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

Going from a low end cue to a high end cue didn’t make much difference. Going to the right high end cue did.
Not a big difference in shot making, but a big difference in position play. Feel, feedback, and touch, all improved with the right cue.
 
gregcantrall said:
It's all in your head, Fred! 🤷‍♂️
Vanity cues are just that. 🤷‍♂️
Working cues come in various uh visual impact. The tip to ball impact is what counts.
The cue to hand feel is what can seal the deal. Feeling how long the tip to ball contact lasts is very enlightening.
My preference (now) is to a Stealth cue. $70 and 3 piece with phenolic tip minimal ferrule and wood to wood joints. A stiff shaft with a snooker cue like taper to 12 mm.
Marketed as a jump/break cue.
Looks like a bar cue performs like a Balabushca. A Wallabushca for sure. 🤷‍♂️ 😉
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🎯
 
Bob Jewett said:
Well, yes, but some of the members here change cue sticks as often as they change their underwear, so they have no long run.

Nearly all of the playing quality of the cue is in the shaft. Some very high-end cues I've tried have lousy shafts -- for me.

Some cues off the wall play better -- for me -- than most high end cues. Sorry, guys, a joint in a cue is inherently a defect; the best joints play as if no joint is there.
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had a chance to hit some balls with an old one-piece Meucci stick....eye-opening...like a chunk of re-bar. Not a pro taper, shaft was "fat" probably 13+ at the tip. but it was solid as hell, really, really solid.
 
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?
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What's a run out?? 😉
 
Bob Jewett said:
Well, yes, but some of the members here change cue sticks as often as they change their underwear, so they have no long run.

Nearly all of the playing quality of the cue is in the shaft. Some very high-end cues I've tried have lousy shafts -- for me.

Some cues off the wall play better -- for me -- than most high end cues. Sorry, guys, a joint in a cue is inherently a defect; the best joints play as if no joint is there.
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You heard it here fellas!!
Truth be spoke.
There's something to be said for the new cue syndrome.
Mostly placebo effect, but many players seem to play a wee bit better for a short period with a new cue in their paws.
 
Bob Jewett said:
So, you reject the testing that John McChesney did back in the 90s? I don't.
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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.
 
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On the left is the steak and potatoes. The Right is the junk yard dog version of a precision instrument with stainless joint and ivory ferrule.
I still lust over a Bill Stroud Joss with ivory joint and ferrule. Oh it had such a feel. The skills and knowledge made them worth the price 16 to 28 hundred was the cues I saw and hit a ball or 2 with. 🤷‍♂️ .Mine was 200 from Cole a Joss East.
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