It doesn't matter what brand of cue, what weight the cue is, what joint type, the shaft brand, the shaft stiffness, the shaft taper, the tip brand, the tip hardness, your aiming system, and on and on. You can't buy a game. When you miss, it is because of bad/inconsistant stroke mechanics and bad tip accuracy. What matters is your stroke mechanics, your tip placement, your speed control, and your discipline. The rest is product marketing. Work on your fundamentals again and again and one more time. Always. The rest is bullshit..
It doesn't matter
- Thread starter daveb
- Start date
No way! 
What are YOU selling??
What are YOU selling??
I think you are 100 percent correct daveb. A 3000.00$ cue is no better than a 30.00$ piece of straight wood.The human skill factor is what counts.
Of course it doesn't matter. But if you're more comfortable with an 18 oz. cue than a 23 oz. cue, why not use an 18 oz. cue? I've played with soft tips and hard tips -- I prefer soft. Since the cue has to have tip on it (can I assume we agree on that?), why shouldn't I use a soft tip?
Cue preferences and practice time are two completely different things -- one doesn't subtract from the other unless you let it.
I disagree ....people around me know I can power spin the ball pretty good......
...a lot of times when they ask me to show them a position shot, I examine their cue and
tell them I can't do the shot with that equipment.
I feel any player who says the cue makes no difference needs to work on his game.
To the OP.....David
I feel you have to go farther back than mechanics.....we all tend to complicate things.
....the reality of every shot is that you have to hit the ball with the cue......
....so control the cue and your mechanics will be just fine.
In my opinion, of course
I agree as long as the equipment is playable. But what really matters is not switching cues all the time and changing the weight, balance point, taper, tip size, squirt etc... That can effect mechanics. Pick a cue, get used to it and keep it, keep it, keep it.
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What was the movie? Meatballs?
It just doesn't matter.
It just doesn't matter.
It just doesn't matter.
My summer camp peeps taught me another one...
" oh well. "
Thanks for the epiphany Dave.
You're mostly right. An expensive cue won't make your suck go away.
It just doesn't matter.
It just doesn't matter.
It just doesn't matter.
My summer camp peeps taught me another one...
" oh well. "
Thanks for the epiphany Dave.
You're mostly right. An expensive cue won't make your suck go away.
every cue plays different.. A lambros sneaky will play the same as a $4000 lambros so yeah all that is just your personal preference and maybe a little showing off lol but to say a house cue with a hard tip and hard rock maple shaft will play the same as everything else shows either your a new player or don't have much experience with different cues. Can i play with a house cue? Sure.. Do I have to adjust my game? Absolutely! Some cues you just have to work harder to get the spin applied to the ball then others.
Old Nine Baller
Banned
Even though I pretty much agree with 99% of what you've written (better equipment helps the top-level players) I think you are talking to the wrong audience. Most of the posters here probably have jobs, families, mortgages, children to send to college, cars to pay for and other necessary things. In other words they have a life. It's much easier to buy a new cue than it is to find time to practice and some fall into that trap. They'll never be able to play but they have a life that poolplayers will never have.
It's always a tradeoff in any endeavor between just being average or being the best you can be.
ONB
I think for many casual players you may be right. They simply are not going to invest the times and effort for the equipment to make a significant difference.
But at the upper levels I believe you are wrong. I have seen pro players get a cue mechanic to put a new tip on for them and come back a few moments later and ask for a different one because they didn't like the first. And then come back again for a third. Players do get accustomed to and develop preferences for certain shaft diameters, tapers, and tips. They like the sound and vibration and feedback certain cues provide over that of others. Efren does not like certain cues because they "have too much energy" in them. And then there is the story of Steve Davis leaving his one-piece snooker cue in a London cab and being so distraught he offered a sizable reward for its return. And almost any player with a modicum of talent and experience will tell you they like one CB over another for any number of reasons.
Fundamentals are at the root of the majority of performance issues. However, equipment can and does make a difference.
Lou Figueroa
This article tells you all you need to know about how important having a the right cue is for a top professional player.
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2003/sep/02/snooker.cliveeverton
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2003/sep/02/snooker.cliveeverton
So with one cue I can use a smooth stroke and another I have to use a power stroke to acheive the same results. So yes if I miss using a power stroke it is my mechanics. However the harder I have to hit the cue ball the more I increase my margin for error. So I prefer a cue that allows me to use a smooth stroke. Is anyone suggesting you can draw the cue ball the same distance with any cue using the same stroke. That's silly.
If the point of this thread is that when you miss, or don't get shape, it is your fault, yes I agree. Fundamentals practice is the only thing that will help.
If, however, you are saying that there is no difference in various levels of equipment, I do not agree at all. I find it hard to believe that anyone that has played for a while couldn't tell the difference between good and bad equipment.
I am not saying a $3000 cue feels different than an $800 cue, but that isn't what the difference is with them. Cue makers will create higher end cues as collectibles, like works of art. More inlays will definitely not help your game, just make your cue look prettier.
Playing with cheap equipment is like writing a term paper with a crayon. You can get the job done, but isn't any fun.
If, however, you are saying that there is no difference in various levels of equipment, I do not agree at all. I find it hard to believe that anyone that has played for a while couldn't tell the difference between good and bad equipment.
I am not saying a $3000 cue feels different than an $800 cue, but that isn't what the difference is with them. Cue makers will create higher end cues as collectibles, like works of art. More inlays will definitely not help your game, just make your cue look prettier.
Playing with cheap equipment is like writing a term paper with a crayon. You can get the job done, but isn't any fun.
Um. I have a $20 Minnesota Fats Classic cue with a lacquered shaft. I bet I can spin the ball as well as you or better with it. Pick a shot and I will YouTube it. Let's play Horse, ha.
It has a non-layered leather tip. Handshaped. Total investment on the cue might be 30 dollars.
Facing is horrible. Pin is in the shaft.
billiard players used to retire sometimes
More than one billiard player retired in the old days over a lost stick. These were just a couple dollar sticks that they had played with for years. I think it was Joe Davis that chased a stick that felt right for several years when his was lost. Finally stumbled on one a friend owned playing in his home town if memory serves. He said if he ever lost that stick he was done, wasn't going through all of that again. Back then championship matches might be negotiated for months. A major point was whose billiard balls would be used. Plastic balls changed that a bit but equipment matters as we both know.
Some are more sensitive to equipment than others but using the same equipment all the time and knowing it is a real edge. Always thought it was funny that they let John Schmidt bring his own balls to the 14.1 challenge. He claims it is because of the better play of clean balls and he does let others use them but shooting with his own set of balls offers both a physical and psychological advantage.
Still on the subject of pool balls, one of the old hustlers quoted in one of Freddy the Beard's books said the first thing to do was to get your own set of balls into the game. If that wasn't possible get your own cue ball into the game. If that wasn't possible either perhaps the game was better left unplayed. Those were his opinions, not mine or Freddy's.
Most older road players have won a boatload of money playing off the wall but I doubt any would disagree that it would have been a little easier with their own cue. Good, bad, or ugly, consistent equipment aids play.
Hu
More than one billiard player retired in the old days over a lost stick. These were just a couple dollar sticks that they had played with for years. I think it was Joe Davis that chased a stick that felt right for several years when his was lost. Finally stumbled on one a friend owned playing in his home town if memory serves. He said if he ever lost that stick he was done, wasn't going through all of that again. Back then championship matches might be negotiated for months. A major point was whose billiard balls would be used. Plastic balls changed that a bit but equipment matters as we both know.
Some are more sensitive to equipment than others but using the same equipment all the time and knowing it is a real edge. Always thought it was funny that they let John Schmidt bring his own balls to the 14.1 challenge. He claims it is because of the better play of clean balls and he does let others use them but shooting with his own set of balls offers both a physical and psychological advantage.
Still on the subject of pool balls, one of the old hustlers quoted in one of Freddy the Beard's books said the first thing to do was to get your own set of balls into the game. If that wasn't possible get your own cue ball into the game. If that wasn't possible either perhaps the game was better left unplayed. Those were his opinions, not mine or Freddy's.
Most older road players have won a boatload of money playing off the wall but I doubt any would disagree that it would have been a little easier with their own cue. Good, bad, or ugly, consistent equipment aids play.
Hu