Just my opinion>>>>No flaming please>>>>
I think jump cues should be banned completely. Not saying you shouldn't be allowed to jump-- I just think you should have to jump with the cue you play with. That would eliminate these 1mm / 1" jump shots you're seeing today (with people getting out from there).
I don't think you are seeing very many of these in serious competition, in fact since you are a betting man, i will bet that since the inception of jump cues you cannot find on tape ten instances of people making a jump shot successfully in competition from less than a chalk's width away. Let's discuss the merits/demerits without sensationalizing the issues.
I think those close-range jump shots are gimmicky. I mentioned in another thread that jump cues are like "Alien Sand Wedges" in golf (the clubs with slots cut through the face to allow sand to travel THROUGH the club face - assuring the golfer gets out of the sand).
They are skilled shots based on practice with a piece of equipment. The wedges you mention don't solve a rule problem as the jump cues do. They solve a skill problem. Why don't you advocate that golf be played with just one club? There is a club called a "sand wedge" is there not?
The USGA made those clubs illegal because it allowed anyone to get out of the bunker easily, with little skill. Jump cues are the same thing, I think. Jump cues do for jumping what the Alien Sand Wedge did for golf. If you can't "blast" over an object ball on your own, with your own cue, with your own ability, it shouldn't be allowed.
Do you mean to say that all cues are created equally. Here is a bet for you. We can both agree that Scotty Townsend is one of the bet players on earth. I will bet you the entire inventory of IPT matches that you possess that I can give Scotty two "normal" cues to use and with both he will play lights out. When he tries to jump however he will do so easily with one and struggle with the other. The "ability" did not change but the equipment did. Because one cue's particular construction lends itself to being more jump-friendly and the other does not. Enter the jump cue and the playing field is NOW even because the cue is engineered specifically for the task and NOW it is superior SKILL which triumphs.
I'm 100% for jump shots... just without "special" equipment to do it. The funny thing is A LOT of the people who use jump cues prob could never jump without the help of phenolic (which is a shame, because there is a certain method to jump with regular equipment - it just takes excellent form, speed and timing).
And a cue that has properties suited to the jump shot. See above.
Phenolic has changed a lot of things - and I'm not sure if helps the integrity of how the sport should be played... which is prob why the IPT made phenolic break cues illegal (hate to bring THEM up as an example, but it helps ANYONE throw a hard knuckle-ball to the rack).
So did the leather tip. Should we ban that as well? How should the sport "be played"? If as you say the break cues help ANYONE to break harder then it follows that the people who have the hardest breaks still prevail. It's pretty democratic when it applies to everyone equally. And just so you know leather can be treated to have a hardness that is equal to most phenolics.
I'm interesting in hearing the "pros" of the jump cues (also phenolic). I'm so confused why they're allowed, I'm really interested in hearing other's opinions. I might hear something I haven't considered before. Your thoughts?