Solve Pool/Snooker Dispute: Smaller or Larger Tip?

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The discussion centers on whether a smaller or larger tip on a cue generates more spin in snooker and pool. Participants note that while a larger tip provides a greater contact area, a smaller tip may allow for longer contact time and better precision in striking the cue ball. The material and softness of the tip are emphasized as crucial factors, with softer tips generally providing better grip and spin. Additionally, the flexibility of the cue shaft is mentioned as influencing the spin imparted to the ball. Ultimately, while theoretical physics suggests tip size has minimal impact on friction, personal experiences and preferences play a significant role in players' choices.
  • #31
i don't play the same game but the plays is the same! but have you ever seen a twister tip ? - it makes masse shots stupidly easy! i suspect a decent snooker player might surprise an american pool player!
 
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  • #32
I have not only never seen a twister tip, I've never even heard of one. What the hell is it? I bet that it's still illegal, though.
And, in actual fact, the plays are not the same. I do play snooker upon occassion, and enjoy it very much, but it's vastly different. To start with, the pockets are a different shape, so some of my favourite shots won't work on a snooker table. More important, though, is that those golf-ball size suckers don't have anything like the angular momentum I'm used to from 8-ball.
And I know that lots of things can surprise a Yank player. I, as a Canuk, am one of them. :biggrin:
 
  • #33
stop editing back - i am always reading the last post! - i just checked my follow through and its about 6" most shouts and about 7.5" for a deep screw shot. never heard of the first game but i have won a few 8 ball competitions. http://www.shop.uk8ball.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=345
 
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  • #34
adr147 said:
stop editing back - i am always reading the last post!

Nobody's fault but your own. :-p
Okay, I'm just trying to save bandwidth. I'll start a new post from now on. For the nonce, though, I have to go and perform one or two of my duties since I'm still at work. I won't bother logging out this, time, though, so don't be offended if I don't respond when I'm shown on-line. Later, dude.
That tip, by the way, is definitely illegal.
 
  • #35
Danger said:
Nobody's fault but your own. :-p
Okay, I'm just trying to save bandwidth. I'll start a new post from now on. For the nonce, though, I have to go and perform one or two of my duties since I'm still at work. I won't bother logging out this, time, though, so don't be offended if I don't respond when I'm shown on-line. Later, dude.
That tip, by the way, is definitely illegal.

illegal, i suspect so, but fun! - work, oh yes i remember that - its that thing other people do!
 
  • #36
Danger said:
Damn, but I am enjoying discussing this with fellow players!
I don't know whether or not there is a particular amount of curvature and/or reversal that determines whether or not a shot is a masse.

I used to think masse referred to the extreme case and I would call "gentle masses" curve shots, or in my own vernacular "scooching the ball". But in reading on the topic it seems the consensus is that any axial spin induced curving of the rolling ball's path is a masse.

Regards,
James Baugh
P.S. I only have a partial file of the masse physics here at home. The full file is on my PC in my office. But it is in MSWord format and so I think I'll transcribe it to Latex and make some clarifying edits along the way.
R. JB.
 
  • #37
masse is not a term we use here we call it a swerve. swerves come in various sizes and the bigger they are the less likely you are to make the shot!
 
  • #38
Well, apparently 'swerve' and 'masse' are the same thing. I've often wondered why a game devised in Britain would have a French word associated with it.

adr147 said:
work, oh yes i remember that - its that thing other people do!
Hey, I only do it so I can buy cat food for Lucy.
 
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  • #39
Danger said:
Well, apparently 'swerve' and 'masse' are the same thing. I've often wondered why a game devised in Britain would have a French word associated with it.


Hey, I only do it so I can buy cat food for Lucy.

i think billiards which was the first cue sport came from france about 600 years ago? but then the whole english language has latin to french to english as one of its origins.

is lucy your wife or a cat?
 
  • #40
My cat, but she and W sometimes fight over the food. :biggrin:

Okay, my work day is over. I'm going to log off to do my cashout and go home. Back in 20 or so.
 
  • #41
well i am off to the pub to think about pool shots over a few beers!
 
  • #42
beer is a wonderful thing - really brings out the physics!
 
  • #43
Sorry, I got distracted by a couple of neighbours partying on the lawn, and then by a steak that needed attention, and by a few more beers, and...
...I just got started posting this, and got hailed through the balcony window by my neighbour (who, incidentally, bears no resemblance to Romeo) to come out on the lawn for some beers. I love PF, but I also love beer, so... see ya...
 
  • #44
Hey Ladies
I am the instigator of this subject from a snooker forum in Australia. The funny part about it, it was a joke topic for me. LOL!

ps: is it still impossible for a bumble-bee to fly?
 
