Have you Ever Experience Immediate Impovement From a New Cue?

T

TheBook

Ret Professional Goof Off
Silver Member
There is a lot of hoopla written about getting a new custom cue and it plays lights outs, hits a ton, ran racks and yada Ada yada. I feel most of this is really a bunch of hype and BS from someone trying to either justify buying it or trying to set up for a future sale.

I have never played against anyone that said that the reason that they were finally able to beat me was because they got a new cue but there were numerous (some that I have never played before) say that the reason that they lost was because they just got a new cue and they are not use to it????

Has anyone truthfully had immediate improvement just because of a cue? Other than using a house or some cheap complete POS. Has your skill or game gone up a notch from just playing with a "better" cue from a big name cue maker? Such as going from a "B' player to a "B+" just because you got a new cue and nothing else.
 
TheBook said:
There is a lot of hoopla written about getting a new custom cue and it plays lights outs, hits a ton, ran racks and yada Ada yada. I feel most of this is really a bunch of hype and BS from someone trying to either justify buying it or trying to set up for a future sale.

I have never played against anyone that said that the reason that they were finally able to beat me was because they got a new cue but there were numerous (some that I have never played before) say that the reason that they lost was because they just got a new cue and they are not use to it????

Has anyone truthfully had immediate improvement just because of a cue? Other than using a house or some cheap complete POS. Has your skill or game gone up a notch from just playing with a "better" cue from a big name cue maker? Such as going from a "B' player to a "B+" just because you got a new cue and nothing else.
Click to expand...
I have had the experience of playing with a new cue and my game immediately improved. I call it the honey moon stage. I wouldn't say my skill has gone up from it but I was definetly more comfortable with it. Lots of times that is half the battle.

BVal
 
TheBook said:
There is a lot of hoopla written about getting a new custom cue and it plays lights outs, hits a ton, ran racks and yada Ada yada. I feel most of this is really a bunch of hype and BS from someone trying to either justify buying it or trying to set up for a future sale.

I have never played against anyone that said that the reason that they were finally able to beat me was because they got a new cue but there were numerous (some that I have never played before) say that the reason that they lost was because they just got a new cue and they are not use to it????

Has anyone truthfully had immediate improvement just because of a cue? Other than using a house or some cheap complete POS. Has your skill or game gone up a notch from just playing with a "better" cue from a big name cue maker? Such as going from a "B' player to a "B+" just because you got a new cue and nothing else.
Click to expand...

it happens to me from time to time. sometimes it's just because i'm more careful about what i'm doing because i don't want to try any fancy cb stuff.

i've actually found a cue that makes playing a lot easier for me. one of these days i'll have to measure it and try to have it duplicated. a guy that i know locally only plays with house cues. one day he borrowed someone's cue (low end lucasi or fury) to play and he couldn't miss a ball
 
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I bought a Pete Ohman (Omen Cues) quite a while back. Tulipwood, leather, ringwork, nothing fancy. I've actually sold it twice and chased it down to buy it back. It's like a relative or something. We've had so much history together, we're family. I guess when I have to go three rails with inside English, she just knows me. She completes me. I gotta go call her.
 
TheBook said:
There is a lot of hoopla written about getting a new custom cue and it plays lights outs, hits a ton, ran racks and yada Ada yada. I feel most of this is really a bunch of hype and BS from someone trying to either justify buying it or trying to set up for a future sale.

I have never played against anyone that said that the reason that they were finally able to beat me was because they got a new cue but there were numerous (some that I have never played before) say that the reason that they lost was because they just got a new cue and they are not use to it????

Has anyone truthfully had immediate improvement just because of a cue? Other than using a house or some cheap complete POS. Has your skill or game gone up a notch from just playing with a "better" cue from a big name cue maker? Such as going from a "B' player to a "B+" just because you got a new cue and nothing else.
Click to expand...

