LMFAO, this is so funny. So, to play safe now, we have to leave the object ball behind another ball? That's freaking hilarious. How about we get rid of the short stick and see if you can jump with a full length cue, the way the REAL players can? If you don't have the 40" jump rod, you can't pull off those pogo stick jump shots to save you. Efren Reyes used to win a lot. There used to be a lot of repetitive names in the winner's circle at tournaments. Then, the Bunjee jumper came out. Then the AirTime, and then the Air. Kicking as an art is all but gone. When players are hooked, 90%+ of the time I see them go for the short stick. I would hazzard a guess that you would see certain names at the top 5 in the world on a routine basis if the jump stick happened to disappear.
The problem is there is too much financial motivation to keep the jump cue around. Pure and simple, it's about money. I wish they'd realize there is a correlation between jump cues and cueballs bouncing off the table. Maybe someone could present these findings to the BCAPL and get the jump cue banned as well. Oh, that would be a happy day - I could actually earn BIH for a well played safety again instead of seeing Mini Me bail out yet another hack who doesn't need to learn how to kick multiple rails.
You know Shawn you are a very smart guy, you make cues or repair them, in any case you know a lot about cues.
So I will ask you this question? Is it possible that you can give Earl Strickland two cues "off the rack" and with one of them he will be able to jump balls as he is known for and with the other one he will struggle to be able to make even half the jump shots he normally would?
The jump cue was INVENTED by Pat Fleming who IS a "real player". It was popularized by Sammy Jones, who is a "real player". Meucci even put out a video with Sammy showing off the jump cue and what he could do with it.
As to the tired, really really really tired, red herring of an argument that jumping replaces kicking can you explain then why there are now more books and dvds on kicking systems than ever before in the history of the game? There are even posters to hang in pool rooms explaining the diamond system, which makes it EASY to kick one, two, three, and four rails. Why are there so many books and dvds on kicking but none devoted to jumping if jumping has replaced kicking.
The FACT of the matter is that experienced players who play under TODAY'S conditions use every available tool that they can to make a good shot and get the result that they want.
This means that when they are faced with a shot they decide what is the best means to shoot it, be it a jump shot or a kick shot. And REAL players will have mastered both and be adept at figuring out their own success rate with either.
I find it truly hilarious that the argument against jump cues so very often centers around the idea that it makes the game easier for bangers and that just pisses off the self-styled good players and purists here. Do you get just as pissed off when a banger WITHOUT a jump cue lucks in a three rail kick shot? You know it happens, you have seen it happen, you have had it happen to you. If I am playing a banger I know that whatever they do with a jump cue is going to be low-percentage. So in my opinion I hope they try to jump everything. Of course I am the kind of person that will very often take the banger aside and TEACH them how to use the jump cue properly.
Why you would want to take away a functional tool that was invented by better players than yourself in order to fill a need that they saw in the rules is beyond me. You might be the kind of person who would have sought to ban the leather tip when Captain Mignaud brought it out because it made the game easier for bangers, completely ignoring how it made the game so much deeper for REAL PLAYERS.