Snooker

[KieranBolton]

Okay lads, was on holiday recently and played snooker on the large snooker table because i was bored with a friend, anyway, the man that was running the bar, also runs the snooker club and said i was quite the shot......

Anyway its all gone to my head lol, and now ive enrolled at the local snooker club, and now i need a que, however, im not very 'into' this as you can probely tell and wondered if anyone knew of any good sites to buy que's from? My second game is tomorrow night, im not expecting anything by then, just really borrowing the clubs que untill i get sorted

So anyone else have que's and play snooker that could give me advice?

Kieran

[henzy190]

I'm pretty good at pool

Having your own que really really helps, massive difference over club ques etc.

I find it useful to have some coarse sandpaper (P80 and P40) for whenever the tip needs shaping. New ques come without a shaped tip, and every now and then they need a little touch up. Also, before you chalk up before you play your first game of the day, it helps to sand the tip a little bit to keep the chalk on the tip.

I also run a bit of P400 along the top half of my que every now and again to remove grease etc. picked up while playing, makes the que glide a lot better. A cloth is also a good idea to wipe the que down with. All helps

At least after doing the above you can't blame your equipment!!!

I reckon it'd be a good idea to buy a que in person at a sports shop, then you can have a feel of what you like and see how each que is weighted. They are all slightly different, and as an example I like a long que that has a lot of punch (twss)

You'll probably want a longer que for snooker too.

And when breaking use a club que, stops the tips from getting wrecked

Hope it helps

P.S. Practice makes perfect - I've played pool since the age of 7!

Edited January 5, 2011 by henzy190

[dazj10]

if you are going to get serious into snooker mate , it will probably take you a while to find a cue that suits you,( weight , length, balance, tip size, 1 or 2 piece and so on) my first good quality cue was a powerglide fusion but it cost me about £140.. my last cue and the one a rarely use anymore due to not playin matches, i had hand made by the cue maker tony wilshaw cues in stoke-on-trent and cost me alot due to the use of solid snake wood and rosewood butt, but its perfectly balanced for me. he is very good cue maker but there is really no need to spend a fortune, its just the fact that i wanted a handmade cue,,( it doesnt make me play any better)

as a general everyday cue i find that powerglide are a very good manufacturer

tonys website http://twcues.co.uk/

Edited January 5, 2011 by dazj10

[Captain_Caveman]

It all depends on how much you want to pay.

My John Parris cue was stolen (from the snooker club i must add!) and i have reverted back to my very first cue i bought from JJB years ago. The JP was a handmade jobby, 1pc 58" with a 30.5mm butt, 18.5 oz with a 9mm tip. The difference between one of them and a run of the mill sports shop cue is unbeleivable.

I'd say, rather than spending anywhere from £30-£80 on a cue from a sports shop, use the club cues. Try and find a decent, true one by rolling it on the table to see if it 'wobbles' as it rolls, see if it has a decent tip etc etc. Once you know that you like the game (you may find that you get bored very easily, it can be a slow game) and save up a bit and buy a nice handmade cue. Doesn't have to be brand new, my JP cue was new and cost me £310 but they can be bought 2nd hand for £200 (they hold their value) but you can get some VERY nice cues indeed 2nd hand. Just take a look on some of the snooker forums.

As for sanding your tip to help the chalk stick, never heard that. We use a little plastic doofer with loads of pins on, don't use it very often, maybe every 4-6 weeks. Cues get re-tipped around 6 months or so.

Decent cues to look at are mastercue (not to be mistaken for mastercraft cues), cuecraft, john parris. On saying that, Riley make some very nice cues. My 'snooker buddy' (very best of friends for 15 years, we've been playing snooker weekly for 7!) uses a Riley cue, it's a John Higgins rep iirc.

Oh and if you do end up getting your own cue, make sure it has the option for you to screw in a mini butt or an extension. You WILL use a small (6-8") extension atleast 1 or 2 times a frame. If you don't, you will find yourself having to use the really long cue and rest (or as me and my mate call them, the wobblers because they wobble everywhere! lol)

One thing to remember is, form is far more important than a cue. If your form is off then event he most expensive cue in the world won't make you play any better. Also, try and stick to the same cue, nothing worse than swapping between cues every week as they will never be the same.

Edited January 5, 2011 by Captain_Caveman

[dazj10]

stolen john parris.............ouch, bet that hurt mate, thieving swines, (take it ya never got it back)

but agree with some of the riley cues, my son has an osullivan replica and it is a cracking cue

i sometimes sand my tip very lightly to help with grip for the chalk but i use a soft chalk anyway (triangle green) which helps it to stick to the tip,

but i also use a cuepik to airate the tip

Edited January 5, 2011 by dazj10

[badger906]

personally id use a pool cue to start with the larger head makes spin easier to learn, but you'll struggle to do long reach shots with a rest as the cue is shorter. but its what i started out with and im sure it helped

[Captain_Caveman]

I was absolutely fuming when my JP cue got stolen, we were even at the club playing snooker. We have our own mini 'mid-session' intervals, a smoke every 3 frames religously! We rack up, stick our cues on the table so people know we are playing and not to disturb the balls/table. Came back to find my cue had gone walkies. It's either some pikey ******* had swiped it knowing it was a nice cue OR, as it was a 1pc cue, someone thought it was a club cue and thought no one was playing so used it. I had a look at everyones cue in the club, on all the racks and couldn't find it. We are fairly well known at the club (regulars!) and me and the manager stood at the door for bloody ages checking everyone that left, to say the least i wasn't happy! As a good will gesture, the manager of the club did give me and my mate a years free memebership and give us a few sessions for nothing (we regularly rack up a £50 bill!)

