This is true, it takes some experience to know what sort of cue fits your game.
But I wouldn't get too hung up about a cue yet. I can play about 98% of my best game with a
Wallabushka.
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is it really the indian and not the arrow?
- Thread starter hdgis1
- Start date
This is true, it takes some experience to know what sort of cue fits your game.
But I wouldn't get too hung up about a cue yet. I can play about 98% of my best game with a
Wallabushka.
There are some shots that can still be made, but are alot harder. One example is when using either 50% inside or outside english to change the angle of a cut shot. Another one is the one-pocket break with high-inside. These shots can be accomplished with LD, but they're harder to hit.
This the point I've been trying to make for a long time...
A Wallabushka plays only about 2% worse than a Balabushka. Everything else falls in between that 2%.
No matter how great the Indian he can not shoot a crooked arrow straight.
No matter how great the arrow it is only as good as the Indian.
IMO A good player can play with anything reasonable. A $200 cue
is not going to hold him back in the least. A good Player cue can
win the US Open in the right hands. You can put a $2k dollar cue
in the hands of a lesser player and he will remain the same player.
IMO once you get a decent hitting cue whether it be $100 or $1,000
the cue is not holding you back. Nothing wrong with expensive cues,
A lot of work goes into them.
No matter how great the arrow it is only as good as the Indian.
IMO A good player can play with anything reasonable. A $200 cue
is not going to hold him back in the least. A good Player cue can
win the US Open in the right hands. You can put a $2k dollar cue
in the hands of a lesser player and he will remain the same player.
IMO once you get a decent hitting cue whether it be $100 or $1,000
the cue is not holding you back. Nothing wrong with expensive cues,
A lot of work goes into them.
12ozCurl
Banned
I would love to see someone try to drive the ball 300+ with a laminated Persimmion Driver, or sink an 80ft snake without using a putter that looks like a space ship.
My point being, yes equipment matters. If it didnt than why dont we all play with a cue off the wall?
Will a cue make you a better player? No! But it will give you a level of comfort which makes you more confident.
I'm a former IPSC shooter. Just look up an open class IPSC pistol....We have all kinds of modifications that help us shoot faster with less recoil. Yet we can still take an off the shelf pistol and put rounds in the black.
My point being, yes equipment matters. If it didnt than why dont we all play with a cue off the wall?
Will a cue make you a better player? No! But it will give you a level of comfort which makes you more confident.
I'm a former IPSC shooter. Just look up an open class IPSC pistol....We have all kinds of modifications that help us shoot faster with less recoil. Yet we can still take an off the shelf pistol and put rounds in the black.
Apples and oranges
12ozCurl
Banned
Are both fruits....and so is Elton John
I love that vid ... enjoy it everytime I see it. Inspirational and a testiment to the fact that:
I don't understand what you mean by the first example. Do you mean a nearly full shot and you are using throw? Do you mean a shot that's (for example) close to half ball but not quite and you are going to use squirt to get the cue ball to the slightly different spot on the object ball?
I find the one pocket break much easier to play with a low-squirt shaft because the stick is pointed closer to where I want the cue ball to go. Why do you feel a high-squirt shaft helps with this shot?
thats amazing, spotting the balls was amazing too.
I remember a guy at the deerby with no arms playing on the barbox one night, he had a 1/2 arm and a sling thing, everything working against him and he played good, I could tell like in this video-despite their limitations these guys have huge heart to play at the level they do, given whatthey have to work with. I admire them. Pool is hard enough with a complete body, the wheel chair players or the 1 or no arm players are amazing and are due the respect of any champion or more for that matter!!!
Hu made some great points in his post,
Here is my take on this topic, I been playing for over 30 years, but I only say 26 years because thats when I started going to pool rooms with 9' tables and started to learn to play. I started with a low level cue and it was fine. I have no natural talent to play great, and am very very sensitive to equipment, its difficult for me to adjust to a wet table from a dry one, or a red circle CB from a blue circle CB. Same goes with cues.
I have been lucky enough the past 5 years to play with anything I wanted to play with-no limitations. I also have kept the 4 cues I played 75% of the pool I played in my life before 2006. I kept them all but one(thats where the other 25% went-a Joss east I wish I kept). When I go back to them they all feel familiar as I have 1000's of hours play time on each of them.
So I wanted to know the question in the OP: Is it really the indian and not the arrow?
I set up shots and shot them 20-100 times with each of my retired player cues and a couple Szams, one Bushka, and a Black Boar. None of my retired cues were "Big" cues, the biggest was a plane Tad(my favorite).
