Cues for Tall People

[Ak Guy]

long cues

I am 6' 3" tall. I had Meucci make me a 19 oz. 62" sneaky with a 31" split and a Black Dot shaft. It shoots good for me. Pat Diveney made me a good 61" Ebony Hustler with a couple of 30" Lake Salvage shafts. It is a good looking and good shooting cue. The easiest route is a 60" cue as a 30/30 split will fit in most cases, even with a big radial pin. If you like a LD shaft most don't come over 30", so something to think about. These longer cues helped my game. If a tall person shoots fine with a 58" cue then they are fortunate.

 

[RFranklin]

Tall Players

I am 6'5" and play with a 58" cue with no problem. I am an APA banger but have gotten to be a 9/7 so I play strong enough. I have only shot with an oversized cue a couple of times and the extra inch or two actually felt awkward and heavy. Since most of us started with house cues that are relatively standard I think it is funny when you hear about these extremely long or heavy cues that fix some issue.

 

[Maniac]

I am 6'5" and play with a 58" cue with no problem. I am an APA banger but have gotten to be a 9/7 so I play strong enough. I have only shot with an oversized cue a couple of times and the extra inch or two actually felt awkward and heavy. Since most of us started with house cues that are relatively standard I think it is funny when you hear about these extremely long or heavy cues that fix some issue.

If your 58" cue weighs 19.5 ounces, do you think my 19.5 ounce 60" cue would feel heavier to you? Really?

Most people started out using 58" cues because that was always what was availiable, either in a house cue or a 2-piece cue. They got accustomed to that length because they had to. Back in the day when the standard length for cues became 58", the average size of a typical American male was probably an inch or so shorter. Who's to say what length is right for any individual? I prefer and play just fine with a 60" cue, but who's to say that 100 men built exactly like me wouldn't prefer cues in the 56" to 62" range?

The OP stated that his friends back grip fingers (little and ring fingers) were completely off of the cue on most shots. This cannot be any good. I can't imagine what problems he must face when the cue ball is just past center table on a 9-footer shooting up-table.

Bottom line is, no matter what yours or my preference is in cue lengths, everybody needs to find the formula that works best for them.

Maniac

 

[Espartaco_7]

I would highly recommend 63Kcode(Larry Vigus) here on AZ, got 2 of his cues...both 60" and they play great, the" Hoppe ringed" one being my main cue.
Anyways, he's known for making 60"+ sized cues for taller players...
At least give him a shout and see what he has to say...Larry's prices are modest too :wink:
Clint

I second that, Larry is a monster making good players. FYI shooting with a longer cue it´s a different story, more accuracy, more comfort, more balance (at least for me).

I think a cheaper option is to buy a Balance rite or right extension, it´s 4" and goes at the joint, I think it´s about 50 dollars on seyberts.

 

[RFranklin]

Long Cue

Maniac, heavier probably wasnt the right description for how the cue felt. Obviously the balance points were different than mine so it "seemed" to play heavier. Per the owner it is within .2 oz of mine so I wouldnt think that would make that big of a difference. It was a Runde so I know it was well built. It could have just been mental but the extra two inches just felt more cumbersome. I also know how the mental part of the game is just as important so if anyone thinks they play better with a longer, shorter, etc. cue then go for it. That is worth more than spending an extra grand for the perfect fix imho. (unless you think that spending more will make you run every rack )

 

[Hobart007]

I am 6'6" and experimented with longer cues for a while. To be honest, a reasonable bridge length coupled with a proper back hand grip makes a 58" cue long enough for me.

Have your friend get down on a shot with a good comfortable bridge length and see what grip position causes his forearm to be perpendicular to the ground when the tip touches the cue ball. I am pretty willing to bet that, unless he plays with a pretty long bridge or has some serious gorilla arms, he will not be off of the cue with his back hand.

I only mention this because a lot of the tall people I see gripping the cue off of the back end are doing so because they are gripping way too far back on the cue. It might be a tall person thing because I used to do it as well and think that maybe the more awkward position (more bending down, etc.) that a tall person has to get into to shoot causes us to have a funky grip if left to our own devices. - Just my 2 cents.

 

[Maniac]

It could have just been mental but the extra two inches just felt more cumbersome.

No, I don't think it was just mental. Let me tell you why I say that. The first time I had an inkling to try a 60" cue, I posted something here on AZB about it. A fellow AZB'er told me if I'd meet him at his home bar/poolhall during his league one Sunday afternoon, he'd let me try out one of his 60-inchers. So my wife and I shot 4 or 5 games of 8-ball on a nearby table and I used his 60" cue. After the second game, I told my wife that I wasn't liking the extra two inches (felt cumbersome). When we finished shooting, I gratefully returned the cue and decided that a 60" cue wasn't for me. Now.....I rarely ever shoot with anything shorter.

I don't know what made me go back and try the longer cue, but I'm sure glad I did. It's very comfortable in my hands now and I can't ever see myself going back to a shorter cue (but I won't say never).

So what you said in the above quote made perfect sense to me.

Maniac