Choose The Billiard Cue That's Right For You
To enhance your billiard experience, choosing the right cue for you is essential
. When choosing a cue, it helps to be informed of all your options.
What is the difference between a pool cue and a snooker cue? Let me begin by explaining the difference in the games themselves.
Pool is played typically on a 4' x 8' or 4 1/2' x 9' table, the balls that are used for this table are normally 2 1/4" in diameter. The balls are usually marked with numbers 1 through 15 (object balls) and you have a cue ball without a number.
Snooker is played on a variety of table sizes, but if you want to experience the game in full, you need a 6' x 12' monster table. The balls are usually 2 1/16" in diameters and you have 15 red balls, 6 colored balls and one cue ball, which is normally white.
Another major difference is the felt material used for snooker and pool tables. Snooker felt is "faster" with more tightly integrated structure while pool felt tends to be "slower".
So we have smaller and lighter balls flying around on a faster cloth for snooker and bigger, heavier balls flying around on a "slower" cloth for pool.
Because of all of this, snooker cues are lighter and have a smaller tip size and are a bit longer. On the other hand pool cues are heavier and have a bigger tip size.
Traditionally cues were made out of wood, but with more advances in contemporary materials and technology, composites are another option. Which should you choose?
Now that we talked about different games, lets move on to the materials from which cues are made - basically there are two types - wood and non-wood.
Wood is a traditional choice; it feels good, it bends ever so slightly on a contact with a cue ball, it looks good and most of billiard players prefer it. Non wood feels good, it almost does not bend when you hit the ball and not too many people like it.
One main advantage that composite or non-wood cues have over traditional wood is that composite cues do not warp. If you managed to get a composite cue to warp, you were really trying to damage it.
Wood on the other hand is a natural material and it can warp very easily. Leave your wooden cue in a car overnight in the winter and it will warp. Leave it in a basement with humidity problem - guess what, after a while it will warp as well.
It happens because wood tend to absorb moisture of the air around it and it will expand and contract depending on the temperature. Some shops would offer you to straighten a warped cue and though it might actually work, it usually reverts to it's warped form in about 3-6 month.
It costs as much as some new cues and if it does not work, that's it, your cue is done. Composites come in a form of graphite where no wood is used and wood coated with fiberglass where the wooden shaft is completely sealed from the environment in a thin layer of fiberglass.
One piece cues are generally lower quality and imagine if you have to carry it around - well, that's just silly.
When choosing a tip size, you should think about the way this cue is going to be used. There are two characteristics of the tip that you should be aware of: Size and softness.
As far as size is concerned, there is really only one thing to keep in mind - do you intend to play a positioning game or just like to send all the balls on the table flying. With a smaller tip you can achieve a greater English and control where the cue ball will travel after hitting that object ball.
Larger tips are more convenient for just hitting the cue ball hoping that something will eventually get in. Softness of the tip also affects the speed of the cue ball, control of the cue ball and amount of spin that cue ball will receive after a contact with the cue.
Softer tips give you better control and less power, harder tips will give you less control but more power. Keep in mind, soft tips have to be replaced more frequently as they wear off.
Another thing to remember: chalk your cue before every shot as this will help preserve your tip and give you a better shot overall.
by: Jack Landry
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