Did going from a low-end cue to high-end improve your game?

gregcantrall said:
Well, I have no clue who this person is and or what he concluded from his testing.
My personal experience and testing and picking the brains of top players started in the '80s.
My conversations with Cole regarding what he prefered in the feel of a cue were enlightening. He played with a Joss West[Oops East] His lifestyle led to him playing for his cue when his pocket hit empty. He could call Danny Jane's and just say, "make me another", as his specs were on file. Cole at one time had 6 shafts that were all made to the same specs yet only one suited him.
My taste in cues has evolved.
Cue characteristics of weight and balance is just the beginning. The type and hardness of the tip is Huge. My earliest preference was for a hard Le Pro. The grain in a maple shaft along with the part of the tree its cut from makes a big difference. The taper and dimensions of the shaft makes a big difference. The flex in the shaft coupled with the materials used in the joint and ferrule all combine to give a cue a personality.
Personal preferences are just that. What's good for a person that likes to spin their rock is different than for a center ball centrist. 🤷‍♂️
Different games favor different styles. Straight pool vs 9 ball is a contrasting comparison as 9 ball often calls for much longer trips around the table. Straight pool rewards pin point precision in the cueball resting spot after the shot. So more short precision cueball.
My cue making expert in the 80s was Roger Petit. He made me a 2 piece cue from broken bar cue salvage. A sneaky scalpel. With ivory ferrule and a small red fiber ring at the joint. A Stealth weapon, for sure. I even had a heavier shaft for the oversize cueball that was common back in the day. (That $60 cue earned a lot of money.)
My conversations with Cole brought a pole vault pole analogy. With the flex in the shaft being the character suited to cueball movement. More flex more movement less flex precision movement. 🤷‍♂️
While on a micro scale the various elements from tip hardness to shaft flex along with weight , length and balance gives every cue a unique personality.
Click to expand...
There is a lot to be said about over thinking something. I use my cue to shoot, not to over analyze something regardless of what Cole says.
 
fastone371 said:
There is a lot regardless of what Cole says.
Click to expand...
Well the driver might not need to know what the mechanic knows. He does have to perform by feel though. So knowledge gets a person in the best possible situation. Feel is what it takes to seal the deal. 🤷‍♂️ (well that and ♥)
I always consider the source as older can be wiser or just older and full of shstuff.
Cole provided insights into the life of a Dennis The Menice look alike. I took notice of the things he did well and the times he slipped and fell, as well. 🤷‍♂️ The alcohol was his downfall.
 
The Old Jaybird said:
bottom line is you need a straight cue, with a decent tip....everything beyond that is just being fancy.

I would like to see a video of a guy making a cue from 2 dowels from Home Depot, screwed together with a good tip shooting pool.
Click to expand...
Well you got my wheels turning as I haven't turned on my shopsmith in year or two. Can't remember the longest I could turn on the lathe, might need to be a 3 piece. 🤔
 
VTEC John said:
Just cues, let's leave aside shaft/deflection discussion. I don't mean to commit a sacrilege here, but... If you're playing with, say, a Schmelke with a nice Kamui tip added, I don't see that a more expensive cue is going to help you stroke straighter. As regards other presumed benefits of high end cues (hit?, balance?), on a scale of 1 to 10, how much has an expensive cue improved your runout percentage?
Click to expand...
Absolutely and I would highly recommend it. 7 or 8 out of 10. But not for the reason you might expect.

With an inexpensive cue, I always had an excuse as to why I couldn't go practice. Distractions, other hobbies, whatever. When I laid out real money for a cue, my mind wouldn't allow me to let it just sit there. I HAD to get my money's worth. So I played 10X more than when I had the cheaper cue.

So the cue itself didn't do squat. What the cue represented did 100% of the work. But the end result was precisely what you asked about. Did it make me play better. Unequivocally "Yes." And I highly recommend that everyone buy the most expensive cue that will get them to the practice table :)

-td
 
I've been playing a lot longer than most of you so what I say probably isn't even relevant. Fact is there's a lot of really good cues around today even at the modest price end. When I started playing a lot of players use the old Brunswick Hoppe cues.

My first cue before I got a Hoppe was the Brunswick Masterstroke that amazingly I still have. Those cues in all honesty were like clubs. When I was about 16 years old I had my driver's license and without my parents knowing it I drove from Fort Lauderdale to Tampa to see a guy named George McCorkindale and buy a used Paradise cue at Robertson billiards supply.

