Honestly, I think what matters most is tip size. A lot of players including myself, try to use cues with smaller tips because the pros use them. While they offer better cue control in the sense of english you'll notice you'll miss a lot of basic shots if your fundamentals aren't good. So, I think an intermediate player should consider that most when buying a new cue or shaft. The price of your equipment really doesn't matter as much as what works best for you and makes you most consistent.

You should put links in the description to different stuff and brands you talk about out in your video

I forgot about this channel.  I learned how to play watching the good ol' Forcefollow videos!

Thank u I like the way you brought up the wood issues like a bow

I like your input on the cue quality. I, perosnally, have been playing with a Halex graphite cue I got from WalMart for $50.00 25+ years ago. I just recently bought my first (budget) break cue - Konllen 13mm with phenolic tip. And more recently purchased my first (budget) upgrade to my Halex, a Bizu Mars Impact. I love the break cue (but let me tell you, getting chalk to stick to a phenlic tip is a pain in the @#% - but the breaks are phenomenal! I am looking forward to receiving the Bizu cue to get used to playing with that and see what all the excitement is about!

Another good option which i did for my older cuetec was get an Avid shaft.

Good information guidance.

So one could say, "Just the tip?"

Butt of the cue does have an impact, well atleast in the non US pool world. Because lots of players are using hand made and often custom spec hand made cues you may favour a thicker than standard butt diameter of you have big hands. It is a 1%er though in my opinion. I am a tall guy and use a 60" cue but I didn't want any heavier than 19.5oz so opted for standard butt diameter.

I've tried all kinds of carbon shafts, the three I like best are the Jacoby v4 and v5,  Pechauer rogue, and the J Flowers. I just switched to the dr v. They feel solid and have a solid hit. Try laying one end of the shaft on the pool table, and dropping the other end and see how it sounds, if it has a hollow ting  sound, or a solid thud. You can tell if it's built solid or cheap.
I played with a predator Z2 shaft for almost 15 years, and switched to carbon 5 years ago. I've always used kamui soft, but I recently purchased the new dr v cue,  carbon with a medium tip, I'm liking it.

Hello, would you like to try one of our BIZU brand carbon fiber shafts? If you're interested, I can send you one to test.

Thank you ( :

An intermediate player should play with whatever ever cue they want. Whether it's $100 or $2000. Nobody should really be spending $2000 on a cue but thats besides the point. As long as it feels good and plays straight, use what you like. I will say there is a big difference in quality in a $1000 cue compared to a $300 cue. And there is a big difference between a $300 cue and a $100 cue. But the point is when you are a beginner you don't even know if you are going to like pool, so stick with a budget option, learn with it, and then move up when you're ready. Cause you will beat the crap out of that cue, and it's better to beat the crap out of cheap cue while you learn the game, instead of beating up an expensive cue. But once you hit intermediate level, you've already learned all that you need to learn, and you've learned how to take care of it, and at that point you can move on to something worth a bit more money.

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but really cant go wrong with Cuetec Avid, had mine for a couple years now, and see no reason to get anything else. Aside from curiousity of course.

I don't need a $5000usd cue that the top one pocket cash players are using? 😂

Not mach to learn from this video,a lot of people ho love pool we do two things, we buy expensive cues because we like the cue or we just play with the house cues,but a tha end personal I just buy miy cue because I like it.

For $179.00 you can buy a state of the art cue with carbon fiber shaft and quality tip. If you can't do it with that - you can't do it. No amount of additional money will get you any better performance or make you a better shooter.

You failed to define at all what is the skill level or " rating range " that defines an intermediate player.

actually there's no shop stores 🏪 that would allow you to test & try there pool 🎱 stick at all periodically.. technically once you purchase the stick, ur on ur own... So hypothetically speaking you can never know what's a good stick, until ur forced to continue buying several sticks...so at the end of the day, it's a waste of time buying one, when you can't even test or try any of the sticks, before purchasing it.. meaning that there's not one particular store that would allow you to test it....