How accurately do you have to hit the object ball to make a simple spot shot from the head string on a 4 1/2 x 9 ft. table?

The object ball must be struck no more than 2 1/8 degrees off-line in either direction for a total strike zone of .083 inches (slightly more than 2mm on the surface of the cue ball). In order to hit that target you must not shoot the cue ball more than 1/10 of 1 degree off-line (about 6 minutes of angle).

What if you had to make a reasonably simple combination shot like this to win a match: the 9 ball lays 3 feet from the corner pocket, the 8 ball is only 2 feet from the 9 ball and the cue ball is just 3 feet away from the 8 ball.

In this scenario the 9 ball will have to be struck within .070 inches (a little more than 1/16 of an inch) to allow for the 2 1/4 inches of slop in a 4 1/2 inch wide pocket.

Therefore, the strike zone on the 8 ball is only .0029 inches. This small target is equal to the thickness of a human hair. In order to hit it from only 3 feet away with the cue ball, it will have to be shot so precisely, it is equal to bracing a rifle in one’s front hand on a solid rest using only the barrel to aim with (no sights), firing and hitting a bullseye 5 1/4 inches in diameter one mile away!

Simple, huh! Yet, great players actually accomplish this 1 out of 5 times.

Obviously, the less variation the pool weapon you use has, the better. A more consistent cue will allow you to accomplish a myriad of extremely difficult shots you will encounter playing this, the most accurate of all games.

Consider this... Just the variances in the radial consistency within any single shaft can cause a 1-2 inch difference in the flight of the object ball on a simple spot shot.

There is much to be considered when selecting your cue. Deflection can vary the flight of the object ball on a simple spot shot as much as 15 inches from cue brand to cue brand. Also, power is directly affected as well by the spine, taper, flexibility and construction of the cue you choose.

Taking all these things into consideration and testing shot after shot for weeks with our new machine, "The Myth Destroyer," we have found out once again what we already knew to be true from experience; that the Meucci cue with its more "flexible" shaft taper (now copied every day by other cue makers) generates more power with far less deflection than its "stiffer" competitors.

I have put quote marks on "flexible" and "stiffer" to make an obvious point, and that is that young, up-and-coming players who have entered the market in the last 10 or 15 years have been duped by the "stiff shaft boys."

I am here to set the record straight and put my money where my mouth is with my new machine that will back up what I say for anyone who truly cares to know the truth.

Even testing one of the best shaft competitor's products for power and deflection, I have found that, in his segmented shaft, the stiffer the shaft is, the more it deflects. Yes there are variances in the natural spine in the wood of this shaft. Flexibility varies from one shaft to the next, as is the case in all cue brands, including the Meucci.

Considering that the taper of the shaft is nearly a carbon copy of the Meucci taper (within .005 inches) and the fact that it now sports a soft ferrule, it comes as no suprise that our two shafts play very much alike (for power and deflection at least).

Most of the other brands we tested have not yet approached this shaft science. So, for the record, I expect the credit for developing this technology 24 years ago and fully expect that the other cue makers will soon follow.

So, I now restate: "why accept a future copy, when you can have the best now for less money with the original - Meucci."