Modern Pool E-Book

Ralph Eckert

• Herausgeber: Litho
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 314

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

Over 300 illustrations and 40 photographs guide you step by step along the way of learning the game(s) of pool billiards. No previous knowledge or abilities are assumed, but you will still be led toward your individually attainable level of performance. And this, if necessary, up to the most intricate subtleties of this wonderful game. Pool billiards is more than just a brilliant coordination of mental and physical adroitness. Hardly any sport can deliver more enjoyment of one's achievements and abilities as this one.

Leseprobe

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Ralph Eckert

Modern Pool

Technique, Training and Tactics

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Modern Pool

Photos: Stefan Schmidt, Markus Ißle, Thomas Lindemann, Ralph Eckert

Front cover photo: Billares Sam, Spain by Enrique Martin

© Litho-Verlag e.K., 34466 Wolfhagen / Germany

1995 1. edition in German

2005 1. edition in English

Printed in Germany

ISBN: 978-3-9804706-5-0 (print)

ISBN: 978-3-941484-60-3 (pdf)

ISBN: 978-3-946128-00-7 (epub)

Table illustrations and diagrams drawn and text written by Ralph Eckert in Germany 1993/94.

First published in German 1995 by K&L Verlag, Thomas Lindemann, Schwetzingen Germany.

Published in Polish in Opole in 2000.

Slightly revised for this translation by Ralph Eckert 2000.

Translated by Oliver Samstag 21st of April 2001.

Last reading in 2002 by Cathy Vanover, Dallas TX.

Some more additional revision by Ralph Eckert in 2003/04.

Layout and printing 2005 by Litho-Verlag e.K. - Thomas Lindemann

published in Speyer – Germany.

www.billiardactivities.com

www.billiardbook.com

www.litho-verlag.de

All rights reserved

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The author thanks:

Billiard-Bistro "Pool-Position" in Bensheim - Germany, and “Casino F2” in Mannheim - Germany, where the most pictures are taken.

Special thanks to the following persons, who helped me with their support, explana-tions, advices and ideas:

Renate and Tobias Kim, Jimmy Reid, Grady Mathews, Stefan Schmidt und Markus Ißle for the photos, Antonio Gahete, Mike and Francine Massey, Bob and Cathy Vanover, Dick Lane, Bernd Woitanowski, Pradit Vandeevatanakul, John Thomas, Chin Chance, Gary Urinowsky, Bob Ferrel, Tim Perkins and Achim Sohnius.

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Modern Pool

Content

Preface...........................................................................................7

1. Material.....................................................................................9

1.1 The Table............................................................................................9

I. Playing Area (playability):...................................................................................................9

II. Stability & Sturdiness.......................................................................................................12

III. Design.............................................................................................................................13

IV. Price.................................................................................................................................13

V. Reputation.........................................................................................................................13

1.2 The Cue............................................................................................14

1.3 Pool Balls.........................................................................................22

1.4 Chalk................................................................................................25

2. Rules, Game Variants, and Facts.............................................27

2.1 8-ball.................................................................................................27

2.2 9-ball.................................................................................................28

2.3 Straight Pool.....................................................................................29

2.4 Rotation............................................................................................31

2.5 One-Pocket.......................................................................................33

2.6 10-ball...............................................................................................33

3. Posture.....................................................................................35

3.1 General Remarks..............................................................................35

3.2 Stance...............................................................................................36

3.3 Upper Body and Head......................................................................37

3.4 Stroke and Leading Arm..................................................................37

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3.5 Bridge...............................................................................................40

3.5.1 Handling of the rest (bridge)........................................................................................43

3.6 Consistency......................................................................................45

4. The Program............................................................................47

4.1 Aiming..............................................................................................47

4.2 General Explanations on Influencing the Cue Ball..........................49

4.3 Attainment of a smooth stroke with a straight follow-through........53

4.4 Standard Shots..................................................................................60

4.5 The 1st Alternate-program................................................................69

4.6 Explanation of the Side-Spin (Left or Right English)......................71

4.7 The Stun Shot...................................................................................79

4.8 The Kiss Shot and the Throw Shot...................................................82

4.8.1 The Kiss Shot...............................................................................................................82

4.8.2 The Throw Shot............................................................................................................86

4.9 Some small Position Drills...............................................................91

4.10 Alternative Program II....................................................................94

4.11 Standard Position Shots..................................................................98

4.12 Alternative Program III................................................................108

DIGRESSION: - First Habitualizing Exercise: “Ball Shooting” -......................................113

