C U E F E AT U R E
THE CUES THEY USE Top players are painstakingly finicky about their cues. A dozen top pros share the details of their magic wands. By Keith Paradise
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HEN SOMEONE makes their living by playing — whether it is playing a game like pool or golf or music with an instrument — that person needs to feel comfortable and confident with the equipment they choose. Billiards Digest spoke to a dozen of the top men’s and women’s professional pool players about their equipment — cues, shafts and tips they prefer in competition — to analyze their likes and dislikes. The preferences are as varied as the options available to today’s competitors. For example, reigning women’s World 9-Ball champion and recent Billiards Congress of America Hall of Fame inductee Kelly Fisher dreads the thought of any kind of equipment change, while countryman Chris Melling entered last month’s Predator Championship League Pool with a cue he’d literally just taken out of the box a couple of days before.
Jennifer Barretta Resume: One of the top-ranked Women’s Professional Billiards Association players in 2020. Runner-up in the 2020 Ashton Twins Classic. Earned three top-10 finishes at WPBA events in 2019. Playing cue: 58-inch, 19-ounce, Predator P3 equipped with synthetic leather with a Predator 12.4 Revo carbon fiber shaft. Tip is a Predator Victory with medium hardness. Cue also includes a 6-inch extension used for longer shots. Break cue: Predator BK Rush with sport wrap and the standard BK hybrid tip. BD: Have you made any major changes to your equipment lately? JB: I switched to carbon fiber, which I guess is significant. I switched probably about a year ago. When they first came out, I just wanted to try it and see what it was like. At the time I was playing with a Z-3 and it played exactly like my Z-3, so there was really no adjustment. I’ve had cues warp from flying with them, and I knew this one wouldn’t so that was really appealing to me so I decided to switch. BD: What characteristics do you look for in a cue?
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JB: I just want consistency. I’ve been at tournaments before where my equipment didn’t show up when I was using a P2 with a 314 shaft. It just so happened that Gerda Hofstater had a P2 with a 314 shaft. I played with it, didn’t notice a
difference and finished in the top-10 of the tournament. So, consistency is really important. Even though the Predator is beautiful, I don’t really care what my cue looks like. I’m not into fancy woods. I only care about how it plays.
April 2021
3/22/21 10:17 AM
