What bridge length should I use to get good draw action?
A longer bridge length can help create more power with less jerkiness; but with more length you will get less tip-placement accuracy. Every individual will have an optimal length where these trade-offs are balanced.
With a shorter bridge, the cue will need to be elevated more to get the low tip position; and with more cue elevation, the effective tip offset from center will be larger for a given tip contact point on the ball (see draw cue elevation effects). This might help some people get more draw because the cue elevation causes them to hit the CB further from center than they would with a level cue. Also, with a shorter bridge, tip placement errors due to grip tightening, elbow drop, or stroke swoop will be reduced (as compared with a longer bridge).
More information about bridge length effects can be found in “Fundamentals – Part IV: bridge length” (December, 2008) and on the bridge length resource page.
See also: draw technique advice and drills section.
from jsp:
The equation for obtaining maximum draw is simple and involves only two things. The cue tip should hit the CB as low as possible and the cue tip should be traveling as fast as possible, all without miscuing. That’s all. Bridge length comes into the equation only to the extent as how much it affects tip placement and speed.
A longer bridge might help you obtain greater cue tip velocity on impact (assuming a constant cue acceleration and that stroke length is in proportion to bridge length). However, a shorter bridge might help you in tip placement accuracy such that you more reliably hit the CB as low as possible without miscuing.
Precise cue tip placement is definitely harder to achieve than a high cue tip velocity. So for a beginner, I would recommend a shorter bridge length to obtain greater draw.
from Mike Page:
A consequence of this is for the really best players amongst us, a bridge length close to their own-break shot bridge length might give them maximum draw. This is the bridge length that evidently gives them maximum speed with control. For many of the rest of us, the quality of our tip placement deteriorates more rapidly with bridge length and our optimal bridge length for maximum draw would be shorter. For new players it would be very short, IMO.
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