4.13 Positioning Drills...........................................................................115

4.14 Brain Washing Drill......................................................................127

4.15 Alternative Program IV................................................................129

4.16 Bank Shot Drills...........................................................................134

4.16.1 The Tip-Size-English Cushion-System....................................................................139

4.17 Special Explanations....................................................................142

4.17.1 The Follow Shot Curve............................................................................................142

4.17.2 The Draw Shot Curve ..............................................................................................147

4.17.3 The Draw Shot Curve in Cushion Applications ......................................................150

4.17.4 The Follow Shot in Cushion Applications...............................................................152

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Modern Pool

4.17.5 The Automatic Side-Spin.........................................................................................153

4.17.6 The ‘Slowing Down’ of the Cue Ball.......................................................................155

4.18 Theoretical Game Sequences.......................................................158

4.18.1 Straight Pool.............................................................................................................158

4.18.2 9-Ball........................................................................................................................186

4.18.3 The 8-ball Game.......................................................................................................215

4.18.4 The One-Pocket Game.............................................................................................220

4.19 The Cushion Game ......................................................................226

4.19.1 General Prerequesities..............................................................................................226

4.19.2 One Cushion, Basic System.....................................................................................227

4.19.3 One Cushion First, Mirror-System + Cue................................................................229

4.19.4 Two-Cushion System (Short Rail, Long Rail).........................................................235

4.19.5 Two-Cushion System; Long - Short & parallel shifting..........................................240

4.19.6 The Three-Cushion System......................................................................................243

4.20 Critical Shots................................................................................248

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Preface

I regard pocket billiards highly as a game for its entertainment as well as its competition values. The concept underlying this book is trying to do justice to both of these notions. It is thus up to the reader whether he or she wants to work through this book with an aim to improve his game, to discover new horizons or just to enjoy good reading.

Mastering pocket billiards as a sport demands a lot of practice particularly during the learning process. You are choosing a sport, however, in which you may be able to perform actively and successfully up to a very advanced age.

The present instructional program consists of alternating practice sessions and explanatory sessions, which are based consequently upon each other. The practice sessions are based on a performance principle, i.e. you have to successfully complete a certain exercise to move on to the next. This is to ensure that when I am dealing with the theoretical Strategies of the game, these match, the level of performance, the players being addressed after having mastered the preceding drilled.

The demands posed by these exercises are usually quite high but, as courses I have been teaching for years now show, they can be met nevertheless. Some drills are not too hard, others require more effort.

At this point, I should mention that this program is meant to accompany and complement your regular playing. That is to say you should not limit yourself to constantly working on the exercises. Rather, tackling a practice drill once or twice a week and enjoying your usual game the rest of the time is sufficient. Should you not be able to master a drill after repeated attempts, some additional so-called alternative programs have been integrated which are intended to take the student’s mind off the drill and to further increase his playing skills nevertheless.

The extensive and numerous examples and explanations are meant to enable individual players to check on themselves and thereby to improve their game since you have to be able to recognize your own mistakes to prevent them from repeating in the future. Work through this program step by step and if and when you think you know everything do it again. When you do something a second time you always notice something you missed the first time. This instructional program is not directed solely at beginners, but also at experienced players that are not making progress because mistakes are hindering their improvement. Anyone who works through this program can without a doubt become a very good player. And who knows, maybe someday, we may meet at a tournament somewhere?

Ralph G. Eckert

November 2004 Mannheim/Germany

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Modern Pool

It is not beginning something that is rewarded,

but only seeing it through to the end.

Katharina of Siena

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1. Material

Material

At the outset, I would like to note that I have consciously refrained myself from mentioning brand names and recommending companies in this chapter. Doing so could lead to discrimination especially since I am convinced that every company strives to supply its customers with the best product possible. Don’t hesitate to get advice at your local specialized billiards dealer. The staff there will certainly do its best and below you will find some tips on what to look for.

The Table

In judging a table, five essential criteria are to be considered:

I. Playing Area – Priorities – Cloth - Pocket Openings – Cushions - Slates

II. Stability & Sturdiness

III. Design

IV. Price

V. Reputation

I. Playing Area (playability):

- Priorities -

The playability of a table should be the most important priority to the player. The layman’s or beginner’s demands will usually be restricted to the regularity of the playing surface. In other words, the balls should roll straight on a billiards table. A top professional player, however, would demand much more of a table on which he might have to play a very important match. At this point, we will deal with the highest demands a player might make.

