Curious about what your opinions are on the value, if any, on using the same playing cue for serious competition vs using an assortment of different cues. For instance, if you owned 8-10 different custom cues within an ounce of the same weight each made by recognized world class cue maker would the consistency of your play suffer by using different cues on a rotating basis? Is this something that you would quickly adapt to ie, playing on different cloth, different size tables, different cue balls, etc.
Opinions on using same playing cue
- Thread starter Doug
- Start date
I was just kind of wondering this the other day. I like to try and always use the same cue. The main reason being is that I love a predator 314 shaft. I think most people agree that no other shaft feels quite like a 314, whether you love it or hate it. I find that when i change cues or shafts, that it will affect how i play. 90% of the time it won't be the decideing factor in winning or losing, but i feel that it definetly helps to always use the same cue. My reasoning behind this is that on 1%-10% of the positional shots i make i need to accurately move the ball to a spot thats maybe only 2 x 2 or 3 x 3 inches to maintain the angle i want. With my predator i can accurately move the cue ball when i need to, with something unfamiliar i might be off by a few inches, which in rare situations can be unacceptable. JMHO, take it or leave it.
Well I for one would be willing to take on this experiment. Drop me a PM and I'll give you my address. Send me 8-10 cues from top custom cue makers and I'll get back to you with a report in a month or two ;-)
No, but seriously folks, although I have only changed playing cues occasionally I find it takes me about 2 months to get really comfortable with a cue, at which point I am tuning out almost everything that makes that cue feel different from the other one and am just playing the balls in front of me.
Personally I find if I notice anything long-term about how a cue shoots it is usually a bad thing that is distracting me. If I go from a cue that feels bad to me to a better one I enjoy a feeling of extra confidence for a while, but it soon wears off as I get used to it. It also takes me about 4 hours of practice to get used to a new tip on a cue, even if it is the exact same type as the tip it replaced.
No, but seriously folks, although I have only changed playing cues occasionally I find it takes me about 2 months to get really comfortable with a cue, at which point I am tuning out almost everything that makes that cue feel different from the other one and am just playing the balls in front of me.
Personally I find if I notice anything long-term about how a cue shoots it is usually a bad thing that is distracting me. If I go from a cue that feels bad to me to a better one I enjoy a feeling of extra confidence for a while, but it soon wears off as I get used to it. It also takes me about 4 hours of practice to get used to a new tip on a cue, even if it is the exact same type as the tip it replaced.
I agree with the above responses - anything that will lend consistency to one's game is, I believe, an asset. Although certain conditions change all the time and one must be able to adapt to them (the cloth, the balls, the humidity, the type of table, etc. as pointed out above), using the same cue eliminates the problem of adding one more variable, which can make adapting tougher (i.e., did the English "grab" because of the softer tip on this cue or because of the dirty cloth?).
Doug said:
I can tell you my play would suffer a lot. I can change tables and quickly adjust but my cue takes a lot longer. Even if I just change shafts, now I have to adjust for tip diameter difference (a biggie), difference in taper (another biggie), difference in flex and squirt (a biggie) etc etc etc. Even the balance of the cue will be differerent because shafts vary in weight and weight distribution.
Pool is a precision game. All players must recognize that cues perform differently, and that you adapt to these variances. Your brain slowly learns the correct amount to adjust - by trial and error (missed shots). There can be quite a difference between cues.
Chris
For me, confidence is a huge factor. I've been playing with a Tibbitts cue for years and I'm so accustomed to the feel and hit of this cue that I have trouble playing with anything else. I have confidence in this cue and my ability to play with it. I recently played with a Tim Scruggs that belongs to a friend of mine and the hit and feel was so close to my cue that I was able to play well with it. That's the first cue I've run across like that. I was impressed to no end with that cue. I'm even afraid to change the kind of tip I use.....
if i play with my mcdermott a lot i play pretty much the same if i switch to a house cue, but if i switch to the mcdermott after playing with house cues for a week or two i get a little bit of a confidence boost so i usually do this for a tournament and just switch back to my cue a few hours before the tournament actually starts.
