peter_gunn:
Like you, I like to try new things, new gadgets, new technology, just to keep on top of what everyone is fussing or raving about.
But I'm a firm believer in not underestimating the importance of the basics, of having a strong foundation, of being able to shoot well with just about anything. You definitely don't want your game to become dependent upon any particular technology.
I personally believe that one should be able to produce if not his/her best game, at least his/her very strong "A-" game, with a cue pulled off the playing establishment's wall. For example, during the December 2009 holiday season in Denver, Colorado here in the U.S., I visited my parents who live there. While out there, I unfortunately caught the flu, and was bed-ridden for most of the time I was out there. During the latter part of my stay there, I started to feel better, and by New Year's Eve (31 December), I was out of bed, and although I still wasn't at my best, I could do normal activities. A pool establishment nearby,
Greenfields Pool & Sports Bar, was having a New Year's celebration on 31 December (New Year's Eve), and I decided to stop in to have a Guinness and ring-in the new year. Well, as I walked in, I discovered they were having a major "End of Year" pool tournament (9-ball). I didn't have my cues with me, but I figured, "oh, what the heck?" and entered it as sort of a symbolic celebratory activity. I pulled a cue off the wall rack, checked to be sure it had a good tip on it, and slapped both the butt and the tip gently with the palm of my hand, to check for unseen splits in the wood anywhere in the cue (which would naturally create a buzzing sound). Since all the tables were already in use with people practicing, I couldn't practice, and the tournament was about to start in 5 minutes anyway. I'm not a believer in "rolling" the cue on the bed of the table to check for straightness as some people do, because I believe that you should be able to play with a crooked cue, and just compensate (e.g. rotate the cue so the "bend" is either on top or on bottom).
Anyway, without any practice, I entered the Greenfields End-of-Year 9-ball tournament with just a house cue pulled off the wall rack. (Here in the U.S., we like to joke and call that type of cue a "Wall-abushka"
) Players arrived from great distances to play in that tournament (including from as far away as Wyoming and Nebraska), since Greenfields tends to be a well-known regional league tournament setting. All these players brought their own equipment, and I was the ONLY ONE who played with a house cue.
Well, I won the Greenfields 2009 End-of-Year 9-ball tournament, and I can tell you, many of the players were not happy at all that they were defeated by "an out-of-town Yankee with a house cue." Many were saying some not very kind things in my general direction, especially the ones I knocked out in the early stages of the tournament, who by now were drinking heavily. Since I was the foreigner, I was cordial, but kept to myself. I collected the prize money, finished my final Guinness, and walked out before those players that I'd beaten (that are by now drunk) got confrontational with me.
The point is, that one should be able to produce a very strong game with less-than-stellar equipment, and not have to be dependent on any particular "level" of equipment or of any particular "technology." Low-deflection shafts might be a great technology, but I firmly believe one's game should not be
dependent upon them.
My only requirements for a cue, are that it have a decent tip (it doesn't even have to have the correct shape -- I carry a tip shaper on my key chain), and that it's not cracked or split. The shaft can even have some dings, although I find major cuts or gouges sliding through my bridge hand can become distracting. Is this my preferred level of equipment? Heck no. But can I adapt to it? I sure can!
I learned this adaptivity from growing up and learning to play pool in Yonkers, NY, which has a large Latino population, even back then in the 1970s. Lots of Latino players are extremely strong players that can "really bring it" with the most basic of equipment.
Hope this is helpful!
-Sean
