Can you shoot with anything off the wall??

DelawareDogs

DelawareDogs

The Double Deuce…
Silver Member
Recently had a conversation about this with someone I know to have been a good player back in the day. It goes back to the old adage "a good player can play with ANYTHING!".

I was in a set with this guy and left my cues in the trunk (he knows I have cues, I was just feeling lazy, not trying to law down on him). Races to 5 I'm giving him the last three shooting with a fairly nice dufferin cue off the rack. But... it's not MY cue and I don't play as good with it jumping in the box cold with it. The other guy starts woofing after I complain I should have got my cues....so I lay down a simple proposition: You put yours back in your case and we'll both play with house sticks, and you can keep the weight.

Beat him three sets, we both missed racks we should've gotten out of had we been playing with our own equipment.

I just got a new cue and I'm getting used to not shooting with a very whippy Palmer I've had since I was 9. And a good friend and mentor tells me I should be able to shoot with anything...... what do y'all think? Takes me about 150 balls to truly, truly adjust with a new cue...
 
No, not at all. I break pretty well with a cue off the wall, but beyond that I don't do nearly as good as I do with my cue. It's just very different. I play with forward balanced cues with a shafts around 11.75-12.5mm. Grabbing a rear balanced house cue that is 13mm with a conical taper just does not feel right at all. Doesn't mean I can't shoot with it, but I'd be kidding myself if I said I could play at my normal level with one.

Now, if I could have a house cue that was balanced more forward like I like and with a nice pro-taper shaft that was around 12.5mm....then I think it would be just fine. Even if I could just get the shaft setup that way I could probably do a lot better.
 
Efren and many other greats have shown that they can play amazing pool with crappy cues. With that said, I still think there has to be a small advantage when playing with an excellent cue.

I do remember the good old days though when if you didn't want to call attn to yourself you could go into an establishment with just a scuffer in your pocket and that could give you all the edge you needed.

best,
brian kc
 
"Can you shoot with anything off the wall?"


Yes. That's no problem.
I have some very expensive cues but ever so often I grab something off the wall and start shooting with it.

There's basically no difference in my game to be honest.

Biggest reason I use custom cues is so that I can always have a consistent feel and I don't have to spend an hour finding a straight cue, other than that I'm fine.
I grew up playing house cues, did that for years and years, and ALL my cues have traditional shafts.
So playing off the wall is no biggie.
I play with pro taper but I guess I'm not sensitive enough to notice the difference because my game does not change when I use a house cue.
The conical taper on the house cues has never bothered me. Maybe this is the reason the only LD I can play with is the Z2.
As to house cues, I actually really like the super solid feeling of house cues.
Many custom makers would be proud if they could get a feel like that from their cues and would be prancing all over town with pride...lol.
 
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I ran 101 balls in straight pool with a house cue.
It was straight and had a good tip on it.
 
Kickin - I agree totally! House cues of back in the day are made of the stuff that cue makers are willing to convert into sneaky's today.
Grab one off the wall in some of the places I go to and it's big plastic ferrules and junk tips.
 
IMHO-

Anybody can play with anything.

The question is really what one plays best with.

For some people, highly skilled players, it may matter less. They can play pretty well with almost any reasonable cue. For a few, there is no difference, essentially they can adapt to anything.

But, for really new players, bangers, it really does not matter either. They will play pretty poorly with any cue. And a great cue won't really help...without a lot of practice that is.


To say that the cue does not matter at all for most people is silly though. Obviously it does. But the best cue will not do much in the hands of a banger, while a crummy cue can do pretty well in the hands of an expert.

If there is money on the table and the other guy has his cue, so will I. Why? Because I know it matters....and so does he.


There are always exceptions.

And....this is just what I think.....could be wrong....wouldn't be the first time....just ask my wife....:rolleyes:


.
 
I had one of my cues & had the table at a local pool bar.

A guy, a friendly local bar acquaintance, was looking for a cue by rolling them on the table. He rather loudly made fun of a cue he was rolling on the table because it was very badly warped.

I broke with the house cue I had been breaking with but I broke dry & think I sort of subconsciously did so on purpose because of what I had in mind.

I went & set the break cue down & picked up the warped cue that he had just made fun of. I knew that it had a good tip on it from when I was looking for a house to cue to break with.

He ran a few balls & missed. I then ran out using the warped cue. He made a comment about me running out.

I then placed the cue on the table & said, "Yeah, & look what I used to do it with.".

He said, "Oh no!" & had a good laugh.

The point being that a good tip is the most important part of any cue & if we have that we should be able to shoot rather well with any cue that has one.

That said, naturally having a cue that we are use to will yield the best results, all things considered.
 
I used to own a pool hall. One day a guy come in, no one knew who he was. He took a cue off the wall, spread the balls out, and started to shoot straight pool by himself. I was tending bar, very close to his table, so I watched him to check out his game. On about his third shot he ran 117 balls. With a house cue. He would not tell anybody his name and he did not try to match up.
 
Can you play the same with a low-deflection conical taper, super soft tip, 25 ounce cue; if you are used to a high-deflection, pro taper, hard tip, 18 ounce cue by the same maker? Without getting used to it?

It seems remarkably unlikely.

Can you tell the difference between two cues of the same deflection, tip, weight, taper, balance, and a $2000 price difference?

I would have to see it in a double blind study.

Thank you kindly.
 
Maybe I just don't get it. I'm one of those people that cannot just pick anything off the wall and play lights out/jam up pool with it.
For those of you that can, let me ask: Do you not play differently with house cues? Someone tell me they can get the same cue action as something they brought in a case vs. something they've never seen or shot with before in their life?

Can you play good with a house cue? I have no doubt that you can play to the cues abilities. But how far do expect a screw on tip to give you draw? Is it doing something different when you need to pound a ball off the rail? All this stuff makes me miss, specifically when I've never played with it before. I don't know what it's going to do..... is it just me, or does that make sense to anyone else?
 
DelawareDogs said:
Maybe I just don't get it. I'm one of those people that cannot just pick anything off the wall and play lights out/jam up pool with it.
For those of you that can, let me ask: Do you not play differently with house cues? Someone tell me they can get the same cue action as something they brought in a case vs. something they've never seen or shot with before in their life?

Can you play good with a house cue? I have no doubt that you can play to the cues abilities. But how far do expect a screw on tip to give you draw? Is it doing something different when you need to pound a ball off the rail? All this stuff makes me miss, specifically when I've never played with it before. I don't know what it's going to do..... is it just me, or does that make sense to anyone else?
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With cues that you are not comfortable with, stay closer to center and don't get all fancy if you don't have to. My usual cue is an old house cue. There's something about them that just feel what i expect in a cue and a hit(hate missing bumpers, tho). I'm out a lot checking on tables, so i leave my cue at home but end up playing half the time. Also tend to leave my cue at home on Friday and Saturday nights so i don't have to keep an eye on it.

My draw sucks with either cue. :embarrassed2:
 
Black-Balled said:
150 balls? You shou)d see a dr., asap.
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Haha!! Maybe you're right. And maybe 150 balls is an exaggeration. I will say it definitely takes me more than a couple racks to get the ins and outs of a cue I'll be playing with. And I don't mean just play-play.
If it takes you much less, or none at all, good on ya' black balls.

I'm sayin I have yet to see it. Sure I seen a few people grab a piece of lumber and run a couple racks, done it myself a few times. Haven't seen much more than that...maybe I just don't get out much. :thumbup:
 
The biggest problem I have with picking up a different cue than the one I play with all the time is the deflection. It takes me a bit to adjust to each cue.
 
JoeyM said:
The biggest problem I have with picking up a different cue than the one I play with all the time is the deflection. It takes me a bit to adjust to each cue.
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That's my biggest deal right now. I went from that Palmer of more than a decade of playing to something I just picked up and wanted to try. Where that cue ball is going and how much it bends is so much different. And in a game of millimeters makes a sizable difference.
 
This question was asked of Thorsten Hohmann last year during ESPN tournament of champions, during his match with Dennis Orcollo.

His answer was he could play with a cue of the wall, but he could not play to the best of his abilities without his cue that was customized for him.

I can't remember the exact wording, but I might still have it on dvr at home, if I can find the interview excerpt, I'll post it here.
Personally, I agree with Thorsten. I can't play nearly as well with a house cue as I can with my personal cue.
 
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