Low Deflection shafts

3andstop

3andstop

Focus
Silver Member
Ok guys ... At some point I suppose we all become vulnerable to gimmicks if they are constantly out there for our senses to absorb. I guess I'm no different, and that is what has prompted me to ask this question.

First let me give you an idea of my background as a pool player.

I've been playing a long time, 50 plus years. I no longer play as much as I used to, and I'm no world beater anyway, never have been. I've run my share of 40's and 50's in straight pool, but runs higher than that are much farther in between.

I've never been interested in owning a custom cue, primarily for two reasons. 1. I can't see spending that much money on a cue, and 2. I can't see buying a cue that I haven't played with for a while to see if I like it.

I never believed a layered tip was all it was cracked up to be and I'd never spend more than a few bucks on a tip anyway. ( I use Triangle tips.)

In my wildest dreams I couldn't see myself spending 30 bucks for a cube of chalk.

Now, all of the above are not cause I'm cheap. ( I'm surely not rich) But rather because I feel they are all "gotcha" kind of gimmicks.

Now to the Low Deflection shaft. I play with an old Meucci cue. Probably 20 yrs old. When I need a shaft, I buy one of those seconds on Ebay and I taper them back 20" or so and put a Triangle tip on it.

While I can't really believe this low deflection shaft stuff, I am curious about it . As tough as it is to fall for a gimmick that will cost a few hundred dollars ........ I gotta know ...

So ... what's the best low deflection shaft out there. :smile:
 
I've been playing for about 20ish years and never got into the whole Predator and the other LD shafts that came out after.

That being said i finally got an LD shaft maybe 6 months ago and i'm playing the best that i have ever played. Is it the shaft? Is it the 20hrs a week of youtube and other streaming that i've watched over the last couple of years? Is my 20 years of playing a few hours a week finally kicking in?

I have no idea what it is, but i'm enjoying it a lot and i'm keeping my LD shaft for the foreseeable future...lol
 
I've used both Predator and Tiger products, and I have to say of the two I definitely prefer the Tiger products. I'm currently using the Tiger Pro X, and am happy with it. I prefer a smaller shaft size though, 11.75mm on this shaft. It would be comparable to the Predator Z series, and the OB Classic Pro (which I haven't tried but would like to). I think this shaft has better feel and comparable deflection qualities as the Predator Z2. Just my 2 cents.
 
3andstop said:
Ok guys ... At some point I suppose we all become vulnerable to gimmicks if they are constantly out there for our senses to absorb. I guess I'm no different, and that is what has prompted me to ask this question.

First let me give you an idea of my background as a pool player.

I've been playing a long time, 50 plus years. I no longer play as much as I used to, and I'm no world beater anyway, never have been. I've run my share of 40's and 50's in straight pool, but runs higher than that are much farther in between.

I've never been interested in owning a custom cue, primarily for two reasons. 1. I can't see spending that much money on a cue, and 2. I can't see buying a cue that I haven't played with for a while to see if I like it.

I never believed a layered tip was all it was cracked up to be and I'd never spend more than a few bucks on a tip anyway. ( I use Triangle tips.)

In my wildest dreams I couldn't see myself spending 30 bucks for a cube of chalk.

Now, all of the above are not cause I'm cheap. ( I'm surely not rich) But rather because I feel they are all "gotcha" kind of gimmicks.

Now to the Low Deflection shaft. I play with an old Meucci cue. Probably 20 yrs old. When I need a shaft, I buy one of those seconds on Ebay and I taper them back 20" or so and put a Triangle tip on it.

While I can't really believe this low deflection shaft stuff, I am curious about it . As tough as it is to fall for a gimmick that will cost a few hundred dollars ........ I gotta know ...

So ... what's the best low deflection shaft out there. :smile:
Click to expand...

I've played with predator ,mezz, and ob1 and some hybrid ld shaft.