The following dimensions should be considered. Professional tournaments are played on 4 ½ by 9 feet tables (so-called 9-foot tables). Some amateur tournaments are also played on 4 by 8 or even 3 ½ by 7 tables (bar tables). On an 4 ½ by 9 table the playing area is 50“ wide by 100“ long. The playing area is measured from the cloth-covered nose of the rubber cushion to the opposite rubber cushion. Note: Most home tables sold in the U.S. are 8ft tables. A perspective buyer should keep in mind that a minimum room size of 13’ x 17’ is needed to accommodate the table.

- Cloth -

Several aspects are of the utmost importance to the passionate pool player. This, first of all, includes the covering, i.e. the cloth, with which the table is covered. Is the cloth fast or slow, is it old or maybe even brand-new, does the ball have a good grip or does it slide on it, does the cloth pill or not, has it been filled on very tightly or is it so loose that you can almost lift it?

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Modern Pool

But first things first. The so-called “speed” of the cloth (the further a ball struck with force X rolls the higher the “speed” of the cloth) is mainly determined by its age. With time, the cloth becomes slower and will then retain its “speed-qualities” depending on how well it has been taken care of. The life-span ranges from ¼ – ¾ of a year depending on quality, care, and frequency of use. Tables in private homes are an exception. There, the cloth usually is good for 1 – 2 years, unless it is owned and used by a very ambitious player.

The cloth will seem to be very slippery for the first couple of days, but this soon disappears and then the cloth has more grip. Incidentally, top players should be able to play well on new cloths since the tables are newly covered for big tournaments. A real top player can adjust to almost all kinds of playing conditions anyway.

A cloth with a high wool content may form pills when new, which can impair the game. These kinds of cloth have become rare nowadays, but some quick brushing solves this problem which solves itself of 1 – 2 days.

Have your table refitted only by experts as the cloth will only gain its character-istic speed if it is pulled tightly enough. There are even cloth-tongs specially made for that task. On less tightly pulled cloths, the balls run slightly slower and this effect increases with time.

It remains to be said that Pocket Billiards should be played only on cloth appro-priate for the game. Cloths that are used in Snooker or Carom Billiards, for example, are absolutely inappropriate for Pocket Billiards.

To adequately maintain cloth, it should be brushed every day of use. Weekly vacuuming with a small portable vacuum cleaner is also recommended. When not in use, the table should be covered.

- Pocket Openings -

Second, the player should be interested in the width and cut of the pocket open-ings. Without fooling around with a tape measure, the generosity of a table can be easily estimated using two balls. Since balls used in pocket billiards should have a diameter of 2¼” (=57,2 mm) you can judge how “generous” the table is by taking two balls side by side and placing them in the “jaws” at the pocket. If they both go through the opening, then the table is “loose, easy or generous”. If they don’t, than the pockets are considered “tight” and require more accuracy.

The pocket openings, then, vary from 4 ½” - 4,875” (114 – 124 mm) depending on the model and brand of the table. For practice purposes, there are tables that have been built with even smaller openings, just like there are tables that have been built more generously for the hobby player.

Of course, where exactly the pocket is (and where it should be) plays a major role. The farther back the edge is the more likely the ball is to “rattle” and hang up.

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1. Material

The farther up front the edge is the more likely the balls are to drop. Here too, are high tolerances as well as there where the angles of the openings are concerned.

- Cushions -

What else about the playing area is there to be considered? This, too, is a complex topic since there are many different kinds of cushions with different qualities. The quality of the cushion essentially depends on the rubber being used. To exhaustively deal with this topic would exceed the scope of this work by far. Since the present work concentrates on the playing aspect of the game the following must suffice:

Cushions are classified as hard, medium, or soft speed. This means you have to know what kind of cushion you are playing on. In playing the game, this makes a big difference and we will have to talk about that in the technical section of the book. The cushions or rather the cushion rubber tends to become slightly brittle with age so it is advisable to renew a table’s cushions after a couple of years. If the cushions become brittle or are just too old, they also become softer and softer which makes the balls come up “short” for example on bank shots. How to determine the softness of a cushion will be dealt with in the technical section.

