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The differences in Pool Cues explained

By: George Pennwood

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Pool cues vary depending which country you are in. English pool cues have small tips of eight to nine millimetres, whereas cues from the US have tip sizes of 12 -13 mm. Even the shaft of the cues have subtle modifications. Cues in the UK gradually decrease in diameter from the butt to the tip while American pool cues often have straight shafts with no taper until halfway down the shaft. These differences are because of the way the game is played in the 2. English pool players adopt the "snooker" style of addressing and hitting the cue ball, whilst pool players in the US like to wrap their forefinger around the shaft forming a ring around it so having the same diameter near the tip makes it more comfortable to play.

Other differences between the two styles of the game, is the material the cue is made from preferred by the 2 types of players. Cue sticks from the UK are made of heavy grained ash and American players prefer maple. Ash and maple will feel the same to play with, it is just a matter of preference. The handle or butt are decorated differently, the American pool cues often to have linen wraps around the butt and a cue from the UK usually decorated with splices of different coloured wood. Again it makes no difference to the playing quality, just a matter of style.

In contrast Carom billiard cues used in playing Carambole, which is a form of billiards originating in France, use shorter fatter cues because the carom balls are huge in comparison to the balls used in the US and UK. The balls are 2 7/16 in size being bigger even than American pool which uses two and a quarter inch diameter balls and the English pool which use a mere 2 inch size balls.

There have been some notable pool cue makers down the years, perhaps the most famous of which is probably, Balabushka, who produced what are considered the best pool cues ever. He came to the US from Russia and set up shop in New York and supplied cues to the best pool players at the time. The few remaining cues are worth a lot of money these days, A Balabushkacue went for over $40,000 at auction. Even today, Balabushka replica cues fetch a premium price, over $400 depending on the model, and they certainly look the business, all shiny and covered in an expensive linen wrap.

The tip is made of animal hide, even elk and water buffalo are popular, but basically leather and there are different levels of hardness of the tips, depending on taste and frankly the differences are only noticeable by the playing professionals, the rest of us mere mortals would probably never notice the difference. It is essential that the tip can take a lot of chalk for good contact with the cue ball. You can even get chalks that match the colour of your cloth so it does not show up so badly on the cloth. For example you can get red coloured chalk for use on red clothed tables and even black chalk for playing on tables covered in a black material.

A cue that is being seen more often is the so called jump and break cue which is basically a cue with 2 different shafts, one used for smashing the balls with on break off and the other is a more sensitive shaft used for normal play. It is a good idea and widely used on both sides of the Atlantic.

The cue you should choose obviously depends on the version of the game you play. Really it makes little difference as long as you get a cue with glue on tips and a nice metal ferrule at the top of the cue to protect the tip, the rest is down to how much you want to spend for a good looking cue. A reasonable cue should cost about $50, more than that is due to the woods used and whether it is hand made or not.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Steve Mcrea has played billiards and is a great enthusiast of pool Look here for a Pool Cue

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