Billiards: A Beginner’s Guide To Buying A Pool Cue

When choosing a cue sticks there are many things to consider. If you are a beginner or intermediate than you should consider buying something cheap. If you are an advance players, you might buy something that a pool cue that costs more. It also depends on the pool cue you want to buy: a playing cue, breaking cue, or jumping cue. I will only discuses a playing cue in this article.

Level Of Playing

Most people who read this are probably beginners who are buying their first cue. If you play once a month at most, you might want to stick to the house cue. Buying a cue stick might make you look cool, but it wouldn’t benefits you if you don’t play more regularly. For the rest of us who play pool once a week or more, buying a cue stick is extremely beneficial. Not only does the new cue sticks make you more consistence, it is also clean. So before buying, think about how much you play and how much you are willing to invest.

Costs

The quality of a cue will always come down to cost. If you are a beginning players consider buying it used from Ebay. Buying a used cue is probably the better options for a beginning player since you will not know what it is you like or dislike about a cue.

1) 50-200 dollars: You can buy a nice cue in this range. It really doesn’t matter which brand, at this price their performances is usually the same. You might consider buying a meucci cue from Ebay, it’s a nice brand.

2) 200-300 dollars: Okay this is where the low-deflection shaft comes in to play. Consider predator’s sneaky pete cue, or a lucasi hybrid. TheOB shaft + a random butt are a good combination at this price range.

3) 300+ dollars: At this price range, you are getting into serious pool. Any brand that cost this much is usually good and come with a low-deflection shaft.

Feeling

This is not about if you are mad or sad, this is referring to how the cue stick feels in your hand. There are several things about the cue that will directly affect the feeling on your cues

1) Weight: standard weight is 19oz. on any cues. This is a matter of preference (I play with a 18.5 oz) and it does not really affect your game that much. The differences are a couple of oz.

2) The Butt: We are not referring to your rear end but the lower part of a cue stick. This part really is not important but the majority of the cost is for the butt. It is usually the decoration that cost so much. Pick one that looks good or not is a matter of preferences (I play with a sneaky pete, so my cue is plain looking).

3) The Shaft: The most important part of a cue. Think carefully if you want a stiff hit or a compact hit, or any type of hit. It various depending on the brand. I used to play with a scorpion cue that had a stiff hit.

4) Tip: The top part of a cue. This is essential to having a good game. If you have a bad tip, you will not play well. I preferred a medium tip but I hear you can generate a lot of spin on the cue ball with soft tip. Hard tip are usually for breaking cue.

Tips:

Before buying a cue, you might want to visit the pool store. Test out their cue, they usually have floor model for you to test them. It’s the best way to know if you like the cue or not. This is definitely not going to be your last cue if are a beginning players, so don’t worry about the cue not being perfect for you.