Shaun Murphy is aiming to utilise technology to fuel his red hot form and has revealed he has three new cues in production. The Magician intends to take more than one of them at a time into the match arena in some matches going forward.
Murphy has been a long time advocate of the idea that different cues are suited to different conditions. However, it is only now that the 2005 World Champion has fully taken the plunge and decided to invest in having the different variants made.
The reasoning Murphy gives for the need to vary his equipment centres around cue ball deflection. This is the path the white takes in the time between being struck by the cue and reaching the object ball. The amount of deflection changes depending on the amount of spin applied to the ball, atmospheric conditions and humidity.
Murphy’s cues are now nearing completion and he is looking to test them out in the match arena soon. However, he feels it is a change he and others in the sport could have made sooner.
“I’ve had some cues made by John. Very soon you will see me walk into the arena with more than one cue and based on the playing conditions of the day, I’ll choose cue one, two or three,” said 2005 World Champion Murphy
“I’m happy to break the mould. Until someone walks into the arena, somewhere in the world, and uses more than one cue in one match, we will all be deemed mad. I am very happy for that, but it will work. We are about 50 years behind other sports like golf and tennis in terms of how players use technology to their advantage. I have golf professional friends that think we, as snooker players, are like cavemen when we expect that one cue to perform the same everywhere around the world. That is just madness.
“I’m always looking to try and improve. It has been frustrating in my career running into these different types of conditions. In Shanghai it is very humid, this week the temperatures are off the scale. That affects the cloth and the way the balls spin around the table. It has been incredibly frustrating just having to accept it and move on, that isn’t very professional. We are a little bit behind and I’d like to have been earlier with these innovations. They are coming and hopefully they will make a difference.”