Doug said:
An ounce is a huge difference. No possible way could I adjust to such weight difference. Even if the cues were all made to the same specs except weight. The only time I change weight is if I change games, like going from pool to snooker. Years ago I did this a lot but you simply don't need the weight to play snooker.
Rod
Rodd said:
I've been switching here at home not wanting, for security reasons, to take my South West to the bar. I've found that switching to other cues has a profound effect on my play. Nothing else feels "right" and if it don't feel right that has a significant effect on how I stroke the cb....be it with confidence or tentatively. I'll have to take my chances on taking the good cue to the ph/bar if I want to play my best.
I almost always play with the same cue. Only time I switch up is if I'm having a terrible night, and then I'll switch over to my sneaky. Sneaky weighs a bit more and makes me slow down, which is usually the cause of me playing bad. Get in a bit of a rush at times and then I just plain suck.
Doug said:
I can adapt much more quickly to new tables/cloth/balls/... than I can to a new cue. Maybe it's different for other players, but I would probably find the cue that I liked the hit of the most (of my 8 or 10 cues, as you suggested) and play with that cue exclusively.
Jimmy M. said:
I tend to go through cues quite frequently. I'll have a cue for a while and then see something else I like and buy that and sell the other one. I would certainly have liked to have kept everything I've had but I wasn't in the financial position to do so. I tend to alternate the 3 or 4 cues that I generally have at any given time as well. I don't know what it is but I find it difficult to pick apart what makes cues hit differently and I don't know if it's just because I am adjusting to the cue very quickly or what, but I generally don't have much difficulty adjusting to the cue so that I can make the cue ball do what I want. That is of course relative to my ability to make the cue ball do what I want with the cue I use most often.
This brings up the question, I suppose, of what would happen if I consistantly used one cue all the time. Would I get more consistant on all of my shots?!
Rackin_Zack said:
I did. Been playing with the same cue for about 2 years now and my game is much better. The cue before this one felt the same and had that cue for 3 years. Before those two I was going through cues at about 3 per year. I finally stopped when I met my wife. Now I just go through break cues. Though I'll admit I'm thinking hard about getting a madison bob cue.
blah blah
Shoebat
Slightly off- topic, but this thread reminds me of one of my favorite pool characters, whom I haven't seen in over ten years. Anyone know him/ what happened to him?
We called him 10-sticks. He used to show up at every Sands Open. He was tall and thin and had chestnut hair that grew down into his full beard. He wore headphones, sometimes wrapped in tin foil, and rose- brown '70s sunglasses. He was a very serious, quietly relaxed player.
He got his name because he had an upright, free-standing dealer's case filled with cues- about 8 to 12 of them. The cues were really nice, too- mostly custom, I'm sure. And he chose a cue for every shot, like he was playing golf. He'd approach the table, lick his finger and hold it up into the climate- controlled air. He'd examine the length of the shot. He'd walk around the table. He'd choose a cue, make a few practice strokes, and more often than not, would change his mind and try another cue. He never won a tourney, but he often won at least a few matches.
He was friendly and easy to talk with. He explained the headphones weren't plugged into anything- just tucked into his clothes- and the tin foil was for keeping out alien thought- waves. He'd tell you about the aliens. He'd tell you about his cues. He was either a nut or a terrific prankster with a great sense of sharking, but then it didn't really matter.
Last I saw him was actually on t.v.- he was front and center in the audience of a WPBA event that took place in Georgia. That was years ago, but a kick to pick him out of the crowd. Anyone know anything about him? He really was one of my favorites- just for the creativity and the enjoyment of watching him and the shock and disbelief in his opponents' faces. I'd be curious to know more of the story.
And back to the topic: if you want to change cues every shot, I'll be right there watching and even cheering for you. Especially if you've got tin foil. But I think I'm going to just stick to just one or two cues, myself.