This section on cushions should close with the advice that a player should try to find out during the warm-up phase what kind of cushions he is being confronted. As a good player you will have to be able to adjust to the cushions on any table, at least until they are standardized.

- Slate slabs -

Now a few words on the slabs of slate over which the cloth is stretched. They are also of interest where the playing of the game - particularly in executing extreme shots like the massé or the jump shot - is concerned. The main billiard slate supplier is Italy. Why, some of you may ask, does it have to be slate at all? Why not, for ex-ample, a marble slab. Well, if you take a billiard ball and let it drop onto a marble slab from a short distance, you will see that the ball will bounce numerous times before it finally comes to rest again. If you repeat the same with a slate slab you will find that ball will come to rest much quicker. Usually, it will bounce 2 – 3 times. This is due to the slates layered composition which deadens or rather absorbs such impacts more quickly. That such a quality is considered desirable in billiards needs no further explanation. Scarcely any other natural or artificial material exhibits characteristics comparable to slate, not at present at least and not for an economical reason.

Most of the time, the slate is an inch (25 mm) thick. 30 mm would be desirable but is found only rarely (cf. carom and snooker where slabs are around 40 – 50 mm thick). Because slate is a material sensitive to changes in temperature and prone to warp, a thicker plate is, desirable because it is, less susceptible in this respect. Finally, the lacking strength of slate can also be the reason why the balls don’t run true on a certain tables. The thicker the slate the easier it is to execute jump shots, for example.

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Modern Pool

The slate of a pool table is usually in three-pieces. Single-piece plates are not only impractical, they also warp easier and are almost exclusively used in the smaller coin operated tables.

- Marking of the playing area -

We are not yet trough with the playing area. It should also be marked correctly, i.e. foot spot, center spot, head line and head spot, triangle, and replacement line should be marked (see Fig.1).

Fig. 1

A left head corner pocket

B left middle pocket

C left foot corner pocket

D right head corner pocket

E right middle pocket

F right foot corner pocket

G head line

H head spot

I centre spot

J foot spot

K triangle line

L replacement line

M head field (the “kitchen”)

II. Stability & Sturdiness

After having looked at some of the game-related requirements of a table, we will now turn our attention to the second of our five criteria: stability or sturdiness. What gives a table stability and makes it sturdy? What good does it do for us? If the table’s base construction consists mainly of laminated wood, you can imagine that such a table will not last very long if it is used daily. Hence, stability is a criterion of great significance to the buyer of one or even several tables. If a cheap table has to be

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1. Material

replaced after, say, four years it was actually too expensive. Often it is the expensive tables that exhibit high stability, i.e. a slate frame of massive wood and thus also an extremely high life expectancy. You can also find tables nowadays that, in a departure from tradition, passes a partial or total metal substructure. Of course, here too it depends on your personal priorities, i.e. whether the table is meant for private use at home or if it is to be set up in a billiard hall. With the former, the so-called home tables, you can lower your demands on their stability since the strain on them will not be as high as on the commercial tables that are also used for tournaments.

Although this may be of no interest to the player, I think it is worth who mention-ing who, but I would like to supply the fans want to practise their favourite sport at home and persons only come into contact with the game indirectly (e.g. pool hall own-ers, officials, etc.) with some hopefully interesting information. It is these people, after all, who decide which material are made available to the player on their premises.

III. Design

The third of our criteria is of no consequence to the game and is purely aes-thetic. The design of a table is of course purely a matter of taste which varies from person to person. A potential buyer will choose a table that compliments the rest of his furnishings. Styles range from rustic to modern, from plain to gaudy. The various manufacturers often offer the same model with variations in design.

IV. Price

For completeness’ sake, the fourth criterion must be mentioned too, as it plays a significant role in the evaluation of a table. Good tournament tables that can also be exposed to the daily operations of commercial establishments usually run between US$ 2500.- and US$ 5000.- Tables for private use, so-called home tables, cover a much wider price range.

V. Reputation

Why is the reputation of a brand or a table important? Well, you will realize why once you find yourself in the situation of having to sell a used table. The better the reputation the higher the demand and it will be accordingly easier to find a buyer that will pay an appropriate price. Additionally, guests find it hard to voice criticism on a table whose brand is commonly associated with high quality.

