58" cue vs 52" cue

[HogWild]

Purchased an 8' Brunswick Contender table and it is getting refurbed and installed this week.

I have read that approx 5' around the table is needed. I currently have a little over 4 feet on one side. The guy setting it up for me is one of the best in the country. He said I am good if I use 52" cues. Pros and cons of using a shorter cue?

 

[Pushout]

I use a 48 inch on one side of my 4x8. Not a problem after I got used to it.

 

[8-ball Rat]

There's a 6 inches joke in here, somewhere.....

 

[couldnthinkof01]

The tightest spot on my table is 61.5" to the rail nose.
I wouldn't recommend anything smaller. I can barely use a full cue.
You learn to keep yourself off the rail which is great.
Short cue is fine if that's what you have to do.

 

[fastone371]

You not only run out of space for the cue but often a tight area doesn't have adequate room for your body/stance either. I think my closest wall is at 64" and I wouldn't want any less than that.

 

[MitchAlsup]

Agreed, get a cue short enough to use when CB is closest to the obstacle without banging on the walls. However short that ends up being.

 

[dquarasr]

I have 57" between the edge of my cushion and one wall. I have a "Troubleshooter" short stick. I rarely use it: I have a house rule. If you're stuck on a rail and a player doesn't have enough room to swing the cue to an adequate backstroke, the player is allowed to move the cue ball directly on the shot line to gain the room to swing. BUT, the player is NOT allowed to vary the tip placement on the CB. If it's up high on the CB, the player must only use top, cannot dig down and suddenly take advantage of the room afforded by moving the CB forward.

 

[thepavlos]

There's a 6 inches joke in here, somewhere.....

That's what she said!

 

[Poolhall60561]

 

[DJKeys]

I have two spots in my room where I need a short cue. I have a 21 inch butt which Joey Bautista made for me, so it hits great (already had the 29 inch shaft). I only need to use it a couple of times a week-

-dj

 

[fjk]

I used to have my table in a room that required a shorty. Unless something was hanging in the hole, I couldn't make a ball with that thing.

The good news is you'd be surprised how seldom the cue gets frozen on that rail and you need to shoot straight out. You could probably play an entire race to 11 without it happening once. Plus, when your practicing, you never have to worry about it. In short, it's not a big deal at all.

 

[iusedtoberich]

I just set up a fisher price toy table in my dining room. Before I moved a big china closet out of the room, I just stuck it in there for a few days. It was probably 12" too close to one wall.

I kid you not, I must have played a couple hours on it and only had a handful of shots where I had to move the cb. I was using my full length cue.

I was surprised as hell. ha ha.

 

[Thunder Thighs]

I'd use a jump/break cue with a playing shaft, then take it apart when needed.