We called him 10-sticks. He used to show up at every Sands Open. He was tall and thin and had chestnut hair that grew down into his full beard. He wore headphones, sometimes wrapped in tin foil, and rose- brown '70s sunglasses. He was a very serious, quietly relaxed player.
He got his name because he had an upright, free-standing dealer's case filled with cues- about 8 to 12 of them. The cues were really nice, too- mostly custom, I'm sure. And he chose a cue for every shot, like he was playing golf. He'd approach the table, lick his finger and hold it up into the climate- controlled air. He'd examine the length of the shot. He'd walk around the table. He'd choose a cue, make a few practice strokes, and more often than not, would change his mind and try another cue. He never won a tourney, but he often won at least a few matches.
He was friendly and easy to talk with. He explained the headphones weren't plugged into anything- just tucked into his clothes- and the tin foil was for keeping out alien thought- waves. He'd tell you about the aliens. He'd tell you about his cues. He was either a nut or a terrific prankster with a great sense of sharking, but then it didn't really matter.
Last I saw him was actually on t.v.- he was front and center in the audience of a WPBA event that took place in Georgia. That was years ago, but a kick to pick him out of the crowd. Anyone know anything about him? He really was one of my favorites- just for the creativity and the enjoyment of watching him and the shock and disbelief in his opponents' faces. I'd be curious to know more of the story.
And back to the topic: if you want to change cues every shot, I'll be right there watching and even cheering for you. Especially if you've got tin foil. But I think I'm going to just stick to just one or two cues, myself.
blah blah said:
You think he was relaxed? Man, that guy was *really* high strung, from what I remember. This is the same guy that would take notes (and frequently refer to them) during his matches, right? I don't know how well he played, but I know he was always a crowd favorite!
Doug said:
I just heard today from a friend that it is BAD LUCK to win a tournament and keep playing with that cue. He said that it was a "Korean Thing"(in case you couldn't tell, he's Korean). Don't know how true that is, but after I won my first tournament, I haven't won since! I should have traded out my cue a while ago!
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Shoebat
Jimmy M. said:You think he was relaxed? Man, that guy was *really* high strung, from what I remember. This is the same guy that would take notes (and frequently refer to them) during his matches, right? I don't know how well he played, but I know he was always a crowd favorite!
Gosh, I'm glad somebody else remembered him too- sometimes old memories feel like imagination... esp. when they're that strange.
As for relaxed, I might have been wrong on that one- he was playing a match but managed to come over while his opponent was shooting and talk about the aliens and how they couldn't penetrate metal. When I was writing all of that last night I figured he must have been relaxed if he was explaining all of that while playing. Maybe it was a move.
Anyway, thanks for letting me know I really didn't make that crazy stuff up : )
Ok, i switched cues back in June '04 from a Schon LTD that i bought back in feb 2000, and began using a Meucci Original. Which was probably the best move i have done. I got a softer hit, and it was easier to apply english to the cue also.
Even though i regret getting rid of the Schon, i wouldnt trade my Meucci for anything.
Two weeks ago, i came into a deal where i got another Meucci Original. So i began using this new Meucci and it played the same as my other. It did have a smaller shaft 12mm instead of 13mm. But the way the cue played was the same.
Well needless to say, i won that tournament with the new cue, and came back the next tuesday and won again with the same cue lol.
Now as for changing from a Schon to a Meucci, it took me about a month to fully get a feel for how the cue plays, and be totally comfortable with it.
Even though i regret getting rid of the Schon, i wouldnt trade my Meucci for anything.
Two weeks ago, i came into a deal where i got another Meucci Original. So i began using this new Meucci and it played the same as my other. It did have a smaller shaft 12mm instead of 13mm. But the way the cue played was the same.
Well needless to say, i won that tournament with the new cue, and came back the next tuesday and won again with the same cue lol.
Now as for changing from a Schon to a Meucci, it took me about a month to fully get a feel for how the cue plays, and be totally comfortable with it.