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I just got back from BCAPL in Vegas and they had Predator tables out there. The pockets were a bit loose for my liking but they seemed to bank and play well in my opinion.

Not technically a cue maker, but my thoughts on this would be if it's a wrapped cue you have used for awhile, no. All your hand oils, what ever else, some even rub a sticky wax and burnish it in to make it less slippery. I would think they would want to put a new wrap on first before coating. Also it may be possible to coat your existing wrap first with something such as Bullseye Zinsser Seal coat, which is a dewaxed shellac, and maybe that would seal it good enough to be finished. I have a friend that had a cue refinished and they put a new wrap on first before coating over it.

It doesn't add any noticeable weight to the cue.

The older I get the bigger it gets.

What's the butt diameter of a JFlowers Legends cue? I emailed JFlowers two months ago on this but no response.

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Pool participation is a very different dynamic today than, say, both post pool movie boom years of 62 to 69 and 87 to 2000.
Today league play dominates the pool room scene. Seven foot tables have all but taken over many, many rooms that still exist or even those that are opening as new.
Women are as much a part of the pool scene as men in many instances- just like you see in public gyms today .
The 1960s scene and the initial stages of the 1980s pool scene was 9 foot tables, men dominating the arenas, younger solo guys spending hours in rooms learning the skills, gambling, etc.
For the most part, it is just different, probably neither more dead or alive in terms of total participation- can’t comment on exact numbers because no such valid count exists.

Most of the older guys left in the game - 65 to 80s in age now either play in their own homes if they have a table or go to senior center and community center places that still have dedicated small billiard spaces and those dedicated billiard spaces in such centers are also dwindling bc the demand for space usage is pushing out the pool tables. In high retirement dominated states like Florida - many gated living communities still have a members rec building where one or two tables still exist - most are still used by the male65 to 85 group but the numbers of players are dwindling every year and many tables are coming into disrepair due to lack of support by HOA boards.
I have personally experienced every one of these pool participation developments and now am very happily back to a home table Gold Crown situation with an option to go to a room of choice when desired.