i dont understand the hype about ld shafts

a hell of a lot of good that does for the wannabe's that don't know how to adjust in the first place.. $300 to erase what limited knowledge they did happen to acquire??.. maybe we can hook them on tips next...... then next thing you know it's $20/month chalk habit.. AND YET THEY ARE STILL BANGERS!!!

it's just another f'kin hustle and it's never been anything else..

the people who put in the hours required to play this game well... play this game well

and the people who don't... DON'T!!!

it really is that simple...

have a nice day:D

You are perfectly free to post video of you monstering racks with your maple shaft, and I'll post some of people doing the same with a Predator.

Deal?
 
or you could ask John Schmidt why he couldn't finish in the money with an OB cue in his hands

John Schmidt's highest run, 403, was with an OB cue in his hands.
Winning a tournament is about the equipment in your skull.
 
John Schmidt's highest run, 403, was with an OB cue in his hands.
Winning a tournament is about the equipment in your skull.

Straight pool played right is about center ball and minimal CB movement.. so the LD myth doesn't really apply.

The claim is long shots with lots of sidespin are easier. I take that to mean it will help in 9/10ball..and those are the tourneys he was tanking in..
 
All I know is I wish I would've started playing with an LD shaft when I first started playing.

I did.. when I first got serious about pool I bought a predator.. the flimsy POS broke after only 2 months of 12 hour practice days and as you know it takes years of those long practice days to get any good at all.

so it was either buy a stack of plywood at $300 each or get a real shaft..

I got a real shaft and never looked back.
 
The claim is long shots with lots of sidespin are easier.
The claim is that it is easier to estimate the amount of aim compensation necessary to offset cue ball squirt if the amount of squirt falls within a smaller range. The effect is most noticeable over long distances because squirt is a change in the angle that the cue ball comes off the cue.
 
The claim is that it is easier to estimate the amount of aim compensation necessary to offset cue ball squirt if the amount of squirt falls within a smaller range. The effect is most noticeable over long distances because squirt is a change in the angle that the cue ball comes off the cue.
For people who want a more in-depth explanation and illustration of this effect, it is covered in the following article: "Squirt - Part V: low-squirt cues" (BD, December, 2007).

Enjoy,
Dave
 
I did.. when I first got serious about pool I bought a predator.. the flimsy POS broke after only 2 months of 12 hour practice days and as you know it takes years of those long practice days to get any good at all.

so it was either buy a stack of plywood at $300 each or get a real shaft..

I got a real shaft and never looked back.


Try shooting some thin cut shots with extreme inside English with an LD shaft and then maybe you'll look back a couple times.
 
Try shooting some thin cut shots with extreme inside English with an LD shaft and then maybe you'll look back a couple times.

I dunno I RELY on squirt for those shots..it creates a slightly fuller hit than you can achieve shooting straight at it.
 
I dunno I RELY on squirt for those shots..it creates a slightly fuller hit than you can achieve shooting straight at it.

It's not the squirt alone the 'creates' a fuller hit. It's the change of approach angle by the CB squirting out & then swerving back hence the more full hit relative to the two angles.

You can still shoot them that way with an LD shaft. You just can't get as full of a hit as the difference between the two angles is less.
 
Not hype

LD's are in no way 'hype'. As it seems like you've already learned, they play much different than a solid maple shaft, and whether you pro LD or con LD, I'm pretty sure there isn't much disagreement there. The so called 'hype' is whether or not they magically make you play better, which they do not. What they do is allow you to aim more true when using any type of English, and not adjust for squirt/deflection. Another way of saying it, is they make the learning curve to using English much easier, and quicker.. I personally believe if given enough time, they will ultimately allow the player to be a slightly better player, simply from taking the guessing game out of shots with English, especially your longer shots... It took me close to 6 months (many years ago) to fully trust, and feel comfortable with an LD shaft (coming from a pre dot Meucci as well)... Now, I can't use a solid maple shaft for crap. Ya, I can pocket just about any makeable ball with one, but when applying English for position I miss all over the place. It would take me at least a year to get comfortable with one again, which is exactly why/how there is a distinct difference between the two...

