This time I am going to write something about choosing the snooker cue case for your ronnie o sullivan snooker cue. By now you probably have been out there looking for that cue of your dreams. Hopefully you have been implementing my advice here and looking also from the internet. You should have a good opinion on your gamestyle before you start looking for a cue. I made some bad decisions when I started playing. It was a little over twenty years ago when I watched the snooker world championship the first time. That really had me. I could not spend a day without something related to snooker or even snooker pool cue cases. My parents got worried that I would stay behind in school, since I was only 14 years old then. I had a few friends who I took to the local snooker hall and that is where it started.
We had all been playing pool every now and then but when we learned the snooker rules and when I got hooked because of the WCT we never played pool again. Two of my friends are playing professional snooker today. And of course me. Two other friends are just enjoying snooker as a hobby. Either way they are still obsessed about the game. That is what happens to everyone I have seen. It's like golf, once you are bitten by the bug you can't think of anything else. Snooker cue cases are like golf bags that you always have in your car so you can go and play a round anytime. And when you retire from your dayjob you can aways be found at the local hall. Well that is what happened to me, but snooker turned in to my dayjob. That is what I do every day and every night. My wife is killing me for that but she does know that me playing is what brings home the bacon. Her plastic surgery and her porche have all been bought with my playing and she does not mind that!
Snooker Cue Cases
The first time I bought my own cue was about three months after I started playing. I got myself a crappy cue which cost about $20. That was the worst move I ever made since it was worse than the cues at the hall. It screwed up my game and I might aswell be playing with a broomstick. The tip of that cue was the size of my thumb and made of plastic. Like I said in posts before the snooker cue tip porpably the most important thing in the cue. And you have to buy one that has one made of leather. Don't accept a plastic tip even for a cue that you are carrying around in your cue case all the time just to fill the void space.
When you are looking for cue cases the first thing you should think about is your cue. As written before you have a lot of different cues to choose from. One piece, two piece and three piece. The one piece snooker cue is not something that you like to be carrying around too much. It does fit quite nicely in the back of your car but it can easily bend or get some kind of dents in it. So never do that. If you have a one piece cue, keep it at home or at the hall at a locker. The two piece cues are the most popular cues and most of the cue cases are made for two piece handmade snooker cues. You probably have been looking for one at the local shop already and are eager to make a buying decision. Buy this or buy that? You must be confused as the shopkeeper wants to sell you the more expensive because it's "better", but it does look exactly like the one that is cheaper. You have to learn to make your own decisions since most of the shopkeepers I know out there are just to there to make money. They can really cheat you a lot.
Designer Snooker Cue Cases
Designer snooker cue cases are the most recent thing in snooker. The guys at the hall are getting really fancy about their cases and in my opinion it is just getting a bit ridiculous. The colors and the leather is starting to look a bit fairy to me. I can easily understand a case made out of leather, but if it alligator or kenguru it is over my head. I mean do you really have to kill a endangered animal to store your cues in? I don't think so. I think Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana are the most well known designers that I have seen cases from
Leather Cue Cases
Leather is the most popular material for snooker cue cases right after the traditional wooden cases. When looking for a case you should be looking for something that fits your eye. As I stated before you really should not be looking for a too expensive designer case because you will only be wasting your money. What you want as your first case is just something that will hold on as long as your cue, and preferrably even longer. So you need to be looking for quality insted of appearance. When choosing a long lasting case I advice you to stay away from the leather cases since they have a habit of stretching and tearing over the years.
Wooden Cue Cases
Whole wooden snooker cue cases are the thing you are looking for. They do sometimes cost a little more that the cheapest plastic modelst but they do hold on as long as you are willing to hold on to them. There are a lot of models that can hold any kinds of cues and it is actually very easy to find a wooden case for any cue. When buying you should look at the seams of the inside covering. That makes sense as you would probably do that with anything that you buy: First check it out if it is in a good shape. There is always the refund policy and usually tou are allowed to bring it back to the shop if the quality is poor. But that is just extra trouble and they don't refund you the time spent driving around. That is actually why I prefere the internet shops. They are normally sent to you directly from the warehouse, so no-one has been nibbling with your equipment in the shop. They come in original packaging and if there is anything wrong you can just mail them back and the seller has to pay all the expenses. This may vary between different sellers though. A decent wooden cue case sells anywhere from 30$ to 80$. The best models once again are way beond that. Buy that if you want to.
