Cue advice for a new player

I have a Cuetec AVID with the 12.5 shaft and its a good hit for an average player.
 
I gave the answer to that question of neither. A new player should get a Lucasi or players cue. Nice cue for the money… stiff solid hit that a new player wants. Pretty inexpensive and as long as you aren’t leaving it in extreme weather conditions you shouldn’t have a problem.
 
The first thing the new player should do is decide how much he wants to spend. You can buy a good cue at any price point.
 
My advice to new APA players.

1) Buy a cheap, run of the mill standard 19oz, 13mm cue, Players or similar. Avoid the urge to get that 21oz cue even if that’s the house cue weight you gravitate toward. Grab a cheapish - 2x2 case to go with it.

2) During league, make some friends, then ask to take a few shots during warmups with other people’s cues to get a feel for what you might prefer.

3) Once you've stuck with pool as a hobby for a few sessions, maybe made some progress, and know what you might want from trying out several different friends' cues - go ahead and purchase the upgrade.

4) Take that first Players cue you bought, throw a harder tip on it (not phenolic) - Presto! You have your break cue, which is the exact setup most APA players have.
 
wacokid9ball said:
I have been playing for 60 yrs, played only with wood and never had a stick warp.
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I’ve had one butt warp a little in 40 years.

It was a couple years old when bought it, I played a year with it. I put it in the vault as I found a cue I liked the hit of a bit more.

Was laser straight when I put it away in roughly 2008 or 09. It’s been in the vault with the rest of the collection. I went though the collection in January and photographed most of the cues and organized them.

When I rolled it I noticed it was a hair off down towards the butt end. It’s in the handle, only shows up on a super slow roll. If I roll it fast it appears fine. Nudging it along it’s clear it’s not straight.

Has zero effect on how it plays, however it’s not straight and if I sell it, I’d disclose that. It’s a $12K cue if it was perfect.

Why did that happen? Who knows. It’s super rare for a cue to move but it does.

Best
Fatboy😃
 
SSDiver2112 said:
My first cue was a M Fats Graphite. and a little later a fiberglass shafted cue. Both gifted to me. At the time with my skill level I had no idea how crappy they were.

My first purchased cue was a Pechauer around $350. Beautiful cue, Lifetime guaranteed, made in the USA, super nice well-made cue. It was definitely a confidence booster. I didn't really shoot any better, but having a quality cue allowed me to pay better attention to the important parts of improving my game.

I don't conform to the idea of not buying a cue above your skill level. Especially if you follow the "It's the Indian not the arrow" philosophy. A better cue will not make you play better than a more skilled player, but it can help you play a little better than you did with a crappy cue. Your confidence and enjoyment are raised as well. Based on finances of course, buying a cheap cue first, only to buy something better later is wasting money imo.

As a beginner you are trying to build your fundamentals. Instead of tweaking your fundamentals to work with a bad tip, sticky shaft, weight or balance issues, etc. Take those equipment issues out of the equation with a nicer cue and get the aim, stroke, hit correct first. Once those are good, the arrow really does have less weight than the Indian's skill. Give a much better player a broomstick and they can win. Give them their cue and you might not even get to the table, so the Arrow does have some effect.
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I would tend to agree. Regardless of price, buy the best cue that you can reasonably afford. It will remove whatever arrow factors there are from the equation. As your skills improve, you can grow with the cue. There are plenty of decent cue options from $300.00 on down.
Best
j2
 
j2pac said:
I have a Cuetec Avid that plays as well as any other cue I've owned. Past a certain point, the differences in performance for the average player are miniscule IMO.
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It’s hard to put an absolute low number on a cue as things change.

I’d say $300-$500 will get anyone 96% of the way there as far as finding a great cue to play with.

CF and fancy tips can change that a bit.

The last 4% is the other $10,000 in the equation.

Diminishing returns happens real fast in cues.

Best
Fatboy
 
The advice I have given is::

a) find a cue that your eye likes
b) find a cue that feels right in your shooting hand

At the beginner level, nothing else matters. The beginner can get used to ANY cue (especially with instruction).
 
For a new player? Here's my take:

1) Find a cue you LOVE the look of that is within your budget. Something that makes you go, "Yeah, that's cool. I can see myself shooting with that."
2) Play and practice with it. Then do that some more. Get used to the feel of it - balance, taper, how it feels in the butt hand, etc.
3) Too hard or too soft? Change the tip. It's easy, and way cheaper than a different cue.
4) Try to remember that a new cue won't magically fix your fundamentals.
5) If it's still off? You don't like that taper, or you think you might like to try wrapless vs wrap, carbon vs wood, or whatever? Then maybe look for something new to try. Bear in mind you have to start from step 2 again, but it'll be a lot faster.

A brand-new player doesn't know, in any specific sense, what they want from a cue. Finding one that they love the look of is the key - makes them want to play with it. The rest comes with time.
 
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