Advice for picking a cue? Suggestions needed.

slyfox

slyfox

Olney Fan
Silver Member
Hey All.

I've been playing about 2 years. Been fortunate enough to bartend at a pool hall, shoot alot and trade alot of cues.

I'm trying to stick with a cue. Just wondering if the general consensus is to find a cue that plays and feels right and stick with it.... or if it is ok to shoot with a few different cues?????

I know snooker players stick to one cue for as long as possible.
I'm leaning toward that approach. Some days no cue feels right, and I think I swap cues around too much.

Basically.....

1. Is it better to stick with just one for as long as possible?
2. Is is ok to have a few different ones to shoot with?

I'm simply trying to get better at pool.
Thanks!!!
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
best,
Fox.
 
Hit with a few of your friends cues and make a note of which ones you like and which ones you don't.....and why.

Also make a note of the joint type, wrap (wrapless, linen, leather), weight, tip diameter and length.

Once you have that basic information and a budget it will be easier to offer you advice.

Without any more info all your going to get is what other people like and just offering you blind advice.

That said...it isn't uncommon for people to start with a Joss, McDermott, Meucci, Dale Perry, Predator or Mezz. All would be fine choices as a place to start.

Patrick
 
I'm no pro, but worrying about the cue you are shooting with while trying to "get better at pool" may be the wrong thing to concentrate on. The cue doesn't do the work and any inconsistencies you come across probably have way more to do with your fundamentals and less to do with the cue you are using.

Once you are VERY comfortable with your game, aka not trying to "get better at pool", trying to find a cue to fit your style may come into play. Honestly, I think that the tip hardness is your first priority regarding your playstyle, not the actual cue ... then after that it is the more subtle issues of cue construction that become a factor.

There are so many things to think about and most of them have to do with where you are along the progression of pool learning. Lots of people love low deflection shafts ... but does that matter to someone still learning the game? Are you familiar with english? Do you call draw and follow english? Do you understand how all the terminology regarding low deflection shafts all intertwine?

All of this basically comes down to what most will give as advice. Don't worry about the cue at your point, spend the money on a solid lesson from a qualified individual.
 
Good advice from both you guys.

-19oz, stiff hit, wrap or wrapless, 13.3-12.5mm.
I've had a few Olney's, Carolinas, Jacobys, etc etc.

It is very true about mechanics too. I can power follow a cue ball 2 tables and draw the ball 1.5 tables. The power, english, throw shots, etc is all there as far as the ability to do it. I feel like a i have a solid stroke just inconsistent at this point. The inconsistency (I guess) is what pool comes down to. I grew up playing golf and got pretty decent (ranking in NC top 50 in high school).

I've been fortunate enough to work with many good players in the area and have been mentored by a couple stellar players.

I guess the point is whether or not sticking with one pool cue would aid in the consistency. I can really get comfortable with anything but if sticking with just one is considered the better approach... that's what I need to do.

Thanks for the advice. Taken into consideration.
Any advice is greatly appreciated. I know with experience comes knowledge... and all that crap haha ;)
 
Test them out til you find one that fits you. It may be butt heavy, forward weighted, have a slight warp. But when you stroke it feels like the inside of a cheerleaders thigh. Some are happy with onf thigh, but some like to check others. Good luck. I won just as much with my buddies borrowed sterling cue, but I really like the BHQ and have let a friend use a dale perry with DPR shaft that plays pretty damn good. It ain't all the indian, but most of it is. Practice is more important than the cue anyway.
 
Seems like you know already that cue shopping can be addictive. As a golfer you also know that most are on the hunt for the holy grail (the perfect driver).
My opinion is that using the same cue is beneficial because no two cues are exactly alike. Slight differences between cues take some time to adjust to, even if it isn't a conscious adjustment.
I believe most of us have who have more than one cue can almost immediately tell others which one is the favorite or the primary shooter. For me, my favorite and my primary shooter are different cues.
The caveat is that people often change cues or shafts to break out of a slump. For some, it seems to work. I'm skeptical........
I suppose if a person shoots frequently and changes cues frequently, it might be possible to make fatser adjustments.
Let us know what you decide.
kv
 
Great advice

There is some great advice here but I don't think anyone has answered your two questions. I would say it's much better to stick to just one cue as most players do. As a cue repair man I have seen this time and time again over the years. A player will get a new cue shoot with it for a couple of days and trade or sell it. They think they don't like the way it feels or plays because they are use to what they had before the new cue. The reality is it does take some time (more then a couple of days) to get use to a new cue. some people when they get or try a new cue don't play with it long enough to adjust to a new cue.

To answer your question I think one cue is the best. If you must have more then one I would make sure all the spec's are exactly the same for each cue you have.
 