Yes, but it never lasts. Kind of like the guy who is always coming up to you in the pool room saying, "I just figured out what I was doing wrong". Their discovery never seems to last more then a day.
 
crawfish said:
I bought a Pete Ohman (Omen Cues) quite a while back. Tulipwood, leather, ringwork, nothing fancy. I've actually sold it twice and chased it down to buy it back. It's like a relative or something. We've had so much history together, we're family. I guess when I have to go three rails with inside English, she just knows me. She completes me. I gotta go call her.
Click to expand...

reading this made me miss my petree
 
Lambros

I have a friend who has a Lambros cue. I never believed the hype about his "ultra joint" untill I hit some balls with that cue. The joint was probably not the real reason the cue felt so good but there is something about that particular cue that felt right. The cue is for sale but because the points have no veneers I didn't buy the cue.

Kevin
 
Kevin Lindstrom said:
I have a friend who has a Lambros cue. I never believed the hype about his "ultra joint" untill I hit some balls with that cue. The joint was probably not the real reason the cue felt so good but there is something about that particular cue that felt right. The cue is for sale but because the points have no veneers I didn't buy the cue.

Kevin
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if it played that well i don't think i'd care if it had veneers or not
 
I could see where it could.....let's say a cue was handed down to you....it's a good cue, got a 13mm tip, weighs about 20 ounces with a wood-wood joint.....well, you learn to play with it and you get good enough, it's all you ever known other than crooked house cues....

You borrow a friends cue a few years later.....it has a 12mm different tip, weighs 18 ounces with a steel joint......I guess it's possible that if you had small hands and the cue weight was more to your liking, along with a better tip, that you could improve quickly???
 
YES!!!

Tried an experimental cue for about an hour 18 months ago that was only 14oz and for some reason I played exceptionally well. It bothered me for about a year. Finally I called the cue maker and told him I was interested in a similar cue. He said he had made one for himself and would send it right out for me to play with for a month or so to see what I think. I got the same results. Better hits, better speed control, better English control, more English... He offered to sell it to me but I felt guilty about taking his cue away from him. He's now making a couple more for me to pick from. Additionally one of the cues will be made as a standard cue the other will utilize the same construction as the one I like. His idea is to see if I can tell the difference. Kinda neat. For me the experiment will help me and him to tell if I'm full of crap and just kidding myself or not. I'll don't expect to get these for a few months. When I do I'll feel forced to post the results.

Good question. I think for the most part it's the Honeymoon effect mentioned earlier. We all know that what's swimming in our heads has a huge effect on our game.
 
YES!!!

Tried an experimental cue for about an hour 18 months ago that was only 14oz and for some reason I played exceptionally well. It bothered me for about a year. Finally I called the cue maker and told him I was interested in a similar cue. He said he had made one for himself and would send it right out for me to play with for a month or so to see what I think. I got the same results. Better hits, better speed control, better English control, more English... He offered to sell it to me but I felt guilty about taking his cue away from him. He's now making a couple more for me to pick from. Additionally one of the cues will be made as a standard cue the other will utilize the same construction as the one I like. His idea is to see if I can tell the difference. Kinda neat. For me the experiment will help me and him to tell if I'm full of crap and just kidding myself or not. I'll don't expect to get these for a few months. When I do I'll feel forced to post the results.

Good question. I think for the most part it's the Honeymoon effect mentioned earlier. We all know that what's swimming in our heads has a huge effect on our game.
 
Yeah we used to call this the "trick of the day" in shooting.

It was when you tried someone else's gun or load or some tidbit of advice and ALL OF THE SUDDEN you shot better.

The problem is it fades and you end up chasing it, always seeking something new, and losing out on the consistency you gain from really knowing your own equipment.

The short term "honeymoon period" is largely from renewed focus, and changing where your focus is, a freshening of things.

I've also experienced this sort of thing when I take a long time off and go hit some "just for fun" and end up playing GREAT!! I relax and just enjoy and focus on the puzzle.
 