Snooker cue cases come in all kinds of colors and shapes. Some of the models have ridiculous prints on them and I am not sure I would be comfortable carrying a flag around me. Just like in everything else you should do what pleases you. You should also keep an eye out for the hinges of the case. In some models they have used really inexpensive hinges because all the people are looking for in snooker cue cases are the colors and the materials. The hinges are the one part after the lock that keeps your case in one piece. It does not matter how high quality the materials used to make the box are, if the hinges break off you need to get new ones. I had some models where I had to replace the hinges in a few weeks after buying the snooker cue case. This is quite discomforting since the hinges can cost as much as a new case. If you bought a cheap case in the first place I mean. Luckily the online snooker shops sell hinges aswell, and you don't need to be a carpenter to be able to replace them. Leveling a snooker table is a different thing but replacing the hinges to your case is a walk in the park.
The soft cases I have seen around are not that good and in my opinion you should not carry your cues in a soft case. It endangeres the cue as it can easily be bent. If you have a four piece cue it is not that easily bent so maybe you could carry it around in a soft snooker cue case but in my opinion why risk it. A hard or semi-hard case is as easy to carry around and costs just a fraction more. By the way I would not use a pool cue case to carry my snooker cue extensions around. There are some quality brands such as Peradon which makes a decent quality of cases and I would definitely consider them as one of the options. Some aluminium cases and have also arrived the markets and just like the carbon it is a good way to go because of its durability. 3/4 jointed cue cases are the most common so if you have a three or four piece cue you should have no problem in finding a case for your needs.
Snooker games are the best there are and the equipment should always be the best there is. Don't go out there and get just something and waste your money. That way you could borrow the eqauipment and never really learn how to benefit from them. Shooting some snooker pool might be just a hobby for you but for me I can't really get enough from it and as I have derived it to a profession, I am not getting enough of it. I have been asked quite a lot to start snooker coaching but for now I am just sticking with playing and writing this blog. Maybe in a few years who knows. In my opinion you should think about getting a used snooker table to play with at home so you don't have to spend so much time outside the house. It is getting frustrating with me and my wife since I do have a table of my own, but am so accustomed to playing at the hall that I can't consentrate if there is no audience. There is so much about snooker cue cases that I could write about but for now this will do.
What Kind of Snooker Cues Are There
As I wrote on the previous post there are all kinds of different snooker cues out there and you basically need to tack through the ones that don't suite you or just are of poor quality. I will help you in spotting out the ones that lack the quality or just don't have a good vibe to them. But first let me recap the basics on choosing your snooker cue.
Like stated on the post that I wrote for the beginner snookerists Choosing Your First Snooker Cue there are a lot of factors that you need to keep in mind when surfing the web for a new snooker cue. This one is going to be yours and you need to spend some money on it. Don't just throw away the cash and make a stupid decision. I am here to help you choose the right cue for you.
Firstly you should write down the measurements that you learned on the previous post. I didn't tell you exactly how you can be sure wether you need to have a lighter or a heavier cue, or wether you should do like I have done and gotten a slightly longer cue for my height, or go with a shorter one. Well the basic rules for situations like this is the basic rule that I stated for choosing your cue. You must learn your game. When you know all the things that you do around the table you will know what to expect from your cue. If you have to be reaching for the spider-rest all the time, you might want to concider getting a slightly longer cue. If you feel that you are always backing down from the table or holding half way through your cue you might want to like a shorter cue. Like I said, don't go with the feeling that you have at the moment of puchase. That is when you usually make the wrong decisions. Be very precise of what you are looking fore, write it down and search it. You won't be disappointed that is guaranteed.
Snooker Cue Types
When it comes to choosing your very first cue there are other factors related than just taking one that is the correct lenght and weight. There are two piece and three piece models and they come made from different types of wood or even synthetic materials. These are all preferences and tend to start to like a different material from time to time and this is all natural. Mostly the material affects they way that the cue feels to your hand. If it is made from a vert soft wood like softwood which is actually originating from trees like pine and fir, you will feel the cue to be very soft. This won't make much of a difference in the manner that the cue plays but it will make a difference in it's durability. Since pine and fir are soft they will play quite nicely and like I said there is not much of a difference to the feel of the impact, there is a slight, but usually you can not feel it if you aren't experienced or have extremely soft hand like I do.
