Hit a few SW cues at the APA this week.
It had been around 20 years since I hit Louis Ulrichs SW, which I hated at the time.
I hit 3 at the show, and have to say the cues are a complete mystery to me.
Let me preface that I understand that people love them and they are very popular not bashing other peoples opinons
But the ones are hit were very similar in hit.
They were all insanely stiff. They all had a thuddy indistinct ht. The hit was very very very hard. They were very high deflection compared to all the other cues I hit. The way they felt was like I was just bludgeoning the cue ball not smoothly going through it.
For ME, it is the exact opposite of what I want in a cue. If you gave me one, I wouldnt play it.
I always dont like the aesthetic of them, they all look the same to me and ugly.
I just bought a Tascarella. To me these two cues are polar opposites of each other.
Tascarellas are crisp hitting, soft, stiff but medium stiff, and just feel smooth and fast through the ball.
They also both seem to be unique in hit. They both have a very distinct identity, something you dont see as much with most other builders.
Not bashing anyones preferences, but I am not sure why someone would prefer a cue that hits so hard and stiff as a SW.
I have also noticed that SW prices seem to be dipping precipitously lately. SW cues seem to always be the most immune to market trends in pool, but even Omega Billiards which usually prices their cues for at least 1.5x what they are worth, were selling them pretty inexpensively, and there were a couple new ones for sale around $4500.