I
instroke
Guest
Folks I just want to give you a short history of my experience with jumping and jump cues.
Before I started making and selling jump cues I never thought much about jumping with or without jump cues. I had practiced jumping and became fairly proficient but nowhere near Earl-like. I had seen the rise of the jump rods, had played around with shaft jumping a little bit but had never really gotten into it. Even after the precursors to today's jump cues became popular I just didn't pay them much attention.
I used to bring about five or six jump cues to the BCA/VNEA for a friend who made them as a favor to him. I didn't own one and didn't use one. If someone asked how they jumped I would just hand them the cue and tell them to go try it out, $150 if they wanted it.
I got the idea to sell jump cues after I happened to catch the end of Tom Rossman's exhibition one day at in Vegas in 1997. He did about a five minute jump shot show using the Happy Hopper and then reached under the table and pulled out a bag full of them and sold at least ten of them in five more minutes for $230 each. So I walked away thinking that the cues I had were at least as good in the performance and were a lot nicer cue for $150. I figured that we could do well if I could get the retail price below $100.
So I made arrangements to have the Bunjee manufactured and I started to think about jumping more intensively. The first thing I did was start to practice with the jump cue. I quickly found out that it wasn't quite as easy as Tom Rossman made it look. It took me a few days of intense practice to start feeling really comfortable and get some consistency. The next thing I decided to do was to come up with a routine to show the jump shot in a variety of situations. I developed a series of shots to show short jumps, long jumps, jump-kicks, jump-banks, and most importantly jump shots with position using draw, follow and sidespin. I developed shots that showed jumping into and out of clusters, jump-masse' shots and just about any type of shot imaginable. Lastly, as a room owner at the time we started messing with jump cues I was concerned about the cloth but after doing several thousand jump shots on my own Simonis I was convinced that no permanent harm was being done to the table. Subsequently as part of my exhibition I would drive the tip of the cue into the cloth violently at the same angle as I was using for the jump shots to show that the cue could not harm the table. I know that some of you have seen me do this.
So in 1998 we showed up at the BCA show with a new jump cue and a new way to show and sell them. We drew great crowds and showed them that with the Bunjee and practice they could actually jump with precision. One thing that quickly became apparent however was that many people just didn't have the stroke to hit the cueball correctly to make it jump another ball. So we did a lot of teaching and correcting to get them to the point where they could practice correctly. I was overwhelmed with the amount of people who were ecstatic about adding this dimension to their game.
I am the kind of person who thinks deeply about whatever I am involved with. So with jump cues I had to understand the mechanics of the jump shot and to try and discover what really happens on the shot. To this end I made a video to showcase the shots and to see the results for analysis. What I discovered is that the cuetip does not even touch the cloth. I also discovered that the jump is produced through a replacement of the cueball by the cuetip. So the videos served to help me to understand the dynamics of the shot and the accuracy required for success.
Through this I have developed a healthy respect for the jump shot with and without a jump cue. Jumping a full ball is a skilled shot with any cue and particularly so when done with a cue not suited to jumping. The player must work extremely hard to make the shot work with a full cue. Thus my philosophy about jump cues has become one of treating them as a tool to showcase and enhance good jumping ability. They take a part of the game that was mysterious and make it available to all players. My opinion is that jump cues ARE the cuetips of this era. Just like cuetips they add a plethora of shots to the game for anyone willing and able to learn and execute them.
Shawn Putnam, Larry Nevel, Chris McDaniel, Dino Devoe, Jon Kucharo and many many others are able to do things with the jump cue that I can only dream about. I am able to do things that other people only dream about. Some people just cannot learn to jump with or without a jump cue. Others have trouble with other aspects of the game. The point is that I speak on this subject as one who has delved deep into the jump shot as well as the concept of the jump cue. I have been fortunate enough through my business to have been able to spend dozens of hours with pro and semi-pro players practicing jump shots and gathering their opinions about them. Overwhelmingly the one thing that is consistent is that they want to have every possible shot at winning and if the jump cue offers that legally then they want one. Most of the pros I know say that they would adapt if the jump cue is banned but as long as they are not then they will use them.
So, in conclusion I want to say that while my opinions are painted with the reality of having been financially tied to jump cues they are still honest beliefs developed through genuine study and experience with the jump shot, jump cues and thousands of players.
