Cliff's notes: buddy who [plays good pool but knows nothing about cues, played with several of my cues and described his thoughts on how they hit
I know "hit" and "feel" are highly subjective terms, but I had an interesting experience the other day with a friend. He is an SL 6 in 8 ball, but plays off the wall and has never owned his own cue. I had him hit with 6 of my cues, without knowing anything about them (brand, weight, shaft type, etc) , and describe what he thought about the hit and feel of the cue.
He hit with the following cues in random order, I include a general price range for reference only:
Mcdermott GSO7 with linen wrap and hard maple shaft and standard medium tip (around $200)
Mcdermott G229 wrapless with G-core shaft and standard medium tip (around $300)
Pechauer p03 linen wrap with hard maple shaft and standard medium tip Around ($300)
Pechauer p06 crown jewel wrapless with hard maple shaft and proprietary medium tip (around $700)
Cuetec Prestige with valtex wrap and (i think) tiger everest tip (around $200)
Dufferin one piece house cue with who knows what kind of tip. (around 50 bucks)
I had him hit several straight in shots, power draws, inside and outside english, soft touch shots, etc. Then we played 8 and nine ball with him switching cues after each game. At the end of my "experiment" we discussed his thoughts on each cue, which I will try to summarize:
-His favorite by far was the pechauer p03. He liked the wrap and weight ( all cues were around 19.5 oz) and said it felt like a "soft" hit but he felt like he could control the cueball the best. He described the sound as a "thud".
-He said both Mcdermotts felt very solid hitting and he could feel the hit up into the butt, they hit more like the house cues he is used to. He said he did not feel like he could control or spin the cue ball as well. He described the hit as a "bonk"
-He did not care for the cuetec at all. Said it felt like he was hitting a wiffle ball with a plastic bat. described the hit as a "tink".
-The dufferin was like most bar cues with a better tip
-The pechauer crown jewel- he thought the butt was too narrow for his tastes, and he didn't like the lack of feedback he got up through the cue. He said it was hard to tell if he was hitting the ball hard or soft and was not confident in his speed control. described the hit as a muffled "thud".
At the end, he thought the mcdermotts were somewhere between the pechauers in his personal preference. He liked how he could feel the hit of the mcdermott up into his grip hand, and didnt like how he could barely feel it with the pech crown jewel.
The pechauer p03 combined the best traits according to his preference. We played a lot of pool that weekend, and he pocketed a lot of balls with all the cues, and kept coming back to the same conclusion.
So this got me thinking about terms like hit and feel when it comes to cues. Does a "solid" hit mean you feel the impact up into your grip hand? I always related it to a baseball bat. When you hit the sweet spot, you barely feel it, the ball just explodes off the bat. Miss the sweet spot, and the vibration stings your hands.
I thought it was pretty interesting. So much goes into how a cue feels, shaft type, tip type, joint type, wrap, etc. I guess that's why pool junkies are constantly trying out new combinations...
I know "hit" and "feel" are highly subjective terms, but I had an interesting experience the other day with a friend. He is an SL 6 in 8 ball, but plays off the wall and has never owned his own cue. I had him hit with 6 of my cues, without knowing anything about them (brand, weight, shaft type, etc) , and describe what he thought about the hit and feel of the cue.
He hit with the following cues in random order, I include a general price range for reference only:
Mcdermott GSO7 with linen wrap and hard maple shaft and standard medium tip (around $200)
Mcdermott G229 wrapless with G-core shaft and standard medium tip (around $300)
Pechauer p03 linen wrap with hard maple shaft and standard medium tip Around ($300)
Pechauer p06 crown jewel wrapless with hard maple shaft and proprietary medium tip (around $700)
Cuetec Prestige with valtex wrap and (i think) tiger everest tip (around $200)
Dufferin one piece house cue with who knows what kind of tip. (around 50 bucks)
I had him hit several straight in shots, power draws, inside and outside english, soft touch shots, etc. Then we played 8 and nine ball with him switching cues after each game. At the end of my "experiment" we discussed his thoughts on each cue, which I will try to summarize:
-His favorite by far was the pechauer p03. He liked the wrap and weight ( all cues were around 19.5 oz) and said it felt like a "soft" hit but he felt like he could control the cueball the best. He described the sound as a "thud".
-He said both Mcdermotts felt very solid hitting and he could feel the hit up into the butt, they hit more like the house cues he is used to. He said he did not feel like he could control or spin the cue ball as well. He described the hit as a "bonk"
-He did not care for the cuetec at all. Said it felt like he was hitting a wiffle ball with a plastic bat. described the hit as a "tink".
-The dufferin was like most bar cues with a better tip
-The pechauer crown jewel- he thought the butt was too narrow for his tastes, and he didn't like the lack of feedback he got up through the cue. He said it was hard to tell if he was hitting the ball hard or soft and was not confident in his speed control. described the hit as a muffled "thud".
At the end, he thought the mcdermotts were somewhere between the pechauers in his personal preference. He liked how he could feel the hit of the mcdermott up into his grip hand, and didnt like how he could barely feel it with the pech crown jewel.
The pechauer p03 combined the best traits according to his preference. We played a lot of pool that weekend, and he pocketed a lot of balls with all the cues, and kept coming back to the same conclusion.
So this got me thinking about terms like hit and feel when it comes to cues. Does a "solid" hit mean you feel the impact up into your grip hand? I always related it to a baseball bat. When you hit the sweet spot, you barely feel it, the ball just explodes off the bat. Miss the sweet spot, and the vibration stings your hands.
I thought it was pretty interesting. So much goes into how a cue feels, shaft type, tip type, joint type, wrap, etc. I guess that's why pool junkies are constantly trying out new combinations...
