Ash Pool Cue Shafts

onepocketron said:
Yes, and was quite a good snooker player too. You can bet she didn't drop the snooker and become a world beater at pool overnight though. I am sure she had to put in many many hours on a pool table to get where she could play at the pro level.
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Maybe not overnight, but quite quickly. She came to the U.S. in 1995, won two events that year (I think), and then dominated the tour for many years after that.
 
onepocketron said:
The games are not even similar. Neither a pro pool player will play at the pro level at snooker, nor will a pro snooker player be able to play at the pro level in pool. Some have tried, and not faired too well doing so. Both are great games, but completely different in strategies. Just because the pockets are different sizes doesn't change that fact.
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Mark Gray and Tony Drago haven't fared well in pool as well as snooker then?
 
Wouldnt Alex Pagulayan be another since he's won in both games? I guess maybe the brits might say that a canadian snooker championship isn't worth anything in the land of bad teeth but he can still run centuries on a snooker table.
 
Manoman2444 said:
I don't know, wasn't Allison Fisher a snooker player before she became a pool player?
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Yes, as were Karen Corr and Kelly Fisher. Seems like the women made the transition easier than the men...O'Sullivan gave it up, but Gray, Davis and Drago stuck it out with tolerable results...I'm pretty sure the current crop of Mosconi Cup Brits started out with snooker, too, but spent quite a bit of time playing British 8 Ball and the like before getting to the top of American pool.

As for ash, there's quite a few top snooker players using maple shafts, too. Ash is a nice solid hitting choice (hey, that's what the best baseball bats are made from), has a lot of the same qualities as maple in terms of wood "memory" and flexibility, but a little stiffer. But availability is the most likely reason it took off in snooker. Billiards and pool cues have always favored maple. I used to play decent snooker with my pool cues, the thinner shafts doing better but I had to focus on taking A LOT off the stroke to keep control and make shots reliably. But at the end of the day, I do better with a snooker cue than a pool cue. The smaller balls actually are easier to hit more accurately IMHO, so cuts aren't a problem...making balls that are close to a rail are a headache, though.

Ash would make a nice cue, IMHO, but I think you'd need to keep the shaft pretty skinny, I think. I've been thinking about having somebody make me a snooker shaft out of ash for my Carolina...brass ferrule and all. I'd get good use out of it here in Europe, but once I get back to the States it might not see much daylight...
 
DavidMNienow said:
The use of Ash wood for shafts is a matter of tradition in England, just as the use of Maple for shafts is a matter of tradition here in the U.S. Both woods will give a solid hit. The constant use of Ash by Snooker players in England I suppose allows them the natural ability to ignore the appearance of the Ash grain on their shafts. Given enough time I think a U.S. based pool player can learn to ignore the Ash grain if they were to adopt an Ash shaft.

What I found most interesting recently was watching a video of John Parris's cue shop and seeing that most of the work of creating an Ash shaft for his cues was done by hand planing the wood rather than doing it all on a lathe. Now that is a committment to tradition. Snooker players in England dont seem to have a problem with the quality of a John Parris cue made in their traditional manner. And as someone who has played alot of Snooker in his life, I would very much love to be able to order a custom John Parris cue.

Now as soon as I can get the extra $1,500.00 to blow on anything I want, I will place my order.
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ur right with the tradition. good maple (well stored and well aged maple) is just as good as ash. the biggest diffenrence between snooker and pool cues is the completely different taper. ive tried to play some pool with a snooker cue but wasnt comfortable with it. just a matter of taste
 
West Point 1987 said:
Yes, as were Karen Corr and Kelly Fisher. Seems like the women made the transition easier than the men...O'Sullivan gave it up, but Gray, Davis and Drago stuck it out with tolerable results...I'm pretty sure the current crop of Mosconi Cup Brits started out with snooker, too, but spent quite a bit of time playing British 8 Ball and the like before getting to the top of American pool.

As for ash, there's quite a few top snooker players using maple shafts, too. Ash is a nice solid hitting choice (hey, that's what the best baseball bats are made from), has a lot of the same qualities as maple in terms of wood "memory" and flexibility, but a little stiffer. But availability is the most likely reason it took off in snooker. Billiards and pool cues have always favored maple. I used to play decent snooker with my pool cues, the thinner shafts doing better but I had to focus on taking A LOT off the stroke to keep control and make shots reliably. But at the end of the day, I do better with a snooker cue than a pool cue. The smaller balls actually are easier to hit more accurately IMHO, so cuts aren't a problem...making balls that are close to a rail are a headache, though.

Ash would make a nice cue, IMHO, but I think you'd need to keep the shaft pretty skinny, I think. I've been thinking about having somebody make me a snooker shaft out of ash for my Carolina...brass ferrule and all. I'd get good use out of it here in Europe, but once I get back to the States it might not see much daylight...
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I agree with everything you point out. I'm just saying I'd like to "try" a "Pool" cue made from Ash. That's a special order job.

What about Hickory or Oak?

http://www.dragoncues.co.uk/01-Mainpages/08-Snookercues/Product Detail/Shafts/American Hickory.htm

This UK cue maker has it all, and it's all imported from the USA--Maple, Oak, Ash, Hickory.

It seems Hickory is the Cat's Ass.
 
Chopdoc said:
LOL!

I lived in and played in the UK for a year. Kingston Upon Thames, played pool and snooker.

I think they were the ones shocked by me. LOL!

Oh, and I used a pool cue. My JOSS. :D
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Doubt there are many pool players in Kingston upon Thames - too busy playing croquet and quaffing champers, what?
 
Exactly. Some fairly decent ash snooker cues on EBay that can be had at a fair price. If you're itching to try one, it won't cost you a ton to find out.
 
West Point 1987 said:
Yes, as were Karen Corr and Kelly Fisher. Seems like the women made the transition easier than the men...O'Sullivan gave it up, but Gray, Davis and Drago stuck it out with tolerable results...I'm pretty sure the current crop of Mosconi Cup Brits started out with snooker, too, but spent quite a bit of time playing British 8 Ball and the like before getting to the top of American pool.
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It is Economics :D
More money for women in American pool than UK snooker.

More money for men in snooker than in pool.
No pool player can hope for this sort of purse money
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_snooker_millionaires
That was to 2010
Now add these statistics
http://snookerdatabase.co.uk/PlayerStats.aspx
Plus, they get endorsement deals :D

Even Drago has pulled in more than 1 million pounds from snooker.
 
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