why is my best play with a house cue?

Donovan said:
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

JMO


Golly gee whiz, I actually beat Donovan at something!! That's a first!

Flex
 
gwvavases said:
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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!
I agree ! "House" Cues will vary in condition, quality, and tip materials all over the spectrum dependent only on which "House" you may be in at the time and of course the time you may be in the house! :rolleyes: so as it was pointed out this predilection of yours for the free house cues may be better understood and explained by a licensed therapist! You will always find that using the same cue (no matter what its type) will always be better for your games consistency
 
Alain Martel uses two one piece Dufferin cues, one for breaking one for playing. He plays pretty sporty, former Canadian Champ, made it to the semi finals of the World Championships one year, knocked out Earl Strickland at last years World 9 ball Championships.
 
Donovan said:
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
Sorry ,I have to disagree. I also noticed that I would shoot better with house cues. So I bought a Meucci sneaky pete which I think has the same type of feel. This way I don't have to rely on the place to have quality house cues.
 
Driller said:
Sorry ,I have to disagree. I also noticed that I would shoot better with house cues. So I bought a Meucci sneaky pete which I think has the same type of feel. This way I don't have to rely on the place to have quality house cues.

While the Meucci sneaky may have a similar feel to a house cue, the use of the black dot or red dot shafts will make the cue play quite differently from most house cues. I have a Meucci with two black dot shafts, both subsequently modified, and they always played so different from the house cues I'd tried that I couldn't even put them in the same league. The HIT of the house cue is great, the squirt of just about every one of them I've ever used when applying english and stroking the cue ball is totally different. If you like the hit of the Meucci, that's great. However the Meuccis will normally juice the cue ball better than most house cues.

My 2 cents worth.

Flex
 
I think the idea of getting a nice sneaky pete is a good one. Frey and Coker make some nice ones. Coker has wood to wood with a 3/8-10 pin and the shaft has no metal insert, I think it would give you the feel you like so much with the house cue.

I also just bought a Thompson Sneaky that hits very well.
 
Driller said:
Sorry ,I have to disagree. I also noticed that I would shoot better with house cues. So I bought a Meucci sneaky pete which I think has the same type of feel. This way I don't have to rely on the place to have quality house cues.

I understand what you are saying, but I think you missed my point. If you played with a different cue each time you played, your concentration and focus would be tighter early on as you would be trying to figure everything out. In most cases, I think you will find you play well early on as you are working out the bugs, "so to speak".

I'm not a fan of newer Meucci's (post 1990), but that has nothing to do with this. If you are shooting with the same cue all the time, there is nothing to work out.

I will amend all this to one other point. If you are a lower B player and below, this may be noticeable to you. However, if you are a high B and above, your consistency and focus is so much stronger that you will not be effected by this in the same way. JMO
 
Donovan said:
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

I agree. I was playing the best player on my APA team a few months ago, at the end of the night on league night when a lot of tables had freed up. He had recently bought a Mace break cue, and was shooting with it as a playing cue just to experiment, I guess. So, half-joking, I said I'd play him with my break cue, which is a Gulyassy sledgehammer break/jump, with a one-piece PHENOLIC tip-ferrule combo.

Needless to say, the hit is odd. The tip is totally smooth and amazingly hard, meaning miscues are a serious risk if you aren't stroking well. Also, it hits like a truck (break cue), so I had to pay extra close attention to my speed control.

But I shot lights-out pool. He commented that I was playing way above normal, and a player on another table who knows me and was watching actually asked me "how are you doing this?". I really hit the zone for a few racks.

And I think it's because I was forced to pay attention to a good stroke and accurate tip placement. I think playing with the same cue all the time, you learn to trust it, and sometimes get a little lazy. A radical equipment change can give your play a big temporary boost sometimes.

-Andrew
 
Jeff said:
I think the idea of getting a nice sneaky pete is a good one. Frey and Coker make some nice ones. Coker has wood to wood with a 3/8-10 pin and the shaft has no metal insert, I think it would give you the feel you like so much with the house cue.

I also just bought a Thompson Sneaky that hits very well.

The Frey SP I just purchased also has 3/8 X 10 wood to wood joint (with phenolic collars, I believe), also. There is no metal insert in the Frey either. :)
 
Chris said:
The Frey SP I just purchased also has 3/8 X 10 wood to wood joint (with phenolic collars, I believe), also. There is no metal insert in the Frey either. :)

Yea, that's why I suggested the Frey also. I don't like the metal insert in the shaft.

The Thompson is screw into wood too.
 
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.

It has been stated by many that the best hit to be found is right over there on the wall, referring to the house cue.
Our strokes all differ and cues have never been, one size fits all.
My guess is that you would be better off with a wood to wood joint, such as the Schuler Legacy Cue.
If you buy this idea, PM me and i will put you in touch with them.
 
Hi there,

If you want the feel of a house cue with the portability of a two piece, try a Zylr. It had always amazed me that people were going nuts for Zylrs and paying over a thousand dollars for a very plain cue. I talked to Kerry the cuemaker about this "phenomenon". He laughed when I told him his cues were kind of plain for that kind of money. He said that he made cues with the concept that everyone learns to play using a one piece cue. They develop some skill at the game and the first thing they do is to go buy a two piece cue, so they can transport it. Then they spend the rest of their life trying to duplicate that one piece hit. That is what a Zylr offers...a two piece cue with the hit of a house cue. I was a little skeptical at first, but I've owned two since that conversation. I really do believe that Kerry has accomplished his goal! Good luck finding the right cue!

Regards,

Steve
 
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