Difference Between Snooker Cue and Billiard Cue

10/22/2009 4:24:13 PM

Difference Between Snooker Cue and Billiard Cue

Few questions on this. Found an expert video on the matter. It's about how to hold a snooker cue, but the dude get into the exact differences. Most has to do with design and shape.

Also:

Snooker cues are longer because snooker tables are bigger.
Snooker cues have a smaller tip for more precision for spins etc.
Snooker cues are longer than billiard cues
The tips are also rounded on a snooker cue more than a billiard cue. Again, precision is the reason.
A snooker cue is typically longer than a billiards cue. Their shafts are much thinner and are usually one piece cues. The reason for the longer length and smaller shaft is two fold. Snooker tables are considerably larger than a conventional pool table and snooker balls are smaller than conventional billiard balls.
A billiards cue is between 56-57" long, normally, and typically comes apart at the joint in the middle, and has a shaft that ranges from 11-13 mm in diameter.
There are a variety of cue weights and tips, each differing in range between a snooker cue and a billiard cue.

billiardsforum

Difference Between Snooker Cue and Billiard Cue

Replies & Comments

quickshot on 10/22/2009 10:00:21 PM
Thanks for the informative post on snooker and the cue stick or is that the snooker stick?

mos802 on 11/1/2009 7:04:40 PM
good info

thanks

OneFourSeven on 12/4/2009 10:59:10 AM
Snooker cue differences:
- Snooker cues are generally made with an ash shaft as opposed to a maple shaft.
- The taper is different in a snooker cue. Snooker cues have a “double taper”, rather than the gentle taper found on a pool cue, a snooker cue's taper is almost like an elongated cigar shape. This, and the flat butt face, would be one of the reasons that you would never roll a snooker cue on a table to check for straightness.
- Snooker cues are generally 57-58" long. I’m very sceptical that the length of a snooker cue has anything to do with the size of a snooker table. That being said, most snooker cues are made to accept extensions that allow a player to use his own cue (with the table rest) to pot balls beyond his reach.
- Snooker cues generally have tips between 9 and 10mm. This is due to the size of snooker balls which measure around 2 1/16".
- Snooker cues generally weigh between 17 and 19 ounces.
- Nowadays, snooker cues have a joint three-quarters down the shaft instead of at the halfway point of the cue. This allows the player to add an adjustable extension to reach shots where the cue ball and object ball are at the other end of the table.
- You never see wraps on the butt of a snooker cue, and (again) generally, you don’t see fancy points and inlays on the butt. Usually, the higher priced cues have rare wood splices on the butt, the more splices and the rarer the wood used, the pricier the cue.
In regard to the video and open and closed bridges, I don't think the taper has anything to do with the bridge hand. It doesn't matter if you're playing pool or snooker, how many times does your bridge hand get close to the halfway point of your cue (as shown in the video). There is a mindset in snooker that an open bridge is better (for sighting the object ball), and I'd hazard to say that in the UKs snooker coaches will be "old-school" and so teach and promote the open bridge. I play in a snooker league and most of the guys I play against use both an open and closed bridge depending on the shot they're attempting. From my point of view this is the result of playing in North America where we have grown up playing both snooker and pool and are comfortable using either style of bridge.

Difference Between Snooker Cue and Billiard Cue

Title: Difference Between Snooker Cue and Billiard Cue
Author: billiardsforum (Billiards Forum)
Published: 10/22/2009 4:24:13 PM