How much does a cue affect your game?

Solomon

Solomon

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Not looking to turn this into a cue maker bashing or a “Cue A is better than Cue B” thread. I simply want to know if anyone believes that a particular cue or cue technology makes them play better. I understand that everyone has their own aesthetic preferences and we all love our cues, but does anyone believe that their cue gives them a significant advantage than playing with a decent house cue?

Personally, I choose to play with cues that I think look nice. For the most part I don't care about types of shafts, types of tips, brand of cues, etc. I regularly run racks with the cues that I use (I probably break and run about 20% of the games I play), but I also feel that I could run just as many racks with any decent cue. I've have even ran racks with warped house cues with push-on felt tips.

So, is there any technology that you can’t live without and you feel that improves your game (low deflection shafts, specific type of tips, etc.)? I’m interested to see what others think about the topic.
 
the actual cue just has to feel right in your hands, be it a lucasi or a custom, it makes no difference, you just have to like it. I thing the tip, weight and balance of a cue is more important than the name behind it. I recently found out I like a slightly butt heavy cue with a thinner taper at the butt end as well. it does have an affect in a way.
truth be told, when I use a new cue or someone elses I briefly shoot better, which tells you that in reality it doesnt, bc when its new and fresh you just hit and don't thi nk how those this feel. want my advice, keep what you have and dont go down that road, its an expensive one ;)
 
not that much in my opinion, i recently went to vegas for apa nationals in 9ball, walked in without a cue, went to a vendor and asked for the cheapest cue he had, $35 stealth cue, i'd never heard of the brand but it was 19oz, my ideal weight, balance was ok, tip was hard it sounded like it miscued every time i shot, i'm a 7 and with that cue i beat all the 7's and 8's i faced, i broke and played with it and i beat them pretty bad, no one got within 25 balls of beating me, one guy still needed 40 balls to catch up to me, and i've only played on barbox once before that at a tourney in houston, i play on 9 footers and 8 footers cause that's all there is around these parts, barboxes are hard to come by unless it's at a rinky dinky bar that people get stabbed in, even then they got heavy cue balls and super crappy felt...so like my dad told me when i wanted a $1200 predator cue a few months after i got into pool...it's not the cue, it's the guy shootin with it
of course i shoot a little better with my madden, but that cue is perfect for me, perfect weight, balance, taper, tip, everything
do i shoot $1100 better?...definitely not, but i had the money to spend and it's the cue i'm keeping forever
a good player can play with anything, pool's more mental game than equipment, just been my experience
but i've only been playing about 3 and a half years, if you wanna look at some pros, look at efren, he came to the states with a $15 piece of crap cue with an elkmaster tip and robbed everyone, shane shoots with a $150 stock cuetec, good players can shoot with whatever is in their hands

i came home and everyone wanted to try out my $35 cue, no one could shoot with it cause the tip is so hard, everyone thinks it's a break cue, i think that's super funny cause everyone shoots with kamui soft and medium around here, i shoot with hard triangle tips on my regular playing cue so hard tips are no biggie to me, just my 2 cents
 
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trinacria said:
want my advice, keep what you have and dont go down that road, its an expensive one ;)
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I'm not trying to justify getting another cue; lord knows I have more than enough cues already. I'm just interested in the thoughts of others.

I know a few people that swear by a certain brand of cue, a particular tip, a certain brand of chalk, etc. and I usually try to convincing them that most of that stuff doesn't make a big difference (although I'll admit that I do miscue more with certain brands of chalk).
 
I have said this lots on here, but when I retuned to pool, I bought a cue from a well known maker. Felt good enough, bit I had a lot of trouble spinning balls from distance. Had to play a lot of roll shots, compromising both position play and my natural instincts.

Got a cue by pat diveney and my pool world came into focus again. Had a real good tourney about 6 mos into that cue, finished 3rd in an event with a lot of heavy hitters in it. And it was a women's event. :slap:

Pat's cues feel 'right' to me. When I spin a ball it I'd predictable and I can therefore both use spin and more I'mportantly, use varying amounts of it, as I see fit. That one I had before it? My game was at least a ball worse with it.
 
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Solomon said:
I'm glad that you brought up Shane's cue. Have you noticed that his playing cue is like 6 inches shorter than most regular cues?

If you go to the 1:18:30 - 1:18:40 mark of the following video, you can see what I mean.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0vOJX8fY0M
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idk about 6 inches shorter, i don't see that even in that video, in all his interviews he's always said it's stock, except for reducing the shaft to about 12.3-4mm from the stock 12.75mm, and he is a tall guy with long arms so maybe it looks short, lately he's been shooting with the cuetec extension even on bar tables
 
As previously mentioned its not necessarily the cue but how comfortable any given cue feels.

Its personal...as any piece of clothing.

I will say this. As your game and personal preferences evolve its possible to fine tune things to fit what you find appealing. Whether that be a particular style of shaft taper, joint, tip, ferrule, wrap or weight its all about finding what you can personally connect with better than the next.

With that said I do find that the finer cues provide a wider range of comfort compared to some lower end stuff. That obviously doesn't apply 100% across the board but in a general sense. I've had and played with plenty of custom cues that didn't fit my liking but never a cue I absolutely hated...whereas I've had a number of lower end cues that's I'd never pick up again.

To a certain extent I do believe you get what you pay for but there's always a point of diminishing returns and plenty of diamonds in the ruff. I've got a 18 dollar Dufferin sneaky I found at a pawn shop and I wouldn't sell it if someone offered me 300 dollars...you never know.
 
