Landplayer
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"Using a custom cue can improve the game."
Is it true??
Is it true??
Last edited:
Custom Cues vs. Production Cues
- Thread starter Landplayer
- Start date
negative...........your game must be improved and then a specific cue to your liking can be chosen to highlight your strengths and dampen your weaknesses.
It is like any other tool.....only as useful as that whom wields it.
-Grey Ghost-
True...
If you work with a cuemaker that takes the time to watch you play they can adjust the balance and taper to your personal shot preferences.
You play lots of top maybe you want a stiffer taper and the balance a little back... You like draw lets go forward weighted with a thinner taper...
It truly is the Indian an not the arrow but having an arrow that never fools you tends to help......
If you work with a cuemaker that takes the time to watch you play they can adjust the balance and taper to your personal shot preferences.
You play lots of top maybe you want a stiffer taper and the balance a little back... You like draw lets go forward weighted with a thinner taper...
It truly is the Indian an not the arrow but having an arrow that never fools you tends to help......
It helps - a little.
The big key about a custom cue is that it is made to your specs. that way when you play with it the cue itself is exactly how you want it and therefore should feel very comfortable in your hands.
Some take a production cue and will alter the weight, change the shaft taper and diameter, and get the tip they want.
Either way, if the cue fits your specs, it will help. but it wont make a bad player a good player, and it wont make a good player a great player.
Just my $.02.
Mike
The big key about a custom cue is that it is made to your specs. that way when you play with it the cue itself is exactly how you want it and therefore should feel very comfortable in your hands.
Some take a production cue and will alter the weight, change the shaft taper and diameter, and get the tip they want.
Either way, if the cue fits your specs, it will help. but it wont make a bad player a good player, and it wont make a good player a great player.
Just my $.02.
Mike
A cue is nothing more than a piece of wood with a scrap of leather on the end of it. A cue does NOTHING that the person holding it doesn't make it do. It is a tool.
Does a $30 hammer drive a nail any better than a $10 hammer? A good carpenter will do just fine with either one. I, on the other hand, can probably bend a nail just as well with either one.
Yes, having a cue that feels good in your hands will make you more comfortable, which might make a contribution to your game. But the bottom line is not which cue you have, but what you do with it.
Steve
Landplayer
Registered
Thanks for you guys' opinion!!
So in general speaking, if a custom cue won't improve (or just a little bit help) the game, people using custom cues as play cues are not for the reason of playability??
So in general speaking, if a custom cue won't improve (or just a little bit help) the game, people using custom cues as play cues are not for the reason of playability??
I think most players who have a custom cue believe they have reached a point in their game where they know exactly what they want in a cue, and they have worked on their game to the point where they believe they deserve to have exactly what they want.
The other custom cue owner is the one who has the money to spend on it, and either believes it will make them play better, or will elevate their stature among other players.
Think about it. Earl and Allison played with a Cuetec for years. Karen played with a Falcon. Archer played with a Scorpion. And I could go on and on. If a custom cue could actually make them play better, don't you think that at their level, they would be using them? These are pros who make their living by being the best at what they do. If a different cue could make them better, you can bet your last dollar they would have switched a long time ago.
There is nothing wrong with having a custom cue, if you can afford it, and you will get pleasure from owning it. But own it for the right reasons, not because you think it will improve your game.
Steve
The other custom cue owner is the one who has the money to spend on it, and either believes it will make them play better, or will elevate their stature among other players.
Think about it. Earl and Allison played with a Cuetec for years. Karen played with a Falcon. Archer played with a Scorpion. And I could go on and on. If a custom cue could actually make them play better, don't you think that at their level, they would be using them? These are pros who make their living by being the best at what they do. If a different cue could make them better, you can bet your last dollar they would have switched a long time ago.
There is nothing wrong with having a custom cue, if you can afford it, and you will get pleasure from owning it. But own it for the right reasons, not because you think it will improve your game.
Steve
If you pick up a custom cue that seems to match your style, and if you love playing with it, then that may be all the justification you need. I have a cue with a unique design by Chuck Starkey, and it makes me happy just to pick it up. If Chuck made five hundred cues with some basic design and they all played, I'm sure I'd be happy with one of those, too.