John Barton
Former owner of Instroke/Bunjee
Before I started making and selling jump cues I never thought much about jumping with or without jump cues. I had practiced jumping and became fairly proficient but nowhere near Earl-like. I had seen the rise of the jump rods, had played around with shaft jumping a little bit but had never really gotten into it. Even after the precursors to today's jump cues became popular I just didn't pay them much attention.
I used to bring about five or six jump cues to the BCA/VNEA for a friend who made them as a favor to him. I didn't own one and didn't use one. If someone asked how they jumped I would just hand them the cue and tell them to go try it out, $150 if they wanted it.
I got the idea to sell jump cues after I happened to catch the end of Tom Rossman's exhibition one day at in Vegas in 1997. He did about a five minute jump shot show using the Happy Hopper and then reached under the table and pulled out a bag full of them and sold at least ten of them in five more minutes for $230 each. So I walked away thinking that the cues I had were at least as good in the performance and were a lot nicer cue for $150. I figured that we could do well if I could get the retail price below $100.
So I made arrangements to have the Bunjee manufactured and I started to think about jumping more intensively. The first thing I did was start to practice with the jump cue. I quickly found out that it wasn't quite as easy as Tom Rossman made it look. It took me a few days of intense practice to start feeling really comfortable and get some consistency. The next thing I decided to do was to come up with a routine to show the jump shot in a variety of situations. I developed a series of shots to show short jumps, long jumps, jump-kicks, jump-banks, and most importantly jump shots with position using draw, follow and sidespin. I developed shots that showed jumping into and out of clusters, jump-masse' shots and just about any type of shot imaginable. Lastly, as a room owner at the time we started messing with jump cues I was concerned about the cloth but after doing several thousand jump shots on my own Simonis I was convinced that no permanent harm was being done to the table. Subsequently as part of my exhibition I would drive the tip of the cue into the cloth violently at the same angle as I was using for the jump shots to show that the cue could not harm the table. I know that some of you have seen me do this.
So in 1998 we showed up at the BCA show with a new jump cue and a new way to show and sell them. We drew great crowds and showed them that with the Bunjee and practice they could actually jump with precision. One thing that quickly became apparent however was that many people just didn't have the stroke to hit the cueball correctly to make it jump another ball. So we did a lot of teaching and correcting to get them to the point where they could practice correctly. I was overwhelmed with the amount of people who were ecstatic about adding this dimension to their game.
I am the kind of person who thinks deeply about whatever I am involved with. So with jump cues I had to understand the mechanics of the jump shot and to try and discover what really happens on the shot. To this end I made a video to showcase the shots and to see the results for analysis. What I discovered is that the cuetip does not even touch the cloth. I also discovered that the jump is produced through a replacement of the cueball by the cuetip. So the videos served to help me to understand the dynamics of the shot and the accuracy required for success.
Through this I have developed a healthy respect for the jump shot with and without a jump cue. Jumping a full ball is a skilled shot with any cue and particularly so when done with a cue not suited to jumping. The player must work extremely hard to make the shot work with a full cue. Thus my philosophy about jump cues has become one of treating them as a tool to showcase and enhance good jumping ability. They take a part of the game that was mysterious and make it available to all players. My opinion is that jump cues ARE the cuetips of this era. Just like cuetips they add a plethora of shots to the game for anyone willing and able to learn and execute them.
Shawn Putnam, Larry Nevel, Chris McDaniel, Dino Devoe, Jon Kucharo and many many others are able to do things with the jump cue that I can only dream about. I am able to do things that other people only dream about. Some people just cannot learn to jump with or without a jump cue. Others have trouble with other aspects of the game. The point is that I speak on this subject as one who has delved deep into the jump shot as well as the concept of the jump cue. I have been fortunate enough through my business to have been able to spend dozens of hours with pro and semi-pro players practicing jump shots and gathering their opinions about them. Overwhelmingly the one thing that is consistent is that they want to have every possible shot at winning and if the jump cue offers that legally then they want one. Most of the pros I know say that they would adapt if the jump cue is banned but as long as they are not then they will use them.
So, in conclusion I want to say that while my opinions are painted with the reality of having been financially tied to jump cues they are still honest beliefs developed through genuine study and experience with the jump shot, jump cues and thousands of players.
John Barton
Former owner of Instroke/Bunjee
