What do cues mean?

[Buzzard]

I am a C+ player. I love cues; the way they look, the way some of them feel and of course the way they play. My question is this. Is a C+ (I can pull out some B nights) who walks into a pool room with say a really nice custom cue or a sneaky pete being pretentious in any way? Does a cue that someone uses say anything about a player? I love the simplicity of a sneaky pete but so far the only people I have seen with them are hustlers.
Probably I shouldn't be concerned about what others think but .......

 

[DrCue'sProtege]

there are some that claim a really nice fancy custom cue is going to make you a much, much better player. just not true, any top player will tell you that its the cueist, not the cue.

i dont see what difference it makes what cue you use, if you can play that pretty much tells the story. if you cant, a $1,000 Judd cue wont do you much good. i've seen some really bad players with nice cues that cost several hundred dollars. i've seen some really good players play with an off the shelf production.

Allison plays with an off the shelf Cuetec - supposedly. some say its been modified, others say it hasnt. she told me in Vegas back in 2002 she can take any cue, custom or production, off the shelf and as long as its a quality cue she can play with it.

one last note: i've always felt the tip is the most important part of the cue.

just my $.02.
DCP

 

[juanbond]

there are some that claim a really nice fancy custom cue is going to make you a much, much better player. just not true, any top player will tell you that its the cueist, not the cue.

i dont see what difference it makes what cue you use, if you can play that pretty much tells the story. if you cant, a $1,000 Judd cue wont do you much good. i've seen some really bad players with nice cues that cost several hundred dollars. i've seen some really good players play with an off the shelf production.

Allison plays with an off the shelf Cuetec - supposedly. some say its been modified, others say it hasnt. she told me in Vegas back in 2002 she can take any cue, custom or production, off the shelf and as long as its a quality cue she can play with it.

one last note: i've always felt the tip is the most important part of the cue.

just my $.02.
DCP

Agreed 100%.

 

[BillPorter]

C+ player with an A+ cue

I am a C+ player. I love cues; the way they look, the way some of them feel and of course the way they play. My question is this. Is a C+ (I can pull out some B nights) who walks into a pool room with say a really nice custom cue or a sneaky pete being pretentious in any way? Does a cue that someone uses say anything about a player? I love the simplicity of a sneaky pete but so far the only people I have seen with them are hustlers.
Probably I shouldn't be concerned about what others think but .......

I'm a bit like you in that I'm not a great player, but I really like nice cues! I think most players that see you with an expensive and attractive cue will have only one thought about it - they will wish they had that cue! The only negative thought I can imagine entering the minds of another player is if top player sees you with your extra nice cue and thinks to themself, "Wow, that guy can't run a rack but he's got a cue that's nicer than mine." If that possibility bothers you, and I don't think it should, then put away your expensive cue when a top player is nearby!

 

[Gregg]

You don't have to be a good pool player to collect pool cues. Or to play with one. Off topic, but you don't have to be a good player to gamble money on pool games, either. Both of these are common misconceptions.

What does it all mean? Well, if you think I am a good player because I am showing up with my Samsara, well, let me just tell you your wrong, Mister!

 

[bruin70]

there are some that claim a really nice fancy custom cue is going to make you a much, much better player. just not true, any top player will tell you that its the cueist, not the cue.

i dont see what difference it makes what cue you use, if you can play that pretty much tells the story. if you cant, a $1,000 Judd cue wont do you much good. i've seen some really bad players with nice cues that cost several hundred dollars. i've seen some really good players play with an off the shelf production.

Allison plays with an off the shelf Cuetec - supposedly. some say its been modified, others say it hasnt. she told me in Vegas back in 2002 she can take any cue, custom or production, off the shelf and as long as its a quality cue she can play with it.

one last note: i've always felt the tip is the most important part of the cue.

just my $.02.
DCP

i disagree. a cue can make all the difference in the world,,,,,,,,to that player.

i am not saying a cue will turn a C+ into an A, but i AM saying a cue that makes a player feel better will make that player play better....and to any top player who says a cue doesn't make a difference,,,try playing with a 17oz cue if they're used to a 19.75oz,,,,with a 14mm tip if they're used to playing with a 12.5,,,,,an 18" balance if they're used to playing with a 19.5 balance,,,and so on down the line. and mostly importantly, a poorly made cue with really bad shaftwood/ferrule/tip or a well made cue with all the best woods.

my point is extreme, but the point is equipment can make all the difference in the world. to the very best and refined artists, their tools are the most important things they own.

