Does anyone remember the Wilson Sporting Goods Jimmy Conners model tennis racket? It was the first "metal" racket.
Conners won title after title with that racket, so zillions of amateurs bought one. The amateurs soon found out it was the most uncontrollable, worst racket ever made. The ball would go flying anywhere unless your stroke was absolutely perfect.
When asked about it in an interview, Conners said, "The pros on the tour could play with a two-by-four and in wouldn't make any difference."
Wilson Sporting Goods was not happybut Conners was telling the truth.
True. The "javelin" is a Gulassy. Before that he played with a Cuetec for many years. Before that I think a Meucci? In fact, when people talk about companies who do a lot for pool Cuetec should be brought up, with all the people they've sponsored through the years. Earl wasn't always happy with the Cuetecs however, and the sponsorship ended badly.
I once saw a guy playing off the wall run 6 racks in a tournament. That is to this day the most racks I've seen run at a tournament in person. Saw a guy run 7 in practise once, thats it. And he kept playing at a stellar level in the later games too. Dufferin high-run housecue. He had forgotten his cue at home, lol how is that even possible? I believe he came second in a good quality field (national championship). I am partial to the high-run housecues myself, but they are cheap. Put a kamui or moori on one of them and who knows? May play better than many customs.
I think Earl said something like "I'm glad to be done with them, their cues sucked, they held me back
by at least three balls!" ...not a surprising comment from Earl but I think he was exaggerating,
considering all the titles he won with it.
I don't believe a top pro could just step up and win the US Open (or China Open) with a beat-up house cue.
There needs to be a minimum level of quality in a cue or you're gonna run into problems with it.
But I think the newer cuetecs, at least the r360, meet that minimum level.
And anything past that minimum level is mostly just paying for looks, or a brand name.
I guess that is a prime example of success on the table being the player and not the cue.
I own a cuetec, I'll play with it every now and then just because I have it, but I don't like the way it feels. The fiberglass, or acrylic (or whatever) surface of the shaft has never felt as smooth as a wood shaft, but I know people that swear by them and wouldn't play with anything else. I have found that it really doesn't matter which cue or shaft I play with though, I'm still pretty much just a hack.
I once saw a guy playing off the wall run 6 racks in a tournament. That is to this day the most racks I've seen run at a tournament in person. Saw a guy run 7 in practise once, thats it. And he kept playing at a stellar level in the later games too. Dufferin high-run housecue. He had forgotten his cue at home, lol how is that even possible? I believe he came second in a good quality field (national championship). I am partial to the high-run housecues myself, but they are cheap. Put a kamui or moori on one of them and who knows? May play better than many customs.
Moral is, If you are intrigued by Cuetec, probably because Shane is using one, than go ahead and get one, and play it.