Does the stroke that breaks in a cue effect hit?

[LC3]

A friend of mine who is a great player and has owned lots of cues told me his theory about how a cue's hit is influenced by the stroke that breaks it in.

First, I should give what I'm pretty sure is his definition of "hit": a feeling of efficient energy transfer from the tip to the cue ball, requiring a minimum of effort to get the desired response from the cue ball.

He says that, hardware from cue to cue being equal, a cue that is broken in by correctly hitting the cue ball develops a more consistent, efficient, confidence-inspiring hit. Of course the tightness of the joint, the quality and taper of the shaft wood, and the material and proper attachment of the ferrule and tip are huge factors; but I think my friend is talking about the first few inches of the wood of a new shaft being conditioned by how it impacts the cue ball. I'm not sure if I've explained it well, but I'll leave it at that.

What do you think?

[Alfie]

<blockquote><font class="small">Quote LC3:</font><hr> A friend of mine who is a great player and has owned lots of cues told me his theory about how a cue's hit is influenced by the stroke that breaks it in.

First, I should give what I'm pretty sure is his definition of "hit": a feeling of efficient energy transfer from the tip to the cue ball, requiring a minimum of effort to get the desired response from the cue ball.

He says that, hardware from cue to cue being equal, a cue that is broken in by correctly hitting the cue ball develops a more consistent, efficient, confidence-inspiring hit. Of course the tightness of the joint, the quality and taper of the shaft wood, and the material and proper attachment of the ferrule and tip are huge factors; but I think my friend is talking about the first few inches of the wood of a new shaft being conditioned by how it impacts the cue ball. I'm not sure if I've explained it well, but I'll leave it at that.

What do you think? <hr /></blockquote>Break in a cue? BS, IMO.

[LC3]

Maybe "break in" is the wrong term. I'm not sure how to express it. Maybe I could say that the cell structure of the wood "learns" a certain reaction to impacting the cue ball. I'm not arguing for or against this, because I have no idea. I'm just bouncing it off the board. I don't mean to press it.

[TonyM]

I think that your friend should send me some of that stuff he is smoking. It sure sounds like it's good stuff!

Tony