 

[Zims Rack]

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Zim

 

[3kushn]

IMO you should select the cue that you want. Forget what you think others are thinking. You'll probably be wrong. My first 3 cues were ones that I thought at the time, were top of the line and I loved them at the time. Two of the three had close to 100 inlays and I thought they stood out and they probably did. Today I wouldn't play with one of them if it was given to me and I know now they were on the high end of the junk list. What I'm saying here is it's all in your head. Select a cue from a quality maker. This will add confidence in the cue and sometimes the player. If you don't want the cue to be noticed then select a simple design. For the most part if you go to a quality builder the simple cues are built the same as the fancy ones. The additional cost is in the inlay work. Of course some makers can demand a higher starting price because of their reputation but most any cue in his line will play very similar given all parameters are kept the same.

My grandmother told me several times "Always buy the best you can afford"

Cues are very personal. Don't buy something based on someone elses opinion when it comes to style. You know who the quality builders are. If not check out previous threads or ask your house pro or collector. Go to the top dozen or so and pick something you like and enjoy it. The heck with eveyone else.

 

[quitecoolguy]

i will agree with some of the earlier post ...There is a guy by the name of Mike who is a hell of a shooter...he is ranked a 9 by APA standing..he works a full time job so cant put that much time in playing but if he could no telliing how good he could be..anyway he went to the expo in PA he shoots with a cuetec....he is capable of putting together a string of racks which he did there...and he said people were looking at his cue and he could hear people in the croud going "Damn that guy can shoot...and he is shooting with a Cuetec" they were saying that as if it was surprise he could shot that well with a Cuetec..to rap all this up..with enough practice a good player could turn a boomstick into a cue and woop azz with it..a cue does build confidence..but its the player's dedication to practicing with his cue that will make the difference.

 

[Rich R.]

When someone walks into a pool room with a really nice cue, there are two things you can definitely tell about that player.
1.) The player likes nice cues.
2.) The player is willing to spend the money to get nice cues.

Those are the only two things you can tell about the player, until you see him/her play.

I have seen players of all skill levels that have cues of all value levels. The cue doesn't relate to the ability of the player.

 

[Cornerman]

there are some that claim a really nice fancy custom cue is going to make you a much, much better player.

I am constantly amazed that anyone would actually believe that anyone makes this claim. It's a phantom debate, IMO.

Fred

 

[Cornerman]

Does a cue that someone uses say anything about a player?

Sure it means something about a player. It says something about what they like. Just like a car, it says something about what the driver likes, and nothing about how well they drive.

Fred

 

[Gregg]

I am constantly amazed that anyone would actually believe that anyone makes this claim. It's a phantom debate, IMO.

Fred

I agree. The argument is that if you have fine cue, you feel better; If you feel better, you play better. Lets not disregard the superficial here!

But to contradict this, I feel way better shooting with my Viking than my Samsara. My viking is not even a third of the cost of my Samsara. I guess I feel like I have to worry about my Samsara, or feel like I have to. I value both, of course.

 

[Scott Lee]

But to contradict this, I feel way better shooting with my Viking than my Samsara. My viking is not even a third of the cost of my Samsara. I guess I feel like I have to worry about my Samsara, or feel like I have to.

Gregg...I play with both of my Samsara cues ($1200 & $4000) ALL the time. They were built to be played with, provided the player likes the way the cue plays...which is a subjective concept anyway. How much a cue costs should, imo, should have no bearing on whether or not, or how often, a cue gets played with. I personally agree with DCP, that the tip is the most important part of a cue anyway.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

 

[Ktown D]

Sure it means something about a player. It says something about what they like. Just like a car, it says something about what the driver likes, and nothing about how well they drive.

Fred

I was just going to use this same analogy.You beat me to the punch.

