Something I don't understand about pool

[pt109]

Because it’s another tool on your Arsenal you practice and get good with. It’s no different then golfers having multiple wedges. It’s just the old pool players that destroy the modern game because they have no vision for the future because they are stuck in the past that hate it.

You mention golf. Equipment has to be approved. The equivalent of a jump cue at golf would be a wedge with no grooves, you can hit a ball almost straight up..,not allowed.
I like jump with the cue you’re playing with. Some jump cues were declared illegal.

 

[eastcoast_chris]

Recreational play (pool room) and professional play are different. IMO, pool rooms should have a mix of tables that are loose (for casual players) and tight (higher level players and tourneys). I think anything larger than 4.5" for professional players is too easy for them.

True, but I'd actually enjoy watching two top players play a long set on what is considered "buckets"... with not new cloth/9'. Might not run out as much as you think.

 

[BC21]

This mentality (against the use of jump cues) would be like suggesting that pro golf tournaments should ban the use of specialty clubs, like sand wedges. A jump cue is a helpful speciality tool on occassion, no different than a mechanical bridge. Anyway, even if jump cues were banned, a player can use a full-length light-weight cue with a hard tip and perform most jump shots about as easily.

Anyhow, I think jump cues add more to the game, requiring stronger, more effective safety play.

 

[BC21]

You mention golf. Equipment has to be approved. The equivalent of a jump cue at golf would be a wedge with no grooves, you can hit a ball almost straight up..,not allowed.
I like jump with the cue you’re playing with. Some jump cues were declared illegal.

The shortest "approved" cue length is 40". And this rule has been in effect well before the use or invention of today's jump cues. The intent of the rule is to prevent a player from using just the shaft of a cue to jump a ball. With a shaft alone you can easily jump a ball that's only half an inch away from the cb.

Even if jump cues were banned, or if the minimum cue length got increased to 57in to prevent the use of jump cues, nothing would prevent a player from jumping with a light-weight break cue.

 

[vjmehra]

The shortest "approved" cue length is 40". And this rule has been in effect well before the use or invention of today's jump cues. The intent of the rule is to prevent a player from using just the shaft of a cue to jump a ball. With a shaft alone you can easily jump a ball that's only half an inch away from the cb.

Even if jump cues were banned, or if the minimum cue length got increased to 57in to prevent the use of jump cues, nothing would prevent a player from jumping with a light-weight break cue.

Well unless you specifically banned jump shots....

I like jumping, I think its great for TV which is the most important part, it allows manufacturers to make money from cue sales and cases, which is great as it means people are earning from the billiard industry.

Aside from that, jumping is a skill and so is setting up a safety that someone can't jump out of, so I don't really have a problem with any of it (I own a jump cue myself).

But if people were so inclined, the rules could be changed to be in line with snooker or English pool, which specifically ban jump shots (I'm not suggesting that will happen, nor should it, just saying that if the majority of people felt strongly enough there's no obvious reason why it couldn't happen).

For me personally, long live the jump cue!

 

[MitchAlsup]

Jump cues make up for the lack of ability to kick at balls effectively, what happened to those skills?

A good player (any good player) should have the skills to kick at a ball anywhere on the table from anywhere else on the table through any kind of interference.

But such a player should ALSO have the skills to jump the ball should that be the higher percentage shot.

There are shots one cannot kick at (OB surrounded by 7 other interfering balls or surrounded by 4 using a rail)
There are shots one cannot jump at (CB within a match stick width of an interfering ball in the direction the CB needs to travel)

A good player (ANY good player) should have the judgement to perform the higher percentage shot.

 

[VarmintKong]

Jump cues make up for the lack of ability to kick at balls effectively, what happened to those skills?

I hear that, but I also realize that jumping is a skill that needs to practiced to be used effectively. Maybe you don’t want to jump or masse on your home table, you only do that when you’re out bebopping around; you’d probably get 10 to 1 practice time on kicks on the home table.

The jump threat forces players to play tighter safeties so they don’t allow the jump; ya better lock up Gorst ‘cuz just a sliver of daylight and it’s over.

