What to do with cue when not shoooting

[center pocket]

a. what are you doing letting your opponent shoot ? :grin:
b. Seriously, you are thinking about what to do with your cue ???? why aren't you focused on the table , anticpating what your opponent is doing (learning) or remaining focused on the match ? it sounds like your mental game is off because you're doing too much thinking. Where your cue is, what your opponent thinks your posture means, what's going on in the pool hall , WHO CARES. You should only be focused on the game at hand.

I think Captain Obvious needs a "here's your sign" comment! We obviously are all supposed to be focused on the table. This discussion is just about where you place your cue while you are intently focused on the game at hand and waiting for your next chance to shoot. New Stroke and the others that talk about fishing are just yanking your chain like they do to everyone on AZ Forums. Even they know to keep there eyes on the table!

On a lighter note, I thought I would share a personal story. One time I layed my cue against a table at a bar table tournament. I am about to play my next opponent and after he puts the quarters into the table the balls get stuck. Well everyone knows the trick where you stick a house cue in to the table to get the balls unstuck. This jerk off instead grabs my 400$ Mcdermott with an OB1 on it! I stop him in just the nick of time by yelling, "Hold the F0ck up!!!" He looked at me with a blank stare while having the cue completely horizontal with tip about to go into the table. I asked him, "Does that look like a House Cue?" He said" No." I then said, "then why the hell are about to f8ck my stick up by putting it into that table? You got 400 bucks for the cue your about to demolish?" He then apologized and I handed him a house cue to use while asking some friends of mine,"can you freaking believe this guy."

 

[JoeW]

I think you should do what feels right. I know that we think only women have intuition but that is simply not true. Put the cue down between shots and see if it bothers you or makes you feel better. Next time hold it and see what you get. After a few changes you will know what “feels” right. I suspect that the “best” thing to do will change from situation to situation. Sometimes you know that you are going right back to the table (lock safe etc), other times you can see that you will be sitting for awhile.

There are many things that need to be ritualized when playing pool to help the mind get into the right mode. For some people setting the cue down may be one of the triggers that gets you back into conscious control. I like RandyG’s rational though it could go bad if it becomes part of the way that you accept defeat. So I guess it depends on the player.

 

[JoeW]

BTW on another thread people noted that with the new need to go outside for a smoke more people are finding that some nit is picking up and walking off with their $1,000.00 cue. The other day I was on someone’s web site (forget who) and saw where they had what looked like one of those rolling brief cases that you see at an airport (It wasn’t but it looked like one). The 2 X 2 cue case was stuffed in the brief case and acted as a vertical storage case for the cue case and the sticks while you are playing. The handle was a support for the cues.

I liked this idea because it not only tells the nits to leave your stuff alone it also acts as a storage unit for all kinds of stuff. LOL Now we can all look like business people with a brief case and a cue case.

 

[trustyrusty]

if I'm not shooting because of a bad miss I usually toss it into the ceiling for safe keeping - only a problem if there's no ladder handy. On the positive side though, the gypsum or plaster makes for a good chalk - no need to chalk up when you get back to the table.

 

[randyg]

Dennis Swift.....SPF=randyg

 

[Cuaba]

Last Night.........................

I do both.

If I think I wil be shooting again soon, I usually hold on to it.

If its gonna be a while, I set it down wherever is handy.

Last night at league I played a really good safe on a guy and I sat down holding my cue, thinking I'd shoot again soon. He got out of the safe with a super thin cut the length of the table, then banking & breaking out clusters to get a near impossible out.

About 10 minutes later, I thought about this thread & realized I was still holding on to my cue.

 

[calboy8686]

I've been told when your not shooting to lay your cue on the table next to you (if there is no one on it of course), or rest it somewhere. It not only gives you that extra second, but if you always have your cue in your hands, your exposing it to sweat, playing with it (let's face it, it's a tool - like a hammer or a screwdriver) but above all else, think about it as a piece of precision instrumentation. That's also why you generally don't let others hit with it or play with it.