I have also experienced a similar phenomenon. Some cues you pick up and they just feel 'right' before you ever hit a ball with them...others not so much. As has been stated previously, a cue that instills confidence while playing is really half the battle, with regards to the mental side of the game.

When a cue feels so good in the hand that you do not notice it...it frees up the mind for the more important aspects of the game, such as focus and concentration.

Lisa
 
Yes, for sure... it is exactly the same syndrom when you change of girlfriend. Unfortunately the improvement never lasts long...

Morality: always take your cue/girlfriend as it was the first time.:D
 
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I can honestly say I have. I have owned several hundred cues and even the one I played with prior to my current cue took me over a year to truly get adjusted to. I've tried virtually every cue that I've flipped in the last eight years, and have found some with much better hits than others, but honestly nothing that I could say had any dramatic impact on my game.

I had a couple that were initially great cues and I would play much better for a week or so (like Brady mentioned "the honeymoon stage"), but then my old game would return, maybe a little worse for wear. I know with guns, which I also collect, you go through the same phenomena because you concentrate a little more. You don't have that comfort zone with the new cue/gun, so you tend to pay more attention to the basics.

Then, after a long search, Steve Klein made me a cue that feels like a part of my body. It's a Bushka tribute that Steve went to great lengths to duplicate (only changing MOP inlays to abalone). When I first got the cue from Steve, I noticed that he'd changed the ferrule material from ivory to LBM (I gave Steve the basic idea for the cue and let him fly with his ideas). I asked him about it and he said that Balabushka had also had an option for phenolic or linen melamine ferrules and that he believed I'd like the hit better than the ivory, and said that it would be a stronger material.

Well, I don't know if it was the ferrule or the straight grained maple forearm, the balance, the taper, or maybe just the pride of ownership and the "new fit", but I seemed to have immediately picked up several balls and have reached a new plateau in my game. It could be the confidence that the stick has given me with the feel and feedback to my hands, but I just seem to play like I know what the balls will do when struck. This has lasted a year or better, so I don't think it's a flash in the pan!

I'm a consumate flipper and have been offered some really decent money for the cue. I have no plans of letting this one go, no matter what the offer is. For quite awhile, I would change cues to play in barbox tournaments, so as not to ding the cue. I wouldn't play nearly the same game when I would change sticks, so I've just decided to use the Klein no matter where I play.

I've heard the old adage about the Indian and the Arrow for years, but I think the Indian would have shot a lot better with a matched weight balanced carbon fiber arrow, if he'd have had the option!

Steve
 

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Hunter said:
I can honestly say I have. I have owned several hundred cues and even the one I played with prior to my current cue took me over a year to truly get adjusted to. I've tried virtually every cue that I've flipped in the last eight years, and have found some with much better hits than others, but honestly nothing that I could say had any dramatic impact on my game.

I had a couple that were initially great cues and I would play much better for a week or so (like Brady mentioned "the honeymoon stage"), but then my old game would return, maybe a little worse for wear. I know with guns, which I also collect, you go through the same phenomena because you concentrate a little more. You don't have that comfort zone with the new cue/gun, so you tend to pay more attention to the basics.

Then, after a long search, Steve Klein made me a cue that feels like a part of my body. It's a Bushka tribute that Steve went to great lengths to duplicate (only changing MOP inlays to abalone). When I first got the cue from Steve, I noticed that he'd changed the ferrule material from ivory to LBM (I gave Steve the basic idea for the cue and let him fly with his ideas). I asked him about it and he said that Balabushka had also had an option for phenolic or linen melamine ferrules and that he believed I'd like the hit better than the ivory, and said that it would be a stronger material.

Well, I don't know if it was the ferrule or the straight grained maple forearm, the balance, the taper, or maybe just the pride of ownership and the "new fit", but I seemed to have immediately picked up several balls and have reached a new plateau in my game. It could be the confidence that the stick has given me with the feel and feedback to my hands, but I just seem to play like I know what the balls will do when struck. This has lasted a year or better, so I don't think it's a flash in the pan!