Find a cue you feel comfortable with and stick with it. Every cue will deflect differently, some slightly different and some drastically different. Switching it up all the time is not very beneficial for that reason alone. The more advanced you become as a player the easier it will be to adjust but your goal is to improve your game, so at this point I'd say stick with one cue. That's my .02
 
slyfox said:
Hey All.

I've been playing about 2 years. Been fortunate enough to bartend at a pool hall, shoot alot and trade alot of cues.

I'm trying to stick with a cue. Just wondering if the general consensus is to find a cue that plays and feels right and stick with it.... or if it is ok to shoot with a few different cues?????

I know snooker players stick to one cue for as long as possible.
I'm leaning toward that approach. Some days no cue feels right, and I think I swap cues around too much.

Basically.....

1. Is it better to stick with just one for as long as possible?
2. Is is ok to have a few different ones to shoot with?

I'm simply trying to get better at pool.
Thanks!!!
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
best,
Fox.
Click to expand...

Cue sticks are like a women You need to pick them up and hit on them before you know if really like them

Thanks
:thumbup:
 
Ahh, from your first post I thought you were still learning the mechanics of the game and that is why I gave the advice I did. Looks like you have more experience than I thought and have had some instruction already.

I would borrow and use a variety of cues and find one you like the feel of ... then notice the "stats" of that cue. The tip, the weight, the diameter of the tip and the butt, etc. Then I would try to find other cues that are along those same stats and borrow them for a few racks. Working at a pool hall gives you the ability to be around a bunch of different custom cues.

Once you find a cue that feels good for you, stick with it and learn it inside and out. Moving around from cue to cue just adds one more item to adjust for in your game. The different deflections, weight, and tip are all going to change your game around a bit.
 
To answer the question, I think sticking with one cue helps. At least that was my personal experience. I have been through quite a few cues, but I also have stuck with most of them for 6 months to a couple years before changing cues again. I had played with a few cheaper production cues to start out and then when I had my predator several years ago, my game took a big jump. Shot with it for two years, learned a lot about english and cue control. Eventually my game got sloppy with it because I became lazy and didn't need a good stroke to play decent, and accuracy suffered. Then I went the custom route and had to have a good stroke to get the reaction I wanted, which took more focus and increased my accuracy.

After that I went through several custom cues and had tried a bunch as well. Each play different, feel different, give different feedback, etc. It was good for me to try different types but I could also adjust to them pretty quickly and play fairly consistent. Again though, I played with each at least 6 months, and had played quite a few years before going through a lot of cues.

Now my game has progressed the whole time, but depending on how you play the cue can make a bunch of difference and you have to be able to adjust to it. If you already have good solid fundamentals, and confidence in your game its pretty easy to adjust. With only 2 years experience, I would really recommend staying with one cue for a while instead of cue hopping so much. if you want to cue hop, at least stick with it a few months until you are very comfortable and confident with it.
 
I once searched for that "magic" cue...then I realized there really is no such thing. I bought a Josey, like it's hit & feel. It's been my playing cue since I bought it 5 years ago. There might be a "better" cue out there, might not. But it dawned on me that "magic" cues are usually found in the hands of "magic" players.

In other words, I'm now in the camp of buying a cue that feels good to you, then stick with it!
 
Paulie... Yeah I'm absolutely terrible but I've got decent mechanics. It normally all goes wrong in that space between my ears, or I just can't get my vision settled on the shot.

Thanks Ray. I'm guessing getting use to an Olney is never a bad thing. :thumbup:
Thanks everyone for the words of advice.

I think I've narrowed it down to just a few cues. Just trying to find something about one of them that pushes me over the edge for one.

Haha. I keep hearing about a quest for a "magic" cue and how no one ever finds it. I think you just have to make yourself believe it's magic.
 
slyfox said:
1. Is it better to stick with just one for as long as possible?
2. Is is ok to have a few different ones to shoot with?
Click to expand...

You should consider your first cue to be a write off. It will collect all kinds of knicks, bumps, contusions, and dents over the first year of use while you are learning how not to inflict such damage to your fine instrument. Thus, make your second cue the long time cue, and then retire your first cue to duties as a break cue.

When you come to deciding about your second cue, youwill have a year or more of use on your first cue, decided that you like certain things and dislike others. This puts you in the catagory of no longer needing as much advice on what kind of cue you want for the longer term.

After you get you second cue, you might as well use it until the cows come home, get use to it, intimate with it, so that it is a trusted reliable friend. Borrw a cue to test things out, but don't spend more than an hour with it without spending a corresponding hour with your own play cue afterwards (to unlearn the borrowed cue).
 
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