A good grip is an important aspect in the game of pocket billiards. A proper grip allows you to make accurate shots. On the other hand, a bad grip will limit your potential for improvement.

Take a look at the illustrations above. As you can see your grip must be loose and relaxed. Never tighten your grip, keep it relaxed all the way through your stroke. Try to use two to three fingers to hold your cue stick while using the thumb as support to keep your cue stick from falling off.

The next image below shows you that your wrist and your lower arm must be in a straight line or 180 degrees. Your wrist must point downward and NOT inward (greater than 180 degrees) or outward (less than 180 degrees). The reason for this is that if your wrist is pointing inward or outward, it will most likely move sideways as you do your final stroke.

The next thing to learn is which part of the cue stick you will need to put your gripping hand. Should you put it on the very end of the butt of the cue stick or should you put it closer to your body? It is different for everybody but one guideline for figuring this out is to locate the balance point.

Refer to illustration below. To do this, use your index finger to balance the cue stick on its own. Once it is balanced, remember the point on the cue stick where it balanced and use this as your reference point. Depending on how tall you are you will need to place your gripping hand at least 6 inches from the balance point towards the end of the cue stick. Shorter players will put their gripping hand closer to the reference point while taller players will put their gripping hand farther away from the reference point.