When it comes to performance, most players will tell you that the majority of the playability in a cue will be in the pool cue tip and the ferrule. The ferrule is that little white piece just below your tip at the top of your shaft. At its most basic level, the ferrule is your pool cue’s shock absorber. Like a car’s shock absorber, the ferrule provides an additional level of control over your pool cue. This results in an even flow of energy transfer throughout the cue. As you can imagine, if you chip or fracture your ferrule, you’ll lose consistency and control.
Most pool cues being made today come with either linen fiber, Ivorine III or Aegis ferrules. Custom cues on the other hand, will often come with ivory ferrules which are thought to provide the most feel. Aegis is considered the best alternative to ivory and can be found in many midrange cue brands including Joss and Falcon.
Knowing which ferrule is right for you is dependent on your style. If you’re looking for a ferrule that will provide more feel and resonation throughout your cue, ivory or a synthetic ivory (Ivorine or Aegis) will likely be your best bet. On the other hand, if you want a ferrule that absorbs most of that feel and vibration, linen fiber ferrules are likely your better bet.
Google+We’re always looking for new and interesting ways to help you find the pool cues and billiards products you’re looking for. With this in mind, we’ve started rolling out our new related searches tool on the PoolDawg website. The idea behind this is to give users an easy way to find products that are related to the product they’re currently viewing. Take a look at the screenshot below of the Schon CX01:
If you look below the image, you’ll see an area called “Related Searches” with a number of links. So, if you’re looking for a pool cue with cocobolo wood in it, you can click on the 
“cocobolo” search tag and it will take you to a list of other products that feature cocobolo wood. If you’re interested in seeing other cues from the Schon CX series, just click the “Schon CX” search tag and it will show you other cues in the series.
As you can imagine, adding related search terms to over 2,000 items will take some time. Every evening we’ll be updating more products until we’ve covered every product on our site. Interested in what the most frequently tagged terms are? Just check out the “Top Search Terms” box on the lower right side of every page (just like the one pictured to the left). The bigger the font, the more times it has been tagged. Also, you can just mouse over the term and it will tell you how many times that search term has been tagged.
Questions? Feel free to email us or call us toll free M-F 8:30AM to 5:00PM MST. We’re here to help and answer any questions you have.
Google+So I got a call the other day from Brad Combs who is making a big push to get pool tables installed in Las Vegas area schools. His group, the Academic Billiards Collective, is pushing hard to get tables placed in schools all over the Clark County school district.
The concept makes sense, as providing after school activities like this tend to keep high school kids out of trouble. In addition, there are numerous educational applications, as the game of pool makes for excellent demonstrations in physics and geometry.
PoolDawg will be donating products to the Collective as we feel that bringing pool to schools is an excellent way to build interest in the sport. For anyone interested, they’ll be holding a tournament at Pool Sharks in Las Vegas on April 19th. For more information on the Academic Billiards Collective, please feel free to contact them at: Academic Billiards Collective, 1733 E. Oakey, Las Vegas NV, 89104 (702) 466-6216 http://www.abcpoolproject.org
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Denise over in Havana, Florida was nice enough to send us a picture of Dutch, her 2 year old American Bulldog. Apparently Frank’s not the only pooldawg out there. Dutch likes to hang out at The Corner Bar in Havana where he watches over the three teams that play there. Next time any of you are in Havana, be sure to stop by and say hi to Dutch.
Anyone else out there have a pooldawg? Just email us a picture at info [at] pooldawg.com and we’ll get a picture up on the blog. Also, feel free to join us on Myspace at:
http://www.myspace.com/frankpooldawg
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