That was a funny trip cuz I had no idea how to get to Tampa. I just looked at what looked like the simplest way on the map which was drive all the way to Orlando and then back towards Tampa. I must have went 100 miles out of my way.
Anyway back to the original subject, that cue was like a fine instrument compared to what I was playing with. and yes, it made me a better player. Although Balabushka was around it would be a few years before I would get a Balabushka.

I had to come back and add this, the best cue I've ever played with is one that I built. Although just basically a hobbyist I built cues mostly for people I knew in the area I was a pretty good cue builder. The reason the best cue I ever played with is the one I built, was because I could tinker with it till it was what I really liked. Even at one point removing the wrap and slimming down the butt.

Unfortunately, people just ordering cues even custom-made. They don't have the luxury of making those tiny changes. They're sort of stuck with what they get. As a result they're always on that search for the perfect cue.
My cue, aside from making a new shaft now and then, I have been happily playing with it for decades.
 
Last edited:
I’ve had a cue in my hands playing pool since the summer of 1960. The Hustler (movie) was released the following year.
After that, I became a full time addict. I’ve lived in different cities across the nation after growing up in NYC. And yes,
I played at Ames Billiards on weekends with my stepdad and it was a glorious era for pool on the east coast.

Now along the way, I learned about pool cues. My first cue was a Palmer that I selected at their Elizabeth, N.J. Showroom. I played with that cue for almost 2 decades before I ordered my first custom cue from Bob Runde in 1984.

Years later I played with a Tim Scruggs flat ivory joint pool cue and I found paradise. It is ironic I played with both of those cues for almost the same amount of time until I tried the earlier referred to Scruggs cue. After I played with that Scruggs cue, I knew I had found something different because up ‘til then, I always played with piloted steel 5/16x14 joints and the flat ivory joint cue I tried was nearly 2 ozs. lighter than my Schon cue (20.35 ozs).

I started talking with cue makers, researched the history of cue building, studied the three Blue Book of Cues and
figured something out. Once I solved the puzzle, formed a better understanding of pool cue anatomy, and located some highly talented cue builders, I started ordering and collecting custom built pool cues with closely matching specs.

Since the early 2000’s, I have bought sold, traded over a dozen relatively expensive pool cues. All of them were either piloted or flat ivory joints made by different cue makers like Richard Black, Paul Mottey, Bill Stroud, etc. I discovered that there are subtle and not so subtle differences in how a pool cue is built. But the main thing was what worked best for me.

Now because I like a cue built a specific way does not mean you’d enjoy playing with one of my cues. Everyone is
different. But I learned one thing that has remained common and consistent down thru the years. Most pool players
know crap about how a pool cue is made, nor do they even know what they are playing with other than the brand.

Basically it comes down to weight, cue maker or brand and tip are the main things a majority of pool players might
know about their cue. They have little interest or understanding about how their cues are constructed so when they
encounter a cue that plays different and like the difference, they have little clue figuring out why or how to duplicate it.

The bottomline is this. What you pay for a cue does not guarantee you’d be pleased with it. However, if you take the time to figure out what you prefer in your cue, you can look for a cue with the same specs or order one built. How the cue design is adorned matters very little other than how it might affect the cue weight. As long as a cue meets what you prefer in how the cue was built, you can spend a few hundred dollars and own a cue that plays better than another cue that actually costs a few thousand dollars. Take the time to learn what you like and prefer in a pool cue and why.
 
Last edited:
Sooner32 said:
I believe it's like most things. Cheap sucks and I mean cheap, not inexpensive. Once you get to a certain level of quality, everything else is just personal preference and artwork.

If you are playing with a cheap warped cue with screw on or slip on tips, then yes, a new expensive cue will help your game. If you are playing with a $150 Schmelke and get a $2k or higher custom, you probably won't play substantially better.

I seriously doubt many people believe buying a custom will make them a better player. I suck equally with all my cues and they range from $300 to $2k. I can still name a long list of customs I would buy if I was worth more. Has nothing to do with playing better.

I once bought a drag car. I did not think it made me Don Garlits.
Click to expand...
DITTO
 
i have many cues of all price ranges and quality. and i can pick up any one of them and play the same in just a few minutes or racks.

but i tend to use certain ones depending on where i am just because.

and you get used to one and mentally attached to it and probably play better by a small amount.

there is no magic cue, golf club, tennis racket, ping pong paddle or baseball bat.

its what you find comfortable in your hands that matters. that will mentally make you feel you play better, and sometimes it does help.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top