What are the different parts of a pool cue?

Question

I'm pool cue shopping and these sites list all the different parts of a cue, but not what they are. For example, a bunch of them say they have a "pro taper", but I have no idea what that is.

Answer 1

From bottom to top

Butt

Joint

Shaft

Ferrule

Tip

Answer 2

Generally speaking, the primary parts of the pool cue are as follows: Tip, ferrule, shaft, collar, joint, forearm, wrap and butt.  As to your question about the taper, there are two types of tapers:  a pro taper and a European or straight taper.  The pro taper is going to be the same diameter for the first 12-14" of the shaft, then gradually tapering down to the tip, while a European taper tapers down to the tip gradually from the end of the shaft rather than midway down.  There's a great diagram of this at the PoolDawg website:

http://www.pooldawg.com/article/pooldawg...