Cue Advice for very tall beginner

[RobLeeds]

Hi, I've heard that a snooker cue should ideally come up to shoulder height. I've just started playing and was wanting to buy my own cue but don't want to spend too much money on it. The problem is that I'm very tall. The cues you tend to get in shops don't therefore come anywhere near my shoulder height (i.e. 57 inches cues barely reach my breast!). It doesn't look like I can get a cue longer than 59 inches without getting an expensive one handmade. What should I do?

Would it be detrimental to just learn with a standard size cue? I play quite a bit of English Pool and never feel at that much of a disadvantage playing with short 'pub' cues, but I'm worried that learning snooker with a short cue might cause me to pick up a bad technique. Instead would it be better to get a cue with an extension, and to play permanently with the extension on (thus making it long enough without having to get a specially made cue)?
How do other tall players get over this problem?

[jaffa.johnson]

Have you tried using 58 inch cue?

How much do you have to spend?

[RogiBear]

How tall actually are you? I'm fairly tall at 6'3 and use a 58" cue no problem. The best way to find the length needed is to try them out

[cyclone crouch]

How tall are you?

[SouthPaw]

It really depends on your arm span, I'm 6ft2 with pretty long arms I've played with 57-60" cues settling on 59"...

[renzie67]

I have a decent handmade blue moon cue that is 61 inches long mate can send you pics if you send me your email
address only looking for £50 plus p&p. It is a 3\4.

[Creambun]

Hi. It all depends on your stance and setup. I am just under 6 3 tall and use a 59 inch cue but my bridge arm is pretty straight. However I have previously played closer to table with a bent bridge arm which made me more compact and meant I could easily play with a 57 or 58 inch cue. Firstly get yourself comfortable at the table. Address the shot, ball without a cue, walk in to the shot at a distance that feels good then naturally drop to the table. Then do the same with a cue this time and see how it feels. It also depends on whether you like to hold the cue right at the end or a few inches up the butt. A lot is personal preference really

[RobLeeds]

I'm 6"8.

I'm used to playing English Pool with standard size cues, so using a 57 inch cue for snooker wouldn't be a problem as such, but I was just wondering that as snooker is a much tougher game whether using such a 'short' cue might prohibit me developing my game. I guess my existing technique has developed as it has because I've had to use cues that are short compared to my build. I have quite an angled bridge arm and I tend to hold the cue right at the end with the forearm at an acute angle (most pro players have the forearm of the cuing hand pretty much at right-angles to the upper arm). I was thinking that it might be worth playing snooker with a longer cue as it would allow me to play using a more standard technique. The problem I have is that I can't really 'test out' a long cue before buying because most high street shops only sell 57 inch ones.

[Neil Taperell]

Well for £50 the cue that Renzie is selling is worth a go in my opinion .

I play against a guy who is 6ft 6 and he uses a 61" cue .

[SouthPaw]

I'm 6"8.

I'm used to playing English Pool with standard size cues, so using a 57 inch cue for snooker wouldn't be a problem as such, but I was just wondering that as snooker is a much tougher game whether using such a 'short' cue might prohibit me developing my game. I guess my existing technique has developed as it has because I've had to use cues that are short compared to my build. I have quite an angled bridge arm and I tend to hold the cue right at the end with the forearm at an acute angle (most pro players have the forearm of the cuing hand pretty much at right-angles to the upper arm). I was thinking that it might be worth playing snooker with a longer cue as it would allow me to play using a more standard technique. The problem I have is that I can't really 'test out' a long cue before buying because most high street shops only sell 57 inch ones.

Are you living in Leeds Rob? You could test out cues ranging from 57 to 59inch maybe even a few longer in craftsman's in Kippax (I think), they have a snooker table which you can try before you buy...

[Neil Taperell]

Decent shout that Southpaw

[renzie67]

Well for £50 the cue that Renzie is selling is worth a go in my opinion .

I play against a guy who is 6ft 6 and he uses a 61" cue .

Its a really nice cue Neil comes with extension also will throw in a used case . In fact quite unusually it has the red glue
splicing but at that size as much use as a chocolate tea pot. Had a few games with it one day and hits the ball really sweet.

If you send me an email address I will send pics tomorrow mate.