It is the player for the most part. However, I think if you tooled two evenly matched pros, make one pull a house cue off the rack, the pro playing with his normal cue has a distinct advantage.
 
eddie8842 said:
idk about 6 inches shorter, i don't see that even in that video, in all his interviews he's always said it's stock, except for reducing the shaft to about 12.3-4mm from the stock 12.75mm, and he is a tall guy with long arms so maybe it looks short, lately he's been shooting with the cuetec extension even on bar tables
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Maybe it just seems that his cue is shorter because he often holds the cue at the butt when he's shooting.
 
Its that certain feel and combination of other things

Solomon said:
Not looking to turn this into a cue maker bashing or a “Cue A is better than Cue B” thread. I simply want to know if anyone believes that a particular cue or cue technology makes them play better. I understand that everyone has their own aesthetic preferences and we all love our cues, but does anyone believe that their cue gives them a significant advantage than playing with a decent house cue?

Personally, I choose to play with cues that I think look nice. For the most part I don't care about types of shafts, types of tips, brand of cues, etc. I regularly run racks with the cues that I use (I probably break and run about 20% of the games I play), but I also feel that I could run just as many racks with any decent cue. I've have even ran racks with warped house cues with push-on felt tips.

So, is there any technology that you can’t live without and you feel that improves your game (low deflection shafts, specific type of tips, etc.)? I’m interested to see what others think about the topic.
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I bought a South East used from a friend with 2 shaft. He was selling several all great cues I hit with them all hit good but something got me about the South East. I went back to it after hitting with them all and wrapped my hand around the butt it was a perfect diameter for me and felt like it was made for my hand. It had 12.90 mm shafts with long tapers and full size ferrules not ivory. I bought it and I played with. In Later year I won a Schon in a cue raffle and bought a very heavily Ivory laden cue that hit like a dream. I ended up with some cues in the closet and the South East in my cue case 24/7/365. I even let a good friend borrow the cue and noticed he played the best pool of his life with it. After he made his own cue, I got it back and Ive decided a few things about the cue of my dreams, the only thing I have to do is have 2 shafts made for the South East with those tiny ferrules and that's it.

I have cues for sale most likely when I can get the guts up to sell them. I know what is working well and even something full of ivory and abalone wont make me change the formula because the game is more important than the dressing.
 
Solomon said:
Not looking to turn this into a cue maker bashing or a “Cue A is better than Cue B” thread. I simply want to know if anyone believes that a particular cue or cue technology makes them play better. I understand that everyone has their own aesthetic preferences and we all love our cues, but does anyone believe that their cue gives them a significant advantage than playing with a decent house cue?

Personally, I choose to play with cues that I think look nice. For the most part I don't care about types of shafts, types of tips, brand of cues, etc. I regularly run racks with the cues that I use (I probably break and run about 20% of the games I play), but I also feel that I could run just as many racks with any decent cue. I've have even ran racks with warped house cues with push-on felt tips.

So, is there any technology that you can’t live without and you feel that improves your game (low deflection shafts, specific type of tips, etc.)? I’m interested to see what others think about the topic.
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You don't have to worry about turning this into anything as it's probably the 80th post on the topic and it's been turned already :)
 
"How much does a cue affect your game?"

When I get a new cue it affects my game greatly at first and I shoot like a mofo.
Then things get back to normal, I get off my initial high, and it doesn't affect it at all.
At this point I go back to my trusty cue again and everything is back to my regular lame shooting.

This cycle is repeated for every new cue I buy.
 
SVB actually plays with an extension on his cue at all times. It is not shorter for sure.
 
My first cue was a Pechauer (I ended up hunting down and buying again after a ten year hiatus from the table). I shot Well enough with that cue that I didn't lose much money back then.

Since I Bought it back, I haven't played as well with it. I have a few other cues I play with and really haven't played with it much if at all. My Robert Harris cue I didn't shoot with much until I got it rewrapped and one of the shafts shaved to 12.65mm. I play ok with it. First leather wrap cue I've had but not too hot with it.

I have a local cue maker wrapless (Thor cues sold from a local pool hall) that I don't have an issue playing with even with the 13mm shaft.

Recently picked up an Allen Green cue with a 13mm shaft and I can break and run with that one pretty well, about 25% of the time which for my speed isn't bad.

The main difference is the balance and the tips on all these cues but once I warm up to the cue (regardless of what it is) I can play back to my regular speed.

I tested this on a pool table I've never played on with a messed up house cue. Only thing I did was scuffed the tip with my car key before I started. Keep in mind the table was crap and the cue wasn't much better. I rolled the cue to play the bowed end toward the table. Right afterward we went to a known pool hall with better kept tables and my own cues. I played better runs and broke a ton better. If I went to a pool hall I've played at a lot and was on a table I know well, if I switch up cues, it does take me a rack to adjust to the cue.
 
If you're indifferent to whether a cue is good or bad and can play your
game with either one....it doesn't mean your game is at a high level.
 
Solomon said:
No one ever claimed that's what it meant...
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I wasn't quoting anyone....,I was probably anticipating the guys that WILL claim that a
good player can play with anything...and they are wrong.
What makes a cue your own is that it has to be user-friendly.....for you.
The odd house cue or cheap two piecer can fulfill these conditions.

I don't play with an LD shaft but I modify mine so they hit similar.
But I find it hard to order what I want.....I can't seem to explain it...
....I have to find it.

I enjoy these threads.....sometimes I get a better picture of what I actually like in a cue.
 
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