Why do players seem to want the same cue, tip, and specs that their favorite player uses?

V

vintagecollectibles831

Active member
It just seems really silly to me, that so many players, or wanna be players, are so interested in what their favorite Pro player uses, and seem to want to have whatever their favorite player is using, maybe right down to the same specs that that their player likes, and many cases.

All players are different, and prefer different things. Different lengths, tapers, tips, weight balances, weights, and feels of a cue, like Leather, Linen, or wrapless, so why not go out there and try out different cues, to get a feel for what you personally like the best, instead of worrying about what ever your favorite player is using?

For example, my favorite player is Josh Filler, but he uses a 16oz cue, lol. I could never be comfortable playing with a 16oz cue. And, he plays for Predator, and always had. I am personally not too crazy about Predator, but that is just me. Still love Josh Filler though, but I could care less what he is using, or the exact specs that he uses for his cue.

I have an old friend who seems to Worship SVB, and he wants to get a cue that is exactly like Shane's cue. That just seems silly to me. I have heard nothing but great reviews about the Cuetec Cynergy though, and would love to try one out. I also really love the look of their 2nd generation of cues, with the really nice inlaid(?) design. None of that has anything to do with the fact that SVB is a 5 time US Open 9 ball Champion though, and maybe arguably the greatest player ever. I just love trying out new cues.

Thanks for any thoughts.
 
I've never met such a player really.

Sure, some people might take a bit of influence here or there and maybe some people, especially newer players who have yet to develop and figure out their own preferences with regards to cues, go further and really do align their cue specs to a favorite player....but in ~15 years of playing I've never met a player like you're describing.

And if there are some...as long as they're happy playing with their cue then it's all good by me. Worrying about why someone chose a specific cue is as silly as choosing one based on a pro players preferences in my mind.
 
slide13 said:
I've never met such a player really.

Sure, some people might take a bit of influence here or there and maybe some people, especially newer players who have yet to develop and figure out their own preferences with regards to cues, go further and really do align their cue specs to a favorite player....but in ~15 years of playing I've never met a player like you're describing.

And if there are some...as long as they're happy playing with their cue then it's all good by me. Worrying about why someone chose a specific cue is as silly as choosing one based on a pro players preferences in my mind.
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Well, I do not care what other players use, but I have always seen posts, with players asking what tip so and so uses, or what playing cue they are using, or the size of their tip, at different times.

You never seen those types of posts? Maybe it is just curiosity, and not because they are looking to copy everything about their favorite player.
 
vintagecollectibles831 said:
It just seems really silly to me, that so many players, or wanna be players, are so interested in what their favorite Pro player uses, and seem to want to have whatever their favorite player is using, maybe right down to the same specs that that their player likes, and many cases.

All players are different, and prefer different things. Different lengths, tapers, tips, weight balances, weights, and feels of a cue, like Leather, Linen, or wrapless, so why not go out there and try out different cues, to get a feel for what you personally like the best, instead of worrying about what ever your favorite player is using?

For example, my favorite player is Josh Filler, but he uses a 16oz cue, lol. I could never be comfortable playing with a 16oz cue. And, he plays for Predator, and always had. I am personally not too crazy about Predator, but that is just me. Still love Josh Filler though, but I could care less what he is using, or the exact specs that he uses for his cue.

I have an old friend who seems to Worship SVB, and he wants to get a cue that is exactly like Shane's cue. That just seems silly to me. I have heard nothing but great reviews about the Cuetec Cynergy though, and would love to try one out. I also really love the look of their 2nd generation of cues, with the really nice inlaid(?) design. None of that has anything to do with the fact that SVB is a 5 time US Open 9 ball Champion though, and maybe arguably the greatest player ever. I just love trying out new cues.

Thanks for any thoughts.
Click to expand...
And yet you know Filler uses a 16 oz cue!
 
vintagecollectibles831 said:
You never seen those types of posts? Maybe it is just curiosity, and not because they are looking to copy everything about their favorite player.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I don't think most posts asking about specific details of a players cue are doing so because they want to recreate an exact setup.

I'm curious what pro players use, I knew Filler liked a really light cue for example and that 16oz number seems familiar though I couldn't have come up with it on my own. I'm curious what weights players use, what tips, shaft diameters, etc. Doesn't mean I make decisions about what I play based on it though.

I think part of the curiosity comes from the fact that these are pro players who spend the bulk of their life playing pool and earning a living from it. They have the time and resources to try anything. If a huge number of pro players started moving to a specific tip I'm not going to get one just because I think it'll make me play like them....but I think I'd also be silly to not investigate it a little further to see if there might be some benefit there that is causing a number of pros to choose something like that.

Most of us don't have the resources to try every tip, every shaft, every cue and at every weight.....so trying to glean some useful information from what pros use who likely have better access to such things than we do isn't really that unusual in my mind.

Part of it is just being a fan too and wanting to know what someone is using. Not like people who pay attention to F1 and the tech advancements in those cars could even apply any of that to their daily commute...but they're still curious and want to know about it.
 
