Johnny Henson, Professor Pool
Over the years cue sticks have evolved a lot. In 1978 I was playing with house sticks in the local pool hall in Big Spring, Texas, when the owner encouraged me to order a cue from a friend of his in Colorado Springs, Colo. His name was Bill Stroud, the owner of Joss Cues West. I gave $125 for the cue and $15 dollars for the case. It was a 21.5 oz. cue stick. I chose that weight because Steve Mizerak played with that cue weight. I loved playing with that cue and won over 300 tournaments with it.
I would encourage every player to buy their own cue stick. Cues like McDermott, Viking, Predator, and many other brands are fairly inexpensive. For as little as $150 to $500 you can buy a pretty nice cue stick. You can consider a Canadian Maple (wood) shaft or even a low deflection carbon shaft. I feel the low deflection cue could help most players play better. The weight that’s best for most players is 19 to 20 oz. An important thing is to get a cue that has a quality cue tip, and maintain and scuff that tip while playing. I recommend re-tipping your cue every year as the tip dries out and gets hard.
I feel that a player should play every game, both in practice and when competing, with the same cue. Every cue plays a little different and you need to have a feel for your cue stick and cue tip. You will play much better and much more consistently with a cue that you play with all the time. If you’re trying to choose a cue stick I recommend that you go to a billiard pro shop and look at many different cues and choose the one that feels and looks best to you.
Contact me or my partner and fellow PBIA and ACS instructor, Steve Farmer, for more information about our classes and mentorship programs. Email us at shootyourbestpool@gmail.com or call 623-377-0042. Visit our website at BilliardUniversity.com.