Is 58" too long for me?

[redblackredblack]

Hi,

Currently I am looking into buying my first snooker cue. I have found one that I really like, but the thing is it is 58", and while that is more or less standard length for most people, I am only 15 and for my age reasonably short (between 5'3" and 5'5").

I'm pretty sure I have played with 58" cues at my local club and they feel alright but i'm just thinking maybe I would be missing out if I were not to get a shorter cue, considering my height.

[ADR147]

its not that important really - what matter is that you feel ok with it.

[nrage]

As ADR said, the important thing is that it's comfortable and you don't feel that it's holding you back, or making it harder to pot balls and play position etc. Also, if you're still growing then getting a standard length cue will mean you can grow into it. Most younger players play with a fair amount sticking out the back of their grip hand for that reason.

Couple of questions:

1. When you are in the address position, with the cue tip 1/4 inch from the white, is your grip hand forearm vertical?
2. What is the distance between the bridge hand (where the cue rests/touches it) and the cue tip?

The answers should be 'yes' and somewhere between 8-12 inches for the recommended/textbook setup.

[redblackredblack]

Thanks for the help both of you

[blinky88]

I'm 5'7" and use a 53" cue .... believe it would be a comfortable length for you.

[nrage]

I'm 5'7" and use a 53" cue .... believe it would be a comfortable length for you.

Hmm... for comparrison I'm 5'8" and I use a 57" with 1-2" out the back of my hand.

The shortest cue I could use with this setup would be 55". My setup is as close to textbook as I can manage, but if I shortened my bridge length from 10" to 8" (which is minimum recommended length BTW) I could probably use a 53" cue.

A 8" bridge length is ok, it's likely to be more accurate than 10" or 12", but the trade off is that it is likely to be less smooth and less powerful.