Another newbie question

[Carpy2009]

Hi all, I am currently playing with a 58 inch cue, last night when i got down to play a shot i had a friend mark the cue with some chalk behind my little finger, so the result was that i have between 7-8 inches of cue behind my grip, i am not sure if this is too much, it sometimes fells a bit much, but that is where it is comfortable to grip, gripping the cue at this point gives me around 9-10 inches of cue from my bridge to the cb. Also sometimes when trying to play delicate shots, it feels a bit awkward and out of balance, i am now in 2 minds as to weather i need a shorter cue or not, say around 54/55 inch. any advice please
cheers Carpy

[DeanH]

Another newbie question

how long is your bridge?
from the V of your bridge hand to the tip and how far is the tip from the cue ball?

it sounds you may be too short in bridge length? less than 8" maybe too short for you.

Sorry just reread you post.

How tall are you?

[Carpy2009]

Hi Dean, i am 5' 6" and a bit lol, so pretty short, and from my shoulder to my wrist joint is @20 inches, as near as i can measure it.

[Nifty50]

https://youtu.be/-ihZh4DpG8k
Worth a look.

[MrRottweiler]

I remember a book saying the cue length should come to just above your shoulder and it will be the perfect length for gripping distances from the end of the butt depending on what you need to do with the cueball. A golden rule I learnt is the more delicate the shot the further in you grip. I used to watch John Higgins and how he gripped his cue and it's similar to people like Ronnie and Hendry who combine gripping at the very end of the cue combined with the long pause and delivery to get power behind the shot. They are gripping at the end of the butt for the big power shots and bringing the cue as far back as possible before a longbow style delivery but in amongst the balls they will grip several inches further in to keep check on power. Have a session with a registered coach in your area who can review your stance, bridge and grip and see if your cue needs some work. I wrongly thought I needed to extend my cue and had two inches added and it ended up feeling terrible in every shot I played. It was like a javelin and I ended up taking a hacksaw to it. It was extended by a certain Rodney so was done in an expert way and he did what I asked for so I'm not saying the cue doctor got it wrong. Far from it and to this day I don't know how he did the splicing which was clearly a master at work but I made a mistake with the measurements.

[Carpy2009]

Thanks MrRottweiler, i was told the same thing about the cue coming to shoulder height, the top of my shoulder as best as i can measure it, is 56 inches from the floor, but also seen a video by Steve Davis saying a cue should come up to the top of your armpit. tried my grip again last night with a 57 inch 3/4 cue, and i tend to grip that cue with the front of my hand just behind the 3/4 joint, i think this maybe getting into my head now lol.