Is there magic in the cue? A cue that played amazing Could be anything

[Cornerman]

Years ago, there was a guy in my hometown poolroom that fitted a good shaft on one of those cheap, gaudy Budweiser cues. He made it mostly for hustling in bars. One day I was playing in a ring game with him and he was using that cue and not missing anything...winning all the money. When he went to the restroom, I hit some with that cue on the next table. Played great, as well as my expensive custom cue.

On the flip side, one time I was trying to get use to my first low deflection shaft. I was using it on my full splice Tasc. While it felt solid and it seemed to improve my shot making, my whole game went down a notch or two. I couldn't put my finger on the reason why because the shaft felt great to play with. Finally, I got tired of losing and switched back to my regular shaft. It was like someone flipped a switch and I immediately started playing significantly better. Sold that LD shaft and haven't tried once since.

Position play most likely went into the toilet. And position play is every bit as important as shotmaking.

 

[straightline]

So "magic" just means "I don't get it"? Guess that's as good as any definition.

pj
chgo

Sagan surmised it would be indistinguishable from advanced tech - actually vice versa but same thing. Ignorance is infinite.

 

[stevelomako]

I rarely disagree with you…but I’m adamant on this one. There were three Szambotis for sale around Blue Ash OH…this one wasn’t.
Joey had sold it when he got sick. I had to have it…I kept driving over till I caught him broke and weak.
My snooker cue was the same way…….I could do things I couldn’t do with other cues.

I also had a two wood that could go thirty yards farther than any driver I’d ever owned.
A putter put Lee Trevino in the HOF.

On the flip side of this

There was a nice Szamboti that passed 10 hands in less than a year around Detroit. Late 70’s time frame.

No one made money on it and I think a couple of people lost a little selling it.


No one could play any good with it.

Really strange.

 

[poolnut7879]

Yeah but that feeling is usually fairly brief. Its like getting a new putter, you putt lights-out for a while but that new putter(or cue) magic doesn't last.

Kind of like a new girlfriend.

 

[straightline]

On the flip side of this

There was a nice Szamboti that passed 10 hands in less than a year around Detroit. Late 70’s time frame.

No one made money on it and I think a couple of people lost a little selling it.


No one could play any good with it.

Really strange.

so like bad juju?

 

[slide13]

Yes, some things have that extra something that speak and connect with certain people. This is as true with certain musical instruments as it is with cues, although it's hard to define, it's real.

I heard Chohan in a podcast from a year or so ago, where the host was asking him about how amazing his game had been during a particular stretch. He responded by saying something like, the SW cue I was using at the time allowed me to do anything, etc.

Start about the 3 minute mark on this video for an example till the 8th minute mark.

Wood is a living thing, and it's not all equal. Sometimes you come across a guitar, cue, shaft, etc. where it calls to you, and yes, it seems magical.

Love when my two hobby worlds cross paths, haha. Danish Pete and his purple Tele are great!

There is definitely something to finding that instrument or cue that just speaks to you, that just feels right in your hands, and that lets you do what you want to do in the most effortless way possible. Is that magic? I don’t know, maybe.

On the flip side, I think there can be magic that is not inherent to the object itself but I’m the experience ones had with the object.