I shot shots and caluclated the potting %, on some shots I played to make the shot and shape(a zone), I used every cue, shot all the shots. If for some reason i wasnt hitting the balls good on a particular day-I didnt do the study. After a long time about a 5 week process or about 20 something playing days, I concluded that with the Black boar I made a higher % of shots and got shape more often. It was very clear that that cue brought the best out in me. there was a Gus right behind it, and all my players were close most likely because i adapted to them over the years. The Boar feels the best for sure. There was one Gus that feels as good as the Boar but It had real bad numbers its a 59" cue. I felt like I was playing good when I used it but the numbers didnt lie, It gave me a fasle feeling of good play yet in reality I wasnt getting the balls pocketed or shape near as good as the other cues. there was a 60" SW I owned since 86 in the study and I had better numbers with it.
So my conclusion is this "SOME CUES WILL BRING THE BEST OUT OF A PLAYER BUT WILL NOT MAKE A PLAYER" Therefore in my case because I'm equipment sensitive I have to have the right cue to play my best. Some players(IMO the real natural talented guys like mike deschain can adapt to anything quickly and play great, but perhaps not to their full potential).
At the risk of sounding like a snob, after the past 5 years of playing only with the finest cues in the world, when I do go back to my old players they dont feel near as good as a Blackboar, Gus, barry, Showman or Sugartree or SW. its not the price its the quality. I'm certain a Searing with the correct dimensions would fit me perfectly. Also Corey deuals Wood Pecker cue is a one in a million cue, his cue-not other ones like it, but the cue he uses, I could play with forever. I abviously didnt have it there when I was testing all the cues, but i'm positive it would have been right at the top. I have played enough with it to know, that cue has magic in it. Corey wont be changing cues for a long time if ever.
Price or inlays has zero to do with what i'm talking about here. Or even who made it, but in general if Gus built it, its probably gonna play real good. I have played with one Gus that was a dud. you cant ever lock on to one cue maker and think every cue out of that shop is a great playing cue. It mite look right but how a cue plays is unknown until its finished being built.
I played with a old POS viking once I borrowed I won a pile with it and offered the guy 5 times what it was worth, he wouldnt sell it, he knew he had a real good playing cue. Every cue has to be considered individually. thats why having a cue built is a chance you take, it might come out how you want it to look but not play good. Chances are higher you'll get a good playing cue from the top guys-thats why their on top, but its no guarantee.
So no a cue never makes the player, but the right cue can bring out the best in the player. Perhaps a champion can beat the world with out being at their best because less than their best is still enough to win, I have beat lots of players when I wasnt playing my best. and lost when I played the best pool of my life. so winning and eing at your best are 2 mutuality exclusive things.
thats how i see it, After 26 years and hitting balls with probaly 2-3 million dollars worth of cues(the value of every cue I ever played with added up, I sure as hell dont have that many cues, not even close) but I have hit balls with piles of cues I wished I owned. its still a interesting topic. I'd rather have talent and not be equipment sensitive. but i dont:frown:
best
FB
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TheThaiger
Banned
Did you say $2-3m? How is that even possible?
I used to play with 21 or 22 oz whenever I used a bar cue. Actually, I still prefer my bar cues heavy.
Nowadays I have a 19oz predator, but I still occasionally mess around with the heavy bar cue (with a good tip, doesn't matter if it's straight) when I don't feel like my stroke is working.
A true beginner should use the bar cue that has the best tip on it.
Novices should use cheap or borrowed cues with good tips.
Journeymen should shop around and hit around for the cue that suits their style of play, with a good tip.
Masters can play with broomsticks as long as they have good tips.
I think the key is the tip more than the cue.
Taper, etc. really doesn't make a lot of difference to a beginner. If he likes the cue, he will use it, and the more he learns and plays, the more he will want a cue to his own taste later on. I'd let him pick out his own Players decal cue and make sure it has a decent maple shaft...no more than $100.
Is it the sword or the samurai? Samurai wanted the very, very best blade, but they were Samurai and could play with anything!
Is it the sword or the samurai? Samurai wanted the very, very best blade, but they were Samurai and could play with anything!
hdgis1
New member
I tend to agree with some of you as a matter of principle, however, technologically speaking there has to be some combination of features that can help the beginner feel more succesful in their attempts.
As much as I hate to say I found something insightful in FB2's post, i think he has highlighted the fact that technology should have a place in the bag so to say. The question remains - what is the appropriate technology for the beginner? Is is just LD shafts?
Chris
As much as I hate to say I found something insightful in FB2's post, i think he has highlighted the fact that technology should have a place in the bag so to say. The question remains - what is the appropriate technology for the beginner? Is is just LD shafts?
Chris
hdgis1
New member
Thanks Neil for taking the time to respond again. I agree to some extent that we can get used to any taper and come to prefer a certain taper, but is a long whippy shaft the best choice for a new player?
Chris
Chris
Does it have to be your own bank account? :thumbup: