Cue Stick Dilemma

[TheBook]

You just got a new custom made cue to your specs. You shoot with it and find out that it is not as forgiving as your other cue. You are missing shots because your old cue would compensate or not magnify your bad cueing habits.

Do you go back to your old cue or keep playing with the new one and try to improve your stroke and get rid of your bad sloppy habits?

What is the better cue?

 

[dooziexx]

You just got a new custom made cue to your specs. You shoot with it and find out that it is not as forgiving as your other cue. You are missing shots because your old cue would compensate or not magnify your bad cueing habits.

Do you go back to your old cue or keep playing with the new one and try to improve your stroke and get rid of your bad sloppy habits?

What is the better cue?

You have to adjust your game to the cue..so give yourself sometime to do so. If you like the way your new cue hits/feel then its a keeper. If it makes you straighten out your stroke, then correct it. You have to rid yourself of your bad sloppy habits..

 

[drivermaker]

You just got a new custom made cue to your specs. You shoot with it and find out that it is not as forgiving as your other cue. You are missing shots because your old cue would compensate or not magnify your bad cueing habits.

Do you go back to your old cue or keep playing with the new one and try to improve your stroke and get rid of your bad sloppy habits?

What is the better cue?

IMO, the better cue is always the one that makes the most balls and FITS your stroke, tempo, and timing.

 

[Snapshot9]

advice ...

Practice with the new one, play with the old one.

When the new one feels comfortable enough, switch over
to playing with the new one. If, after 2 months, the new
one is not playing as well or better than the old one, you
have another decision to make ... whether to keep it or not.

 

[Barbara]

You just got a new custom made cue to your specs. You shoot with it and find out that it is not as forgiving as your other cue. You are missing shots because your old cue would compensate or not magnify your bad cueing habits.

Do you go back to your old cue or keep playing with the new one and try to improve your stroke and get rid of your bad sloppy habits?

What is the better cue?

You've got to try and get used to the new cue. Of course, if the new cue is radically different from your old cue - say new cue has piloted SS joint and your old cue was flat-faced phenolic - you may never get used to it.

Barbara

 

[mikepage]

You just got a new custom made cue to your specs. You shoot with it and find out that it is not as forgiving as your other cue. You are missing shots because your old cue would compensate or not magnify your bad cueing habits.

Do you go back to your old cue or keep playing with the new one and try to improve your stroke and get rid of your bad sloppy habits?

What is the better cue?

Your bad stroke and sloppy habits are a separate issue. Your new cue reacts differently than your old cue because it has a different amount of squirt.

Which cue is better?

Some people (Bob Jewett is one--and the guy is wrong with about the frequency that Efren misses with ball-in-hand) believe that all else being equal, less squirt=better cue. The idea is it's easier to do less compensation accurately than to do more compensation accurately. Others believe that a million shots with the cue takes care of the compensation issue, and it just doesn't matter that much.

I'd say learn about squirt (some people call it cue-ball deflection), figure out how to determine the squirt pivot point of your two cues, and then decide which cue is prettier--or more likely to get you girls--or guys--or whatever it is you want...

Oh, and whatever cue you keep, you want to improve your stroke and get rid of your sloppy habits..

mike page
fargo

 

[drivermaker]

Some people (Bob Jewett is one--and the guy is wrong with about the frequency that Efren misses with ball-in-hand) believe that all else being equal, less squirt=better cue. The idea is it's easier to do less compensation accurately than to do more compensation accurately. Others believe that a million shots with the cue takes care of the compensation issue, and it just doesn't matter that much.

I'd say learn about squirt (some people call it cue-ball deflection), figure out how to determine the squirt pivot point of your two cues, and then decide which cue is prettier--or more likely to get you girls--or guys--or whatever it is you want...

mike page
fargo

Oh Geezus...here we go. Since YOU mentioned Efren, does HE use the lowest squirt shaft or cue out there?

 

[mikepage]

Oh Geezus...here we go. Since YOU mentioned Efren, does HE use the lowest squirt shaft or cue out there?

I don't know. Why do you ask?

 

[drivermaker]

I don't know. Why do you ask?

To see if HE gives a shit what you recommend or if it's affected his career in a negative fashion. (And I know that you know...don't be coy)

 

[cheesemouse]

To see if HE gives a shit what you recommend or if it's affected his career in a negative fashion. (And I know that you know...don't be coy)

I see you JUMPED another nice poster...YOUR JUST MEAN....

 

[drivermaker]

I see you JUMPED another nice poster...YOUR JUST MEAN....

He is a nice poster...but I've also known him to be not so nice at times.

Btw...are you following me?? Thanks for the compliment...

 

[mikepage]

To see if HE gives a shit what you recommend or if it's affected his career in a negative fashion. (And I know that you know...don't be coy)

Let's see, you seemed to disagree with me or object to something I said, yet you didn't say what. Then you asked me a (rhetorical?) question about Efren, as though it was relevant to something I said...

I think you should be banned to a one-week moratorium on accusing someone of being coy after that post... Now take it back.

sheesh...

What of my recommendations did you disagree with?

mike page
fargo

 

[drivermaker]

Let's see, you seemed to disagree with me or object to something I said, yet you didn't say what. Then you asked me a (rhetorical?) question about Efren, as though it was relevant to something I said...

I think you should be banned to a one-week moratorium on accusing someone of being coy after that post... Now take it back.

sheesh...

What of my recommendations did you disagree with?

mike page
fargo

Did you retire? You seem to have a lot of time on your hands...

(In my case, the answer is yes to that question just so you don't get confused again or need it clarified)

 

[mikepage]

He is a nice poster...but I've also known him to be not so nice at times.

lol.

Aren't we all nice posters until proven otherwise?

mike page
fargo

 

[Roll-Off]

Dude, forget about those custom cues. They're junk. Get a Mezz ZZ series cue and it'll be the last one you buy. Japanese made by computer controlled robots. You can't get any better than that and there is no argument against it. It's like buying a Honda versus a Ford? Stop kidding yourself. Gerald, please do a spell check for me. Thanks.

 

[Deno J. Andrews]

You just got a new custom made cue to your specs. You shoot with it and find out that it is not as forgiving as your other cue. You are missing shots because your old cue would compensate or not magnify your bad cueing habits.

Do you go back to your old cue or keep playing with the new one and try to improve your stroke and get rid of your bad sloppy habits?

What is the better cue?

You don't want a forgiving cue if you intend to be a serious player. You want a cue that will do exactly what you tell it to tell the cue ball to do. The flaw is in your stroke and delivery. Spend the time, effort, and possibly money to fix that, and you will find you will have far more control over your cue and the balls, meaning you will be a better player.

Deno Andrews

 

[TheBook]

You don't want a forgiving cue if you intend to be a serious player. You want a cue that will do exactly what you tell it to tell the cue ball to do. The flaw is in your stroke and delivery. Spend the time, effort, and possibly money to fix that, and you will find you will have far more control over your cue and the balls, meaning you will be a better player.

Deno Andrews

This is the dilemma that I am referring to. Do most players feel that some cue is better because they seem to play better with it when in fact it is just promoting bad habits. The next sentence may seem as if I am asking the same thing but I think you know the point that I am trying to make. Should a good cue force you shoot better or should you just shoot better with a good cue?

The reason I am asking this is because players have sold cues because they said that they cannot shoot with it or have a hard time adjusting to it. Are they doing the right thing?

 

[drivermaker]

This is the dilemma that I am referring to. Do most players feel that some cue is better because they seem to play better with it when in fact it is just promoting bad habits. The next sentence may seem as if I am asking the same thing but I think you know the point that I am trying to make. Should a good cue force you shoot better or should you just shoot better with a good cue?

The reason I am asking this is because players have sold cues because they said that they cannot shoot with it or have a hard time adjusting to it. Are they doing the right thing?

Wouldn't you agree that Tiger Woods probably has one of the best sets of clubs made for him by Nike that modern technology can design right now?

If Tiger gave his set of clubs to you, or a brand new identical set exactly with his specs and you just couldn't play worth a damn when using that set...what would you do? Would you keep working at the game tirelessly and endlessly with the hope that you'd eventually grow into them...or would you thank Tiger and play with something that was more suited to you and your game?

This is what custom fitting is all about in the golf world. There ISN'T a get used to them period of time. They're made to maximize performance immediately based on YOUR swing and abilities. Btw...Tiger's clubs and everyone on the PGA tour has them made that way.

Shouldn't that also apply to cues? Why beat your head against a wall and suffer...you might NEVER play well with that cue. Then what?

 

[Deno J. Andrews]

Well herein lies the problem with this situation- you buy a cue and play with it for a long time. You get used to its squirt characteristics, the stiffness of the cue, ferrule, tip, how it feels in your hand, etc. If you then introduce a new cue, there is a long adjustment time, and most players can't or don't want to afford the time to adjust to a new cue. So they may feel like their cue is more forgiving than a new cue, but it is possible that it is the opposite...but they will never know because they will not play with the cue long enough. Then couple that with any stroke flaws you might have and adjusting to a new cue may seem impossible because you have become used to how your old cue plays with the stroke flaws you have. When it comes to the quality of a cue, there are only a couple of really important aspects as far as playability. A good cue needs to deliver what you ask it to do, and the cue must be consistent.

So to answer your question, if a player doesn't spend at least one month of hard practice with a new cue, the player may never know if that cue is better or worse for him. Of course, after two weeks if you haven't found much comfort and reliability in the cue, there is a good chance it is not the right cue for you. And, if you have flaws in your stroke, a good cue should expose those flaws because it means that the cue delivers what you ask of it. Then you should fix the stroke instead of the cue!

Deno

 

[Al-fahl Amir]

Dude, forget about those custom cues. They're junk. Get a Mezz ZZ series cue and it'll be the last one you buy. Japanese made by computer controlled robots. You can't get any better than that and there is no argument against it. It's like buying a Honda versus a Ford? Stop kidding yourself. Gerald, please do a spell check for me. Thanks.

You do know that Honda is the only car that is 100% American made.