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A pool cue stick is an investment all players of the sport will most defiantly invest in, so it’s just right to learn the proper way how to maintain our pool cue sticks. More than likely all quality pool cue sticks are made from wood and we know for a fact that wood needs to be properly treated so that it will last for a longer time span. It doesn’t matter how expensive the cue may cost, it’s gonna still need to be treated in the right manner to last as long as it should last.
The most important parts of a pool cue that will be needing the most maintenance are the shaft and tip on the cue stick. These two parts are the two main parts that will more likely affect your gameplay when playing if not properly cleaned on a weekly or monthly bases depending on how often you use your pool cue stick. That aside another thing that can affect your cue stick is storing your cue in any extremely hot or cold place, always keep your cue away from those spots when storing.
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A Short History Of Pool Cues
It is assumed that the pool was derived from the game of billiards, and billiards itself came from the outdoor sport of croquet. In the early 1900s billiards was a popular pass time activity at the French court, from here is spread to the rest of Europe and soon gained popularity.
Pool cues in those times were known as maces and they had flat appendages attached to one end of them with which they were supposed to hit the pool balls. Think of it as something of a hockey stick or golf club.
As the game progressed though, people began using the narrow end of a mace to manoeuvre the pool balls into the sockets as it was more convenient. Maces were done away with and pool cues were born. They were much slimmer and easier to handle.
A French prisoner is credited with discovering the use of pool cue tips. With a lot of spare time on his hands in prison, he began cutting pieces of leather off horses and making his own pool cue tips with them. He observed that this resulted in much better results. Once he was released from jail, he flaunted his newly acquired pool skills at various saloons and soon even wrote a book with a detailed explanation of his techniques to get a perfect shot.
This led to the birth of the modern pool cue with tips. Since then people have used various forms and types of pool cues and tips.
Using more than one pool cue is a more recent development. During tournaments, players found that it was much more efficient to use separate cues for breaking, jumping, a controlled shot, etc. This makes sense because different shots demand different forms of momentum. Hence most professional players have a multitude of pool cue sticks for playing.
How To Maintain A Pool Cue?
The two main parts on a pool cue that are vital to its maintenance and will affect your game if not maintained right are the shaft and the tip on the cue stick. Those are the two main functions of the cue as well, the shaft for a better and smoother stroke and the tip that makes the contact with the object ball on the pool table.
The Shaft
Overtime your shaft will develop sticky moistures, whether it’s off the hands, chalk dust or some other environmental builds ups will be attracted to the shalt. When that happens it will affect your smooth strokes and is going to affect your gameplays whether you believe it or not, the good thing is though is not hard to get rid of the moister buildups on the shaft.
To clean the shaft you can get a damp cloth, not wet just a Lil bit damp because water is not good to use on wood it can change the shape so use damped cloths to wipe up the shaft then uses a dry cloth to do the same after. Another way you can clean the shaft is to use fine-grade sandpaper most preferred 400 0r 600 grade to gently rub up and down the cue shaft to remove all hard dirt buildups, this is to be done in a short period of time.
Last but not least you can use a hundred dollar note to fold and clean the shaft with, I know you must be saying this is crazy but this method works as well. In all honesty, it doesn’t really matter the note you use to clean the shaft, it’s just a fact that they say that a higher bill adds a greater lustre to the shaft.
Those aside you can buy cue maintenance cleaning tools on the market however these are the methods that most people will use to clean their pool cue shafts with. They are all simple, and easy and all work great when cleaning your shaft.
The Tip
This is the most important feature on a cue stick, a tip should properly be maintained at all times, or else it’s going to throw your game way off balance. If the tip is not well maintained it will cause a lot of miscues in the game and we all know that 98% of all miscues will lead to a ball-in-hand advantage. Please make due to check out the buyer’s guide in the main menu and get the perfect tip maintenance accessories on the market for your cue tip.
All good pool cue tips are made from a type of leather material, a good tip that is in shape should not be smooth, the tip should have somewhat of a rough edge touch to it. Having a rough edge will keep the chalk on the cue tip for better plays. A scuffer or a tip-pik can be used to roughen up the tip this will give the better cue ball-controlling abilities.
It’s good to make sure that your pool cue tip is in good shape, it should be shaped in a dime to a nickel radius shape. The tip can be shaped using a tip shaper tool that’s also on the market and easy to get you can find it in the buyer’s guide in the main menu.
Please make sure to take proper notice of the tip and how worn out it may be, if it’s super low and needs to be changed then your perfect option will be to just change it and not try to repair it back to life, you won’t get the same feeling from it one the tip is been fully worn out.
A new tip will need to be reshaped after a month of constantly using it on a daily bases, the more the cue tip is been used to play the cue ball the more misshaped it will get. However, if you don’t use your cue as much you won’t have to reshape the tip as often.
Closing Thoughts
It’s a fact that following these steps on how to maintain a Pool Cue Stick will definitely let your cue stick not just last longer but play better as well. These are steps that I myself tend to follow every month to keep my pool cue stick in tip-top shape, most pro players of the game will do monthly maintenance on the cue stick as well.
You can also check:
- Pool Cues Under 500
- Amazing Pool Cues For Professional Players
- Set of 5 Pool Cues
- Checkout more related gifts related to pool cues on goodgifts.com