Cue weight as you age
- Thread starter luke
- Start date
I know these old timers aren't as strong as they used to be, but a few ounces isn't going to give them a heart attack. In fact, my grandfather and father both use 22oz cues whereas I use a 17.5oz cue. If you are used to using the same weight cue all your life, I can't see many changing.
I'm 17 and i use a 18.5oz cue .
Usually i stroke far better with a lighter cue , awkwardly enough .
Usually i stroke far better with a lighter cue , awkwardly enough .
My cue preferred weight is going down, I used to prefer 18 oz back in my college days and now I am i the 17.5 oz range.
Another way to look at this is "not much" change.
Oh, BTW, I'm 61 right now.
Another way to look at this is "not much" change.
Oh, BTW, I'm 61 right now.
I went from 19 to 17.9 oz. I can draw better with a lighter cue. Getting better tip speed during stroke with no extra effort.
cluelesscuer
New member
I could see this more dependent upon playing different size tables more than I can age changing this. Perhaps, people go through phases of their life of playing more of a particular size more often. I would think with smaller tables being more and more of the standard, that lighter cues would be the way things go...
Always played with 21-23 oz. cues and still do at 72.
I use 18.5 to 19.
Over 19 and things get too heavy, and the 19's that have a balance point
"too close" to the shaft causing more weight in the butt.
I have one that's 17.5 and don't use it any more.
Just feel more efficient hitting those balls with slightly more weight.
Feels like I have to work harder with the 17.5 vs. the 19's in draw shots and anything where a lot of energy is required.
Over 19 and things get too heavy, and the 19's that have a balance point
"too close" to the shaft causing more weight in the butt.
I have one that's 17.5 and don't use it any more.
Just feel more efficient hitting those balls with slightly more weight.
Feels like I have to work harder with the 17.5 vs. the 19's in draw shots and anything where a lot of energy is required.
Last year my cue was lighter then today 
But well i'm 1.8m tall , so my stance is still leaning forward into the shot and i found that forward weighted cues very easy to use . Extremely easy induce cue power and its so accurate .
but since most forward weighted cues have their balance point to the front so they are usually light .
but since most forward weighted cues have their balance point to the front so they are usually light .
Same here .. from age 6 to present.
I jumped from an 18oz to a 21oz and drastically improved my game. Steadied my stroke? Just a mental thing? I don't really know... just feels right. Good enough for me.
I just had my new cue reweighted the other day and I'm pretty sure it improved my game. It was ok light, but I'd always shot with 20 oz or greater in the past, I just felt this thing needed more ummph. I'll take the heavier cue any day. I don't see myself changing as I get older. Or if I do, it'll be to add even more weight.
heavier cues stroke straighter and do more of the work
What I have always found is that the weight of my cue had more to do with my skill level than my age.
As a beginner I used heavy cues. Then I favored a 19oz cue. 18-19 ounce cues are the lightest of the "heavy" cues in my opinion. For reasons I don't understand, three times the weight of the cue ball seems to make the hit effortless, under that I have to start doing more of the work and my strength is moving the cue ball around rather than the weight of the cue and gravity.
As my skills increased I went down through seventeen and even fifteen ounce cues. Finally I was playing with a 60" 12 ounce one piece snooker cue. Introduced me to low deflection before low deflection was cool! I had to learn how to aim all over and this was the hardest stick to play with I ever touched. Took a couple months of frustration trying to move pool balls around with this little twig. Seemed I had to do every bit of the work with muscle. Truly annoying to play with. When I finally got a handle on it I played the best pinpoint position I ever played with it. Perfect speed control and I had a milk dud on it back in the eighties. Took a lot of effort to make the stick work but the result was ridiculously precise position play.
No scales so I have to guess the weight of my cues now, one is around seventeen ounces, a sixty inch cue. People trying it rarely notice it is long, they instantly notice it is light. My other cue is around 19-20 ounces, 59" with the thirty inch shaft. Rarely getting to a pool table these days I struggle with the light stick sometimes. Swapping to the heavier stick improves my ball pocketing. It has a wrap too where the other stick doesn't. I sometimes use a slip stroke with the heavier cue which can aid accuracy on some shots or when out of stroke too.
With the cloth and cushions on today's tables hard to imagine anyone needing more than a 19 or 19.5 ounce cue to move balls around. A heavier cue seems to straighten out a stroke though.
Many years ago I played around with a cue gradually adding weight to 26 ounces then jumping to 32 ounces. Over twenty ounces cue ball contact was barely felt, 26 ounces was hard to have any finesse at all with and 32 ounces was ridiculous.
