ACUERATE CUE TECHNOLOGY

I. The problem & principle

The biggest problem for players of ALL levels is the application of side spin to the cue ball. This happens un-intentionally and intentionally (to gain better position for the next shot etc.) When you apply side spin to the cue ball it deflects the cue ball off the intended line of aim. The direction and degree in which the cue ball deflects off line depends on: a. The amount of sidespin applied: the more side spin the more the deflection. b. The strength with which you strike the cue ball (the more power, the more the deflection). c. The height at which you strike the cue ball: see drawing. d. The condition and quality of cloth on the table. e. The specifications of the cue used.

Let us consider left side spin and a medium power shot (this means without forcing the shot and staying very still whilst playing the shot). Blue: the cue ball will deflect average to the right. Red: the cue ball will deflect maximum to the right (because this point is the furthest below the centre of gravity slightly lifting the cue ball from the cloth reducing cue ball friction). If you increase the power and apply more side spin (hit more outside the centre) then the deflection of the cue ball will increase. Below you clearly see the black line and arrow shows the straight potting line. The other colours and arrows show the deflection degree (colours as above used and based on the area where you strike the cue ball) and result of the shots.

When you strike the middle of the ball or higher (orange green area) the cue ball will PULL the cue ball to the same side as the side spin applied when playing with the nap of the cloth ( towards the black spot end of the table) . See the coloured lines below:

The advantage of the Acuerate Cue: The Acuerate cue is designed to deflect the cue ball off line much less than a standard cue. This makes it easier to pot balls when un-intentional and intentional side spin is applied to the cue ball as the deflection degree is reduced. All players apply un-intentional side spin to most shots and miss shots as a result. Many players sub-consciously attempt to correct this problem by altering the aiming of the shot thus aiming to miss the shot at the address position which in turn is the cause of many technique faults. DEMONSTRATE THE LOW DEFLECTION TECHNOLOGY Place the cue ball on the brown spot. Take a piece of chalk and make a mark on the cushion behind the black spot (see blue line) and place the chalk on top of the cushion at the same point. This mark is in line with the colour spots (blue pink black) Take a standard cue and aim with around 1cm of left hand side spin to the cue ball with the cue tip aiming 1cm to the same side of the chalk as the side spin applied to the cue ball. Strike the cue ball with left hand side spin and slightly below centre with power 8 out of 10 (a stun shot). See image below: When you play with a standard cue, you will see that the cue ball contacts the cushion where the red arrow ends (provided you are initially aiming the shot correctly and not already allowing for the deflection). When you try the same shot with an Acuerate cue, you will see that you will contact the cushion nearer to the chalk where the green arrow ends (provided you are initially aiming the shot correctly and not already allowing for the deflection). The main element is to aim both shots to the same point each time.

This example will clearly demonstrate that a standard cue deflects the cue ball much more than the Acuerate cue.

All players apply un-intentional side spin !!!

The second stage demonstrates that all players apply un-intentional side spin. The way to demonstrate this is very simple. See image below: Place the cue ball on the brown spot. Place the pink ball on the pink spot. Ask a player to play a stun shot straight at the middle of the pink ball with around 7 out of 10 power to attempt a stun shot stopping the cue ball where the pink ball is. The moment the player strikes the cue ball, you flick away the pink with your cue and then you will see when the cue ball contacts the cushion if any unwanted side spin has been applied to the cue ball by the direction it takes from the cushion. You will be amazed at the percentage of shots that are played with unwanted side spin.

The thick orange line is your cue. Wait until the player strikes the cue ball and then instantly with the side of your cue, flick aside the pink ball. The cue ball will miss the pink ball altogether and contact the cushion. If the cue ball goes to the left then the player applied unintentional left hand side spin (red arrow). If the cue ball goes to the right then they applied un-intentional right hand side spin (green arrow). If the cue ball comes straight back then you have a player who struck the cue ball without side spin. This will not happen very often but if it does, ask the player to attempt a small screw shot on the pink as the lower and more power you play the more chance of applying side spin as the weight of the cue ball is pressing down onto the cue tip. The reason for this demonstration is to test the technique of players and to reveal that most shots are played with un-intentional side spin. The result of this is that they are not striking the cue ball centrally. This clearly demonstrates the advantages of the Acuerate cue technology and makes it obvious for players to play with a cue that REDUCES the deflection degree of the cue ball equating to an increased percentage of balls potted even if side spin is applied. INTENTIONAL SIDE SPIN On many occasions players you need to apply side spin to the cue ball to obtain better position for the next shot. See example below. In this example the player is straight on the black and is required to screw the cue ball back with right hand side spin to obtain good position on the red to the middle pocket. The two lines show: a. If you play without side spin: red line b. If you play with right side spin: green line

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Without spin as you see in this example, it will be very difficult to pot the red ball in the middle pocket (position 1). With right hand side spin the cue ball bounces from the cushion with an increased angle and improves the position of the cue ball for the red ball (position 2). We now come back to the difference between a standard cue and an Acuerate cue. As a standard cue generates excessive cue ball deflection when playing with bottom side spin, the player will be required to AIM TO MISS the pot. The reason for this is that if they aim straight at the potting point of the black ball with right side spin, the cue ball will deflect to the left (see orange dotted ball hitting the black to the left) missing the black to the right of the pocket. In the case of a standard cue, the player is forced to aim to the right of the potting point of the black ball thus aiming the black ball towards the point indicated by the blue arrow instead of straight to the middle of the pocket. With an Acuerate cue the player is able to aim more naturally to pot the black as the cue will reduce the deflection degree of the cue ball. Therefore the player will be able to aim to the point indicated by the green arrow. This is slightly left of the CENTRE of the pocket. This is much easier to achieve especially when playing under pressure as it is more difficult to aim to miss shots. Further more, the bigger distance from the cue ball to the object ball the larger the degree of deflection. This increased distance makes it even more difficult to judge where to aim on the object ball. Conclusion: it is much easier to play side spin shots using an Acuerate cue. ADDITIONAL BENEFITS In addition the Acuerate cue generates much more (back) and (side) spin to the cue ball because of the shaft bend. This additional spin simplifies the positional side of shots as less power is required to achieve the required position compared to playing with a standard cue. There is also a misunderstanding in cue sports that a heavy cue is better for producing more power and spin. A heavy cue is heavier to swing and to accelerate when playing the shot. With a lighter cue you have a swifter cueing action which generates more speed and therefore more power because the cue travels faster. A heavy cue also increases the degree of cue ball deflection.