The predator is the best, then Mezz.(My Opinion)
 
here is my 2 cents for what its worth
im 59
started when i was about 16
took long times off over the 43 years
was best in college when i played every day
20=30 ball straight pool player
consistent run out from the 3
just got back to playing and my local pro who plays with a ob shaft said to me
its the 21 st century
ld shafts are the new technology
why handicapp yourself with older tecnology
what do you think???
 
My take on LD shafts is this: if you're new to the game, buy an LD shaft - the more LD the better ie Predator. If you're not new to the game, don't bother.
 
I Like MY Predator Shaft..so far

I bought a Predator sneaky with a !st generation Predator shaft. The shaft was not original to the cue, and in like new condition with a Moori medium tip. I did not like the tip and had a kamui brown m/s installed. I sent the shaft to Ryan (Rat Cues) at Muellers and had the shaft converted to a 3/8x10 so I could use it on other cues, mainly a Varney sneaky, and a 8pt. cue from Kenny Murrell. I have always played with solid maple shafts and tried lots of different tips. I've owned and played with cues from $50. to $5000. Icluding some nice older Moochies. I've played a long time, and I play 3 to 6 hours a day usually, 8ball, 9ball, and some 1 pocket and straight pool.The bottom line is the more I play with the Predator shaft, the more I like it. It seems to be more consistant from shot to shot. I bought some Milk Duds from Jeff and Nathan to try. I'm thinking about putting one on my Predator shaft and see if that is a good combination? Anyway, I just ordered 2 more Predator 1st gen shafts, and I'm trying to decide what tip I want on them. Hope this helps.
 
Hmmm, maybe I'm all wet with what a LD shaft is supposed to do.

Example, a standard type straight pool break shot between racks with the break ball sitting about midway along the side of the rack and about 6 or so inches away from it. The CB is at about center table.

Problem is you end up with little to no angle the wrong way. The only choice is a hard force follow with inside english to go two rails, doubling the corner pocket with the CB an into the rack from behind.

When I have to really ramp up and shoot these shots, I have to consciously adjust for the CB deflecting or squirting or whatever the vernacular is to avoid over cutting it into the bottom rail.

Its not that I can't make the shot a high percentage, but if there is really a shaft that lets you just shoot the shot loaded up with high inside and aim like you were slow rolling it in ..... I'm down for one of those suckers. :)

Thing is I never really believed it and just now I'm so curious if its true that I'm ready to spend the money to find out. :)
 
First LD shaft I used was an original 314 shaft and I loved it. Compared to my regular maple shaft it hit so much better and improved my game mentally and on the table. I say intermediate to advanced if you are looking for a boost in your game try a LD shaft. I am currently using a katana LD shaft and have no complaints so far. :grin:
 
bbb said:
here is my 2 cents for what its worth
im 59
started when i was about 16
took long times off over the 43 years
was best in college when i played every day
20=30 ball straight pool player
consistent run out from the 3
just got back to playing and my local pro who plays with a ob shaft said to me
its the 21 st century
ld shafts are the new technology
why handicapp yourself with older tecnology
what do you think???
Click to expand...

I think he's a good salesman.
 
bbb said:
here is my 2+2 cents for what its worth
im 59 (so am I)
started when i was about 16 (13 here)
took long times off over the 43 years (35 years here)
was best in college when i played every day
20=30 ball straight pool player (35-50 straight here)
consistent run out from the 3
just got back to playing and my local pro who plays with a ob shaft said to me
its the 21 st century (it is)
ld shafts are the new technology
why handicapp yourself with older tecnology
what do you think???
Click to expand...

Well, it sort of all depends. 4.5 years ago I bought a 314-1 and played wiht it unitl I was sort-of-ok. Joined a pool league lst year and was the pest player on my team <yada>. His winter I bought a new Z2 practiced with it for a few hours, and it totally screwed up my game for 6 weeks wile I figured out the new amount of deflection that had become so natural to me.

