How Much Does a Titanium Ferrule Reduce Deflection on a Snooker Cue? - Snooker Tips & Tricks

Hi, I'm Stephen Hallward, professional snooker player and coach. Hi guys, I'm Dave Gilbert and you're watching The Snooker Show. Cheers lads! Now let's get on to tonight's video. So the titanium ferrule has become quite popular, especially in the pro circuit. And the reason for this was apparently that the titanium ferrule will reduce cue ball deflection when playing side. Now if you're asking yourself what is cue ball deflection in snooker shed, well let's have a look at that. So, as you can see here, what I'm going to do is I'm going to strike the cue ball to the right hand side, number 2. And as I strike the cue ball, you'll see the cue ball will deflect over to the left hand side. So that's deflection in a nutshell. And every time you play a side spin shot, it's quite difficult to say, side spin shot, that's what happens. I've exaggerated that here just to show you what's happening. So let's now look into why the titanium ferrule reduces that deflection. So what is the actual difference between the titanium and the brass? Well it's just weight. The brass ferrule is a lot heavier. So anything that strikes the cue ball with more weight has more effect on the cue ball. A bit like a wrecking ball. OK, time for the snooker shed test. So the first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to take Nick Barrow's ball and we're going to centre strike, so striking it at zero and pot the black. I'm going to do that twice just to confirm the aim point on the black and watch as it goes into the pocket. So in this shot I've added right one side and still aimed at the same place, so I haven't taken any consideration for the deflection of the cue ball at all. And by the looks of things, it didn't deflect. So we're going to stretch that a little bit further and now I'm playing right two on this shot. And you can clearly see that there is more deflection on the cue ball and I missed the pot to the bottom cushion. So, if you know why the black was missed to the bottom cushion when I played some side, leave a comment down below. If you don't, keep watching the channel because we're going to have a video on helping side coming out soon and I'll explain all. So has the titanium ferrule made an improvement to my game? Well, first of all, let's look at the ferrule itself. It is cool. I really like the ferrule and it will last so much longer than brass. But has it made a difference? I would say not, not really. Because my cueing and aiming would have to be precise all the time to see the reduction in deflection this cue now gives me. But when I have been playing games, I have, when I've been playing side, changed my aiming point back to that centre ball striking. And that's had varying results and that's why I'm saying my cueing would need to be precise to make good use of this. Because sometimes I've missed balls when I thought I would normally accommodate a little bit for deflection. I haven't accommodated that deflection and missed. But then it's flipped on the other side when I've accommodated and I've still missed. So it's a wee bit cue confusing to the snooker shed noggin at the minute, this cue. But I'm sure in six month time I'll come back and I'll let you know how I've truly got on with the reduced deflection that the titanium ferrule gives you on your cue. Hey, how would you like to get on the snooker shed door? Just like Kendal Troy from New South Wales, 10,000 miles away. Indie Louis at 3,038. Local lad Andrew Rafferty at 480 miles. And just up the road, Sarah Mallon, only 9 miles away. Leave me a comment down below on where you live in this world. And listen, we'll see you on the door. I saw snooker on the TV and that was the end of it.