The softer woods tend to have some problems when it comes to durability. I don't mean that you can break a snooker cue by just playing it, this should not be possible, but over time the humidity and air can get to the wood even through the finish. This will make the cue bend a little, and if you see that your cue is curved like a bow then you should definitely go and get yourself a new one. A curved snooker cue will ruin your game. If not immediately then in the long run. I have seen so many players who waited out on getting a new snooker cue to replace their curverd cues and they developed so bad errors in their techniques that they basically could never reach the same level again.
The medium hard woods like mahogany are the ones that are usually used at the snookerhalls. This is where everything is medium. The lenght, weight and the material are very mediocre because the owners don't usually want to spend a fortune on the accesories since the beginners don't know the difference, and all the professionals and the advanced players have their own equipment. A medium wood snooker cue is just that. Medium.
The hard wood snooker cues are usually the ones that are durable and have a tigh feeling. They are usually made from trees like the oaks, beech, maples and cherry. I myself have had a few of each one of these and I definitely prefer a harder wood cue. Why is that? Well I am a power player by heart like I stated before. I also have an unnaturally soft touch to my game and that is why I use a heavier cue. With this combination of a harder wood and a heavier cue the last thing that I want with my current playing is to have a soft cue. That would lose me all the control that I have during the impact with the ball, because the soft wood in the cue would dull out any feeling that I could get from the tip. For a lighter cue the softer wood could be a good choice since there is less mass to absorb the impact. But as I need a heavier snooker cue because of my playing style I need to go with the harder woods.
Now after the wooden cues had been around for a long time somebody had the idea of making a snooker cue out of different materials. This was not all bad but like in everything synthetic you tend to lose the natural touch to the game. I will not go in to the carbon fiber cues that they make nowdays because I simply don't have too much experience on those. I have tested them but they never really convinced me. But I am not against progression and if you think that they are what you should buy then you should go that way.
What I will have to write a few sentences about is those hybrid cues. They really might have a very promising future. There are cues that have a graphite shell over a wooden interior. This might be a good idea for someone looking for a soft wood snooker cue but is troubled with the idea that it is not as durable as the harder cues. The graphite shell gives the cue durability but most importantly it keeps it firm. With a lighter wood on the inside you can still have a feel on the impact but also keep your hits together. The hybrid cues are evolving very fast right now and I don't think that it would be a bad decision to by a hybrid for your first own cue.
Hybrids have what you call warp resistance. That makes the cue less likely to bend over time. Now besides theones which have the graphite on the outside, there are also cues that have graphite on the inside and wood on the outside. That way you can get the beatiful looks of the good quality woods and still have the durability and warp resistance of the graphite shaft going through the cue.
One, Two, or Three Piece Snooker Cue
Besides just choosing the correct weight, lenght and material there is also the piece thing to consider. Now no-one told that choosing a perfect snooker cue for you would be easy and there are many factors involved. Having the right amount of pieces is one of them. First lets look at some of the basics involved in the two piece cues.
Most of the cues that are out there are made of two pieces. These are the ones that you usually see that can be quicly assembled and deassebled and put away in their snooker cue cases. There are many types of locking mechanisms for the two pieces of the cue to get connected and some of them are the so called quick-lock and the screw. Personally I prefere the traditional screwable cues because it gives you the impression of a much sturdier shaft. The two piece is the traditional that is for sure but what are the advantages and disadvantages. Well nothing much. Two piece is what you shoud go with in my opinion but there is not a single thing that I could say that would be credible and would somehow prove that it is the better choice. This is a matter of preference as well.
The three piece snooker cues are a bit newer than the two piece. At first there was the one piece, then the two piece and now the three piece. Those one piece cues you still see at the snooker halls because they are the ones that are least expensive out of the three, and they are not needed to be carried around so they do not need to fit in a trunk or a cue case. Three piece cues are not evenly divided in to three pieces. The cue has a long part which is about two thirds of the entire shaft leght. So it is actually the shaft, tip and the butt. These cues are meant for players who are playing both snooker and pool, and want to easily carry around equipment for both and don't want to buy two different cues. As it turns out these players have different tips for their cues. Ones that are smaller and more accurate to be used when playing snooker, and ones that are larger and shorter for playing pool. I really can not recommend this for anyone since the three piece cues are usually more expencive than buying two different cues, and tend to be of lower quality.