It would have to be MUCH harder for a player who has been accustomed to a solid maple shaft for 20,30, or more years to now start to play with an LD. I don't even think I would recommend it to someone unless they were dead set on learning to use one..
 
LD's are in no way 'hype'. As it seems like you've already learned, they play much different than a solid maple shaft, and whether you pro LD or con LD, I'm pretty sure there isn't much disagreement there. The so called 'hype' is whether or not they magically make you play better, which they do not. What they do is allow you to aim more true when using any type of English, and not adjust for squirt/deflection. Another way of saying it, is they make the learning curve to using English much easier, and quicker.. I personally believe if given enough time, they will ultimately allow the player to be a slightly better player, simply from taking the guessing game out of shots with English, especially your longer shots... It took me close to 6 months (many years ago) to fully trust, and feel comfortable with an LD shaft (coming from a pre dot Meucci as well)... Now, I can't use a solid maple shaft for crap. Ya, I can pocket just about any makeable ball with one, but when applying English for position I miss all over the place. It would take me at least a year to get comfortable with one again, which is exactly why/how there is a distinct difference between the two...

It would have to be MUCH harder for a player who has been accustomed to a solid maple shaft for 20,30, or more years to now start to play with an LD. I don't even think I would recommend it to someone unless they were dead set on learning to use one..

I have used regular maple for 46 years. When I picked up my two LD shafts it took me only one session to make the adaptation & another one to really dial it in. That being said I am a feel player & never 'calculated' amounts of squirt. I was always focused on the swerve factor & the net effect. Like Mike Siegel use to say there is no such thing as cue ball deflection.:wink: Please note the wink.

PS My first intro was to a 'juiced', sanded down Predator 314 that I could not play full table shots with because it squirted nearly zero & swerved the ball big time. It caused the problem in the opposite direction.
 
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or you could ask John Schmidt why he couldn't finish in the money with an OB cue in his hands

Softshot,

I'm not sure who you are because you don't post with your name, but I have to wonder if you really know John. Do you? Do you talk with John? Are you speaking for him, or passing on things he has said?

Here are some facts about how John played with OB products.

2007 $33530 in winnings
BCA Open 4th place
World 14.1 5th place

2008 $63705 in winnings
(first full year with OB)
TAR against Kirkwood Winner
TAR against Harriman Winner
DCC 9 Ball 3rd
WPA Desert shootout 5th
World 14.1 5th

2009 $57150 in winnings
(I believe this was the year we split up. It was at the US Open)
SBE players 1st
DCC 1 Pocket 1st (He beat Frost 3 to 1 in like 45 minutes
DCC Game Show 1st
MIzerack Championship 3rd
US 10 Ball Inventational 3rd


There were tons of things I left out, but you get the idea.

John is a great guy and a tremendous talent. He is a friend today, and always will be.

I understand that you don't like LD shafts, and that's OK! I'm good with that. But I can assure you this. Nothing that myself or my company puts out is this "Hype" as you call it. We believe in our products and what they actually do. If you don't believe they do what we say they do, I'd be happy to show you.

Shoot Well!
 
I dunno I RELY on squirt for those shots..it creates a slightly fuller hit than you can achieve shooting straight at it.

Softshot

Actually this is not correct. That is if you are referring to the shot being different with LD ("shooting straight at it") versus a regular shaft.

Keep in mind that the path of the cue ball is not any different. The only difference is in the direction the cue is pointing when it hits the cue ball.

You see, swerve, where the cue ball curves back, happens with either cue shaft because it's a function of speed, spin and the friction between the cue ball and the cloth.

With your regular squirt shaft, the cue ball squirts out to a line that then curves back into the object ball. Giving what you are referring to as a "slightly fuller hit".

With our cue shafts, the ball still curves so for the cue ball to get on that line the cue actually points more that way rather than depending on the squirt to get it there.


Both cue ball paths are pretty much the same, given that both shafts spin the cue ball the same.
 
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