Not sure which is your favorite cue?
- Thread starter ddg45
- Start date
I know more than a few players who think their new gear will be their savior. My main playing partner, who I have been beating like a drum lately, insists the tide will turn when he gets his "new equipment." He's having a custom cue made by Phillippi.
It's not going to change a darn thing, but he'll find out! (-:
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In any case, I’ve been playing with a Cuetec at my pool hall and a Whyte Carbon at home. I like both cues a lot, but neither felt like “it.”
I don’t entirely know what “it” would feel like, but I actually have a wood cue that is my noncarbon “it.”
A Players cue. The first good cue I owned. Plays great, feels good in my hand, and makes the absolutely most pleasing crack when I hit a ball. No other cue I’ve tried has matched it, even more expensive wood shafts.
I mainly play with carbon now, though, but the search goes on. I just picked up a Revo, a Lucasi Infuzed used by Oscar Dominguez, and a Luna Nera Sparkle that’s part of the Neils Feijin line.
I played with each for an hour or so doing Burt Kinister’s Six Pointed Star drill. I’ve been doing this drill for the past month.
Did any of my three new shafts turn hay into gold? Nope.
They all played pretty close to the same. The shots in the drill I make with ease, I made with ease with all three shafts. The shots that give me trouble, I had trouble with all three shafts.
Definitely not the arrow!
What did I notice most? I realize I don’t like Kamui Black soft tips. My Luna Nera has one. The last Kamui Black I had, on my Whyte, flaked off in layers.
I much prefer Kamui’s Brown soft tip, however. Took chalk better than the Black and just felt nice.
What else?
The Luna Nera Sparkle is a beautiful cue and butt that actually seems worth the money to me (about $800 new). Just first class all around, and maybe the best or second best extension setup after the Cuetec Duo. Felt great in my hand.
Even with the Kamui black, the Luna Nera seemed to move the ball more effortlessly than my other cues. Not by much, though. The Revo was very close.
The Revo surprised me. I’ve heard a lot about it not sounding all that natural. Sounded almost the same as the other carbon shafts I have used. Not unpleasing at all.
The Lucasi Infuzed seemed a bit “heavier” in my hand, but it performed just as well as the Revo and Luna Nera. I liked the “feedback” as well.
The Lucasi sounded a bit more like wood, as advertised, but not enough to be a difference maker.
I noticed several other things.
I missed some inside spin shots off the rail with the new shafts because each had slight variations in deflection relative to my Cuetec and Whyte shafts that I am used to. That’s one reason why I plan to settle on just one cue and get two of them.
I also realize I like slightly less heavy cues. I’ve been playing with 19 oz or 19.5 oz cues. My new shaft and butts are 18 oz to 18.5 oz.
I feel like I have better control over a lighter cue and, oddly, more power.
Finally, I got the sense my new shafts all moved the ball a bit easier than my Cuetec and Whyte. An illusion.
After I did my drills, I retrieved my Cuetec and it performed just as well as the other shafts.
Having a "favorite" cue can be as much of a metal boost as an actual physical one, which can mean more wins. Confidence, relaxation, a good mood, are all seeds of success, not just how a cue performs with deflection or cueball action. I have maybe 3-4 shafts that I am very comfortable playing with, and a few butts that I can swap around that I like, but there is maybe 2 butts and 2 shafts that I know I want to use if getting a win is important. I have league playoffs tonight, I know the combination I am going to use for that match. Yesterday I was playing with someone new to our pool hall, just getting to know them and seeing how they play, I was using a cue that I use maybe 4 times a year at that time, for the fun of it.
Ha ha, If I sold cues based on which one I felt was good or bad, they would have to put me in the E ward as after selling one, if I was struggling with a cue I had some day, I would always be wishing I hadn't sold that cue so that I could try and shoot with it again. I do have one cue I actually am considering selling, but only because I don't want to buy another shaft for it as its pin is different than the two main cues I most use. It's an incredible cue, a DZ, shoots great, but I like all my shafts to be the same, so I don't use it. Every once in a while, I do pick it off the rack to shoot a practice game with though. I don't need the money, so it just sits in the rack. I did sell a cue once, a Schon one off made in 82 or possible 83. I had quit playing pool a couple years after getting it and it sat in the case for about 35 years. I regretted that shortly after as I didn't need the money but now that I am shooting again would give anything to get that cue back.
I have many cues I like but mainly shoot with two, right or wrong that's just the way it is.
Just as a funny thought, how many of you have stopped in a bar with friends for a couple drinks, decided to play some pool and picked a bar cue off the rack and shot fantastic with it? Be honest and admit, didn't you really want to buy that stick from the owner of the bar and take it home with you?