higgins

[cueman]

Top players can make 147's with any cue. I said in an earlier post his form in the balls isn't the problem, its every other aspect of his game that is. I've never seen his safety so poor, the bedrock of his game for most his career is really letting him down, then his long game, another strength of his is really bad at times. These are more signs of the cue not suiting you than form IMO. All these top players can score, its the part of the game they practice the most with and becomes almost a subconcious state that they can break build with any cue. Look at Stevens the other week, reached the final of a tournament despite not using his own cue for the first 2 or 3 matches of the tournament!

I stand by the cue being the main issue, he wouldn't be changing it every few weeks if he was confident with it. If he has a disappointing world championships I'm certain he will change again in the summer.

[rob s]

Top Pros can make a 147 with any cue?? I think that is a little bit over the top, ken doherty was world champion and only made his 1st televised 147 recently. Centuries with any cue maybe but 147s with any cue? No! You say he can make 147s with any cue but the cue is the problem?? It has nothing to do with the cue, it is all in his head!!! A cue will not stop you making basic safety shots or suddenly give you poor shot selection.

[Gerry Armstrong]

I would say he has tinkered about with this cue more than any other though. He's had numerous changes and people forget, he's only had the cue this season. He never had the amount of changes done to his previous cue, the north west, which he certainly produced his best form with. I see Ebdon has gone back to his old cue as well now, just wonder if Higgins will contemplate that option because at present he has no chance of doing anything at the crucible. Every aspect of his game looks off, this isn't a form issue or losing his ability, this is a player not confident with his cue IMO.

He hasn't - the reason the North West cue was ditched is because it had been altered too many times.

[rob s]

Some people like to tinker and it sounds like John is 1 of those people. Hopefully he finds his form for the worlds as I'd like to see another o'sullivan vs Higgins final as the last time they played each other in the final it was a great match

[prince07799]

cueman has a point about his safety and long game has been very poor of late but when he's in the ball it a different matter

[SouthPaw]

cueman has a point about his safety and long game has been very poor of late but when he's in the ball it a different matter

He's still missing easy pots in the balls more than he ever has, missed simple black of the spots I've witnessed countless times and easy reds under no pressure, though like mentioned his long potting and safety has been really poor...

[narl]

It hasn't - he continues to tinker with his cues at about the same rate as he always has.

Well he's already had the ferrule altered 3-4 times going from what I can recall, what difference .1 of a mm makes is anyone's guess though.

[NiallAE111]

I reckon he will win the world champs next month.

[SouthPaw]

That made me laugh...

[raymo147]

A wee update on this thread:
John actually came to my workshop about a month ago as he wanted me too make him a cue.
I had a bang on piece of ash with the grain he likes and was also very stiff which he likes.
He brought the Trevor White which by the way is still a very very nice cue indeed.
John just felt that the butt got too thin too quickly but is partly his own fault for getting it spliced 3 times.
Your bound to lose some diameter at the tips of the lower splices if this is done.
Anyway John tried my cue and couldn't settle with it as he felt it was just too stiff and affected the feel in certain shots.
I practically copied all the specs of the Trev but was just plain ebony.
I didn't or haven't even mentioned this on here because I knew John might not settle and I have the upmost respect for Trev and his top craftsmanship.
The story doesn't end there,I then re ferruled the Trev to shorten and thicken it slightly.
Meanwhile I asked Robert Osborne kindly if he would help him out and make him a few to his spec as he had grains he loves.
Rob done the cues and sent me them up to which I have photos but still out if 3 cues he couldn't settle with one.
He's obviously sticking with the Trev just now and may be getting some more made by Trev.
But he certainly is having trouble to settle for some reason.
I also had his North west at my workshop which is incredibly thin inb the butt.
I'm sure he will get something but I and Rob tried my best and I'm sure Trev has also.
I've known John for years and he's always been like this but always managed to perform.
Still never right the man off he'll probably win the world now.

[narl]

Surprised he hasn't went back to John Parris yet, it seems almost inevitable that the cue Trev made for him is going by the wayside sooner or later.

I remember Trev say that the cue he had him make was VERY specific, I just wonder if sticking to those specifics is doing more harm than good. You can mimic cue specs all you want, they're all going to play different regardless. Maybe he would be better just choosing a tipsize, length and weight, and putting all the in-depth caper to the backburner to see if its necessary for him to be comfortable with a cue or not.

[jono*]

A wee update on this thread:
John actually came to my workshop about a month ago as he wanted me too make him a cue.
I had a bang on piece of ash with the grain he likes and was also very stiff which he likes.
He brought the Trevor White which by the way is still a very very nice cue indeed.
John just felt that the butt got too thin too quickly but is partly his own fault for getting it spliced 3 times.
Your bound to lose some diameter at the tips of the lower splices if this is done.
Anyway John tried my cue and couldn't settle with it as he felt it was just too stiff and affected the feel in certain shots.
I practically copied all the specs of the Trev but was just plain ebony.
I didn't or haven't even mentioned this on here because I knew John might not settle and I have the upmost respect for Trev and his top craftsmanship.
The story doesn't end there,I then re ferruled the Trev to shorten and thicken it slightly.
Meanwhile I asked Robert Osborne kindly if he would help him out and make him a few to his spec as he had grains he loves.
Rob done the cues and sent me them up to which I have photos but still out if 3 cues he couldn't settle with one.
He's obviously sticking with the Trev just now and may be getting some more made by Trev.
But he certainly is having trouble to settle for some reason.
I also had his North west at my workshop which is incredibly thin inb the butt.
I'm sure he will get something but I and Rob tried my best and I'm sure Trev has also.
I've known John for years and he's always been like this but always managed to perform.
Still never right the man off he'll probably win the world now.

Would those robert osborne cues be available???

[raymo147]

I'm afraid not they were sent back to Robert and he's sold them to his agents.

[cueman]

So Cueman was right after all despite people telling me I wasn't! People make me laugh on here, always the same people disagreeing because they love to try and think they know more than anyone else.