fastone371 said:

I wouldn't let the absence of a butt extension keep me from buying a cue that I really fancied. You should be able to find a local (maybe) cue maker to modify the cue for a butt extension and maybe even build a matching extension, or just use carbon.

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I have zero interest in buying a $3k cue only to have to send it off for an extension, wrap, refinish, whatever.

If I were to have another cue built I would insist it be fitted for an extension.

Lou Figueroa

Just looked at the calendar again. Seems a slim possibility at best of a WPC being held this year.

The only potential weeks still available are November 3-9, November 10-15 and Dec. 8-13, it looks like. Other WNT and WPA/Predator events are scheduled for all other time slots, plus the Qatar Open.

Matchroom made a lot of progress this year in scheduling. Most, but not all, events were announced earlier than usual. Matchroom has also already announced the dates for the next World Masters, PLP and Florida 2027 opens.

Still, not having the WPC is a big miss. Ditto for the absence of the Hanoi Open.

This is a complicated thread. I don't believe everyone can attain greatness in any sporting endeavor unless they have some innate god given intellect and physicality for what they're trying to accomplish. To me, it's the "Ah Ha" moment you arrive at when you figured the puzzle out. You see it all the time in every aspect of life. In our world of pool, we've had the prodigies come along stay for awhile and leave the scene because they couldn't maintain the Ah Ha Greatness because of the work they had to do to maintain it. When they lose it, it's hard to recover it. Babe Ruth was great and lost it, then recovered it only to come back greater. Jack Nicklaus won the Masters at 46 yrs of age and my favorite is George Foreman losing the title to Ali at 27 yrs old and coming back to be champion at 45 yrs old. Willie Hoppe maintained his Ah Ha for five decades retiring at 55 yrs old as champion. Lastly, Shane is maintaining his Ah Ha moment because he believes in himself and works very hard to stay relevant. Maybe we should all take up ice fishing.

WestElder said:

I have made solid wood furniture for many years but am just learning woodturning. I want to make a shaft for my favorite cue using something other than maple. I'm looking for wood that has some color and variable grain. Are there other woods that can make a low deflection shaft with low potential to warp?

David

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Purpleheart or roasted maple. Just now turning roasted curly maple. Beautiful with sanding sealer applied. Considered low deflection.

Nothing wrong with evolving!

fastone371 said:

Wouldn't the mid cue extension make it more rear weighted? My thinking is that the tip stays in the same place with or without extension so that dictates where you hands are so you would have more of the heavy end of the cue sticking out of the rear.

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I typically see most mid-extension users using them to get to a comfortable hand position where they're not falling off the back of the cue rather than keeping the same type of arm/hand position and sliding it forward. So you're right if they were just using it for extra length and keeping their back hand in the same position and relative to their body...but I think most are using them to get a more comfortable position instead. Which is unlike what many people who leave a rear extension on all the time are doing.

I use a 30" shaft, at just a hair shy of 6' that works for me great. I have a buddy who's got a solid 4-5" on me and uses a short mid extension for just that reason, he'd be too cramped on a standard length cue without and couldn't put his hand into the position he uses with his extension. the balance relative to your rear hand doesn't really change in that scenario.

Bump.

Bob Jewett said:

Does pool in the US need to change in any way to make the US more competitive? How can that change happen?

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More commercial money and attention are the only options, and neither looks promising, even with ESPN dipping its toes back into the water.

Unless pool became an Olympic sport, I don't see how the change can happen. It will remain individual initiative in the U.S. - there's nobody with the resources or ability to do the organizing.

Toadshot said:

I agree, shoot with both but really like the forward balance of a 1.75” shaft extension. 1.5oz.

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Wouldn't the mid cue extension make it more rear weighted? My thinking is that the tip stays in the same place with or without extension so that dictates where you hands are so you would have more of the heavy end of the cue sticking out of the rear.

jbart65 said:

After reviewing the pool of top players in this thread, I am even more impressed with SVB's high level of play over a long career. It really is astonishing.

If the records I am seeing are correct, Shane won his first major titles in 2007 at the age of 24 (later than I thought). He just won another major title 19 years after his first one at the age of 43.

No one else has been that good over such a long span in the 21st century. Only Earl Strickland had a similarly long span of winning big championships.

Shane's not done, either.

There's been a lot of great players over the last 25 years, but very few have had staying power. Others who have had sustained success include Niels Feijin and Carlo Biado, but they are not close to SVB's level.

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Ralf Souquet probably had more staying power than anybody who ever chose pro pool as a career, having won his first European Championship in 1989 and his last thirty-three years later in 2022. As has been suggested by some of our most prominent European posters on this forum, it is arguable whether Filler's career has yet eclipsed that of Souquet. Of course, Filler's career will far eclipse that of Souquet before he unscrews his cue for the last time.

Mensabum said:

I tried playing left handed - once.
Looked like a developmentally disabled blind gorilla with Parkinson's.

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Sounds like The perfect stall. Er uh playing with the parking brake on.

And yes, we have discussed this lol. Maybe Darren Appleton's method of using his midfoot as a landmark rings a bell?

lfigueroa said:

Lately I've been seeing a few very lovely cues for sale I'd have bid on in the past -- real knock outs.

But nowadays I want any cue I buy to be fitted for an extension -- IMO it's almost impossible to play without one. In the old days I would have never thought about it. But now, after playing with two cues fitted for an extension, I just can't bring myself to buy a cue without.

What say you?

Lou Figueroa

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I wouldn't let the absence of a butt extension keep me from buying a cue that I really fancied. You should be able to find a local (maybe) cue maker to modify the cue for a butt extension and maybe even build a matching extension, or just use carbon.

I love his stroke and this was some good content. But I'm not convinced of the tight grip observation. It looks 'tight' during practice strokes but I think we'd have to measure his grip pressure at tip contact to know for certain.

Seem to remember Buddy Hall's grip hand looking similar to Filler's and we know how effective his stroke was.