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Modern Pool

The Cue

Photo F001

The difficulties facing a pool beginner begin when buying a cue. Quite by acci-dent, numerous uninformed customers have bought and still frequently buy a carom or snooker cue instead of a pool cue. That doesn’t necessarily mean they bought a bad cue – if they used it to play the game it was meant for, namely carom or snooker. These cues are not really appropriate for pool. Using one to play pool would be like playing tennis with a squash racket or vice versa. To an advanced player or a professional, the purchase of a cue poses quite different questions, e.g. what kind of characteristics it should have. But let’s start at the beginning.

A pool cue is usually two-piece, approximately 58 inches long, and its weight varies between 17 and 22 ounces, where 17 and 22 ounces can be considered extremes. Although experience has shown that players increase the weight (if they change it at all) of their cue during the course of their career, as a beginner you should take care not to buy a cue that is too heavy, 18 or 19 ounces would be recommendable in the beginning.

In the 80’s the trend was for professionals to use cues in the 19.5 to 20 ounce range. During the 90’s, professionals found that the cue ball was easier to finesse with a lighter cue. Most of today’s pros use a cue in the 18.5-19.5 range. Most amateurs make the mistake of purchasing a heavy cue thinking it will give them a more powerful

15

1. Material

stroke. Actually the opposite is true.

A good pool cue also has a 13mm tip. There are tips ranging from 12 to 13,5mm, these are rare, however.

It is also important to note that a pool cue is flexible. This means that if you hold the cue at the wrap and give it a light tap right behind the joint, you will see that it vibrates. This is supposed to happen and depending on the cue’s brand it will be more or less pronounced. This does not determine the cue’s quality, however. What is important is that it exhibits a certain degree of flexibility. The reason for this is based on the game itself. To explain this, I will have to take a closer look at another variation of billiards.

- Some differences between pool & snooker -

In contrast to pool, snooker, for example, is played on a 12-foot table (pool 9-foot). Naturally, there are different rules, balls, and cues. Because of the bigger table and the smaller holes you could easily draw the fallacious conclusion that snooker is a harder game to play than pool. The fact is that the priorities are different. The pocketing of a ball is more difficult, the position game – the positioning of the cue ball – is limited due to the low margin for error caused by the narrow holes. You will, for example, rarely see a good snooker player put much english on the ball because he will not risk failing to pocket the ball.

In pool however, where the holes are wider and the tables are smaller, pocketing the ball is the lesser problem. In pool, the control and positioning of the cue ball is of greater importance. The player will realize this truth to its full extent when playing any variation of rotation pocket billiards (9-ball, 10-ball, rotation).

Once again: the position game, as well as the pocketing of the ball is of funda-mental importance in both snooker and pool, but in snooker the primary objective is the pocketing of the ball, with the position game ranking second. In pool, the primary art to be mastered is the control of the cue ball, with the pocketing of a ball ranking second.

In other words: both aspects, the position game and pocketing of balls, are prime prerequisites in both games, snooker and pool, to have a successful performance in the spirit of the rules.

To put it simply:

Snooker: the lesser the tolerance of the hole the fewer shot techniques can be employed.

Pool: the greater the tolerance of the hole the more shot techniques are required.

In pool, you can send the cue ball on a different course simply by playing the object ball into the left or the right half of the pocket. Snooker does not offer that al-

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Modern Pool

ternative. Since the position game in snooker is usually restricted to draw shots, follow shots, stop shots and the stun shot technique, a rather stiff cue is required, which is held over an open bridge, which in snooker, represents a standard. In pool billiards, a rather more flexible cue is required, which is usually held with a closed bridge, as, in addition to the types of shots mentioned above, the pool player is frequently required to make english, kiss, throw, warp, massé, jump, and curve shots. These are shots or techniques that must be mastered in pool because the high tolerances of the holes make them possible. In snooker, these shots rarely make any sense, at all.

- A few words on more and less flexible cues -

When you cause a cue to vibrate as described above, you will notice a rather big amplitude at the top of the cue, the center of the vibration will be roughly 1 foot from the top, and the vibration will also continue on behind that spot. If you hit the cueball with a cue like that with right or left english and shoot the shot with a solid follow-through, you can imagine how the cue gives in in the direction of the english during the course of the stroke. By giving in, the contact of the cue with the cue ball is prolonged and this again increases the transfer of rotation onto the cue ball. This plus a rotational effect is exactly what is needed in pool and this is exactly why a pool cue must have this flexible quality.