My guess, the perfect lifetime cue for most people weighs 19 to 19.5 ounces and is 60" long. I have a lot of wingspan and a lot of shots I seem to run out of cue with a shorter cue and that extra couple inches gives four more inches of playable area without a bridge, two inches all the way around the table. Doesn't seem like much but it comes in handy on the nine foot and bigger tables. The only longer than 60" cue I played with had the extra length in the shaft. It was a noodle, made an old moochie shaft seem like a crowbar. Shaft was just fine when I cut it down to thirty inches.
I suspect the insert style extensions that seem to be the fad at the moment are making people play better at least short term because of the weight increase more than the added length. A couple extra ounces steers a lot straighter for whatever reason.
(found some scales, my light cue is 16.5 ounces, my heavy cue 18 ounces if the scales are right.)
Hu
What I have always found is that the weight of my cue had more to do with my skill level than my age.
As a beginner I used heavy cues. Then I favored a 19oz cue. 18-19 ounce cues are the lightest of the "heavy" cues in my opinion. For reasons I don't understand, three times the weight of the cue ball seems to make the hit effortless, under that I have to start doing more of the work and my strength is moving the cue ball around rather than the weight of the cue and gravity.
As my skills increased I went down through seventeen and even fifteen ounce cues. Finally I was playing with a 60" 12 ounce one piece snooker cue. Introduced me to low deflection before low deflection was cool! I had to learn how to aim all over and this was the hardest stick to play with I ever touched. Took a couple months of frustration trying to move pool balls around with this little twig. Seemed I had to do every bit of the work with muscle. Truly annoying to play with. When I finally got a handle on it I played the best pinpoint position I ever played with it. Perfect speed control and I had a milk dud on it back in the eighties. Took a lot of effort to make the stick work but the result was ridiculously precise position play.
No scales so I have to guess the weight of my cues now, one is around seventeen ounces, a sixty inch cue. People trying it rarely notice it is long, they instantly notice it is light. My other cue is around 19-20 ounces, 59" with the thirty inch shaft. Rarely getting to a pool table these days I struggle with the light stick sometimes. Swapping to the heavier stick improves my ball pocketing. It has a wrap too where the other stick doesn't. I sometimes use a slip stroke with the heavier cue which can aid accuracy on some shots or when out of stroke too.
With the cloth and cushions on today's tables hard to imagine anyone needing more than a 19 or 19.5 ounce cue to move balls around. A heavier cue seems to straighten out a stroke though.
Many years ago I played around with a cue gradually adding weight to 26 ounces then jumping to 32 ounces. Over twenty ounces cue ball contact was barely felt, 26 ounces was hard to have any finesse at all with and 32 ounces was ridiculous.
My guess, the perfect lifetime cue for most people weighs 19 to 19.5 ounces and is 60" long. I have a lot of wingspan and a lot of shots I seem to run out of cue with a shorter cue and that extra couple inches gives four more inches of playable area without a bridge, two inches all the way around the table. Doesn't seem like much but it comes in handy on the nine foot and bigger tables. The only longer than 60" cue I played with had the extra length in the shaft. It was a noodle, made an old moochie shaft seem like a crowbar. Shaft was just fine when I cut it down to thirty inches.
I suspect the insert style extensions that seem to be the fad at the moment are making people play better at least short term because of the weight increase more than the added length. A couple extra ounces steers a lot straighter for whatever reason.
(found some scales, my light cue is 16.5 ounces, my heavy cue 18 ounces if the scales are right.)
Hu
I believe that in most all cases the weight goes down... but I don't think it has to do with age of the player as much as it does with years of experience.
I always suggest a 21oz stick for people who are just starting out because the extra weight seems to help steady the shooting hand from going side to side.
However... as the years went by (at least in my case) and my control improved, I found that less weight equaled more ability to feel the cue ball and to more accurately finesse it around the table after a shot.
Now days whenever I get a new (or used) cue stick... I take the weight bolt out of it completely and play for a while at the base weight. I always adjust to it very fast.
I've tried shooting with some of my heavier (older) cues and I don't make shots any better (or worse with them)... but my cue ball placement is noticeably worse with the heavier sticks.
I believe that most all shooters progress down in weight with more experience.
I always suggest a 21oz stick for people who are just starting out because the extra weight seems to help steady the shooting hand from going side to side.
However... as the years went by (at least in my case) and my control improved, I found that less weight equaled more ability to feel the cue ball and to more accurately finesse it around the table after a shot.
Now days whenever I get a new (or used) cue stick... I take the weight bolt out of it completely and play for a while at the base weight. I always adjust to it very fast.
I've tried shooting with some of my heavier (older) cues and I don't make shots any better (or worse with them)... but my cue ball placement is noticeably worse with the heavier sticks.
I believe that most all shooters progress down in weight with more experience.