My Scruggs sneaky pete isn't a "custom" cue, but it's a great player and wasn't expensive at the time that I bought it. I never saw the need to order a custom Scruggs since the SP plays so well.
A professional snooker player (I forget which one) still plays with the "cheap" snooker cue his parents bought him from a sporting goods store. Of course he's good enough that he could probably play with a tree branch that had a leather tip glued to the end, but once you get grooved into a cue, why change? Snooker great Joe Davis also recommended finding a cue that works for you and then using it throughout your lifetime.
I knew a 3C player who would deliberately pick a warped house cue from the rack--albeit one that had a decent tip--and then walk up to a table and demonstrate how to triple the rail. The stroke came from him, not from the cue.
My Scruggs sneaky pete isn't a "custom" cue, but it's a great player and wasn't expensive at the time that I bought it. I never saw the need to order a custom Scruggs since the SP plays so well.
A professional snooker player (I forget which one) still plays with the "cheap" snooker cue his parents bought him from a sporting goods store. Of course he's good enough that he could probably play with a tree branch that had a leather tip glued to the end, but once you get grooved into a cue, why change? Snooker great Joe Davis also recommended finding a cue that works for you and then using it throughout your lifetime.
I knew a 3C player who would deliberately pick a warped house cue from the rack--albeit one that had a decent tip--and then walk up to a table and demonstrate how to triple the rail. The stroke came from him, not from the cue.
The truth is nothing will improve your game more than practice and building the right fundamentals. But, playing with the same cue every day will make playing more comfortable and if you like the way the cue feels, IE, the balance, weight, length, tip it will give you confidence in what you are using. In this respect any cue can improve your game to some extent along with everything else above.
JIMO
I think pooltchr hit the nail on the head in his first paragraph. its basically what i said - know exactly what you want in a cue as far as the specs, thats the main reason.
As far as Allison and Earl playing with off the shelf Cuetecs......from what i saw of their cues in person thats what it looked like to me. others, however, will swear up and down their cues or shafts were modified. who knows, i guess...
Mike
Hmmmm
Spend $30 on a great tip...even if your cue only cost $20. Best investment you will ever make. I personally like a soft or medium layered tip as it feels consistent, holds chalk well, and can add English without worrying about a miscue.......
And then buy a few tip tools, and keep your tip in shape. Then when you are playing better after some more practice and lessons, reward yourself with a nice custom cue from some of the many fine cuemakers here at AZB !!
Spend $30 on a great tip...even if your cue only cost $20. Best investment you will ever make. I personally like a soft or medium layered tip as it feels consistent, holds chalk well, and can add English without worrying about a miscue.......
And then buy a few tip tools, and keep your tip in shape. Then when you are playing better after some more practice and lessons, reward yourself with a nice custom cue from some of the many fine cuemakers here at AZB !!
Hmmmm
What he said !!
Also, I met Earl about 7 years ago at the Midwest Open right here in beautiful St.Charles, IL......(35 miles west of Chicago) I shot a few games with him and he let me try his Cuetec Cue. It was a Cuetec, but modified in the weirdest way. It had some type of leather wrap on it, the type from a tennis racquet, really thick handle.
His shaft was so "whittled" down from what was probably a normal 13mm shaft when it arrived from Cuetec, but was now just a nub with a bullet shaped tip on the end. The tip had to be about 10 mm ?? Damn, that shaft looked like a pencil,and the tip just like an eraser. Pretty weird. But he took a stock Cuetec and modified to his liking. I"m not sure how many of his many titles he won with that cue,but i'm sure it was a quite a few......
What he said !!
Also, I met Earl about 7 years ago at the Midwest Open right here in beautiful St.Charles, IL......(35 miles west of Chicago) I shot a few games with him and he let me try his Cuetec Cue. It was a Cuetec, but modified in the weirdest way. It had some type of leather wrap on it, the type from a tennis racquet, really thick handle.
His shaft was so "whittled" down from what was probably a normal 13mm shaft when it arrived from Cuetec, but was now just a nub with a bullet shaped tip on the end. The tip had to be about 10 mm ?? Damn, that shaft looked like a pencil,and the tip just like an eraser. Pretty weird. But he took a stock Cuetec and modified to his liking. I"m not sure how many of his many titles he won with that cue,but i'm sure it was a quite a few......