Pro's don't need that fancy $5000 crap to do well

8

8-Ball Player

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
All the pro's use a very high class cue, I know they get them for free because they are sponsored, but is it really necessary? The idea that they are giving the smaller pool players is that you need a really expensive cue to be the best. I would love to see one of the pro's use a cheap Players cue or something, and just kick butt! I know they could, they just like all the expensive inlays and custom crap.

Feel free to disagree...
 
skill is skill, but around here bar cues have chunks missing out of them and there almost not playable, at the college pub here one of the cues has a tip on it with someones gum as the adhesive
 
Earl and Allison come to mind. Cuetec isn't top of the line by any stretch yet they are world champions. Cue's are personal. I don't think a top pro would switch to something they can't win with even if it is given to them via a sponsorship. Realistically, what is a $5k cue really worth if it means you lost the $40k in the US Open? A pro can make that cue's value in no time gambling and playing events so why sacrifice success for a new sponsor? Will a $5k cue make you play better? That is an individual question that only the player can answer.
 
with all things being equal , 2 players exactly the same speed , the player with the cue that performs better will win in the long run , really nothing to do with price , but performance..
 
I would say very few of them use hyper dollar cues. Look at Cliff's Meucci or SVB's Joss. Efren plays mostly with base model cues. Larry Nevel's tiger was very plain...I guess this could go on all day.
 
8-Ball Player said:
The idea that they are giving the smaller pool players is that you need a really expensive cue to be the best...
Feel free to disagree...
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I disagree. To be the best there are two steps that you must complete.

Step #1 - Pocket ball A into pocket B

Step #2 - Repeat step #1 about 5 millions times and you'll be well on your way.

Remember, its not the bow, its not the arrow, its the Indian.
 
selftaut said:
with all things being equal , 2 players exactly the same speed , the player with the cue that performs better will win in the long run.
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Does a $5000 cue perform better then a $1000 cue is the more important question. I think at a certain price range, the cue's price is correlated to the amount of inlays and hours used to create it... workmanship if you will. If the cue was made with no inlays etc, it would perform just as well. You only need to look at Efren's Judd JT-1 cue. It is the lowest cue in Judd's line but he has won with it more then I would a $50,000 cue :)
 
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Funny story about cues. An old friend of mine used to play really well. He would win very consistantly using an old beat up Dufferin that rolls straight but looks like it is used as a regular weapon in bar fights. One year he decided to get a new cue. It was a beauty $600 cue that played great for me. He never won another event. To him the Dufferin was exactly what he needed and best fit his game. Once someone finds what works best for them the price is secondary.
 
cues

A quality cue usually costs between $350 and under a thousand dollars depending on who made it with a few names being worth more. After that you are mostly paying for gee-gaws.

However I have had to revise my thoughts about cheap butts . . . of the cue stick persuasion. I would have guessed that 90% of a cue's playability was from the tip to the joint. I built a sneaky based on the el cheapo Budweiser cue butts. I replaced the pin with a quality pin centered in the butt and replaced the soft plastic joint collar with phenolic. I made a quality shaft for the stick and assumed I was in business. Wrong! At best it feels about sixty to seventy percent as good as a quality stick and the play just isn't there. A pro could probably win with it but they would be overcoming a handicap.

A player can perform their best with under fifteen hundred dollars worth of equipment, under a thousand if they are pinching pennies. That still makes this one of the cheapest sports or hobbies to pursue. No sense handicapping yourself.

Hu


8-Ball Player said:
All the pro's use a very high class cue, I know they get them for free because they are sponsored, but is it really necessary? The idea that they are giving the smaller pool players is that you need a really expensive cue to be the best. I would love to see one of the pro's use a cheap Players cue or something, and just kick butt! I know they could, they just like all the expensive inlays and custom crap.

Feel free to disagree...
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Yes yes, I like the pro's that use the plain old regular cues. I do not admire the pro's that spend 2k on inlays just to make their cues pretty.
 
Let me tell you something about owning your own cue. The main advantage is that you know what you got in your hands when you get on the table. You are comfortable and familiar with the hit and feel of that cue. You do not have to adjust to a different cue each time you play.

Once you get used to playing with any decent cue, you will be fine. A better cue for one player, may not be a better cue for you.
 
My .02

It's funny to me. Some people have purchased 1 cue in their lifetime and play very well with it while some people spend thousands of dollars every year and can't play worth a damn. Cue collecting can be a hobby and one can get a lot of enjoyment out of it. On another note, sometimes I think people play with what they can afford to play with.
JMHO Purdman:rolleyes:
 
So take a $40 Players cue, it has a decent LePro on it, its stright, and there you go. I'm not talking about Bar or house cues here, but it would be fun to see someone own a Pro with a cheap stick.
 
ok I disagree. the performance of a cheap players cue compared to even something around the $300 mark is night and day.
 
MO-4 Meucci

The greatest 9 ball ever played over a year's period of time was done so using an MO-4 Meucci, by a guy who could have played with a Balabushka, Szamboti or any other cue on earth.
 
supergreenman said:
ok I disagree. the performance of a cheap players cue compared to even something around the $300 mark is night and day.
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Ok,ok I agree with that because I just bought a McDermott and it players a heck of a lot better than the Players. But the pro's are spending thousands, why can't they get something that is just plain...no inlays, and around 300 bucks. I guess if you have the money spend it, but again it would be cool to see someone use a plain old cue.
 
I always said that the guy with the most expensive cue never wins the tournament.

I like fancy cues and I believe it is a point of interest, a draw, for many people that find the craftsmanship interesting. Anything that can bring fans or players to the sport is a good thing for all players.

A particular cuemakers bottom-of-the-line cue usually plays just like his high-end cues, I have found.
 
BillYards said:
I always said that the guy with the most expensive cue never wins the tournament.

I like fancy cues and I believe it is a point of interest, a draw, for many people that find the craftsmanship interesting. Anything that can bring fans or players to the sport is a good thing for all players.

A particular cuemakers bottom-of-the-line cue usually plays just like his high-end cues, I have found.
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I agree, I've played with a $500 Viking and a $150 Viking and they hit and feel exaclty the same, the only difference was one had all these mother of pearl inlays in it and the other the was just stright green with a wrap.
 
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