I've never tried playing snooker with a pool cue but i'd imagine you'd find it difficult to get enough purchase on the ball to generate enough spin. Also taking into account the larger tip, not sure you'll be able to get low enough on the cue ball to be able to screw back a lot if you want to (handy if you're screwing into the pack or whatnot)

I learnt one hell of a lot from watching snooker on the telly. The masters is starting soon, just watch them and see how they play. They try and make it a spectator sport and really do show you close ups of how they are striking the cue ball etc.

If you've only just started playing snooker, i'd just concentrate on potting balls to start with, then you can start thinking about position. If you are consistantly potting, start thinking about the next ball. Once you are capable of putting the cue ball where you want it and potting a colour from it, start thinking a few balls ahead.

What i mean is, say you have a red into the yellow pocket and a red available into the middle right (from the baulk end). You can play a bit of top and play off two cushions and come round for the brown, stun the brown in the yellow pocket which should in theory leave you on the middle into the centre, from that it should be a simple natural angle shot to go down for the black (or pink if it's available and the black isn't) and hopefully there will be some more reds available down that end.

Don't just go for a red if you know you can't get on a colour from it, the point isn't worth it and you could potentially leave your mate on for a decent break. You need to practise how to play safe, judging how much weight to put into the cue ball and knowing where it will end up, trying to contemplate how your mate will play from it and if he may leave you a few balls on. If you can afford to, go to the club on your own for an hour or two a few times a week and just practise.

Snooker is a very complicated game/sport and practise and patience is the key. Practise doesn't make perfect, nobody is perfect but practise will certainly make you better. Also, try not to get to frustrated if you aren't sinking any balls or stringing a few together, just practise more until you can A good practise is the line-up, youtube it to see how it's done.

Anyhow, black ops is calling so i'll be back on later if you have any more ques! (no pun intended )

Edited January 5, 2011 by Captain_Caveman

[KieranBolton]

Right lads, got a Que, dont know how good it is, or wether i got a bargin, ill let you pick at it

QUE

First game at the club tonight, got 3 hours playing time booked

Kieran

[JamesChatz]

Cue* Que is the Spanish word for "what"

[keenan]

thats a pool cue mate should do to get you going

and its cue not que

[dazj10]

Right lads, got a Que, dont know how good it is, or wether i got a bargin, ill let you pick at it

QUE

First game at the club tonight, got 3 hours playing time booked

Kieran

that cue is a start mate pool cues have larger tips though and would be to big for me to play with,, but i would suggest playing with it for a few weeks then when you can , change the cue and go for a nice 8mm tip and see the difference in the amount of spin you can get on the ball, remember when applying spin, not to jab at the ball but try to visualize putting the cue through the cue ball

enjoy your game though mate and be patient some times you will score low amounts but dont be put off, stick with it and then when you are the masters champion just remember us

[chappo]

if you get a 147 with the new cue then keep it, lol

i play most fridays not very good highest break is 34 lol

[KieranBolton]

Right lads report from tonight

First frame i spent getting another feel of the table, how hard to hit the ball in certain area's ect, Really just smashing balls around a table, untill i could get a decent shot on....

Anyway, dads played before (used to play with his mates when he was around 18-24) Carnt remeber scores but anyhoo i had to get the pink and black to win, dad was same, anyway, i was one point off as i hit the pink but missed the black

Second frame was alittle shakey at the start, getting my first break in EVER, took some going but i eventually played it safe with the old trick i found on the internet (hit either one of the 3 middle balls and return the cue ball to the top of the table) Dad had told me that the further away the cue ball the less chance of the opponent hitting the target from long range (if this makes sence)

Anyway, about 10 minutes into the game, put the red into the bottom left pocket leaving the cue ball to come over to the right cussion/pocket. blue was on the spot and BANG cracked it into the top left pocket, which left me a red to play on the top right, however this didnt go to plan, ( so far my biggest break ) - Pittyfull i know

About 15 minutes or so later i had another good shot this was to be my BEST break ever. (Red, Black, Red, Pink.) - 15 Hit the Red into the top left pocket, Then came back for the black into the bottom right pocket (diagonally) this left me another red on the right bottom cussion, so rolled that down into the bottom right (same place as black)

Then the pink was lined up onto the bottom left, by this point i guy from another table needed a drink and he was waiting to go past, very nervious of people watching and things i smashed this pink and i dont know how the bloody hell it happend but it spun around the pocket and bang it dropped this was then followed by a 'nice shot son' from the guy... Pritty impressed

Third frame was really bad Beaten by 23 Quite a few fouls but ill go on and learn from my mistakes

And that was that, all in 2 hours

Using club cue's wasnt too bad not as bad as playing pool and using a pool que more bent than a nine bob note lol

Pritty impressed with how the night went

Looks like me and dads going to make this a regular night

Any tips (no pun intended mind) Are greatly appreciated

Kieran

[totlxtc]

Would anyone be interested in 2 old John Parris cues I have. I have had to stop playing due to back issues. Can put them up in for sale if people here would be interested?

Edited May 5, 2023 by totlxtc