I am curious, have you owned any higher end low deflection shafts amd how did they compare?
I'v read different opinions on how low deflection they actually are but havent hit with a hxt(hit a lot of regular players cues).
Some guy named Brandon on youtube has a billiard business selling cues, he does tons of reviews on various cues and shafts, he basically lists all the selling points and talks up the cues(no negative comments). He has many reviews of various hxt,purex cues,and does a little makeshift deflection test for his reviews(
If you watch, the deflection tests, they don't seem low deflection at all, or the deflection reduction is fairly minimal. But the tests are far from scientific.
There is a skinny version too, ?
Definitely a better value buying the whole cue and not just the shaft.
Yes I have played with and owned almost every shaft out there, from the REVO to the HXT to shafts on $60-100 cheap cues. I currently own a REVO, Mexx wx900, two OB2 shafts, two HXT shafts and three custom made LD shafts, and played with just about every shaft out there, tons of Predator shafts both on my cues and friends cues, played with a dozen other shafts during SBE and BCA trade show. I also own a lot of standard shafts to compare with, three Ned Morris shafts that went with my main cue, two McDermott shafts, two Lucasi standard shafts and a shaft from a Dale Perry cue which I have to say has a super sweet hit and puts some nice action on the cueball. But I am sure that is not the largest amount of different shafts people own on here LOL
I have both the skinny that is 11.75 mm and the standard but I had it brought down to 12.5. I like aiming with the lesser deflection shaft but like the hit feel of the larger shaft. The HXT shafts have more deflection but much better hit feel that many other LD shafts, especially the Predator ones.
For me to do a comparison of all the shafts I tried would be a several page document LOL
All I can say for shafts is "you can't just pick one and stop", you never know what your aiming and stroke will match with best at the end. Any suggestion any of us has is just the first step, there is almost 0 chance that anyone that has interest in learning and studying the game of pool or is passionate about it like we are will keep one shaft or one cue for the rest of their playing days. In fact I bet most of us swap shafts and cues several times a month, if not to fully play with then for the fun of trying something new.