How Much do Snooker Cues cost
As from anything from golf clubs to tennis raquettes the price range varies a lot. The manufactures want to make their products available for everyon and that is why they produce these low budget models and then they have their flagship products to keep up the company image. The low budget line is what it sounds like. It is low budget. If you have read this far from the beginning and did not just jump all the way down you should have noticed that there are a lot of factors in choosing your snooker cue correctly. And I do take this very seriously. If you do buy a 20$ snooker cue then you are reading the wrong pages and should be searching the internet for childerns toys.
The price range on snooker cues goes all the way up to several thousands of dollars. That is a lot but I happen to own a few of those and you can really feel the quality. As you play for money and your income is related to how well you play, you might want to invest a little to your equipment. But if you are out there to just beat the life out of your friends at snooker, then you should consider keeping the price around 200$. Two hundred dollars is basically what you need to use to get very good snooker cue. The ones that come cheaper are not that good, but they still beat the ones that cost less. And if you go above 200$ the quality does not improve like the price does. That is why the best ones cost around 2000-3000$ and a regular pub player would not know the difference to the 200$ models.
The last thing to keep in mind when buying a snooker cue is that if you did buy one that shows up to be the wrong kind for you, don't keep playing with it. You need to sell it and get a new one as fast as possible. Playing with the wrong snooker cue can ruin your game for life.
Like stated on the post that I wrote for the beginner snookerists Choosing Your First Snooker Cue there are a lot of factors that you need to keep in mind when surfing the web for a new snooker cue. This one is going to be yours and you need to spend some money on it. Don't just throw away the cash and make a stupid decision. I am here to help you choose the right cue for you.
Firstly you should write down the measurements that you learned on the previous post. I didn't tell you exactly how you can be sure wether you need to have a lighter or a heavier cue, or wether you should do like I have done and gotten a slightly longer cue for my height, or go with a shorter one. Well the basic rules for situations like this is the basic rule that I stated for choosing your cue. You must learn your game. When you know all the things that you do around the table you will know what to expect from your cue. If you have to be reaching for the spider-rest all the time, you might want to concider getting a slightly longer cue. If you feel that you are always backing down from the table or holding half way through your cue you might want to like a shorter cue. Like I said, don't go with the feeling that you have at the moment of puchase. That is when you usually make the wrong decisions. Be very precise of what you are looking fore, write it down and search it. You won't be disappointed that is guaranteed.
Snooker Cue Types
When it comes to choosing your very first cue there are other factors related than just taking one that is the correct lenght and weight. There are two piece and three piece models and they come made from different types of wood or even synthetic materials. These are all preferences and tend to start to like a different material from time to time and this is all natural. Mostly the material affects they way that the cue feels to your hand. If it is made from a vert soft wood like softwood which is actually originating from trees like pine and fir, you will feel the cue to be very soft. This won't make much of a difference in the manner that the cue plays but it will make a difference in it's durability. Since pine and fir are soft they will play quite nicely and like I said there is not much of a difference to the feel of the impact, there is a slight, but usually you can not feel it if you aren't experienced or have extremely soft hand like I do.
The softer woods tend to have some problems when it comes to durability. I don't mean that you can break a snooker cue by just playing it, this should not be possible, but over time the humidity and air can get to the wood even through the finish. This will make the cue bend a little, and if you see that your cue is curved like a bow then you should definitely go and get yourself a new one. A curved snooker cue will ruin your game. If not immediately then in the long run. I have seen so many players who waited out on getting a new snooker cue to replace their curverd cues and they developed so bad errors in their techniques that they basically could never reach the same level again.
The medium hard woods like mahogany are the ones that are usually used at the snookerhalls. This is where everything is medium. The lenght, weight and the material are very mediocre because the owners don't usually want to spend a fortune on the accesories since the beginners don't know the difference, and all the professionals and the advanced players have their own equipment. A medium wood snooker cue is just that. Medium.
The hard wood snooker cues are usually the ones that are durable and have a tigh feeling. They are usually made from trees like the oaks, beech, maples and cherry. I myself have had a few of each one of these and I definitely prefer a harder wood cue. Why is that? Well I am a power player by heart like I stated before. I also have an unnaturally soft touch to my game and that is why I use a heavier cue. With this combination of a harder wood and a heavier cue the last thing that I want with my current playing is to have a soft cue. That would lose me all the control that I have during the impact with the ball, because the soft wood in the cue would dull out any feeling that I could get from the tip. For a lighter cue the softer wood could be a good choice since there is less mass to absorb the impact. But as I need a heavier snooker cue because of my playing style I need to go with the harder woods.
