Alternatives of Cue Chalks

Today, we are taking an interesting question from Joe who’s looking for some useful alternatives of cue chalk.

Question:

Hi, there!!! I’m here with a stupid question, how can you chalk a cue if you don’t have one? I mean I’m not getting time to go out and buy one, and I don’t want to buy online because my last experience of buying online wasn’t a great one. So I’m looking for some good alternatives of chalk, is there any Cue chalk substitute?

Answer:

Of course, you can’t chalk a cue if you don’t have one.

But as far as your query regarding the cue substitute is concerned, you can find some alternatives around you. It could be plaster on the ceiling wall, chalk powder from chalk board, cigarette ash, and even talcum powder can be used.

Four Substitutes Of Cue Chalks

The moment you run out of chalk your gameplay starts to suffer because of less spin on the ball. And if that’s currently the case with you, don’t need to worry. There are some easy substitutes available that can do the job for you. Let’s check out.

1. Plaster

Just like you chalk your cue, raise your cue higher towards the ceiling or wall and rub at the surface gently. Don’t push it or drill your cue right into the ceiling.

2. Chalkboard

If you have a chalkboard, then this chalkboard can serve as a good alternative for cue chalk. Take some chalk powder from the chalkboard and put it over the tip to ensure maximum friction.

3. Cigarette Ash

This might sound weird to you, but you’ll see pool players on billiards related forums touting this as a decent substitute to chalk. They used the cigarette ash like cue chalk. If you don’t have chalk available, you can give it a try. There’s no harm in it.

4. Talcum Powder

Some players even use talcum powder or powdered graphite when they don’t have pool chalk available. They too can be used as substitutes to the cue chalk.

And if, in case, you have none of the things available, you can use this technique to create friction. Because the tip has a plain rounded surface, it can’t create friction when hitting the ball. So what some people do is they rough up the tip using keys or pocket knives by scuffing the surface.

However, we recommend you to follow this approach when you have no other options left. Normally, most of the people would have cigarette ash and plaster on their ceiling and wall, that should do the job.