At a glance, a snooker cue looks identical to a pool cue. This leads people to think that, in theory, a snooker cue could be used to play pool. Maybe you’ve heard stories of professional billiard players shooting pool with a snooker cue. Or maybe all you have right now is a snooker cue and you’re itching to play pool. So, the question is, can snooker cues be used for pool?
Snooker cues have smaller tips, brass ferrules, and are made with dense ash wood. It’s possible to play pool with a snooker cue, but many players find that they sacrifice some cue ball control and power when doing so. That said, it’s mostly a matter of player preference, feel, along with style of play.Tip Size
Read on to discover the potential benefits and pitfalls of playing pool with a snooker cue.
Cue Weight
Although snooker and pool both fall under the umbrella term “billiards,” they are very different sports. As such, they require different cues. Here are how snooker cues differ from pool cues.
Shaft Construction and Materials
Tip Size
The Type of Pool You’re Playing Matters
Snooker cues have smaller tips than pool cues. Common snooker cue sizes are 9mm or 10.5mm, whereas pool cues have 12mm and 13mm tips. This is because snooker is played on a larger table and with smaller, lighter balls. The smaller tips help with accuracy but allow for less spin-control.
What Playing Pool With a Snooker Cue is Like
Cue Weight
Squirt and Miscueing
Snooker cues are also lighter than pool cues. Snooker cues typically weigh between 16 and 18oz. Pool cues, on the other hand, weigh between 19 and 21oz. The reason for this has a lot to do with the size and weight of the balls in each game.
Ball Control
The balance of the weight for each cue is different, as well. Pool cues hold most of the weight on the butt, whereas snooker cues have more weight up front, near the tip.
A Difference in Feel
Shaft Construction and Materials
Less Power
Most commonly, snooker cues are made from ash wood. Pool cues are usually made from hard rock maple. So, if you play pool with an ash snooker cue for long enough, the chances of the shaft cracking are greater. The smaller overall density and size of the snooker shaft won’t hold up as well as pool cues, which are designed with the larger, heavier balls in mind.
More Accuracy
But, snooker cues are also made with hard brass ferrules, which makes for a stiffer shaft. This, combined with the weight of the shaft and the smaller tip, makes “squirt” or deflection more apparent.
The Bottom Line
The Type of Pool You’re Playing Matters
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American pool is played with larger balls than English pool. So, if you’re talking about playing English pool with a snooker cue, you’ll probably have more success than if you played American pool with the snooker cue.
Most players wouldn’t notice a difference in playing English pool and Snooker with the same cue. But, since American pool has larger, heavier balls, a snooker cue would present more problems for many players.
What Playing Pool With a Snooker Cue is Like
Snooker tables are large (12’ x 6’) and they have rounded pockets. This means that accuracy is king in the game of snooker. And snooker cues are designed to reflect that fact.
So, when playing pool with a snooker cue, you can reasonably expect some issues, like unwanted squirt, more miscueing, less cue ball control, a significant difference in “feel,” and less power. However, you’ll also probably experience more accuracy on straight or bank shots.
Squirt and Miscueing
Since the tips of snooker cues are smaller than pool cues, your chances of unwanted squirt and miscueing increase. You need to be more precise when striking the cue ball with a snooker cue than you otherwise would with a pool cue. There’s less surface area on a snooker tip, which makes inaccurate shots more apparent.
Worth checking out: For a reliable starter cue, take a look at the CUESOUL 58-Inch Pool Cue Set on Amazon.
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