into his a cue will throw.
Stiffness of cue is a debatable one.
I've made cues with poker stuff shafts that have no deflection what so ever and likewise cues with a whippy shaft with little deflection.
The size of tip, the mass at tip, the taper of cue, the material used for ferrule and even the thickness of that material will all have a factor in how a cue throws.
When possible, the best thing is to try a cue out before you buy.
This is not always possible though and I believe this is where the cue makers knowledge of cue playability comes into it.
I try all of my cues out and I rate them in stiffness but I was also thinking of trying to rate the throw from maybe low, med ,high.
What do you guys think would make buying a cue more appealing in these regards.
Be interested to hear any suggestions.

[Big Splash!]

Excellent thread and some very interesting points from you guys.
I believe this to be the most important factor in a cue.
All cues play slightly different and of course over time you can get used to any cue to a certain extent but if you can find a cue with low deflection then I believe it makes this difficult game of ours a little easier.
There are several factors that come into his a cue will throw.
Stiffness of cue is a debatable one.
I've made cues with poker stuff shafts that have no deflection what so ever and likewise cues with a whippy shaft with little deflection.
The size of tip, the mass at tip, the taper of cue, the material used for ferrule and even the thickness of that material will all have a factor in how a cue throws.
When possible, the best thing is to try a cue out before you buy.
This is not always possible though and I believe this is where the cue makers knowledge of cue playability comes into it.
I try all of my cues out and I rate them in stiffness but I was also thinking of trying to rate the throw from maybe low, med ,high.
What do you guys think would make buying a cue more appealing in these regards.
Be interested to hear any suggestions.

It's a minefield, so the more info you can give about a cue the better. I'd say rate them as narrow, medium and wide taper, L-M-H in terms of throw, whippy-medium-stiff, BP, ferrule size, ferrule material, butt size, feel of cue on the shot 1-3. I know J6 does some feedback on cues and rates them. This really helps distance buyers who can't try cues out. Regardless of breaks it's imprtant that a player has a cue he enjoys using and is comfortable with. Good luck.

A lot of cue makers/sellers don't give this info because they can't play. They have no idea of which cue will be easier to pot the long stuff, easier to apply check/running or easier in the balls to break build, e.g. Parris but there are many others.

[strobbekoen]

I guess then you would only sell cues rated low
But how would you measure it objectively ?

[The Doctor]

By low do you mean the throw?
It would depend because someone might like a cue that throws a bit more.
I played as a pro for 15 years so I do know how a cue plays.
I feel this is an area that can telly help distance buyers as Big Splash stated.

[Ramon]

Excellent thread and some very interesting points from you guys.
I believe this to be the most important factor in a cue.
All cues play slightly different and of course over time you can get used to any cue to a certain extent but if you can find a cue with low deflection then I believe it makes this difficult game of ours a little easier.
There are several factors that come into his a cue will throw.
Stiffness of cue is a debatable one.
I've made cues with poker stuff shafts that have no deflection what so ever and likewise cues with a whippy shaft with little deflection.
The size of tip, the mass at tip, the taper of cue, the material used for ferrule and even the thickness of that material will all have a factor in how a cue throws.
When possible, the best thing is to try a cue out before you buy.
This is not always possible though and I believe this is where the cue makers knowledge of cue playability comes into it.
I try all of my cues out and I rate them in stiffness but I was also thinking of trying to rate the throw from maybe low, med ,high.
What do you guys think would make buying a cue more appealing in these regards.
Be interested to hear any suggestions.

excellent post.

[festool]

By low do you mean the throw?
It would depend because someone might like a cue that throws a bit more.
I played as a pro for 15 years so I do know how a cue plays.
I feel this is an area that can telly help distance buyers as Big Splash stated.

May i know your name? You mentioned you played as a pro for 15 years. Just want to be sure the info coming from some one ligit.

[pottr]

Cue Deflection / Food for thought finding when trying to find the right cue

Richy can play. His opinion is valid

[itsnoteasy]

Excellent thread and some very interesting points from you guys.
I believe this to be the most important factor in a cue.
All cues play slightly different and of course over time you can get used to any cue to a certain extent but if you can find a cue with low deflection then I believe it makes this difficult game of ours a little easier.
There are several factors that come into his a cue will throw.
Stiffness of cue is a debatable one.
I've made cues with poker stuff shafts that have no deflection what so ever and likewise cues with a whippy shaft with little deflection.
The size of tip, the mass at tip, the taper of cue, the material used for ferrule and even the thickness of that material will all have a factor in how a cue throws.
When possible, the best thing is to try a cue out before you buy.
This is not always possible though and I believe this is where the cue makers knowledge of cue playability comes into it.
I try all of my cues out and I rate them in stiffness but I was also thinking of trying to rate the throw from maybe low, med ,high.
What do you guys think would make buying a cue more appealing in these regards.
Be interested to hear any suggestions.

Would you not be left with a shed load of medium to high throw cues? Would anyone pick these type of cues when there is one that is on the low end of the scale?