Professional Players and Their Cues

[DeanH]

What does it mean....MORE POWER...in a cue? Stiffer?

and how do you lose power in a cue?
as Neal Foulds said in commentary "...as you can lose power in an old cue..."?

[cueman]

and how do you lose power in a cue?
as Neal Foulds said in commentary "...as you can lose power in an old cue..."?

Well he did say it can but also said although a lot of that is in your head as well. If you think something is wrong it creates doubt and you don't want to have that in your mind when playing.

I can believe Robertson's new cue is more powerful though. Could just be that the wood in his old cue is a little brittle and just not reacting like it used to. Also a 1pc cue does have a more lively feel to it. I find jointed cues can be a bit too stiff which deadens the reaction on the cueball. Robbo probably just realising 1pc cues give a better feel and he's timing the ball better and getting reaction out of it far easier than with his old cue.

[marriott]

What does it mean....MORE POWER...in a cue? Stiffer?

More power means more life in the shaft greater reaction. His last cue was a Classic Parris which he’d used all his life and he said it had lost a lot of power recently. I’m guessing his new Parris will be an Ultimate so the best of the best shaft and the more reaction when screwing back for example

[DeanH]

reply from Parris-cues
"The reason the disc is higher on Neil’s cue is because he has a small flat so the disc has to be fitted higher up"

[ken147]

Cues become lighter in weight over time. Had an antique cue (no modifications) weighted at 17 oz. Picked it up and felt a bit light for a 17oz cue, weighed it and guess what... 16.1 oz. Only explanation is water content lost hence it felt a little brittle and light.

[DeanH]

Professional Players and Their Cues

that wasn't a weight stamp saying 17oz was it? they were not that accurate in many cases
But yes cues can lose weight by abusive cleaning with sandpaper and scotch cloths
Had a friend who bought a 17.5 and after a year of him constantly using sandpaper - nearly for every after visit on the pool table - it was closer to 16 after a year!

[ken147]

that wasn't a weight stamp saying 17oz was it? they were not that accurate in many cases
But yes cues can lose weight by abusive cleaning with sandpaper and scotch cloths

no mods, abusive cleaning, sand papering, had a lovely patina. But nearly an oz in weight difference. Must be the metric system.

[fkhan]

Do cues really lose weight/power over a period of time even if properly taken care of?

[travisbickle]

Do cues really lose weight/power over a period of time even if properly taken care of?

Not a chance if you take care of it.
A lot of top players don’t know the first thing about taking care of a cue, some even struggle to put a tip on!!! Remember the pics of Ding’s cue before the repair work a few years ago, it had a hole just below the ferrule and the shaft itself was in very poor condition.
I doubt the cue had seen any oil/wax since the day he got it lol

[bartito]

didn't Shaun Murphy played with an 100y old cue? or still is? cue must be as good as dead then...but still he can play all the shots.

Ultimate shafts are not necessarily the best playing shafts...but they are the most beautifull ones.

[vmax]

Not a chance if you take care of it.
A lot of top players don’t know the first thing about taking care of a cue, some even struggle to put a tip on!!! Remember the pics of Ding’s cue before the repair work a few years ago, it had a hole just below the ferrule and the shaft itself was in very poor condition.
I doubt the cue had seen any oil/wax since the day he got it lol

That's right, regular oiling/waxing (annually) will keep it's moisture content so that it doesn't dry out, lose weight and allow the timber to become brittle. Apply oil/wax with a lint free cloth and then immediately clean off the excess and allow to dry before buffing; have done that to my own cue for 30 years now and its as good as new, doesn't see as much action as Ding's though.

Also protect the ferrule end by not playing with tips that are too thin as a thick tip has a damping effect.

[TooDark]

didn't Shaun Murphy played with an 100y old cue? or still is? cue must be as good as dead then...but still he can play all the shots.

Ultimate shafts are not necessarily the best playing shafts...but they are the most beautifull ones.

He did but had a new cue made for him by John Parris a couple years ago but then had a little bit chopped to get tip bigger. A video below provided of new cue:
https://youtu.be/TCFUvQSPtMs

[DeanH]

didn't Shaun Murphy played with an 100y old cue? or still is? cue must be as good as dead then...but still he can play all the shots.

Ultimate shafts are not necessarily the best playing shafts...but they are the most beautifull ones.

He did but had a new cue made for him by John Parris a couple years ago but then had a little bit chopped to get tip bigger. A video below provided of new cue:
https://youtu.be/TCFUvQSPtMs

In addition to TooDark's post
The OLD cue was a Tom Newman 1370 facsimile cue (by Morcues) which was not quite 100yrs old as Tom made that break in Nov1922. As Shaun said in the video, he had had this cue since he was 15yrs old and supposedly was used by Ray Reardon during the 60/70s (unconfirmed ) but this cue broke in about June 2013.

At that time John Parris made a replacement based on the specs of the OLD cue (58, 8.75, <17) but Shaun had JP modify it a bit around Jan2017 to 57.5, 9mm; as on his blog he said something about "getting different deflection".

[bartito]

In addition to TooDark's post
The OLD cue was a Tom Newman 1370 facsimile cue (by Morcues) which was not quite 100yrs old as Tom made that break in Nov1922. As Shaun said in the video, he had had this cue since he was 15yrs old and supposedly was used by Ray Reardon during the 60/70s (unconfirmed ) but this cue broke in about June 2013.

At that time John Parris made a replacement based on the specs of the OLD cue (58, 8.75, <17) but Shaun had JP modify it a bit around Jan2017 to 57.5, 9mm; as on his blog he said something about "getting different deflection".

How did Shaun's cue get broken? same as Stephen Hendry? All this tournament travelling will do no good...who's next? Why the airliners don't apply an other policy for snookercues ( and fishing rods, skies, ..) Nowadays only golf equipment gets special privileges.

My personal opinion : It's impossible to 'remake'an broken cue just based on the specs...every wood is different...growing pattern (distance between the arrows) is not equal year after year. ash has his specific weight but this may vary as the growning conditions of the tree are not the same all the time

[DeanH]

In addition to TooDark's post
The OLD cue was a Tom Newman 1370 facsimile cue (by Morcues) which was not quite 100yrs old as Tom made that break in Nov1922. As Shaun said in the video, he had had this cue since he was 15yrs old and supposedly was used by Ray Reardon during the 60/70s (unconfirmed ) but this cue broke in about June 2013.

At that time John Parris made a replacement based on the specs of the OLD cue (58, 8.75, <17) but Shaun had JP modify it a bit around Jan2017 to 57.5, 9mm; as on his blog he said something about "getting different deflection".

How did Shaun's cue get broken? same as Stephen Hendry? All this tournament travelling will do no good...who's next? Why the airliners don't apply an other policy for snookercues ( and fishing rods, skies, ..) Nowadays only golf equipment gets special privileges.

My personal opinion : It's impossible to 'remake'an broken cue just based on the specs...every wood is different...growing pattern (distance between the arrows) is not equal year after year. ash has his specific weight but this may vary as the growning conditions of the tree are not the same all the time

Never heard how it broke but I don't think it was luggage handlers.
Many players use rigid plastic tubes for travelling and as we heard recently they often share a travelling tube.
You can duplicate a cue's spec but of course the wood will have different properties