It's pretty easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer variety of billiard cues out there.
With billiard cues coming in a massive variety of lengths, tips, shafts, and grips, the average home billiards player is often at a loss at what they can do to ensure they are getting the best cue for their play level.
The good news is that there are few basic tips that anyone can follow to ensure that that they get a stellar billiards cue when they shop online.
Hard Rock Maple Shafts Probably the most important part of any pool cue is the shaft.
This is where most of the billiard cue stick's power comes from, and this is what determines how large a "sweet spot" you will have when you strike a pool ball.
The best shafts are made of "Grade A" hard rock maple.
While a simple, solid shaft will help players at all levels, billiard players who are looking for something a bit more advanced should look into spliced shafts.
These are shafts that have been split into four, six, or even eight even pieces are are formed together.
Irish Linen Grips A solid grip is essential to good control on a billiards cue.
If your hand slips at all when your making a shot, that is a sure fire way to miscue.
While there are some players who like to have pool cue that has no grip at all, this won't benefit most players.
You instead want a material that can really give your hand a way to comfortably an firmly guide the cue stick as you strike the ball.
That's why one of the best and most popular materials is Irish Linen.
Another popular material, that can also give you a good grip if it is treated right, is leather.
It will also give your billiard cue a distinctive look.
Rubber Bumpers This may seem like a minor point, but you should generally avoid getting a pool cue that doesn't have a rubber bumper.
Most billiard cue racks work by standing up the cue from the butt.
Over time, if you don't have something to protect the pool cue butt, it can wear away or even crack.
It's a simple addition to a pool cue, but having it can make your cue stick last a lot longer.
"Le Pro" or "Moori" Tips You might not think that the leather tips of pool cues are that important, but they are important for both control and power.
The two most popular and best are probably "Le Pro" and "Moori.
" If your billiards cue comes with one of these, you are probably dealing with a nice pool cue.
Le Pro tips are certainly found on almost more high quality cues than any other, and are considered an industry standard.
Moori tips are layered, and are a top choice for pros.
While these tips are certainly one of the more expensive that you can get, they are certainly worth it for the power and control you enjoy with them.