The importance in cues to game improvement?

[Chunqx]

Not wanting this to be just another "what cue to buy" thread, firstly I've got to say that at present moment, snooker only sits in the no.4 spot (not always a popular thing to say in a snooker forum) in the hobbies/interest/sport category for me. If you're curious about the other 3, they are:
1. Fishing - A few G Loomis rods and Daiwa high end reels....
2. Coffee (roast my own, brew my own) - grinders and machines including an E61 HX...
3. Cricket
As such, the spending priorities given limited funds available would have to be appropriated accordingly. I'm looking to get a cue but unfortunately don't have much to spend on one and definitely not anything high end like the MWs, Acuerates etc...
My current standard in snooker is rather sad; I surprise myself when I string more than 4 balls in a row, and before my long lay off from the game, my highest break was 35 and that was because all the stars were aligned... And I've hit a plateau in terms of game improvement. My question is: assuming the cue is straight (which is hard in its own to find), how much of a difference would getting a 200+ quid cue be to my game vs getting a 40 quid Riley cue? In my logical thinking, I'd think the cue wouldn't be anywhere near as important as technique and proper basics for someone ay my level whereas it would be more of a factor for a 50 break player. Am I wrong in this opinion?

[poona]

into my coffee too.
i would like to go down the roasting my own route.
do you simply use a popcorn maker machine with some raw beans?
i use a mokapot and burr grinder.

[vainparasite]

Fishing is good, only pole tho nowadays, i love my pole.

Coffee is fantastic i drink gallons of the stuff every week and spend fortunes in starbucks, mates think im off my head spending around £20+ a week in there but i dont pee my wages up against a wall and blow £50 a night on booze.

But cricket??? i have honestly never seen the attraction, I hate football season ending when there are no euros or world cup because cricket takes over the telly and papers. Its a man throwin a ball for a man to hit with a bat
what is the point of that????

I bought a new cue tho and i think it improved my game, a cheap riley is what i used to have and it was sticky and felt like all the weight was in the butt, i sanded all the varnish off and all the grain went with the varnish lol it looked like a maple shaft by the time i had finished. then i used linseed oil on it and the finish was much better but its nowhere near as good or confidence inspiring as my new one. the tip probably has a lot to do with it but the new cue has done it for me mentaly

[Chunqx]

The popcorn maker is only suitable in cold weather (under 18 degrees ambient temp) and anything above that it roasts too quickly. You can mod your popper by separating the fan and heating element and install a dimmer switch on the heating element to control the heat output. Also, the popper can only do 80-120g at a time. I use a heatgun pointed into a modded breadmaker (modded such that the breadmaker is only used to stir the beans continuously). With the breadmaker, you can do up to 750g each time depending on breadmaker size.

[Chunqx]

Fishing is good, only pole tho nowadays, i love my pole.

Coffee is fantastic i drink gallons of the stuff every week and spend fortunes in starbucks, mates think im off my head spending around £20+ a week in there but i dont pee my wages up against a wall and blow £50 a night on booze.

But cricket??? i have honestly never seen the attraction, I hate football season ending when there are no euros or world cup because cricket takes over the telly and papers. Its a man throwin a ball for a man to hit with a bat
what is the point of that????

Coffee: when you start making your own, starbucks taste like crap... Now, I'd rather go without coffee and suffer the headaches than drink stuff from starbucks, gloria jeans etc.. Definitely agree about the booze...

Cricket: One could say the same about snooker, hitting a ball to hit another ball. What's worse, after you get one of the coloured balls in, it comes back out! How pointless is that??? Nah, I love my snooker too, just not as much as fishing, coffee or cricket. I failed to mention that no.5 below snooker is tennis...

[vainparasite]

love ladies tennis nice.

I do sometimes watch 20 20 tho

[checkSide]

I like fishing too.

Having spent literally thousands of pounds on rods and reels, a 400 pound cue seems pretty cheap in comparison!

[Chunqx]

love ladies tennis nice.

I do sometimes watch 20 20 tho

Ladies tennis is a bit slow for my liking except when elephant girl (Serena Williams) play. She should be in the mens draw...

20 20 is not real cricket... Its a bit like indoor soccer. Its a batsmen's game, 20 20. The fascination of cricket for me is the bowling, especially when really good spin bowlers are on, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis

[Chunqx]

I like fishing too.