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  • #45
Dallas147 said:
Hey Ladies
I am the instigator of this subject from a snooker forum in Australia. The funny part about it, it was a joke topic for me. LOL!

ps: is it still impossible for a bumble-bee to fly?

hey dallas - we hijacking a physics forum now, these guys don't deserve that! - of course a bumble bee can fly, just not fast enough to stop you kicking them!
 
  • #46
Yes, well i see your trying for a 100 posts here to..
 
  • #47
Dallas147 said:
it was a joke topic for me. LOL!
While it might have been a joke to start with, it is actually a very interesting subject with a firm grounding in physics and is perfectly acceptable to the forums.
From a pool perspective, just think of how many non-players are reading this and might be encouraged to take up the game because of it.
Adr, you can't hijack a PF forum; only someone else's thread. Since you started this thread, there's no pirating involved. Were it contrary to forum guidelines, it would be locked or deleted.

Dallas147 said:
ps: is it still impossible for a bumble-bee to fly?
The little bastards have always been able too. Early scientists didn't have the instrumentation to realize that the twisting motion of their wings imparts wingtip vortices that vastly increase the lift factor. :-p
 
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  • #48
Well, there you go...
 

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  • #49
Anyway, bigger tip, more spin...
 
  • #50
Danger said:
While it might have been a joke to start with, it is actually a very interesting subject with a firm grounding in physics and is perfectly acceptable to the forums.
From a pool perspective, just think of how many non-players are reading this and might be encouraged to take up the game because of it.
Adr, you can't hijack a PF forum; only someone else's thread. Since you started this thread, there's no pirating involved. Were it contrary to forum guidelines, it would be locked or deleted.


The little bastards have always been able too. Early scientists didn't have the instrumentation to realize that the twisting motion of their wings imparts wingtip vortices that vastly increase the lift factor. :-p


ok now we really are getting technical! - 100 posts a way off here!
 
  • #51
Dallas147 said:
Well, there you go...

And according to Simpson's First Law of Location... no matter where you go, there you are. :biggrin:
 
  • #52
Danger said:
And according to Simpson's First Law of Location... no matter where you go, there you are. :biggrin:


andrew's law of motion:

the speed at which you can run is directly proportional to the size of your pursuer!
 
  • #53
adr147 said:
ok now we really are getting technical! - 100 posts a way off here!

Okay, I'm not back-editing because you asked me not to, but once again you sneaked in while I was composing (jeez, I just mistyped that as composting, but I caught it in time).
Technical is what we do here. What were you expecting?

And if you're really desperate for posts, you can have some of mine. I've got so many of the damned things that I don't know what to do with them any more. All of the closets are full, W started stacking them up in the furnace room, there are a few kicking around on the lawn...
 
  • #54
You are really tempting me to start back-editing again. Good quote, though. :biggrin:
 
  • #55
Danger said:
Okay, I'm not back-editing because you asked me not to, but once again you sneaked in while I was composing (jeez, I just mistyped that as composting, but I caught it in time).
Technical is what we do here. What were you expecting?

And if you're really desperate for posts, you can have some of mine. I've got so many of the damned things that I don't know what to do with them any more. All of the closets are full, W started stacking them up in the furnace room, there are a few kicking around on the lawn...


yes but imagine this, i have lost count of the number of forums i am signed up to! - my e-mail inbox gets e-mails 24 hours a day at about 20/30 per hour of which only half are related to work!
 
  • #56
Danger said:
You are really tempting me to start back-editing again. Good quote, though. :biggrin:

type quicker!
:-p
 
  • #57
Danger said:
You are really tempting me to start back-editing again. Good quote, though. :biggrin:

actually is not a quote is my own work - during a physics class aged 15 ! i think i had about 20 of them in the end!
 
  • #58
Hey, I used to be able to type 120 wpm on a real typewriter. Computer keyboards are too sensitive, so it slows me down. So does the arthritis. In this case, though, it's because I'm doing other things at the same time.

And even if you made it up, it's now a quote. Others will borrow it, and soon the net will be so cluttered with it that we'll all be sick of if. :biggrin:
 
  • #59
Danger said:
Hey, I used to be able to type 120 wpm on a real typewriter. Computer keyboards are too sensitive, so it slows me down. So does the arthritis. In this case, though, it's because I'm doing other things at the same time.

And even if you made it up, it's now a quote. Others will borrow it, and soon the net will be so cluttered with it that we'll all be sick of if. :biggrin:

120 an hour would be hard for me! - its a bad habit we all have of doing several things at once!
 
  • #60
Okay. Here is my say:

In cricket, spin is achieved when the ball is in contact with the ground for a maximum amount of time - thus moist pitches and 'flighting the ball' helps. So I would think a larger tip would stay in contact with the ball for a longer period of time. This creates maximum time of contact for a good spin to occur...
 

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