It seems to me to that for the most part players that have really nice cues also seem to be the ones with full time jobs and less time to play and improve. On the other hand, the really good players that don't enjoy gainful employment can't afford such nice cues or sometimes even food, cigarettes or a place to sleep.

Sorry if I am overstating the obvious.

 

[pawnmon]

I think that the main thing is playing with the same cue all the time helps with consistancy. It doesn't have to be fancy. Also I agree with a previous post. The tip is very important. A $.50 tip on a $10,000.00 cue won't help anything.

 

[Cardinal2B]

Only Hustlers use Sneaky Petes?

I am a C+ player. I love cues; the way they look, the way some of them feel and of course the way they play. My question is this. Is a C+ (I can pull out some B nights) who walks into a pool room with say a really nice custom cue or a sneaky pete being pretentious in any way? Does a cue that someone uses say anything about a player? I love the simplicity of a sneaky pete but so far the only people I have seen with them are hustlers.
Probably I shouldn't be concerned about what others think but .......

I'm about the same skill level as you. In my local hall, probably 20 people use either a Scruggs SP or a Frey SP, and I wouldn't classify any of them as gamblers or hustlers, including myself. Nobody is really fooling anybody with these SPs - its a way to have a great playing cue for reasonable dollars.

Stop worrying about it, enjoy life. Go get the cue you want.

 

[BrooklynJay]

I'm of the opinion that a cue does make a difference. Look at all the talk about low deflection shafts, the hit and feel of difference cues, the different woods, the different joints, etc. - I think there's got to be something to it otherwise there wouldn't be so much conversation concerning it.

Also, if cues didn't make a difference then why are JFSW's and other custom cues so highly sought after? Wouldn't everyone just pick up a run of the mill production cue and just play with that if cues didn't make a difference of any kind?

 

[Cuebacca]

i will agree with some of the earlier post ...There is a guy by the name of Mike who is a hell of a shooter...he is ranked a 9 by APA standing..he works a full time job so cant put that much time in playing but if he could no telliing how good he could be..anyway he went to the expo in PA he shoots with a cuetec....he is capable of putting together a string of racks which he did there...and he said people were looking at his cue and he could hear people in the croud going "Damn that guy can shoot...and he is shooting with a Cuetec" they were saying that as if it was surprise he could shot that well with a Cuetec..to rap all this up..with enough practice a good player could turn a boomstick into a cue and woop azz with it..a cue does build confidence..but its the player's dedication to practicing with his cue that will make the difference.

Maybe they weren't surprised he could shoot well with a Cuetec. Maybe they were surprised that someone that good chooses to shoot with a Cuetec. I'd be shocked if Alison or Earl would choose to shoot with a Cuetec if they weren't paid well to do so. No offense to Cuetec, just my opinion of the product (a popular opinion, I believe).

A good player might play well with any cue, but they'd play at least slightly better with a "better" cue. How much better varies from person to person and from cue to cue. For me, upgrading made a HUGE difference.

I used to own a Cuetec and I hated it. After I realized that I hated it, things probably got even worse due to the psychological aspects. I was probably about a C player back then. Did upgrading make me an A player? Hell no. Did it improve my game? It depends on how you look at it.

The way I see it, owning a "good" cue allows me to be limited by my own skills. Pool is hard enough without being challenged by bad equipment. JMO

 

[Banks]

This again?

C'mon, this is damn near the same as asking if a red cue shoots better than a blue cue. If you can shoot, it doesn't matter if you have a house cue, unless you've got some big mental hang-up (a weakness that will probably spill over into your game anyhow). I shoot with the same cheap $100 cue I bought when I began league over a year ago. I love beating people who think their this-n-that with the ultra-super-fancy-tip makes them a better player. I'd rather my friends spend their money on some real lessons instead of nice looking cues.. and honestly, I'm not all that impressed with inlays, to me it's like the difference between two similar decks of cards. If it's something kinda rare, sure that's spiffy.. or maybe if it's one of them there three-piece sneakies, that's dandy, too.

I'm going to learn how to beat those same people off-handed with a bar cue, just for the same sick fun of it. I'm still iffy against even an apa 4 with the broomstick.. eventually I'd like to get a 2-piece broomstick tho.