Having spent literally thousands of pounds on rods and reels, a 400 pound cue seems pretty cheap in comparison!

Fair point and if I had unlimited (or at least more) money, I would get the best cue I can get (that said, in australia its VERY hard to get something decent). Unfortunately, I've spent thousands on my fishing, couple of thousand on my coffee, not so much on cricket but with a 5 month newborn and wife out of work to babysit, it just gets a bit harder to justify big ticket item purchases like that. Especially if it does little to improve my sad game at the moment.

[RGCirencester]

aMy list would have to go 1)snooker 2)fishing and then coffee comes somewhere after that. Love coffee but i drink instant rotgut at the mo. due to limited funding. I personally found that when moving from a cheap riley to a half decent cue (50 pound not what anyone on this forum would consider good but with an oiled shaft not varnish) i saw an increase in form. I am not expecting the same from my 160 pound cue when it arrives though, i am buying that more because i like to have nice things, and it being a 21st birthday present i wanted something that would last.

[Chunqx]

I saw a definite change when I changed my fishing rod from a cheap daiwa rod to a G Loomis and I put that down to the increased sensitivity in being able to feel every bite (I use lures predominantly with soft plastics and hard bodies lures). Same with coffee, burr grinders aren't burr grinders, saw a definite improvement with the coffee when I upgraded the grinder. For coffee, I'd say the absolute minimum for good coffee is the Rancilio Rocky grinder and a Gaggia Classic espresso machine. Anything above the Gaggia machine is more for volume (making coffee for guests in quick time) and to some extent, vanity (my E61 machine is a nice bling in the kitchen).

For snooker, I'm not so sure that at my present level, an expensive cue would make that much of a difference but I'm open to explanations suggesting otherwise.

[noel]

The importance in cues to game improvement?

This is a trick question, right?

Do you have any idea how much good golf clubs cost?
Plus bag... plus shoes... plus green fees or memberships... caddies... drinks at the 19th hole?


500 pounds on a last-a-lifetime handmade cue is peanuts... if you actually play snooker, that is...
and you will feel like you have to honour it and because you will feel every shot like you should,
you will play up to your cue's ability... and if you play better, you will enjoy it more...
what is there to wonder about... ?
the only thing is which cue-maker.


=o)

Noel

[Chunqx]

500 pounds on a last-a-lifetime handmade cue is peanuts... if you actually play snooker, that is...

Noel

I could justify something like that if snooker were my no.1 or no.2 interest/hobby/sport. I did that when I bought my first G Loomis fishing rod... I got questions like "what?? you paid $500 for a piece of stick with some cork on it?" I justified that by saying it would last a lifetime and its sensitivity was second to none. After the 4th Loomis rod that excuse starts wearing thin to the missus. Same for the coffee paraphernalia.
Also, it might be 500 pounds in the UK. After converting to AUD, its closer to $1200 and earning AUD and paying $1200 for a cue is like earning in UK and paying 1200 pounds for a cue, which is still justifiable if snooker is the only thing I spend on. Not so in my case unfortunately. I suppose my original question is: does a good cue help improve your game way beyond that of a cheap riley cue?

[huy]

I agree in getting a cue of your own will improve your game. In the years to come, you will be accustomed to the feel of the shots, cue ball control from it.

And I believe the ownership of "the one cue", not the brand and price tag, which suits you to the T render it priceless.

[checkSide]

I could justify something like that if snooker were my no.1 or no.2 interest/hobby/sport. I did that when I bought my first G Loomis fishing rod... I got questions like "what?? you paid $500 for a piece of stick with some cork on it?" I justified that by saying it would last a lifetime and its sensitivity was second to none. After the 4th Loomis rod that excuse starts wearing thin to the missus. Same for the coffee paraphernalia.
Also, it might be 500 pounds in the UK. After converting to AUD, its closer to $1200 and earning AUD and paying $1200 for a cue is like earning in UK and paying 1200 pounds for a cue, which is still justifiable if snooker is the only thing I spend on. Not so in my case unfortunately. I suppose my original question is: does a good cue help improve your game way beyond that of a cheap riley cue?

Hi Chunqx.

Considering your personal situation, I would buy a cue for around the £150 mark.

You can get something extremely good for that money in comparison to the "cheap" cues.

Indeed for that money you get a cue that would last your snooker career.

Regards.