Bookmark Site!
Search This Site
Send to a Friend
Our Main Page
RAVEN Cues
Jump/Break tips
Limited Series
About Us
Used Cues
How to Buy
Discount Store
What People Say
Billiards Speak
Cue Care
Trade Up
Warranty
Publications
Engraving
Contact Us
Play Better
Billiards News
Teaching Videos
Why RAVEN
RAVEN Taper
RAVEN Owners
Inside a RAVEN
Pool Music
Pool Humor
Pool Pictures
Components
Custom Orders
Build your Own
Tournaments
For Collectors
Cue Anatomy
Lost or Stolen
Different Woods
Pool Game Rules
Directory Links
Fun Pool Videos
Old Growth Wood
What We Don't Do
Pool Cue Repairs
No Illegal Materials
Appearances
Non-Billiards
Sitemap
Billiards Speak
Register
© Copyright 2000-2008
RAVEN Custom Cues
Marion, IA 52302
|
One size does not fit all.
|  |
|---|
Pool players come in all shapes and sizes. So do their arms and hands. Most two-piece cues are about 58 inches long, weigh 18 to 20 ounces, have a balance point roughly 18 to 19 inches from the butt and have a shaft diameter of around 12.5mm to 13mm for the first 10 inches of the shaft. The reality is these dimensions just aren’t right for everyone. Most people's hands are bigger or smaller than average, their fingers or arms are longer or shorter than average, they are taller or shorter than average, their frame is heavier or lighter than average or they are younger or older than average. Whatever about you isn’t average probably means your cue should not be average either. Then there is gender to consider. What is average for a man is not what is average for a woman. In general women aren't as tall, they are lighter and their hands are smaller than a man's.
How you play is a major factor to take into consideration. I’m not talking here about your skill level. Skill is a factor but I’ll get to that later. Right now I’m talking about your game. Some people use a lot of cue ball spin. Other people use cue ball spin sparingly. Some people tend to force the cue ball around the table with power and stun shots. Other players finesse the cue ball. Some player can run a lot of balls consecutively. Other players rely more on strategy and defensive play like safeties. How you play should determine what your cue is like. More often, I find, the cue determines too much of how a person plays. The wrong cue actually limits what a player can do with his or her game. Skill level is an important consideration in some respects. Beginning players and players with average skill need a cue that will support their current level of play and allow them to progress to the next level. Consistency in the cue you use (same weight, same length, same tip and shaft) is important. But, as a player’s skill level begins to increase the cue is more than likely either going to hinder or help. Better players can more easily adapt to the playing characteristics of a cue. They use the various strong aspects of their game to the fullest extent the cue will allow. Players whose games are not fully developed will often learn poor habits trying to make a cue do something it won’t easily do. While better players have an advantage here they also tend to be very picky about what they use. They may like how one cue feels or they like the hit. They like the spin they get or how accurate the cue seems to be. Many good players swap out cues like golfers change putters. One cue rarely looks right, feels right and does everything they want it to do for very long.
In my opinion, no single cue can look right, feel right and do everything anyone wants it to do. Not even a custom pool cue. This may seem like a strange statement coming from a cuemaker. I’m supposed to be telling you the sun rises and set on RAVEN cues. Well, misleading you at the onset of our relationship wouldn’t be a very good start. I will say a carefully chosen hand made cue does have the greatest chance of doing what you want it to do, when you want it to do it.
I am not advocating pool players start carrying around a bag of cues like golfers do with clubs. Interestingly things have moved in that direction though. It wasn’t all that long ago people had just one cue if they owned one at all. Now it is common for players to have a break cue, a jump cue and a playing cue. It is easy to imagine a specialized cue for masse shots (they aren't common but they are available), one designed for use when it is necessary to shoot over another ball and maybe something for tight or awkward positions. We’ll see. For now, in controlled play, there is a limit of three cues. The one I’m addressing, in this article, is your playing cue.
Ideally the playing cue fits your body, your taste (visual appeal) and your style of play. Very often the person bought the cue that looked the best (to them) in the dollar range they had to spend. That is a reasonable thing to do. But it probably isn’t the best thing to do for your game. I need to make a point here. You don’t have to spend big bucks to get a very good cue. RAVEN cues aren’t cheap. Hand made, one-of-a-kind items rarely are. If you are serious about pool, but on a limited budget, choose a cue that fits your body and style of play. Compromise your taste. If you play well with a cue you can live with it's appearance, at least until you can afford to have it all. If you really play well with a cue, it looks better every time you win.
Back to Play Better Pool
To RAVEN Cues Home Page
|