pool player placebo...

I tend to believe that it takes a good spatula to make a good chef better, and a good straight arrow to make a bowman shoot his best. If equipment wasn't important then all the bats in baseball would weigh the same, and Tiger Woods would only need a Driver, a seven iron, and a putter. :smile:
 
is the equipment we suspect will improve our game just a placebo? is the expensive tips,shafts, chalks etc; just a way to conquer mental hurdles?

i am interested in the many point of views we have here on AZ.

thank you,

john

In the way you phrased the question implies your predisposed to allow your mind to cloud your equipment assessment.

My answer is that certainly equipment matters and can make a difference but whether it has the effect it actually has versus the effect you want it to have can be two different things.

Being able to make an honest assessment of the results are very difficult for most people. Especially when other factors like cost, marketing, peer pressure and such are clouding the waters. In addition, most often the impact a piece of gear can have is hugely over rated and not at all in line with reality.

So again, it definitely matters but there are limits to how much that are often clouded and/or ignored.
 
I believe most people cannot pass a pepsi challenge where you have two different tips on the same cue, and they try to identify the difference between a medium and a hard by feel.

Sure, if it's not a cue that they regularly play with. I bet I could tell the difference between the Triangle tip I cut off my main playing cue a few weeks ago and the black Kamui medium I put on it, blindfolded. The difference between the two was wa-a-a-y different than I expected and the feel of the hit could easily be discerned by me.

Now, a cue that I'm not familiar with, all bets are off!!!

Maniac (is not a fan of the black Kamui tips)
 
is the equipment we suspect will improve our game just a placebo? is the expensive tips,shafts, chalks etc; just a way to conquer mental hurdles?

i am interested in the many point of views we have here on AZ.

thank you,

john

Yes you could consider all these "nice" things to be placebos or just well marketed products.

An elite player can play with a house cue and beat most people. LePro tip and all. I get a good chuckle from seeing posts and questions in the pool room about "so and so won the big tournament, what cue, tip, joint, shaft taper, break cue, tips, chalk are they using. I haven't heard anyone ask what kind of toilet paper do they use before playing in the tournament and during but I'm sure if Charmin wants to sponsor a player there are many that will line up to buy what the winner uses or claims to use.

Sadly it appears there are many people who believe if they use the products used by the pros they too will play better. I hope they aren't naive enough to think they will play as good as the pros if they buy the equipment. P.T. Barnum had it right and it' s only going to get worse. In the battle of Marketing vs. critical thinking/reasoning, marketing is winning hands down in many areas.
 
hmmm...pool player placebo?
..an extremely excellent example of alliteration...but exempt from common sense.

Does anybody think a PGA tournament could be won with hickory-shafted
golf clubs anymore?
Sure, a good player can take a house cue and beat everybody in the room..
..but he can't beat another good player with it.

I'll say it for the umpteenth time....
..Wyatt Earp didn't go to the OK Corral with a Saturday night special.

Sure, a bad player can play bad with a good cue...and a good player
can play good with a bad cue.....but if you want to play great...
..you better be a good player with a good cue.

,,here's how a musician might think of this....

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j...ii1DooU6c9cWzxHVA&sig2=6v8oAHNGSwYF7CLAoCoh_g
 
hmmm...pool player placebo?
..an extremely excellent example of alliteration...but exempt from common sense.

Does anybody think a PGA tournament could be won with hickory-shafted
golf clubs anymore?
Sure, a good player can take a house cue and beat everybody in the room..
..but he can't beat another good player with it.

I'll say it for the umpteenth time....
..Wyatt Earp didn't go to the OK Corral with a Saturday night special.

Sure, a bad player can play bad with a good cue...and a good player
can play good with a bad cue.....but if you want to play great...
..you better be a good player with a good cue.

,,here's how a musician might think of this....

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j...ii1DooU6c9cWzxHVA&sig2=6v8oAHNGSwYF7CLAoCoh_g

Interesting you'd bring up "cheap violins" don't the "Pro" violin players want the very old and rare instruments and not the newest thing to be thought up by the manufacturers?
 
Having your own equipment gives you a boost of confidence. Using the same cue polishes your game. Any road player can play with a straight cue and a good tip, however with the same cue he too gets the mental boost sorta like having a partner in crime, your cue is consistent and does what it's supposed to, e, english,draw, table speed ,

I prefer a really hard tip, but one that will hold chalk. i know it sounds like an oxy moron, hard tip that holds chalk I'm using an ultra skin hard tip, A hard tip will give you more english, when you need it.

The cue just needs to be functional, not necessarily expensive.
Clean straight, good taper on shaft, tip u prefer , idealistic weight, most prefer 19 oz, but it is dependent on your size and body weight. at leastthat's what i read in some pros, blog., many years ago
 
Interesting you'd bring up "cheap violins" don't the "Pro" violin players want the very old and rare instruments and not the newest thing to be thought up by the manufacturers?

My emphasis is on 'good' cues...they do make a difference.
With my '71 Szamboti, I could draw a full table-length farther than any cue
I've owned. With my '68 Joss, I can do some spin banks I can't do with any
other cue.
A good shaft is years in the making.
You can get lucky with a cheap cue, but it's like winning a lottery.

Being old doesn't make it exempt from being good, but a cue that is made
with the same consideration as a broom handle aint gonna get it.
 
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