Wrapless or Linen cues

9Ballr

9Ballr

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I just read through all of these posts:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=225178

But it mostly has pro-wrapless posters so I wanted to ask if there are any specific benefits in having a linen wrap vs a wrapless cue?

Ultimately is it just a personal choice or are there specific pros and cons?

Some people said they felt linen wrap was too slippery and that sounds reasonable but are there at the same time any advantages in having linen wrap.

Thanks
 
It's all personal preference... im my case, I live in area with high humidity, plus I have sweaty palms so I prefer linen over leather and wrapless, which tend to get wet and sticky in my hands.
 
Some of us prefer slippery ... I know I do.. I can play just as well with either.. but the linen is more comfortable to me
 
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I have always played with linen wrap, I thought wrapless is slippery but when I got my first wrapless cue, I played with it and realized it suits me better, I like the wrapless feel more now, growing addicted to wrapless.
 
I actually like wrapless cues the best.
Linen and leather is ok, but the best wrap is stingray, had this on a Jacoby and it was amazing!
 
I love wrapless but if it had oil finish like my John Parris snooker cue or my j/b by Kevin Varney.

Had few wrapless cues with regular clear coat finish and had to sell it no matter how good cue was

Linen is good also but really want to try Cortland, heard good things about it!

and of course it is all personal preferences
 
Its 100% Personal choice. I prefer linen tho. Courtland is very coarse. Linen is nice and smooth but when your hand gets sweaty it grips nice.


If your linen is too slippery, rub it with wax paper, that'll make it nice and sticky. Or get a cue maker to put beeswax on it.
 
Some players use a slip stroke and take advantage of the linnen feel. I sweat a lot and find that the cooler linnen suites me best.

It might be worth noting that the feel of linnen varies greatly. I use the label "west coast" style to describe ultra pressed linnen wraps that feel almost glassy smooth. Tad Kohara may have been the first to popularize that wrap treatment. Bob Meucci made many cues with finish covering the wrap entirely (no texture at all). Bill Schick made a cue for me with antique white linnen and sprayed the wrap with one coat to seal the color. This cue has texture like linnen but is tacky in the hand like a wrapless. Some old D-series McDermott cues had nylon wraps for coarse texture but slick feel. and the list of wrapped cues goes on...
 
Until recently, every cue I've owned had a linen wrap. I had white/green spec linen on my Bob Frey Titlist (primary player). After a while it started looking like light blue/green spec linen from the chalk. I had a bison leather wrap installed and I love it. My Dishaw and Carmelli still have linen wraps and I still like the feel of those too. My next cure will be wrap less to round out all the options.
 
I actually hate wraps. I guess I started playing without one and just got used to it. Its all personal preference as everybody said.

I feel like you just get used to something. The down side is it greatly limits your selection of cues when shopping.
 
9Ballr said:
I just read through all of these posts:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=225178

But it mostly has pro-wrapless posters so I wanted to ask if there are any specific benefits in having a linen wrap vs a wrapless cue?

Ultimately is it just a personal choice or are there specific pros and cons?

Some people said they felt linen wrap was too slippery and that sounds reasonable but are there at the same time any advantages in having linen wrap.

Thanks
Click to expand...

9Ballr:

Part of the "personal preference" part will be in how you grip the cue. If you've a firm grip on the cue, then the "slipperiness" thing is a moot issue. In that case, it's more a question of texture, sweat absorption, etc.

However, if you grip the cue very lightly, it will come down to this:

  • Do you use a slip-stroke? If so, you'll prefer the "loss of traction" that linen provides.
  • Do you use a cradle grip but need the cue to stay put in your hand? Then you won't like linen for that reason -- the cue will "want" to slip through your cradle grip on both the forward and backward stroke, unless you gently accelerate intentionally to prevent the slippage.
You may have others. The only way to know, is to try them. I would recommend trying them in this decremental fashion ("decremental" meaning decreasing ability to "stick" to the skin):

  1. Wrapless
  2. Stack leather wrap
  3. Cork or neoprene
  4. Regular leather or exotic skin (e.g. lizard, stingray)
  5. Irish Linen
  6. Nylon Linen
You might also try a carom rubber grip -- i.e. the roll-on rubber grips that 3C players often use.

Somewhere in that range above, you should find something that suits you. Additionally, if you've a linen cue and you don't like it, you can always either a.) put a carom rubber grip over it; b.) have it removed and replaced with e.g. stack leather; c.) have it clear-coated over (polyurethane -- making it feel just like a wrapless cue).

Hope this helps!
-Sean
 
I'm so used to a linen wrap that switching to something else would be difficult, although I would like to try a really nice wrap less.
Like everyone says though, it's a personal preference thing. :smile:
 
sfleinen said:
9Ballr:
Part of the "personal preference" part will be in how you grip the cue. If you've a firm grip on the cue, then the "slipperiness" thing is a moot issue. In that case, it's more a question of texture, sweat absorption, etc.
However, if you grip the cue very lightly, it will come down to this:
  • Do you use a slip-stroke? If so, you'll prefer the "loss of traction" that linen provides.
  • Do you use a cradle grip but need the cue to stay put in your hand? Then you won't like linen for that reason -- the cue will "want" to slip through your cradle grip on both the forward and backward stroke, unless you gently accelerate intentionally to prevent the slippage.
You may have others. The only way to know, is to try them. I would recommend trying them in this decremental fashion ("decremental" meaning decreasing ability to "stick" to the skin):
  1. Wrapless
  2. Stack leather wrap
  3. Cork or neoprene
  4. Regular leather or exotic skin (e.g. lizard, stingray)
  5. Irish Linen
  6. Nylon Linen
You might also try a carom rubber grip -- i.e. the roll-on rubber grips that 3C players often use.
Somewhere in that range above, you should find something that suits you. Additionally, if you've a linen cue and you don't like it, you can always either a.) put a carom rubber grip over it; b.) have it removed and replaced with e.g. stack leather; c.) have it clear-coated over (polyurethane -- making it feel just like a wrapless cue).
Hope this helps!
-Sean
Click to expand...


Sean,

Thanks for your excellent and educational reply.
I guess the only thing missing in your list is the Earl Strickland tennis grip wrap. :smile: :smile:

I'm seriously considering ordering my next cue a wrapless just to try that feel.
My break cue is wrapless and I've always liked how it feels.

Thanks for a great reply.
 
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