English 8 ball cue vs Snooker cue?

Quite often nothing, sir. I know many players who use the same cue for both snooker and English 8 Ball.

That said, when I was playing I did use a cue with a slightly larger tip for snooker.
 
I tried English 8-ball once….the cue ball was smaller than snooker.
I‘m not totally familiar with the terms, however…not sure if that was called blackball.
 
English pool cues tend to have slightly thinner tips, around 8mm-9mm for the 1 7/8" cue ball compared to a 9.5mm-10mm snooker cue tip for the 2 1/16" cue ball. They can also be lighter and a little shorter, about an inch or two, but it totally depends on the preferred specs of the user. A snooker cue is perfectly fine for English pool if you're not comfortable with the thin tip. I also prefer a light cue for the lighter, smaller cue ball.

My English pool cue has an 8.4mm tip, is 57" long and 17oz in weight. My snooker cue is 9.5mm, 58" and 19.5oz.
 
My memory of club/pub play was that “generic” pool cues were generally a bit shorter and lighter and the snooker a bit longer. (Not that I play much anymore except with family)

But as already said for many people with their own cues it’s pretty much interchangeable and down to preference.
 
English pool cues tend to have slightly thinner tips, around 8mm-9mm for the 1 7/8" cue ball compared to a 9.5mm-10mm snooker cue tip for the 2 1/16" cue ball. They can also be lighter and a little shorter, about an inch or two, but it totally depends on the preferred specs of the user. A snooker cue is perfectly fine for English pool if you're not comfortable with the thin tip. I also prefer a light cue for the lighter, smaller cue ball.

My English pool cue has an 8.4mm tip, is 57" long and 17oz in weight. My snooker cue is 9.5mm, 58" and 19.5oz.
Yep, this covers it.
 
I have found my Snooker cue is fine for English 8Ball, which is played a lot in Australia and is by far the most dominant cue sport here.
Snooker 2nd, then WPA pool.
 
I have found my Snooker cue is fine for English 8Ball, which is played a lot in Australia and is by far the most dominant cue sport here.
Snooker 2nd, then WPA pool.
I used to use my snooker cue for English pool when I played in college. Eventually settled on a custom Jason Owen. I doubt I'd ever go back to using a snooker cue, but I'd gladly use one if I had no other option.
 
Last edited:
English pool cues tend to have slightly thinner tips, around 8mm-9mm for the 1 7/8" cue ball compared to a 9.5mm-10mm snooker cue tip for the 2 1/16" cue ball. They can also be lighter and a little shorter, about an inch or two, but it totally depends on the preferred specs of the user. A snooker cue is perfectly fine for English pool if you're not comfortable with the thin tip. I also prefer a light cue for the lighter, smaller cue ball.

My English pool cue has an 8.4mm tip, is 57" long and 17oz in weight. My snooker cue is 9.5mm, 58" and 19.5oz.
Yes, this sums it up. Generally, pros and other serious English pool players will use a cue with a thicker tip when they play snooker. I think the transition back and forth is fairly straightforward. However, English to American/Chinese pool and back is a bigger jump. When Gareth Potts first transitioned back from Chinese to English pool he played with his snooker cue for a while because he was no longer comfortable with the (relatively) ultra-thin tip.
 
Yes, this sums it up. Generally, pros and other serious English pool players will use a cue with a thicker tip when they play snooker. I think the transition back and forth is fairly straightforward. However, English to American/Chinese pool and back is a bigger jump. When Gareth Potts first transitioned back from Chinese to English pool he played with his snooker cue for a while because he was no longer comfortable with the (relatively) ultra-thin tip.
I know Mark Selby was using his main snooker cue (a Stamford custom) for his Ultimate Pool matches, and he seemed to be getting on very well with it.

I also found a thread on TSF for snooker specced cues being used for English pool that mentions Gareth's changeover.
 
Back
Top