Pool Cue: How I First Came to Use a Pool Cue

One of the earliest influential memories I have from my childhood is my dad teaching me the proper way to hold a pool cue. Dad would never admit to being a ‘shark’ or a ‘hustler’, but as he got older the evidence became clearer. After what seemed like years of looking longingly at the studs that hung majestically on the wall, I finally got the chance to learn how to use one. My dad had long since reached the caliber of a player that he could make what I now know are simple shots, using almost any pool cue. This is not to say that he did not realize the magnitude of the importance of choosing the best pool cue. This was not a privilege to be taken lightly and the lessons on which I had my utmost attention.

He had listened, starry-eyed, to stories of Dad going to the pool hall, as a young adult, perfecting his craft and walking away rewarded with an extra jingle in his pocket. You can imagine the wonder of a child: someone got paid to play a game! Actually? Of this he had to know more.

The first is the first. Dad motioned for me to get a pool cue off the rack. Knowing that he had his best ‘special’ pool cue, I was made aware of the fact that this choice had some significance. I picked up a 42-inch one-piece cue with a diamond etched on the shaft and looked up at Dad for his thumbs up. His response was: ‘How do you feel?’ He felt like he was holding the holy grail! He was still overwhelmed by the privilege and he didn’t really understand what he meant by ‘feel’.

He showed me how to form a ‘thief’ using my hand placed on the table with my index finger raised and together with my thumb forming a circle for the cue to slide on, making sure as I pulled it back and forth the cue stayed true. and it did not wobble. Like many things, this was a lot harder to do than my dad made it sound. By doing this, he was teaching me the importance of smooth handling of the cue to complete a clean shot. At this point, I wasn’t actually hitting a cue ball, I was just practicing my stance, hand position, and shot. He told me, ‘the pool cue should feel like a part of you, imagine it’s your third arm, it acts as a unit to hit the cue ball.’ Here ended the first lesson from him. I stuck with the practice of hitting the imaginary ball.

For the next several months I looked forward to my lessons. Learning different hand positions, angled shots, bank shots, etc. As a young teenager, he could proudly claim that he had perfected the lucky break! The next lesson was that most games didn’t allow lucky shots and the usual rule was to call a shot. I learned the importance of angles at the table and suddenly geometry didn’t seem so boring! As I grew older, playing pool with Dad was our bonding time. It became the place for him to not only pass on his love and knowledge of the sport, but also where he told stories of his youth and gave advice on problems that seemed easier to discuss when pocketing the eight ball.

After the last forkful of dessert of a festive meal had been swallowed, the question always followed: ‘Who’s up for a game of pool?’ We would all line up and head to the pool table to claim our spot on the scoreboard. Dad spent many hours teaching his children and his children (including a couple of great-grandchildren) to play pool. We all realize what a wonderful privilege that was and we all treasure the beautiful memories we have of bonding with him over a variety of games of Snooker and pool, which became a family tradition.