Play Better Pool With Your Own Cue Stick

By Ernie Reynolds

I’ve always been a casual pool player. Don’t get me wrong – I always play to win, but I never had much of a desire to enter tournaments or play in leagues.

As such, I never bothered to get my own pool cue for many, many years. I always just grabbed one off the rack at the bar or pool hall. I never wanted to bother with carrying a cue stick around and having to keep on eye on it so it didn’t get stolen or damaged.

Well, it took me a long time, but I have finally seen the light. My wife bought me a new pool cue for Christmas last year, (I picked it out), and I will never be without my own cue stick again.

This conviction was reinforced last Friday when I went down to the local bar for a cold one and some pool. I didn’t have to work Friday because of the July 4th holiday, so I went down in the early aftenoon instead of later on after work as I usually do.

I had my stick in the car but I didn’t bring it in with me because I wasn’t sure if anyone would be in there to play a game with. As it turns out, I ended up playing pool for a couple solid hours – with a bar cue.

I played a couple guys that were fair shooters and I did OK, but not really up to my usual standards. I had a hard time getting comfortable with the sticks that were there and eventually tried several different ones. None of them really felt right.

Eventually I ended up leaving and going to a pool hall where I have a standing Friday night appointment with my brother to play. I took my stick in with me this time because my brother plays pretty well and I have to be at my best to win some games.

I could tell the difference in my shooting the very first game. The stick just felt comfortable in my hands and I had much more control over the cue ball and could make it dance around the table.

My consistency took a quantum leap. With the bar cue I had to really concentrate to get a good hit on the cue ball. With my own familiar cue, that just came naturally and I could pay more attention to planning out my shots and running the table.

I keep my tip nicely rounded, and this makes the shooting so much more precise than the flattened, mushy tips on the bar cues. I could get some draw on the ball again, and the weight is right, so controlling the speed of the cue ball hit was much easier.

The smooth shaft allows my stick to slide effortlessly through my bridge fingers. It’s amazing the difference in your play when there are no dents and stickiness to the shaft to ruin your feel of the stroke.

It may sound funny, but there really was the difference of night and day between playing with that bar stick and my own clean, smooth, and straight pool cue.

So take it from a late-in-life convert to owning your own pool stick – buy one, you won’t regret it. Once you get a stick that has the right weight and feels good in your hands, it just makes the game of pool all that much easier and more enjoyable.

I just wonder why it took me so long to find out.