That's how it was in the test Robin and his partners did. But I wouldn't bet a quarter on any particular cue getting the most votes for "best hitting" in any series of identical blind tests. I think that it would be different brands.
The thing that is relevant to the thread is that people thought the best hitting cue had a stainless steel joint when it was in fact a Scruggs sneaky.
Also players could not even recognize their OWN cues nor cues made by the brand that sponsored them.
And these were the best players at the time.
+1
When you're right...
On a related note of the even bigger picture:
I thought we all understood loooooong ago that it is pointless to even
discuss which cue "hits" or "plays" better.
This is such a personal, and subjective opinion there is no right answer.
Other than, the cue YOU think plays best, does play best, for YOU.
But, only for you. Conversely, it doesn't matter if fifty top players and
fifty C and D players think fifty different cues play better than the one
you prefer - it is still the best cue for you.
Now to try to extend a meaningless argument to a whole class of
construction style for cues, is well...
FWIW - IMHO anyone who still thinks there is some kind of holy grail
of cue playability - just hasn't hit balls with enough different cues yet.
Dale(who thinks he should start insisting that true butterfly SPLICE cues
are the only ones worth a dime)