Because they think it will magically rub off on them somehow.
It's an incredibly strange logical fallacy and I understand it from a marketing standpoint, but I don't see how people can think it's relevant in the real world.
Honestly I think a fair amount of players are using the wrong equipment based on stuff like this and also not being able to think logically about their own game and always blaming the equipment for any issues they have.
 
Just curious.....

19 ounces seems to be the standard cue weight for most pocket billiard games.

What is the standard weight for a snooker cue?? I know as a kid I played with 12/13 ounce cues off the wall.

What about a 3 cushion standard weight cue??
 
Thankfully I'm not a fan of any player.

I have it figured out. People's favorite player is the benchmark.

So if your favorite player uses certain brands then playing the brand only gets you in the door. That's the mindset they have. Simple advertising. Play into their emotion and what better way than their favorite player.
 
The Old Jaybird said:
Just curious.....

19 ounces seems to be the standard cue weight for most pocket billiard games.

What is the standard weight for a snooker cue?? I know as a kid I played with 12/13 ounce cues off the wall.
Click to expand...
17 to 17.5oz with 9.5mm tip seems to be about the 'standard' from observation/players I know - I play with 18.2oz and 9.5mm tip, always have and always will, and I get told it's heavy.
English billiards cues were slightly lighter and with a thicker tip. My grandfather played a lot of English billiards and his cues were 16-16.5oz 12/13mm tip. He would play snooker pretty handily with those cues too.
My father plays with a bigger tip than most snooker players of his level. He uses 10mm 17.5oz cue and knocks in tons for fun.
The Old Jaybird said:
What about a 3 cushion standard weight cue??
Click to expand...
I assume slightly heavier. Only held one or two in my life.
 
When I was young I went through trying a number of different cues from custom makers until I found one I really liked, then I had that cue maker make me a second cue. Been playing a Triangle tip since I started, never changed, albeit I did start compressing them before installs about 25 years ago. I have no idea what most pros use nor does it affect my choices. In life it’s best to find what you like and just stick with it IMHO. Your mileage may vary.
 
vintagecollectibles831 said:
It just seems really silly to me, that so many players, or wanna be players, are so interested in what their favorite Pro player uses, and seem to want to have whatever their favorite player is using, maybe right down to the same specs that that their player likes, and many cases.

All players are different, and prefer different things. Different lengths, tapers, tips, weight balances, weights, and feels of a cue, like Leather, Linen, or wrapless, so why not go out there and try out different cues, to get a feel for what you personally like the best, instead of worrying about what ever your favorite player is using?

For example, my favorite player is Josh Filler, but he uses a 16oz cue, lol. I could never be comfortable playing with a 16oz cue. And, he plays for Predator, and always had. I am personally not too crazy about Predator, but that is just me. Still love Josh Filler though, but I could care less what he is using, or the exact specs that he uses for his cue.

I have an old friend who seems to Worship SVB, and he wants to get a cue that is exactly like Shane's cue. That just seems silly to me. I have heard nothing but great reviews about the Cuetec Cynergy though, and would love to try one out. I also really love the look of their 2nd generation of cues, with the really nice inlaid(?) design. None of that has anything to do with the fact that SVB is a 5 time US Open 9 ball Champion though, and maybe arguably the greatest player ever. I just love trying out new cues.

Thanks for any thoughts.
Click to expand...

I know guys like this: "I want the same identical setup he has, whatever it is."

But, the truth is that that it's unlikely to help them. Those guys, at the upper levels, have dialed in microscopic things most of us probably don't even begin to think of in terms of bridge, CB hit, grip, alignment, and stroke delivery. So it's not going to help the average Joe.

One thing I've been noticing lately, amongst the usual suspects, is that many of them are griping their cue at the very end. I can only imagine it's because that's what they see many pro players doing. But frankly, I'm not so sure the average Joe, playing a couple of times a week, is going to get a handle on that. But there they are nonetheless.

I guess, as we used to say: Dippy gonna do what Dippy gonna do.

Lou Figueroa
 
The Old Jaybird said:
Just curious.....

19 ounces seems to be the standard cue weight for most pocket billiard games.

What is the standard weight for a snooker cue?? I know as a kid I played with 12/13 ounce cues off the wall.

What about a 3 cushion standard weight cue??
Click to expand...
Snooker, carom and pool cues all have about the same weight range. 18-19oz on avreage or 500g in metric.
 
lfigueroa said:
I know guys like this: "I want the same identical setup he has, whatever it is."

But, the truth is that that it's unlikely to help them. Those guys, at the upper levels, have dialed in microscopic things most of us probably don't even begin to think of in terms of bridge, CB hit, grip, alignment, and stroke delivery. So it's not going to help the average Joe.

One thing I've been noticing lately, amongst the usual suspects, is that many of them are griping their cue at the very end. I can only imagine it's because that's what they see many pro players doing. But frankly, I'm not so sure the average Joe, playing a couple of times a week, is going to get a handle on that. But there they are nonetheless.

I guess, as we used to say: Dippy gonna do what Dippy gonna do.

Lou Figueroa
Click to expand...

I see a lot of players going way back on their grip hand too, and that is something I never did.
 
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