7. How should I choose a cue?
Description
This article is from the Pool & Billiards FAQ, by Bob Jewett with numerous contributions by others.
7. How should I choose a cue?
In general, it is difficult to tell if you would like a cue stick just by
reading about it. Even the terms that different people use to describe
these characteristics (hard, soft, harsh, stiff, forgiving, well-balanced,
etc.) are subjective and difficult to quantify. Some of the important
things can be quantified (length, weight, balance point, shaft taper,
shaft diameter, squirt), but they're not the whole story. And if you are
a beginner, or seriously working on your game for the first time, you can
expect your own preferences to change as your game matures.
Robert Byrne says:
Getting a two-part cue will add about $30 to the price. You can get one
with good wood, good workmanship, a twine or leather grip, and some
decoration for $50 to $90. (This was in 1987 - ed.) If you pay more
than $100, you'll be paying for ornamentation and brand name. A good
tip is probably more important than the cue. Shun a cue that's more
than two parts, has a screw-on tip, is painted in festive colors, or is
made in Taiwan. Made in Japan is OK, the Adam line, made there, is one
of the best. Get the best tips you can, the return on the money you
spend is greater there than anywhere else.
Bob Jewett says:
1. The plainest butt is probably also the most solid. If you want
fancy inlay work, consider Baroque antiques, not cues, unless you
are collecting rather than playing with them.
2. Beyond being solid and the right weight and length, and perhaps
having the style of grip you prefer, there is little the butt does
for the cue.
3. The tip is important. Many tips are no good. Tips can be
replaced; learn how to do it yourself. The tip has more effect on
how the cue plays than the butt.
4. The shaft is the most important part of the cue. Shafts are
relatively cheap. Some highly regarded cue makers make unusable
shafts.
Here's a quick test to see if the cue is worth looking at further. It
tests the amount of "squirt" or deflection on extreme english shots.
Many expensive sticks fail this test. This idea can also be used to
compensate for squirt for some sticks, and when it is used for that
it is sometimes called "backhand english" since the back (grip) hand
is moved over to get side spin. (The definition of squirt is in
the glossary (Answer #1) above.)
The "aim-and-pivot" method of squirt compensation:
For each cue stick, there is a particular length of bridge for
which you can aim straight at a close object ball and then pivot
about your bridge hand and shoot straight through the new line and
hit the object ball full. (You can also use this (very old) method
for non-full shots too, but a full shot is best for finding the
right bridge length.) For a stick you want to measure, just find
the needed bridge length. A hint: if you shoot softly at a ball
far away, the cue ball will curve on its way to the object ball,
and your measurement will be useless. Do not give the cue ball the
time or distance to curve. Shoot firmly. Use as much side spin
as you can without miscuing. The shorter the bridge, the more
squirt the stick has. ("Close object ball" means about a diamond
away.) The cue ball should sit in place spinning like a top when
it hits the object ball full.
For a long pivot length, the bridge is too long to be a comfortable
pivot. Arrange to have the pivot over the rail, and use your back
hand to hold the stick at the pivot while the bridge hand moves.
An alternative is to slide the bridge hand forward after the pivot
to a more comfortable bridge length. Take care to keep the stick
aligned in the new direction.
If several cues are available, including house cues, compare them.
Squirt is the most important characteristic of a cue stick after solid
construction. Less squirt is usually better, especially if you use
something close to "parallel aiming" on spin shots. More squirt means
more aiming compensation on any shot with side spin. The one possible
advantage of squirt is that if the pivot length is the same length as
the bridge, it can compensate for inaccuracies left-to-right in the final
stroke.
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