I think pool cues are the worst thing ever invented. You should have to play with your hands because that's the only true test of skill.
Jump Cues Suck! Period.
- Thread starter eightandout
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I think pool cues are the worst thing ever invented. You should have to play with your hands because that's the only true test of skill.
I think they call that the belly putter. They also have this thing called a sand wedge that wasn't around in the early years of golf. Shame on Ping for coming out with perimeter weighted irons. And then you have those despicable metal woods. To top it all off, they now have those hybrid clubs of which just about every touring pro carries one or more in their bags.
You know what? All those things have been good for golf as they have helped the casual players enjoy the game more. And they've helped the equipment manufacturers who directly, and indirectly, put millions of dollars into the players hands.
lol .. and "no swearing" ... the only rule that was generally followed was "no spitting" !
There was one of these signs at the entry to Pacific Ave. Billiards for many years .... now it is in the mens room stall :thumbup:
Dave
Mine too. I think every tournament should have a barrel of cues, each made to the same specs and before each match the two players are handed a cue randomly picked from the barrel.
Also I think chalk should be abolished. Having some substance that allows players to spin and control the cue ball to the degree that chalk does is obviously unnatural and a skill enhancement.
The person who invented chalk has destroyed this beautiful game. As did the person who invented the leather tip. If God meant for pocket billiards to have a wide range of possible shots then he would have supplied Jesus with a Balabushka and a box of tips and a gross of chalk instead of the useless trinkets bestowed upon him by the wise men.
here you go
But then how are the people that don't know how to kick going to compete?
Oh no! You mean kicking cues will be banned too?
-Sean
I agree. That chalk gimmick was really an annoyance when John Carr was traveling around the United States beating people who didn't know what Magical Twisting Powder was. They were so annoyed they called the effect that british John was demonstrating, "english". Unfortunately for pool this gimmick substance was not banned and we have to deal with the fact that pool has about 1,854,954,996 more shots available to the shooter than would be without chalk.
The billiard experts of the time were furious. Having spent decades perfecting their skill without the use of any gimmicky substance between the tip and the balls they were justifiably pissed off that some d-player was showing them up being able to spin the ball more than them.
Unfortunately for them this substance made the game much more enjoyable for the lower level players and thus brought a new level of wonder to the game for them. Some of the experts were not so dismissive of the magic powder and correctly deduced that they could perform all the same shots they already knew PLUS a whole lot more that they didn't. Those players began to dominate the events they entered until all players began to subscribe to the use of chalk........and that is why today an APA 3 is still able to draw their ball even if they don't have Strickland's stroke.
But would you admit that in some scenarios, the jump is the correct shot? For example, cb and ob lined up to a straight in shot with another ball blocking one from the other...all in the middle areas of table.
You can kick to hit or jump to make. I would bet 11/7 of all pros would take to the skies.
I will admit that there are scenarios where the kick is the 'on' shot and I like to think I recognize/ choose that route then.
Oh no! You mean kicking cues will be banned too?
-Sean
Well for sure all the books and videos and easy-to-carry cards showing kicking systems should be burned.
I will have to teach the double-the-distance system in secret locations so as not to be arrested for passing on the knowledge of how to use that gimmick called geometry to give a player more shots to choose from.
No pool tables should have diamonds either. Get rid of those pesky alignment markers which provide an unfair advantage to those who know diamond systems.
I like jump cues. Nothing worse than your opponent missing a shot and leaving you an accidental safe. Then you have to hear their whole team say good leave. Like they did it on purpose. Jump cues are real nice when that happens. Plus I suck at kicking.
So then, what area do you live in? I am sure we can get you a game...
Oh yea we can find him a game
I would bet any person on this forum that I can make them look like a complete fool OR like a hero when doing full cue jump shots.
I am SOOOOOOOO tired of hearing how much more skill it takes to jump with a full cue.
No. It doesn't take "more" skill.
It takes the following things.
1. the physically ability to stroke a cue with the proper speed at the proper angle.
2. a cue that has physical properties suited to jumping.
For number one not every person can or knows how to stand correctly for this shot. This ALSO applies to the use of jump cues. This can be taught.
For number two most people have ZERO clue what cues are suited to jumping and which ones are not. 80s and 90s players know though. Meucci cues, Predator cues, and any cues with whippy shafts SUCK for jumping. Tim Scruggs sneaky petes and similarly tapered and balanced cues are GREAT for jumping.
Thus - I can teach you the proper technique and then hand you a FULL CUE that sucks for jumping and you will look like a fool.
Or I can hand you a cue that is great for jumping and you will look like a champion.
This whole conversation is silly. Truly it's useless.
If I invented a can opener that works wonderfully don't tell me you would prefer to open cans the old manual way that requires more effort and produces wildly inconsistent results.
The history of the world and the very fact that you can rant on this forum is BECAUSE of innovation. Jump cues are simply inert objects, like chalk, like leather tips, like rubber rails, like cloth, it all sits there waiting to be acted upon. The shooter enters the space and makes things happen, he controls the action, nothing happens without the shooter providing the inertia.
Yes a jump cue makes the physical act of getting a ball into the air easier because that is what they were designed for. Just as chalk was created to make the application of spin easier. But chalk does not spin the ball by itself. Nor does a jump cue jump by itself.
Think about this.
When you are facing a jump shot you have to think about trajectory, angle, force, speed and spin.
When you are facing a level shot you have to think about angle, force, speed, and spin.
So by adding in one more variable how does this make the game easier? It doesn't. It means the shooter has to take on a difficult shot and be incredibly precise. The shot isn't the act of making the cue ball clear the blocking ball........the SHOT is clearing the blocking ball and making a good shot with the results you want. The jumping part is not any different than using spin. You have chalk so you CAN USE SPIN, but using the right amount in the right way is ALL ON YOU.
And to conclude......
What if I told you that different cueballs have different jumpability......would blow your mind wouldn't it?
John Barton <----------- Evil creator of the Bunjee Jumper Jump Cue brand
How many creators of Bunjee were there? Five? Cause that's how many people I've had tell me they were part of Bunjee. Even know a guy who claims to have demonstrated them.
Agreed.
Think about the table itself, for a second, though. Seems a bit of a stretch, doesn't it? The game would be better played on the floor.
Well.....it was a team effort of sorts but I was the one responsible for making it happen.
The cue itself with the flared end was created by Hans Joerg Bertram in Germany. A version of that was being made by Franz Hauber when I made the decision to make them in Taiwan. I had been bringing five or so Haubers to the USA at Franz's request for several years previously.
Then when we decided to make them in Taiwan we paid Franz 100 cues for providing the tips. We brought 400 cues to the BCA Vegas event in 1998.
There is more to the story as to WHY I did this because I was pretty ambivalent about jump cues before deciding to mass produce them. But once I did I decided to learn how to use them and eventually found out that I would have to learn how to teach people to use them. I spent hours on my table at the shop figuring out the proper way to jump with precision and created a demonstration routine.
Then when we got to the show I quickly found out that some people just couldn't get it...they absolutely could NOT pick up a jump cue and jump balls. I had to teach them. Some people I even had to give a lesson on proper stroke techniques (ironic I know) before they could begin to address the ball the right way.
So basically I was highly immersed and incvested in this topic.
Now, I don't sell jump cues....but I do find it amusing that the topic of "I hate jump cues and they are destroying pool" continues to pop up several times a year.