This is more about my friend than me. We play snooker on a weekly basis and he's always had a problem with his cue sticking due to sweat. Now the weather is getting a little warmer, it's getting worse. He basically says that by the end of the session he is so hindered that he doesn't have a fighting chance. It's probably an exagerration cos I've beat him the last 5 or 6 sessions (we're usually quite even) but it's obviously causing him some difficulty. It's something I used to have more of a problem with when I was younger. Switching from maple to ash and chalking my bridge means that it's not something that bothers me anymore. He's exhausted the usual tricks like using a towel and chalking his bridge.

So I've been thinking about suggesting one of those gloves, like Earl Strickland. Obvious con appart from looking ridiculous is that you lose the feeling of hand on table. Can't quite explain why but that seems like a big thing to me. Just wondered if anybody had used one or had any tips before resorting to this?

Baby powder

Don't know how I haven't come across that, will suggest it. Thanks.

Does his cue have a varnished finish? I have rarely heard of anyone with an unvarnished, occasionally linseed oil treated cue have this problem.

I remember in a "What's in the Case?" segment, Johnny Archer had a bottle of baby powder and he said he uses it profusely. Then there's another school of thought saying that using baby powder would damage your cue. I have very little knowledge on this matter as I don't even have my own cue yet so I'd be interested in hearing what's up with baby powder.

When I have sweaty hands, I just wipe them on my shirt and keep shooting but I've never had sweaty hands as bad as described in OP.

Wash your hands 5 minutes before you play. I was told this 15 years ago and it works.

Personally I dont like the gloves because of the way they feel.

Soap and water is all I use, sometimes powder if its really humid

He can try washing the shaft with vinegar and water.

Couple of tricks

1)Washing hands with soap completely, and try to keep the hands cool by not rubbing them too much(friction makes hands warmer and gets sweating going).

2)Pure alchool(used for cleaning wounds), rub your hands with it and dry.

3)Baby powder is good, but it is almost always perfumed and this can throw you off in a pool game. If you find some unscented, good for you.

4)Magnesium powder. This will dry your hands thoroughly. You can find magnesium powder easily, it's usually used to make Calcium/Magnesium mineral supplements.

5)Rock climbing powder. I don't think you need to go that far, but that's the top of the top in terms of keeping hands dry. It's somewhat expensive but it will absolutely handle it(but leave white spots everywhere you touch)

me and my brother had the same problem,

we both solved it by 1st, using wire wool to get off the varnish on our cues, 2nd, put chalk on your hand.

he needs to get it sorted though.

Just get botox injections all over your hand and kill two birds with one stone.

some gloves have the tip of the fingers cut off.

+1

Obv clean hands etc, but one thing is to use the stuff they use for pool cues. My pool cue started to stick a tiny bit so I bought a cleaning kit. You basically clean the cue using this powder, then use very fine sanding paper at decreasing grit levels until it just looks like normal cigarette paper. Then you put a drop or two of this oil on and then finally a drop or two of "shine", whatever the hell that is, and buff it. Anyway, the end result is amazing, the cue slides so smoothly it's unbelievable.