I am often asked what is the best pool cue. Well it depends on what you mean, if you mean which cue has the best action for putting balls in, the only answer I can give you is the cue you feel most comfortable with, price here is not an issue. In fact, whatever cue you buy, you will have to get used to it and practice with it often to get to know it. Even the pros prefer to play with a cue they know rather than get the fanciest cue they can get their hands on. Remember when an airline broke Stephen Hendry’s cue? It took her a couple of months to get familiar with his new cue and start winning tournaments again. His old cue was just a machine-made cue, but he knew how to make the most of it.
It’s the same for all cleats, as long as you pay at least £40 you’ll get a cleat fit for your purpose and you just have to get used to it being weak until it’s almost a part of you.
Now if you mean the best pool cue, the one that looks the best, the world is your oyster. There are many cleat manufacturers that produce the most amazing looking cleats, but they will cost you. The handmade variety especially comes with some exotic woods named after faraway forests you’ve never heard of. There are pink woods, blue woods, and of course, really black ebony, the list is endless, and this is where the skill of the cue maker comes into play. They splice the woods which is a complicated process and wastes a lot of that expensive colored wood to produce those beautiful pool cue back ends that are true works of art and that’s what you pay for. Cleats made using these processes are very expensive, typically over £400, depending on the wood used and the number of joints required. No painted stocks here, but even machine made cues can look great too, priced at around £100 plus you can get a really good looking cue with pearlescent type finishes that rival the look of the hand made variety. . So choose your budget and as long as you’re paying around £40 for your cue, it can make it the best pool cue for you.