To prevent misunderstandings: it should not be your goal to find the most flex-ible cue out there. That would be wrong. A cue can be too flexible or too soft. If a cue is too flexible, a lot of unwanted rotation may be put on the ball in situations (e.g. a long straight shot) that would not be desirable, because no english should be put on the ball, at all.

At the other end of the spectrum, too, cues that are too hard or stiff have a deci-sive disadvantage. If you strike the cue ball with a hard cue and a lot of english, then a greater deflection (deviation from the aiming line, see chapter on english) must be expected. When playing with soft or hard cues the different effects on rotation and deflection must be distinguished.

As a rule of thumb:

• soft cues can create a lot of (in some cases) unwanted rotation, but have less deflection when playing with english.

• it is harder to create the desired rotation with a hard cue (but they transfer less unwanted rotation, however), but a greater deflection must be taken into consideration when playing with english.

Note that this is only a rule of thumb since the hardness or softness of a cue

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1. Material

is not only determined by its flexibility but also by factors like hard or soft leather, joint (metal, plastic, or ivory), ferrule, the kind of wood it is made from and so on. There are probably more factors. For more information you might want to contact a manufacturer.

Thus, the optimum lies somewhere in the middle, and a player chooses accord-ing to his stroking habits and playing abilities. As a basic rule, a player whose stroke is not refined will benefit from a cue on the softer side of the spectrum. With such a cue, he will achieve the desired results sooner and easier. This is due to the fact that if a cue ball is struck off center by a flexible cue, the said cue gives accordingly and thereby prolongs the contact with the cue ball. The longer the contact of the cue with the cue ball, the more rotational effect can be transferred. The duration of this contact is mainly a function of the stroke, that is how far the cue was followed through. Since the beginner usually has difficulties with a straight, soft, controlled and smooth follow through, it is self-explanatory that he will have less problems with a soft cue.

A player with a good stroke should correspondingly choose a harder cue. For such a player the task becomes one of exactly controlling the amount of spin put on the cue ball, e.g. not letting a draw shot roll to far or end up short.

- The latest research -

Currently, shafts or entire cues are being offered by one cue manufacturer (by now even several) that can reduce the above mentioned phenomenon of deflection (while aiming at the cue ball to create english, see also the chapter on english) by about 25% due to their special properties while even increasing the spin by about 15%. When I once tested such a shaft I hardly had to calculate for any deflection at all while playing with english. And indeed it could not be denied that more spin could be transferred onto the cue ball. Unintentional effect was actually being swallowed by these shafts. That would have been reason enough to change shafts but it turned out that with some shots where deflection or even a curve was desired it was actually difficult to achieve. Which would not have been too tragic since this concerned only a few types of shots that occur rarely enough. However, the frequency with which I missed easy shots increased. The quality shot – which I had attained through years of practice – slowly wasted away since this quality was rarely called for anymore. I would tend to draw the personal conclusion that experienced player do not necessarily have to change equipment to increase their levels of performance. In some cases it may be advisable, in other cases not. Every player has to find that out for himself. Beginners, however, may achieve much quicker results in their performance with such a tool and maybe a new generation of players will play on an entirely new, extremely high level due to this new technology. Snooker players who want to get more into pool might also profit from such shafts or cues. In the end, the price will probably keep most beginners from buying such a shaft because it is 3-4 times as expensive as

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Modern Pool

a regular shaft. It is really hard for me to refrain myself from mentioning the brand and model but what can I do but hope for understanding.

- Manufacturing cues: mass production or art -

There is more to be said about cues, e.g. about the kinds of wood that are used in the production of cues. Shafts are almost exclusively made of Canadian maple wood. More variations are possible for the butt piece. Maple, ash, snake wood, birdseye maple, Mexican Bocote, Gabon ebony and Coco bola wood just to name a few can be used for the butt. Birdseye maple will be found most frequently. Inlays are usually made from ebony. Mother of pearl, silver, gold, gems and until recently ivory are also being used. These additions do not necessarily improve a cue, but the increased effort put into the creation of the cue and the value of the inlaid elements themselves obviously increase the price or the value of the cue. It becomes a rarity, more expensive, and more exclusive.