At first I did not understand the phenomonom, and kept playing with the new cue. At the practice table, I could interchange the 314 with the Z2 and shoot essentially the same. But in the heat of a match, when the brain went fuzzy near the end, the old muscle memory still remembered the 314 and I started to mis not-so-hard shots. This went on for many weeks until I figured out that the deflection of the new shaft was enough different than the new shaft that I could learn on or the other, but not have both at the same time.

The point is: If you don't currently have a cue, get a LD shaft and learn that shaft; and if you already have a cue and want a new LD shaft, be prepaired for a lot of practice to drill into your muscles the deflection characteristics of the new shaft before entering a long mentally tough match--lest you remember the wrong defelection characteristics at a critical moment in a match....
 
I was skeptical at first too but now I play with a players hxt that is low deflection and it makes all the difference in the world. The reduction in squirt makes me much more accurate than I could ever be with a regular shaft.

If you are just starting out and don't play left or right english at all it isn't going to change much however if you do it makes all the difference in the world.

My suggestion to you is to get a player's HXT low deflection shaft as it is real cheap and I got to say the best thing for the money. Its a damn good shaft and if you don't like it they are only around 90 dollars so you don't brake the bank. you could even get a brand new player's KXT cue for just above 100.

Players makes cues and shafts that are on par with Lucasi and maybe even a little better than some of them for less than half the price.
 
I think alot like you I never owned a custom cue , I would quit playing before I spent $30 on chalk but I will say about 4 years ago I bought a old used joss with a pre cat predator shaft and it is the best hit I ever shot with .My 2 cent worth get a predator shaft give it atleast a month go back to your old shaft and you will see the difference IMHO I think they are all over priced but I guess what ever the market will bear + you can always buy a used shaft
 
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I will look into the Player shaft ... actually the entire cue cause I think the shaft fits meucci.

Also... can someone explain "pre cat" or better yet a link to 5/16x18
 
Of the cues I own, my lowest deflection shafts are the two originals with my Joey Bautista cue. My Meucci is next. Then my Predator 314, then a Tiger; and then my Pechauer, Mike Erwin, Schon, and McDermott are all pretty high squirt shafts. Tip hardness also plays a big role in squirt. The lowest squirt shafts will be on the whippier side with a light weight ferrule and single layer tip. Basically, the more give in the shaft, the less it will force the cue ball offline. The stiffer shafts with hard tips absorb less of the impact and thus squirt the cue ball more. I'm surprised everyone is still falling for the LD shaft thing... not that Predator etc don't make great products... I love my 314...

I recently changed tips on one of my Joey shafts from a Kamui hard, back to a Triangle, and the CB deflection has very noticeably diminished on power shots.
 
Besides making it easier to compensate for english, low deflection shafts help on those long and very difficult shots where even a slight stroke error will lead to a missed shot. If you have aiming difficulties or very large stroke problems, they probably wont do much for you in this respect, but if you are to the point where you have to make very tough shots consistently, it might in effect iron out slight stroke variations.
 
3andstop said:
Ok guys ... At some point I suppose we all become vulnerable to gimmicks if they are constantly out there for our senses to absorb. I guess I'm no different, and that is what has prompted me to ask this question.
...
While I can't really believe this low deflection shaft stuff, I am curious about it . As tough as it is to fall for a gimmick that will cost a few hundred dollars ........ I gotta know ...
Click to expand...
Low-squirt (AKA "low cue ball deflection) shafts do have advantages and potential benefits, but they also have disadvantages for some people. Check out the links for more info and lots of supporting resources.

Regards,
Dave
 
Masayoshi said:
Besides making it easier to compensate for english, low deflection shafts help on those long and very difficult shots where even a slight stroke error will lead to a missed shot. If you have aiming difficulties or very large stroke problems, they probably wont do much for you in this respect, but if you are to the point where you have to make very tough shots consistently, it might in effect iron out slight stroke variations.
Click to expand...
Higher squirt shafts have pivot points closer to most bridge lengths, so they're likely to compensate more accurately for unintended squirt.

pj
chgo
 
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