why is my best play with a house cue?

K

Kiad

Registered
ok, i've realized something completely disturbing to me, my most consistant play is with a house cue. i've shot with joss, predator, lucasi, cuetec, and house cues and for some reason or another the housecue gives me the most natural hit of all of them. it doesnt give me the english of my predator but it pockets ball a ton better than the rest. I was playing pool on and off since i was 12 years old and played with house cues until i was about 19 when i got serious. yet i've noticed this trend that everytime i have to shoot without my store bought cues, i play noticably better. odd no? maybe it has to do with the way house cues are constructed fits my taste better? any input as to why this would be will be helpful.

o yea, i also shot with what i believe to be a viking. felt natural when i played with it...felt a lot like a house cue.
 
House cues are butt-heavy, you are probably used to the balance point being set to the rear and having alot of the cue weight in your hands. Try a two-piece duffering or meucci sneaky pete, it should be weighted similarly.
 
If there is a particular house cue which you play better with, you may want to research the tip end.

Find out what radius is on the tip (nickel, dime, quarter).
Measure the ferrule at the tip with calipers (13mm, 12.5mm, etc.)
Find out what type/brand of tip.
Measure the hardness of the tip with a type "D" Durometer.

Also measure the weight of the cue.

Some billiards equipment dealers have all of the above instruments. Maybe you could borrow your farorite house cue and take it to a dealer for measurement?

I've noticed that many house cues have a quarter radius on the tip and the tip is hard as a rock because people use them for breaking. Maybe you could try duplicating the tip condition on your own cue and see if you play better? If not, maybe it is the "feel" of the hit with an all wood cue, not having a wrap, the slickness of the shaft from not being cleaned, or maybe just the way it looks?

In the past, I played better with "a particular" house cue, but then started playing in tournaments - other locations had real cruddy cues (we're talking bad), so I got my own cue for more consistent play. I could not count on a good house stick being available at every location.
 
The one piece cues have a solid hit/feel to them. The Viking cue you shot with could have been a 3/8-10 pin, which gives a pretty similar hit to a once piece cue. You can buy a Dufferin Phantom (Sneaky Pete) for about $80-$90 and it feels pretty darn close to their house cues, but with a better taper and tip. You could also try a 2 piece cue that has a 3/8-10 or a Radial pin, they have a very similar hit to a one piece cue.

Let me know if there's anything I can get you or help you with,
Zim
 
Kiad said:
ok, i've realized something completely disturbing to me, my most consistant play is with a house cue. i've shot with joss, predator, lucasi, cuetec, and house cues and for some reason or another the housecue gives me the most natural hit of all of them. it doesnt give me the english of my predator but it pockets ball a ton better than the rest. I was playing pool on and off since i was 12 years old and played with house cues until i was about 19 when i got serious. yet i've noticed this trend that everytime i have to shoot without my store bought cues, i play noticably better. odd no? maybe it has to do with the way house cues are constructed fits my taste better? any input as to why this would be will be helpful.

o yea, i also shot with what i believe to be a viking. felt natural when i played with it...felt a lot like a house cue.
Click to expand...

There is nothing inherently wrong with one-piece cues other than their lack of portability. In fact, if memory serves, in 1982, Pat Fleming used a one-piece cue to compete in World Open 14.1 championships and finsihed third.
Several other pros competed with house cues in days of old.

Now, the only one-piece cues we generally see are house cues, and their quality will be highly variable from poolroom to poolroom and cue to cue. Some rooms buy nice housecues (Dufferin is excellent), others don't. Also, you're at the mercy of all others who've used the cue, who may have handled it with indelicacy.

You've probably found a room that buys good house cues with weight, tip size, and balance point to your liking. My advice would be to find a one or a two piece cue that is built with comparable sepcifications to the house cues you like most. Then you won't have to worry about how others handle your cue.
 
Kiad said:
ok, i've realized something completely disturbing to me, my most consistant play is with a house cue. i've shot with joss, predator, lucasi, cuetec, and house cues and for some reason or another the housecue gives me the most natural hit of all of them. it doesnt give me the english of my predator but it pockets ball a ton better than the rest. I was playing pool on and off since i was 12 years old and played with house cues until i was about 19 when i got serious. yet i've noticed this trend that everytime i have to shoot without my store bought cues, i play noticably better. odd no? maybe it has to do with the way house cues are constructed fits my taste better? any input as to why this would be will be helpful.

o yea, i also shot with what i believe to be a viking. felt natural when i played with it...felt a lot like a house cue.
Click to expand...
\

The other responders' answers notwithstanding, I think that since you learned the game and played the game with a house cue between the ages of 12 and 19, you simply feel more at ease with it. I think the other responders' answers regarding shaft size, cue weight/balance, etc., probably have some merit, but I think it's mostly in your head. I recall getting myself a purebred cocker spaniel a number of years ago. As cute and snuggly as she was, she didn't hold a candle to the old mutt I had when I was a kid. Same kind of thing, I think.

If this was happening to me, I think I would try to find a sneaky pete that has all of the characteristics you find most desirable, i.e. get yourself a mutt!
 
One possiblity is that most house cues are huge at the point where there would nomally be a joint, and therefore much stiffer. All the cues in your list have stainless joints which in my opinion add to deflection. If you have a fairly straight stroke you would probably play better with a flat faced wood to wood joint with pro tapered shaft as it has more of a natural feel. But if you have a wobbly stroke the stiffer house cue or other cue with stiffer shaft will help you overcome some of the error in your stroke. But you will lose some cue ball control and english that a pro tapered shaft will provide. First advice is get away from the stainless joint or super hard tips and see if that gives you happy medium that will be good for your all around game.
Chris
www.cuesmith.com
www.internationalcuemakers.com
 
Ok, you need to realize that the cue doesn't make the balls for you, or give the english. YOU DO. I think this is something mental. Pool is such an egotistical game, when working at a poolhall, I used to get so annoyed with people who couldn't play worth a crap blaming their misfortunes in the game on the equipment. You are doing the opposite, saying that your ability to pocket so many balls is because of the cue. That's a first! :D
 
true for me too.

i played with the wobbliest housecue and beat my friend 3 times in a role. (not by him knocking in the 8ball or lucky stuff)

i actually ran the table within 2 turns. i switched to my predator and then lost 6 games after. i couldnt shoot straight to save my life.

i am not using a sneaky pete and am going to stick with it for quite some time.
 
could be you are more used to some attribute in the house cue, or could be a mental thing. if you subconciously convince yourself that you play best with a house cue that is what youll do.
 
Kiad if you like a house cue best pick one out and offer to buy it from the owner.nothing wrong with playing with a one piece.you could pick up a packing tube from say UPS to carry it in...Good luck
 
One of the pool halls that i goto in my town has Dufferin and Cuetec house cues, and alot of guys scramble to get a Cuetec house cue because they play so well.

I've also seen guys buy those cuetec onepiece cues and just have them stored at a pool hall for future use, because the person just loves the way the cue plays. And they are also good break cues too.

dave
 
gwvavases said:
\

The other responders' answers notwithstanding, I think that since you learned the game and played the game with a house cue between the ages of 12 and 19, you simply feel more at ease with it. I think the other responders' answers regarding shaft size, cue weight/balance, etc., probably have some merit, but I think it's mostly in your head. I recall getting myself a purebred cocker spaniel a number of years ago. As cute and snuggly as she was, she didn't hold a candle to the old mutt I had when I was a kid. Same kind of thing, I think.

If this was happening to me, I think I would try to find a sneaky pete that has all of the characteristics you find most desirable, i.e. get yourself a mutt!
Click to expand...

