Before I begin, the answer to the title question is: ABSOLUTELY!
We’re repeatedly told how important it is for our stroke arm to be “perpendicular” at the point of contact with the cue ball. We want to create a pendulum motion as we follow through and accelerate through the cue ball. What most beginner players don’t take into consideration is the balance of the playing cue.
A distinct observation I’ve made over my past few years of teaching is that shorter players, particularly women, have a tendency to grip the cue too far back. Often times, they’ve just never been told otherwise. Some of the time, it just feels more natural. This generally happens because they are not using a well-balanced pool cue.
When a shorter player uses a cue that is too heavy in the back, it’s so easy during their follow through to drop their elbow from the extra weight and bring their tip up, resulting in a follow-through with the cue pointed way up at the light. They just can’t help it. When they are perpendicular, most of the weight is behind their grip. The cue almost doesn’t feel stable. The extra junk in the trunk weighs down the back end and naturally flips up the front. It’s involuntary.
Because of this, a shorter player instinctively will grip farther back on the cue where it feels more balanced in which case there are two possible outcomes: (1) they are gripped too far back, incapable of delivering a smooth, pendulum follow-through, or (2) they end up having a super long bridge to stay at 90 degrees and to compensate for the grip position.
I’m 5’5” tall. With an approximate 10 inch bridge and my chin down on the cue, when my stroke arm is at perpendicular, there’s still roughly nine inches from my grip to the butt of the cue. Now, I’m fortunate enough to shoot with a well-balanced Chris Byrne Custom Cue, but for those of you using a butt-heavy cue or worse, a wall-abushka (aka, a house cue), nine inches may feel like a ton of bricks.
The moral of the story is: If you are a shorter player with a shorter arm span and are thinking about getting more serious, consider investing in a well-balanced pool cue.
The final word & photos from Vegas coming soon!
What are characteristics of a well balanced cue?
Excellent question!
Once you’re in your stance with your grip hand at “90 degree” (at point of contact), if you let go with your bridge hand, the cue should not feel too heavy in the front OR the back.
Far too often, when the balance is not right, the player will have a tendency to want to adjust where they’re gripping the cue to compensate and that is bad news.
We never want to change our mechanics to make up for improper equipment.