Now after the wooden cues had been around for a long time somebody had the idea of making a snooker cue out of different materials. This was not all bad but like in everything synthetic you tend to lose the natural touch to the game. I will not go in to the carbon fiber cues that they make nowdays because I simply don't have too much experience on those. I have tested them but they never really convinced me. But I am not against progression and if you think that they are what you should buy then you should go that way.
What I will have to write a few sentences about is those hybrid cues. They really might have a very promising future. There are cues that have a graphite shell over a wooden interior. This might be a good idea for someone looking for a soft wood snooker cue but is troubled with the idea that it is not as durable as the harder cues. The graphite shell gives the cue durability but most importantly it keeps it firm. With a lighter wood on the inside you can still have a feel on the impact but also keep your hits together. The hybrid cues are evolving very fast right now and I don't think that it would be a bad decision to by a hybrid for your first own cue.
Hybrids have what you call warp resistance. That makes the cue less likely to bend over time. Now besides theones which have the graphite on the outside, there are also cues that have graphite on the inside and wood on the outside. That way you can get the beatiful looks of the good quality woods and still have the durability and warp resistance of the graphite shaft going through the cue.
One, Two, or Three Piece Snooker Cue
Besides just choosing the correct weight, lenght and material there is also the piece thing to consider. Now no-one told that choosing a perfect snooker cue for you would be easy and there are many factors involved. Having the right amount of pieces is one of them. First lets look at some of the basics involved in the two piece cues.
Most of the cues that are out there are made of two pieces. These are the ones that you usually see that can be quicly assembled and deassebled and put away in their snooker cue cases. There are many types of locking mechanisms for the two pieces of the cue to get connected and some of them are the so called quick-lock and the screw. Personally I prefere the traditional screwable cues because it gives you the impression of a much sturdier shaft. The two piece is the traditional that is for sure but what are the advantages and disadvantages. Well nothing much. Two piece is what you shoud go with in my opinion but there is not a single thing that I could say that would be credible and would somehow prove that it is the better choice. This is a matter of preference as well.
The three piece snooker cues are a bit newer than the two piece. At first there was the one piece, then the two piece and now the three piece. Those one piece cues you still see at the snooker halls because they are the ones that are least expensive out of the three, and they are not needed to be carried around so they do not need to fit in a trunk or a cue case. Three piece cues are not evenly divided in to three pieces. The cue has a long part which is about two thirds of the entire shaft leght. So it is actually the shaft, tip and the butt. These cues are meant for players who are playing both snooker and pool, and want to easily carry around equipment for both and don't want to buy two different cues. As it turns out these players have different tips for their cues. Ones that are smaller and more accurate to be used when playing snooker, and ones that are larger and shorter for playing pool. I really can not recommend this for anyone since the three piece cues are usually more expencive than buying two different cues, and tend to be of lower quality.
How Much do Snooker Cues cost
As from anything from golf clubs to tennis raquettes the price range varies a lot. The manufactures want to make their products available for everyon and that is why they produce these low budget models and then they have their flagship products to keep up the company image. The low budget line is what it sounds like. It is low budget. If you have read this far from the beginning and did not just jump all the way down you should have noticed that there are a lot of factors in choosing your snooker cue correctly. And I do take this very seriously. If you do buy a 20$ snooker cue then you are reading the wrong pages and should be searching the internet for childerns toys.
The price range on snooker cues goes all the way up to several thousands of dollars. That is a lot but I happen to own a few of those and you can really feel the quality. As you play for money and your income is related to how well you play, you might want to invest a little to your equipment. But if you are out there to just beat the life out of your friends at snooker, then you should consider keeping the price around 200$. Two hundred dollars is basically what you need to use to get very good snooker cue. The ones that come cheaper are not that good, but they still beat the ones that cost less. And if you go above 200$ the quality does not improve like the price does. That is why the best ones cost around 2000-3000$ and a regular pub player would not know the difference to the 200$ models.
The last thing to keep in mind when buying a snooker cue is that if you did buy one that shows up to be the wrong kind for you, don't keep playing with it. You need to sell it and get a new one as fast as possible. Playing with the wrong snooker cue can ruin your game for life.
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