A Cue Is For Christmas And Not For Life?
A dog might be for life and not just for Christmas, but can the same really be said for a snooker player’s cue?
“The cue is an extension of a player’s arm”, may have once been believed but Ronnie O’Sullivan’s “smash and grab a new one” build up to his Masters victory has definitely raised the question ‘is it true?’
Beliefs and attitudes in all walks of life are handed down from generation to generation and adopted almost without question, until someone dares to challenge and then disprove what went before.
All-time great, Ray Reardon won all six of his world titles with the same cue, and genuinely believed that it was the secret to his success.
Listen to BBC commentators, Willie Thorne, John Virgo and Dennis Taylor and you would be forgiven for thinking that Reardon was spot on. But, does the one cue theory still apply?
Apparently not according to O’Sullivan, who after an emergency call to renowned cuemaker John Parris, had only one hour practise before the start of The Masters. He fell over the line against Joe Perry, demolished Allister Carter and Stephen Maguire before preventing Mark Selby from successfully defending his title in another ‘classic’ Wembley final.
Throughout, the tournament O’Sullivan made a century break every 5.5 frames, and averaged over 62 points per frame (including the ones he lost!).
In many ways O’Sullivan is the ‘special one’, but Global-snooker.com asks whether he is the only player capable of using a new cue to such effect.
The answer to this question also appears to be no.
At the end of the 2007/08 season, ranked at number 35 in the world, Ricky Walden decided his cue had to go. The old one cast aside in a much less spectacular fashion to O’Sullivan but nevertheless a replacement was required.
Parris was again on hand and produced 58 inches of ash and ebony that “felt right straight away”, according to its new owner.
Despite being tipped for the top by many in the game from a young age, Walden had yet to deliver and had just one quarter-final to his name from 55 ranking event starts.
This was soon to change, and in just his second ranking tournament with the new stick, he beat Stephen Hendry, Neil Robertson, Steve Davis, Selby and O’Sullivan to lift the Shanghai Masters title.
There are stories of Peter Ebdon picking up a ‘rack-cue’ in his local club and making maximum breaks.
Stephen Hendry shelved his old faithful a couple of seasons ago, and whilst titles seem to elude him, he maintains his top-16 ranking with relative ease.
If golf took the same approach, the fairways of the world would be full of hickory shafted irons and Lee Trevino endorsed woods. The argument is easier to make that new technology and stronger materials will make you hit the ball further and straighter.
This is the message sent out to golfers around the world by club manufacturers themselves and Tour Professionals paid handsomely to do so, and yet it works. If you haven’t got the latest driver in your bag then you risk being a laughing stock in the locker room.
As far as technology goes, you might think that there is very little can be done to a piece of wood that will improve your game, but that is also a myth that needs busting.
The revolutionary ‘Gravity Cue’, doesn’t defy, but backs up the theory using a specially designed weighting system to enhance your cue-action.
‘Acuerate’ claim to have designed the straightest shooting cues in the world and have patented their technology.
Perhaps the demands placed on the modern cue are greater, with increased number of tournaments and more time spent on the practise table. World number 16, Mark Allen practises up to twelve hours a day and Ronnie has played 250 competitive frames this season already.
Whatever the reason, it is always going to be the likes of O’Sullivan who ultimately have to challenge and disprove theories before anyone really sits up and takes notice.
The common perception of O’Sullivan is that he is a genius, a naturally gifted player. The reality is somewhat different. Ronnie does possess natural hand-eye coordination but has dedicated his life to perfecting the technique required to play snooker at the highest level.
And, he has succeeded. He has raised the ‘bar’ beyond that of Davis and Hendry before him and yet, he still looks for any slight improvement. And he is open-minded enough to think that the performance of the cue can improve as well as the man behind it.
One last question that should be asked, “When did you last change your cue?” Hmm, I thought so, well, maybe it’s time that you did.
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