What makes a breaking cue?

A break cue typically plays heavier, much firmer in the shaft, and has a much harder phenolic tip which helps transfer more energy and less spin. This cue can be made of wood or carbon fiber, just like a regular playing cue. A playing cue has many more variables in its construction.

What makes a good breaking cue?

It is best to use a dedicated break cue, which is beefier and has a hard tip (usually phenolic). Power breaking with your normal playing cue can cause damage over time, and it will flatten the tip. It is advisable to use a break cue with a natural pivot length well matched to your preferred break bridge length.

Do break cues make a difference?

One of the main reasons players opt for a breaking cue is to avoid wear and tear on their playing cues. Breaking requires more force and has a greater impact on the pool cue's tip, especially if it is a leather tip. With repeated breaks, the leather tip of a nice cue will mushroom over time.

What is the best weight for a breaking cue?

What Weight Should My Break Cue Be? The ideal cue stick weight varies and depends on one's personal preference. However, heavier sticks providing similar accuracy and speed tend to break with greater power than lighter cues. For the break cue, you want a stick that falls under the standard weight (18-21 oz).

Is a heavier or lighter break cue better?

The idea is that the lighter the cue, the faster you can swing it. And the faster you can swing it, the harder you can break. Because this theory revolves around acceleration and speed, lighter break cues are good for players who are able to be accurate with a fast, athletic break stroke.

Break Cue Comparison

What cue tip do most pros use?

Medium-hard tips

This is the most common cue tip, and it gives players a good balance of cue ball control and consistency. Medium-hard tips also require less maintenance than soft tips.

What weight pool cue do most pros use?

While professional billiards players tend to use pool sticks that weigh about 19 ounces, it is a better idea for beginners to use pool sticks that are a bit lighter (around 15 ounces) while they are still learning how to pocket those tough shots with ease.

What size tip for breaking cue?

Generally speaking most pool players prefer and 8mm to 8.5mm tip for a 1 & 7/8 pool cue ball, and most snooker players prefer a 9.5mm to 10mm tip for a full size 2 1/16 snooker cue ball. American pool uses an even bigger cue ball so the tip sizes are normally between 12.5 mm and 13.5mm.

What is the perfect cue tip size?

It should always be the same diameter as your shaft – no smaller. A smaller tip will give you more control over spin, but may also cause more miscues. A larger tip will give you less spin control, but a more powerful, consistent shot. With American cues, the standard size is usually around 12 or 13mm.

Do you need an expensive break cue?

If you buy a cue with a hard tip and firm shaft at a price point that you are happy with, chances are you will be extremely pleased. For most players, we recommend not buying a super expensive break cue – it's simply not needed.

How often should you chalk your cue?

How Often Should You Chalk Your Cue? Some players find success re-chalking after every other shot, but others prefer to re-chalk before each shot they take. You can chalk your cue more sparingly if you want, but if you need to take a shot with some spin, it's a good idea to apply some chalk.

Are break cues legal?

Two common examples of bad sportsmanship are: conceding an unfinished game; and breaking down a cue during play. Both forms of conduct are frowned upon by professionals, and have no place in amateur play. All players are asked to allow opponents to finish the game before racking the balls or breaking down cues.

What is the best wood for break cue?

Both ash and maple are perfectly able to provide you with a full range of shots and also vary in terms of weight, as with everything else, when it comes to choice it is a personal thing, some thing maple is better, other prefer ash.

What are sneaky Pete cues?

A Sneaky Pete is designed to look like a poorer quality, traditional house cue instead of a custom cue. The idea behind this was that people would underestimate the capabilities of their opponent and be susceptible to being hustled.

What is the hardest cue tip?

What size cue do professionals use?

If you are mostly playing an eight-ball pool game, the stick you would generally use is about 1.39 to 1.44 metres or 55-57 inches. Some manufacturers provide up to 58 inches. Professional players opt for between 56 and 57-inch cues because they believe these are the perfect sizes for the cue ball.

Is a nickel or dime cue tip better?

Tips shaped to a dime have a smaller contact point with the cueball, so in theory they can create more spin, but the smaller “sweet spot” can be slightly less forgiving. I prefer a nickel shape, personally, because I find that a nickel is more forgiving and versatile.

Should a cue tip be rough or smooth?

What should a well maintained pool cue tip look like? A billiard cue's leather tip should have a rough texture, not smooth. This is to allow the billiard chalk to stick to the leather. A tip should also be convex or “domed”.

What cue does Efren use?

Fueled by the demands of the professional player comes the revolutionary Pro Series cues.

What are the best pool cues for accuracy?

REVO® carbon fiber shafts are the best in billiards technology and performance. Not only the most accurate shaft ever made, REVO® provides effortless action and power with more consistency than wood shafts.

How often should you change your cue tip?

When or how often should you replace a cue tip? Usually, a tip is replaced either when you want to try something new or if your current tip has worn down too low, where there is almost no tip material left on the shoulder of the ferrule.

Is a soft cue tip better than a hard cue tip?

A harder tip has a slightly better hit efficiency (energy transfer) than a softer tip. This will result in slightly more CB speed for a given stroke speed. This can provide a slight advantage for draw shots, where, where slightly more CB speed will retain slightly more backspin on the way to the OB.

What shape cue tip is best for spin?

For applying spin, a smaller-diameter shaft and rounder tip (approximately “dime” radius) are generally recommended. Here are some possible reasons: The rounder shape allows for a more uniform contact area as the tip offset is increased.