# Why do snooker cues have a flat end on the butt? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 9, 2017, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snooker-cues-have-a-flat-end-on-the-butt/795882 "2017-09-09T09:13:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dahu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahu/32/3416_2.png) [@Dahu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahu)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snooker-cues-have-a-flat-end-on-the-butt/795882/1 "2017-09-09T09:13:09Z")
Wikipedia tells me that: > [@](#): > > Snooker butts are usually flat on one side so that the cue may be lain flat on the table bed and slid along the baize under a cushion to strike the cushion-ward side of the cue ball when it is frozen to the cushion (such a shot is not legal in pool or carom games under most rulesets). There no cite for this and I don’t recall ever seeing a snooker shot where this would have helped. A more appealing explanation (gleaned from a forum, again no cite) is this: > [@](#): > > When billiards was first played on a table there > were no cushions/rails and the balls were struck > with a mace. Obviously they soon got fed up > with balls running off the table and cushions > were soon introduced. Striking a ball that lay > close to the cushion with a mace was then > difficult and the mace was turned around and > the ball struck with the thin end. Women were > not allowed to though as it was thought they > would tear the cloth. As the cue replaced the > mace the flat was on the cue butt purely for > women who would strike the ball with the butt, > the flat letting it slide along the cloth without > damaging it. A good story! But what’s the straight dope on this? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snooker-cues-have-a-flat-end-on-the-butt/795882/2 "2017-09-09T12:45:38Z")
I found a site that has a great deal of information, but don’t have the time or patience to find the answer. [http://users.skynet.be/billard.billiards/index.htm](http://users.skynet.be/billard.billiards/index.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snooker-cues-have-a-flat-end-on-the-butt/795882/3 "2017-09-09T16:27:24Z")
Moved to the Game Room. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2017, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-snooker-cues-have-a-flat-end-on-the-butt/795882/4 "2017-09-10T19:38:11Z")
Interesting question, I’ve never really thought about it too much. If anything I just assumed it was to aid gripping, not that it actually makes any real difference in this respect. The most plausible answer I can find is: > [@wordlsnooker.com](#): > > By then the mace [precursor to the billiards cue] was obsolete, and manufacturers were making a kind of transitional cue with leather tips. At first they would have tip sizes of 14 or 15 millimetres, and at the thick end they would be 35 or 36mm. And they would have a flat part at the thick end, six or eight inches long with a leather pad underneath, and some people would still use that to push the cue ball along; a throw-back to the mace. Even today’s cues still have that flat part – the only feature that remains from the old mace. These days it is just a place for the manufacturer to put his badge, although some players use the flat part to line up the shot as the grain in Ash shafts has an arrow configuration and can be an aid to sighting. [http://www.worldsnooker.com/the-history-of-cues/](http://www.worldsnooker.com/the-history-of-cues/)