I'm a consumate flipper and have been offered some really decent money for the cue. I have no plans of letting this one go, no matter what the offer is. For quite awhile, I would change cues to play in barbox tournaments, so as not to ding the cue. I wouldn't play nearly the same game when I would change sticks, so I've just decided to use the Klein no matter where I play.

I've heard the old adage about the Indian and the Arrow for years, but I think the Indian would have shot a lot better with a matched weight balanced carbon fiber arrow, if he'd have had the option!

Steve
Click to expand...

Kind sir, my I please have that cue?



It just never hurts to ask.
 
Yes, every time I buy a cue. Usually only lasts a few days, though. Soon as I became comfortable with my Joss East custom or my first Southwest, I played jam up with both. I played well with most cues I've owned, I think it's the caution of not wanting to do something wrong with a new cue that causes the initial improvement, then after a while I go back to playing as usual until I get more used to it.
 
Hunter said:
I can honestly say I have. I have owned several hundred cues and even the one I played with prior to my current cue took me over a year to truly get adjusted to. I've tried virtually every cue that I've flipped in the last eight years, and have found some with much better hits than others, but honestly nothing that I could say had any dramatic impact on my game.

I had a couple that were initially great cues and I would play much better for a week or so (like Brady mentioned "the honeymoon stage"), but then my old game would return, maybe a little worse for wear. I know with guns, which I also collect, you go through the same phenomena because you concentrate a little more. You don't have that comfort zone with the new cue/gun, so you tend to pay more attention to the basics.

Then, after a long search, Steve Klein made me a cue that feels like a part of my body. It's a Bushka tribute that Steve went to great lengths to duplicate (only changing MOP inlays to abalone). When I first got the cue from Steve, I noticed that he'd changed the ferrule material from ivory to LBM (I gave Steve the basic idea for the cue and let him fly with his ideas). I asked him about it and he said that Balabushka had also had an option for phenolic or linen melamine ferrules and that he believed I'd like the hit better than the ivory, and said that it would be a stronger material.

Well, I don't know if it was the ferrule or the straight grained maple forearm, the balance, the taper, or maybe just the pride of ownership and the "new fit", but I seemed to have immediately picked up several balls and have reached a new plateau in my game. It could be the confidence that the stick has given me with the feel and feedback to my hands, but I just seem to play like I know what the balls will do when struck. This has lasted a year or better, so I don't think it's a flash in the pan!

I'm a consumate flipper and have been offered some really decent money for the cue. I have no plans of letting this one go, no matter what the offer is. For quite awhile, I would change cues to play in barbox tournaments, so as not to ding the cue. I wouldn't play nearly the same game when I would change sticks, so I've just decided to use the Klein no matter where I play.

I've heard the old adage about the Indian and the Arrow for years, but I think the Indian would have shot a lot better with a matched weight balanced carbon fiber arrow, if he'd have had the option!

Steve
Click to expand...


Steve is the man.

I've had a few cues that I just picked up and immediately liked "out of the gate".

I've had a few Schon's like that, a Southwest, and I noticed "immediate" improvement the first time I used a Predator shaft, oh so many years ago.

So now, I just like a Predator on anything....just my .02.
 
BVal said:
I have had the experience of playing with a new cue and my game immediately improved. I call it the honey moon stage. I wouldn't say my skill has gone up from it but I was definetly more comfortable with it. Lots of times that is half the battle.

BVal
Click to expand...
For me, it doesn't even have to be a new cue. Whenever I get the tip replaced and the shaft cleaned, for some reason I start shooting the lights out for the next few days that I play.

Then the honeymoon wears off and I'm back to normal. :mad:
 
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Absolutely. It's happened with a couple of cues, the last one being the John Davis cue in my avitar which I've played for the last couple of years. I believe the reverse is true also, you can drop a ball or two with the wrong cue. Maybe it's comfort, or feel, or confidence, or whatever, but when you find it you just know it's the one.
:p
 
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