I do enjoy when pros elect to kick instead of jump. Judd Trump was sitting on the 2 in the first round of the US Open 9 ball yesterday and the commentator asked how confident he felt in his jumping ability? Trump lazered in a kick and got position. On the flip side Oi pushed out to a jump shot with tricky position and ran out to win in the semifinal of the Predator 10 ball last weekend; that was a VERY memorable rack; more so than Trump’s kick and run.

 

[HawaiianEye]

Well unless you specifically banned jump shots....

I like jumping, I think its great for TV which is the most important part, it allows manufacturers to make money from cue sales and cases, which is great as it means people are earning from the billiard industry.

Aside from that, jumping is a skill and so is setting up a safety that someone can't jump out of, so I don't really have a problem with any of it (I own a jump cue myself).

But if people were so inclined, the rules could be changed to be in line with snooker or English pool, which specifically ban jump shots (I'm not suggesting that will happen, nor should it, just saying that if the majority of people felt strongly enough there's no obvious reason why it couldn't happen).

For me personally, long live the jump cue!

For me, ban jumping altogether.

 

[maha]

jumping adds a skill and changes the other skills to make the whole game different.
9 ball isnt played often anymore in poolrooms and one pocket has taken over for money play.
no jump cues in one pocket.
tournaments can make any rules they want. but unfortunately those rules follow to the poolroom and affect the action and even who comes in.

 

[realkingcobra]

I hear that, but I also realize that jumping is a skill that needs to practiced to be used effectively. Maybe you don’t want to jump or masse on your home table, you only do that when you’re out bebopping around; you’d probably get 10 to 1 practice time on kicks on the home table.

The jump threat forces players to play tighter safeties so they don’t allow the jump; ya better lock up Gorst ‘cuz just a sliver of daylight and it’s over.

I do enjoy when pros elect to kick instead of jump. Judd Trump was sitting on the 2 in the first round of the US Open 9 ball yesterday and the commentator asked how confident he felt in his jumping ability? Trump lazered in a kick and got position. On the flip side Oi pushed out to a jump shot with tricky position and ran out to win in the semifinal of the Predator 10 ball last weekend; that was a VERY memorable rack; more so than Trump’s kick and run.

Before Simonis cloth came onto the market, there were no jump cues, and if you had to make a jump, you used your playing cue to make the jump. Today, its a crutch, used instead of kicking. I've seen way to many league players that can't run 3 balls, jump at the chance to break out their jump cue for their next shot, before they even consider kicking.

 

[KS25-06]

Not trying to Hi-jack the thread, but one respondent mentioned pocket width. It amazes me that with a sport as regulated with rules as pool, there is no set size for pockets. I play in a league where all the tables have larger pockets than one place. It has smaller pockets and the team that plays there wins the league almost every season. Granted they have some very good players, but those smaller pockets cause a lot of trouble for every one, else.

 

[Maniac]

Stu suggested that a jump cue should only be used on the first shot of the inning for a player. That would regulate it to only being used to escape an opponent's safe play, and not your own mistake.

IMHO....this is the best solution.

Maniac

 

[Maniac]

Jump cues make up for the lack of ability to kick at balls effectively, what happened to those skills?

Kicking IS a skill......but then, so is jumping.

And I'm not going to engage in a back-and-forth with you. So......you can have the last word.

Maniac

 

[realkingcobra]

Kicking IS a skill......but then, so is jumping.

And I'm not going to engage in a back-and-forth with you. So......you can have the last word.

Maniac

I agree jumping takes skill, so you your playing cue, unaltered to make those jumps, can't make as many jumps, great, then learn to kick.

 

[eg9327]

I don't want to come across as overly critical of the people organizing the tournament because they are running a legit tournament with good money. Having said that the use a diamond table with tight pockets to punish poor play. The same time they do that they allow this.

1:33:15

Guy botches position and snookers himself which fits the definition of poor play and he pulls out a jump cue and runs out. The only thing I can think of is the sponsor sells jump cues.

Tight pockets to reward the best players and jump cues to reward a lack of skill.

Jump cues are a good way to damage the cloth. Fot top players maybe not, but every schlub out there has to try it. I'd rather they be prohibited.