Speed Control - Viking Cues Tip of the Week with Mike Roque author of Build Your Game.

Speed Control

“His cue ball speed was so beautiful. I drool when I think about it.”

-Short Gordon

You can make balls all day long, but if you can’t control whitey, you’re not going to run out very often!

There is a barrage of factors that affect cue ball control, but the most obvious is speed. The harder it’s hit, the more distance it travels. It sounds easy. What could possibly go wrong? Plenty.

Speed is also affected by the type of table cloth. Nap cloth plays a little slower. Worsted cloth like Simonis 860, doesn’t have a nap and plays quite fast. In player language, that means you need to adjust your speed for each table.

High humidity can make the balls roll slower and cushion response can vary greatly from table to table. This can affect both cue ball speed and the angle off a rail.

Running English adds speed to a ball coming off a rail at an angle and inside English slows it down. Thin cuts allow the cue ball to retain more of its inertia and fuller hits reduce the travel distance.

It sounds complicated, but it’s not. Controlling speed is all about touch and that comes directly from practice and experience. Do the work and you’ll gain the mastery!

Control the speed of the cue ball and you’ll control the game!