Holding the Pool Cue Right = Hustling Your Friends Out of Their Money

How to Properly Grip and Hold a Pool Cue

If you are a recreational pool player and maybe play a few times a year, a few times a month or even on a weekly basis, you may never quite get the hang of holding the cue stick properly. A properly held cue stick glides the cue through the cue ball in smooth effortless looking motion. Quite the opposite of what you’ll see when you see many beginners getting up there to stroke the cue stick. Their front hand(bridge) is wobbly and doesn’t form a solid base for the back hand(gripping hand) to work its magic.

There are two front hand(bridge) positions you can use to provide a solid base for guiding the cue through the cue ball. 

1. The open bridge – This bridge has the front hand planted on the table surface and the cue glides through the “V” formed by the thumb and first finger. There is nothing enclosing the cue, the cue just rides on top of the “V”, thus it is called the open bridge. 

2. The closed bridge – This bridge also has the hand planted firmly on the table surface, but now instead of the cue riding on top of the “V” formed from thumb and first finger, the cue glides through a loop you form with the tip of the first finger touching the tip of the thumb. You form a “o.k” sign with the thumb and first finger and the cue goes inside the “o.k.” sign. The action is almost like you are holding a pencil. The cue should be held snug inside the loop. It should not be so snug that it kills the smooth action but it should not be so loose that it makes the bridge wobbly.

Both of these bridges should be very stable and there are plus and minuses to both. With the open bridge, you can see the target better but is less stable than the closed bridge. The closed bridge provides more stability than the open bridge but the finger loop can interfere with aiming of the cue to the cue ball. As a beginner you should start with the open bridge since it is easiest to learn and use. As your game progresses, start experimenting with the closed bridge. When you become an expert, you can mix and match as the shot calls for each.

The front arm