Manufacturing cues is not only an industry but also an art. Today, there are many manufacturers of cues. Cues are being mass produced or individually created by a master craftsman. With only a few exceptions, almost all of today’s important manufacturers are located in the USA. While in former times (beginning/middle of this century) cues were being kept on the plain side, nowadays manufacturers do not hesitate from using even the most complicated and very costly inlays, which have been made possible most of all by new computer-guided manufacturing facilities. In the early 90s, this lead to an extraordinary increase in prices on the cue market (caused also by an increase in demand), even though these modern production facilities and the reduced production time resulting from them should have led to lower prices. Cue manufacturers who have switched over to this method of production have reached higher numbers of items produced in a shorter time and other manufacturers who have started with this type of manufacture do not set their prices according to their expenses but are guided by a comparison with handmade cues of similar design. Thus, when buying a cue you should be careful to note whether a specific cue was handmade or not. The former would indeed justify a higher price. A cue that was produced by modern means using a machine is not necessarily an inferior product with regards to its playing characteristics, but you should be able to get it cheaper than a hand made cue of similar design. By now, the market has corrected itself anyway.

What exactly constitutes the art of cue manufacturing? Is it the finely crafted, detailed inlays or is the playing qualities that distinguish a great cue? There are manufacturers that focus on producing a cue that is as nice as possible. The playing qualities of these cues emerge more or less by chance. This means that the playing qualities of cues of the same brand may actually vary quite a bit. One cue may be more flexible than another, it plays harder or softer, its weight distribution may be top- or butt-heavy etc.

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1. Material

As beautifully and as finely crafted as these cues may be, a player will always have difficulties finding a cue that is suitable for him. In fact, a master cue craftsman is characterized by his ability to bring out certain playing qualities in his cues of which he is convinced are indispensable to a cue where to enable a player to shoot great pool is concerned. These cues do not have to look good (although plain cues, too, can look good), but there are a few select cue manufacturers who manage to unite both aspects. Mentioning brand names has been intentionally avoided here, but the elaboration regarding the characteristics of a cue was meant to expand and improve the selection criteria.

- The leather and the ferrule -

Some points concerning the cue are still to be discussed, e.g. the tip, the leather that is located on top of the so-called ferrule. The ferrule is usually made of different types of plastic. Ivory used to be the most common material, but in recent years man-ufacturers have more and more departed from this practice. The playing qualities of the cue are hardly influenced by this change. By changing the cue tip (which is always made from leather), however, you can influence the playing characteristics of a cue considerably. Fundamentally, only an adhesive leather can be taken into consideration for a good cue, i.e. the leather is glued to the ferrule. Cues that are equipped with a screw-on tip are not recommendable for competitive pool. A two component glue is best used for glueing on the tip. First, the old tip is removed, then the ferrule and the new tip are sanded down so that they become free of grease, smooth and level. For the ferrule, there is a special device for this task. Then the glue is applied, the tip is centered and is left to dry for several hours under pressure with another special appliance. Instant glue will certainly speed up this process, but it tends to soak the leather and make it a lot harder than it actually is. Instant glue can be used well with the so-called layered-leather tips (several layers of leather pressed together to form one tip) that have been available since the middle of the 90s since the glue tends to soak only the first layer, which never enters into play anyway.

But how does the tip influence play? There are cue tips of different brands and correspondingly varying qualities. The pool player usually distinguishes between hard, soft, and medium cue tips. This is a rough guideline at best as you can end up with a very hard tip even when using a brand that is known for softness and vice versa. With regards to the playability, you can somewhat balance the hardness resulting from an inflexible shaft with a soft tip (not in actual effect but with regards to the feeling of the shot) and vice versa.

- Care & Maintenance -

To extend your enjoyment of your precious cue, you must take good care of it. Maintenance is usually restricted to the shaft as the butt is practically not exposed

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Modern Pool

to any wear. Occasionally, you give it a new wrap or even a refinishing, which may include a renewal of the varnish amongst other things. In the maintenance of the shaft, which also includes the trimming of the tip, the following tools and aids are used: : powder, sand track, sandpaper, cue tip former, cue-tip roughener, detergents, etc.

Sandpaper with extremely fine grain size (800 and upwards) serves to keep the shaft free of grease so that the clean surface easily glides through the hand. The disadvantage of this procedure is that the continuous sanding will of course slowly wear away the shaft. This does not only mean that you have to buy a new shaft about every two years, but also that the playing characteristics of the cue change slightly but continuously. The advantage of this method is its comfortable handling. A possible alternative would be to use powder or rather talc. Talc is available that is supposedly produced especially for billiards players and is suited for their needs. That is what the manufacturers claim, at least, and so