I've shot with a goodly number of various cues, some butt heavy, others very forward weighted, some with super stiff thick conical taper shafts, others with super slim ones, and have owned at least 8 different cues. But there's one that whose hit I like the most of all of them. It may not be the prettiest one, or have the optimal balance point, whereever that is, or be fancy or have perfect points, yada yada yada. But I will tell you it feels great when it hits. And it's straight. It's a lowly Excalibur sneaky pete, probably made with an ebony butt. I've shot with many different shafts on it, an Ed Young custom shaft, Meucci shafts, both stock black-dots and modified blackdots, as well as the conical shaft that came on it. However, the best combination I've found so far is with a Predator 314. The hit is awesome, and it plays great.

It happens quite often that someone asks what kind of cue it is, and of late I've started telling them it really doesn't matter what the brand is, it hits great, and plays perfectly. If they wish, I let them hit some balls with it. When I told them I paid $15 for it on eBay they look incredulous. Some say it's too butt heavy. Let them say that, it plays great.

Perhaps you should look into finding a one piece house cue that plays the way you like, and ask the owner to sell it to you. Offer him more than he paid for it, and he just may let it go. Then take it to a good cue maker and have him make it into a two-piece cue for you. It will be worth the cost, and you'll have just what you want.

I know a cue maker that does all this, refinishes the cue and so on, makes it look brand new, for under $175, if memory serves. Send me a PM if you'd like his name.

Best,

Flex
 
yongxingtennis said:
true for me too.

i played with the wobbliest housecue and beat my friend 3 times in a role. (not by him knocking in the 8ball or lucky stuff)

i actually ran the table within 2 turns. i switched to my predator and then lost 6 games after. i couldnt shoot straight to save my life.

i am not using a sneaky pete and am going to stick with it for quite some time.
Click to expand...

It's quite possible that you played better with it because it was the first time you were using it and were paying a "different" kind of attention when shooting. Just a thought.

Flex
 
Maybe you are not afraid to Put a Dink in the House Cue, so you mind is 110% on your Game when you play with a House Cue.....
 
Kiad said:
ok, i've realized something completely disturbing to me, my most consistant play is with a house cue. i've shot with joss, predator, lucasi, cuetec, and house cues and for some reason or another the housecue gives me the most natural hit of all of them. it doesnt give me the english of my predator but it pockets ball a ton better than the rest. I was playing pool on and off since i was 12 years old and played with house cues until i was about 19 when i got serious. yet i've noticed this trend that everytime i have to shoot without my store bought cues, i play noticably better. odd no? maybe it has to do with the way house cues are constructed fits my taste better? any input as to why this would be will be helpful.

o yea, i also shot with what i believe to be a viking. felt natural when i played with it...felt a lot like a house cue.
Click to expand...

OK, someone help me out here. I don't know why I can't think of it. I looked down through the responses and didn't see what I expected to see and now I can't think of what it is called. What is it when the cue maker makes a stick that the butt end is put together like a house cue. You know, where the points are jointed. I hate it when I can't come up with the words I want when I want them.

Anyway, you might want to give one of these a try.
 
CaptainJR said:
OK, someone help me out here. I don't know why I can't think of it. I looked down through the responses and didn't see what I expected to see and now I can't think of what it is called. What is it when the cue maker makes a stick that the butt end is put together like a house cue. You know, where the points are jointed. I hate it when I can't come up with the words I want when I want them.

Anyway, you might want to give one of these a try.
Click to expand...


Spliced?

Flex
 
Flex said:
It's quite possible that you played better with it because it was the first time you were using it and were paying a "different" kind of attention when shooting. Just a thought.

Flex
Click to expand...

THIS IS THE ANSWER! I was reading through this, looking for this response. I truly believe it is this simple. DANG you Flex for beating me to this thread! LOL

When you pick up a cue deformed or not and start using it for the first time, you are paying extra attention not to use too much english because you are not sure about the tip and so forth. If it has a bend you are watching for where you stroke it and so forth. All of this is making you really concentrate on the spot on the cue ball and it is really making you focus even harder on the shot, because you are shooting with something that is unfamiliar to you. If you could focus like this every time you shoot, you would see your best game emerge on a more day to day basis with almost any cue.

JMO
 
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