The subcontious mind follows EVERYTHING going on around you. It's up to you to focus your CONTIOUS mind on what's happening at the table and keep your focus. Different people and different articles you may read about cue care will all say something different. The ONE THING they ALL agree on is that you should never lean your cue against the wall cause eventually the shaft will warp. That's also another good reason to lay it down either on the floor or the table next to you when your not shooting.

With possibly warping the shaft after a while of leaning it against the wall, the common advice in different articles is if your going to lean it against anything, the best way to do that is to lean it against the joint (chair or whatever have you) against a soft surface as vertical as possible so you have the most support.

The other reason to keep it out of your hands is you can also use having to "get your cue" as a way to control the pace of the game. Pool is a very personal game, but at the same time, the equipment must be taken care of and respected as precision equipment. That holds ESPECIALLY true once you start paying thousands of dollars for custom cues. You will want to keep those in as top condition as possible. Not only in case you ever wanted to sell one, but face it.... would you pay a lot of money for something and treat it like shit? I don't think so. LOL!!

Read several articles on "cue care and maintenance" and take it from there. Another reason not to lean your cue against things is wood is generally a softer material, and you can ding up your shaft REALLY fast if you get careless and bump it (I've done that and have a few dings right in the stroke area of one of my shafts, it's very annoying when you take a few strokes before you hit a ball).

Hope this helped you out dude.

So I have been doing a lot of work on my mental game... One thing I'm trying to find, is a comfort zone at and away from the able during a match.

When my opponent is shooting I am striving to remain positive, maintain a good posture, be polite and still. I am on the fence about my cue though. I don't like putting my cue down, or resting it in its nook on the chair because I don't want it to look or feel like I don't think I'll be at the table again.

On the other side, like the idea of not holding a cue if you're not using it. Plus, it can help slow me down (in the good way) if I have to grab my cue before returning to the table, instead of having it in hand and jumping at the chance to shoot.

I am curious as to what you guys do, or if you even pay attention to this detail at all.

Also, if anyone has any idea as to what the subconscious prefers?

Thanks!

 

[Drew]

I usually twirl my cue around like Tom Cruise, pretending to be Vince from the Color of Money. If my opponent takes an ill-timed bathroom break, I put on my black "VINCE" shirt and put on "Werewolves of London" on the jukebox.

Dude, that's so 1990.

I practice my javelin skills...hoping to make the olympics with all the practice I get.

 

[saige45]

I never have to worry about my cue because I always break it over my knee when I miss a shot... So while my opponent is shooting, I am constantly running over to the wall for a new cue or just grabbing whatevers handy... You get quite a funny look when you reach for your opponents cue when its your turn to shoot...

Just kidding... Actually someone else mentioned putting their cue butt down in their case... I do the same...

-saige-

 

[Falcon Eddie]

I prefer to tie a red hanky to the shaft and sit still while I rock the cue back and forth like a metronome. I increase speed when I am in my opponents direct line of vision.....
Seriously though, I usually just sit still holding the steel joint loosely in my hand.
Chuck

Thanks for the visual , once in a while something I read here makes me laugh out loud.

 

[CreeDo]

I'm always holding on to it, because I'm always hoping for my next shot soon. And when I'm watching my opponent I micro-analyze his shots to find some flaw in his position that should prevent him from getting out. Or I'll look at the layout and try to predict where he'll run into trouble. Basically I wish bad things on him.

I don't like setting it down, it's perfectly comfortable resting between the knees if I'm sitting or in my hand if standing. I don't like leaning it on things, and if I do I make sure the contact point of the lean is somewhere near the middle of the stick. I hate seeing people lean it against the wall where the tip is touching the wall. Or they rest the butt on the rail and the tip on the surface. I don't know if such a thing can warp a stick but it seems like those two habits have the best chance of making it happen.

When I go outside the stick comes with me.

 

[Spike8ball]

This is from a come back from long layoff player that is still re-learning the game so FWIW.

Just bought a Q Claw. Best thing I ever did. Now I purposely put the cue in the Q Claw, sit back and watch and learn at home or when I am out. No more fidgeting with the cue, etc.

I also find that I don’t jump up the second there’s a miss. I sit there for I don’t know... 10 seconds or so letting what’s left on the table sink in.