GordonRamsay said:
hey, just wondering if anyone elses hands get blisters or are irritated after long periods of play with a cue wrapped with Irish linen...I can go barely 2 hours with my hand getting all red and itchy. Are there any alternative grips that can do the same job and a readily available.
Gordon:
I myself don't like Irish Linen wraps at all; on almost all cues I own (with the exception of collectibles or old cues that have sentimental value), I've had the Irish Linen wrap removed and replaced with a leather wrap. For me, the Irish Linen is much too slippery. And, when I have to jack up on shots (e.g. the cue against the rail but I need to draw for the shot), or when I have to stretch for a long shot, my grip hand "suddenly" encounters the non-Irish Linen portions of the cue (i.e. above the wrap for the jacked-up shots, and below the wrap near the butt end of the cue for stretch shots), and this gives my brain a sort of, "hey, that's a very different gripping surface -- what in the world is that?" shock. Have not regretted doing this to my mainstay/beater cues at all; love the leather wrap, and it doesn't give as much as a "gripping surface 'hey, what is that?' shock" when I have to grip different portions of the cue for various shots.
Another thing to try is cheap and non-damaging to the cue, and actually is a preferred grip by 3-cushion players. It's a rubber tube (grip) that you lubricate with a little bit of powder, and slip onto your cue:
http://poolndarts.com/index.cfm?CFID=14751765&CFTOKEN=fb271c2c7b8a3f39-DDCDB388-D61C-4F06-B0890702906D9C65&Fuseaction=Catalog.Product&productID=4965
This certainly beats the permanent wrap-replacement suggestion (e.g. removing the Irish Linen and replacing it with leather) I gave above, if you don't want to make any modifications to your cue.
Hope this is helpful!
-Sean