Flex said:
Well, that was SUPPOSED to be the BCA.
The "new" 9-ball: Changing the game to reflect the new equipment
- Thread starter Shawn Armstrong
- Start date
Well, that was SUPPOSED to be the BCA.
John Barton
New member
Shawn Armstrong said:
I am impressed - after all the posturing you have finally admitted that you simply don't like jump cues. Too bad you had to go through all the other nonsense to get to this point.
Well I like having my gimmick stick, as well as my gimmick leather tip that was invented long before I was born. I understand that before that they used to use some kind of device to push the balls around the table, called a mace. I am glad they worked that out before I got interested in pool.
And I like selling my gimmick sticks - why? Because they work as advertised. With them I can bring a whole new array of shots to players who didn't have them before. So when you have locked up the kicking lanes whether by skill or luck then my customers who have practiced with their gimmick sticks can escape your safety and put you further out of the zone.
John, I've said from day 1 I don't like jump cues. My opinion is it introduced a skill that was never thought of or imagined when the game was designed. That in mind, I have proposed new rules to deal with the existence of the jump cue. How did you like them? Declared safeties, no jumps allowed. Lost of match for 3 consecutive fouls. I can deal with their existence. Heck, they don't allow them in our BCA leagues, so no one can use them. I just think the average person watching pool probably snickers when the "baby cue" comes out. That's what my son and my wife call it when it's on TV. "Daddy, look. He has a baby cue!" (Courtesy of my son, Jacob, 3.5 years old)John Barton said:
Shawn Armstrong said:
As I expect you can appreciate, there are times when a full length, full weight playing cue will be incapable of making certain jump shots without bouncing the cue or other balls off the table. Lighter jump cues, say in the 5 to 7 ounce range, make those shots possible.
Flex
Yep. Which is why I don't think 5-7 ounce cues have any place in the gameFlex said:
.If you can't make the shot with your playing cue or your breaker, then you're SOL. My opinion. I can't stack balls on top of each other to hook you, so you shouldn't be allowed to go over them.
BVal said:
Chess, LOL
All I can say is, eeeewwwwww jump cue . . .
"jump cues suck" that's a Strickland quote
and he's absolutley correct
if the suppliers had their way, we' d be carrying golf size bags to the pool rooms chock full of crap we don't need
and he's absolutley correct
if the suppliers had their way, we' d be carrying golf size bags to the pool rooms chock full of crap we don't need
This one made me laugh. I'm just imagining my son jumping over my Queen with his pawn and saying "king me".crosseyedjoe said:
You shouldn't have to stack balls up. You should just tighten up your safety play.Shawn Armstrong said:Yep. Which is why I don't think 5-7 ounce cues have any place in the game
If you can't make the shot with your playing cue or your breaker, then you're SOL. My opinion. I can't stack balls on top of each other to hook you, so you shouldn't be allowed to go over them.
BVal
smashmouth said:
LOL, I've just seen someone last night with a golf size bag, and that dude can't play, and he thinks he is good.
I don't mind people carrying a break cue and playing cue, but bringing your own bridge is just too much.
Last edited:
Imagine a shot where you move the cueball 15 feet around the table to land in a zone 4" behind a blocking ball. 4" away from the hole in golf is a great putt. In the past decade, the jump cue has made safeties all but obsolete. You say "tighten up your safety play". I say "ban the jump cue". You say tomato, I say...........BVal said:
Shawn Armstrong said:
its all technology and opinions if you ask me. some people have to use a predator shaft to make a ball and use a huge amount of english where others can do the same with a traditional maple shaft....some can jump with their break cues and others cannot.....some can jump with a leather tipped jump cue where others have to use phenolic. if the jump shot is a "bought" skill than so is a high english shot with a predator shaft....right? you cant just criticize one thing. certain items make certain areas of the game easier for people.....either way they are presented with an item and its the skill that is still responsible. personally i dont like jump cues, but i have one. i dont like predator shafts, but a lot of others do. as long as its ok by the rules stated than its ok with me. anything else is just opinion. the same argument can be made in most everything...golf...football...cars...
just my 2 cents,
Jay
Meant to read 4" away from the hole on a 15 foot putt is a great putt.
Shawn Armstrong said:Yep. Which is why I don't think 5-7 ounce cues have any place in the game
If you can't make the shot with your playing cue or your breaker, then you're SOL. My opinion. I can't stack balls on top of each other to hook you, so you shouldn't be allowed to go over them.
This is very interesting.
I know a fellow who hates the way bangers play 9 ball, just freakin' drives him nuts. One day I told him that if ever I ended up playing him in a tournament that I'd know what to do to unnerve him. I'd be goosing the 9 every chance I got and rearrange the table frequently. It would unglue him. Just a strategy to use against him. Would I actually goose the 9 all the time? Of course not. But just letting him know that it's in my style of play to do that from time to time might just make him sick to his stomach. Would that be fair? Of course it would be; and 9 ball often rewards the more aggressive player.
Shawn, I think you're fighting a losing battle over this.
I always wondered why there was a maximum allowed weight for a cue, as well as a maximum tip diameter.
By the way, I'm kinda glad the IPT didn't have the overarching influence it looked to be developing, as they disallowed phenolic tips, and jump cues too.
I say lets increase the players' options and not limit them.
Flex
Last edited:
Shawn Armstrong said:
I would love to play someone who will use a jump cue to get out of safeties.
Specialty shots are part of 9 ball. Period. If you can't play tight safeties, then you shouldn't try. If you opponent is going to jump out of your weak safety, then you shouldn't play it. IMO, it's just one more calculation in the percentages game.PLAYER said:
The jump cue eliminates all of the crappy safety play you see and returns the game to an offense oriented endeavor.
Besides, if you think you could steal a win after you blow shape by shooting a cheap safety, you probably deserve to lose. And, if you want to play defense all the time, you should switch to 1-hole.
-td
The game is played with Jump cues now. What is fair for your opponent is fair for you.
Don't hate the player because he has a jump cue and can jump a ball and you dont have one and can't. It is a skill that he learned and bought. You should have thought about him possibly having a jump cue before you played the safety the way you did.
Jump cues are the norm now. If you are not taking them into consideration during a match (whether the person displays one beforehand or not) you deserved to have your safety's jumped out of.
Plus I don't see how kicking at a ball is 'better' or 'worse' then jumping. Or how jumpshots are considered sell out shots. The person jumping may have the skill to make the ball or to leave a safety after a jump, english can be played on jump shots to you know. I think the chances of jumping a ball and making it or leaving a succesful safe are better then kicking at it in some cases. It all depends on the shot you have.
Don't hate the player because he has a jump cue and can jump a ball and you dont have one and can't. It is a skill that he learned and bought. You should have thought about him possibly having a jump cue before you played the safety the way you did.
Jump cues are the norm now. If you are not taking them into consideration during a match (whether the person displays one beforehand or not) you deserved to have your safety's jumped out of.
Plus I don't see how kicking at a ball is 'better' or 'worse' then jumping. Or how jumpshots are considered sell out shots. The person jumping may have the skill to make the ball or to leave a safety after a jump, english can be played on jump shots to you know. I think the chances of jumping a ball and making it or leaving a succesful safe are better then kicking at it in some cases. It all depends on the shot you have.
Last edited: