I fell for the Carbon Fiber Hype

Bought a Jacoby ultra wood shaft for my Schon, about a year ago. Reason then was I wanted a 30" shaft, and I liked the idea of their laminated shaft, whether that was perceived or not, price was reasonable, and I wanted to try it. I really like that Jacoby ultra shaft. A few months back I purchased a cue lathe for tip and ferrule repair, and decided to play around with my original Schon shaft by sanding it down to the diameter of the Jacoby. Ended up pretty close, started at 13.1, and ended just under 12.8. I really like that shaft now and will probably be ordering a 30" version of it. I feel the problem with wood is making shafts consistently. Just for example, have 3 McDermot's with G Core shafts,, and every shaft plays different. Maybe carbon someday for me, but for now I'm happy with the wood ones, although I feel it is much easier to make carbon shafts consistently.
 
Having read hundreds of opinions, reviews, comments on the subject, this sounds like growing pains. A manifestation of adjustment frustrations if you will.
 
JessEm said:
Having read hundreds of opinions, reviews, comments on the subject, this sounds like growing pains. A manifestation of adjustment frustrations if you will.
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It would require one hell of an adjustment. Someone playing with a regular maple shaft would love it. It sounds like wood, feels just as good striking the ball, and has about the same deflection. Going from a LD shaft the JB is damn near impossible for me. I tried half ball potting with inside.. I had to aim full ball to make it on a medium length shot. Shorter or longer was more or less object ball.
 
I purchased a brand new REVO 12.4 a few months ago and couldn't stand it. I ended up selling it super cheap to the guy who sold me my JOSS because he gave me such a generous deal as well. He likes it.
 
The_JV said:
Am I the only member of AZB that asks people to try their equipment before investing several 100's into something...?

I have hit maybe a half dozen of CF shafts, and have zero invested in the product type. If you can't determine how a shaft hits after a handful of swings then investing >$400 in a shaft isn't going to help your game to begin with.
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This. I always wanted to try CF because of the hype but refused to pay the money. When I was in Vegas I stopped by one of the vendors and tried out a CF shaft. I hit about 10-15 balls and said nope. I was hitting fairly firm because that's when it's going to make the most difference and some I heard some guy say "Boy, he likes to hit them hard", I just laughed and walked away. What good is trying a CF shaft at slow speeds when the major difference is going to come with firmer shots.
 
mikemosconi said:
I only use plain maple shafts that were made with my cues from the mid 70s to now. I am not knocking anything else folks prefer. I have no reason or desire to play with anything but a quality straight grain maple wood shaft . Everything that is lacking in my game can almost always be directed at something in my stroke or timing or rhythm that is not where it should be on a given day.

The day I ever use a quality cue made by a quality cue maker from bumper to tip as an excuse for a bad day of pool is the day I should put my cues down forever. Once you get to the level of a B player in terms of being able to make a shot- any given shot at at least a B level- the game begins to become all about developing CONSISTENCY in a stroke that is straight and that can produce desired cue ball action in any direction, TOGETHER WITH the PSR, timing and rhythm that is also optimal on a very very consistent basis under ANY and ALL game situations. Knowledge of game strategy comes with experience.

Use of self video, self video review, and some form of proper instruction if there is inconsistency somewhere in your game is - IMO- the very best way to improve- start with the basics and leave the equipment experiments for the end of your list of improvement techniques. The minute one, who is lacking in certain parts of the game, starts to look outside of their own physical and mental approach for the answer to all the critical parts of shooting and playing well, or, starts jumping from techno cue to techno cue for the answer- you are missing out on a much more effective way to improve your game IMO.
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I probably should've sent this via PM so I don't derail the thread but how do you like the Dzuricky?
 
As it was already mentioned cf shaft does not automatically mean the lowest deflection. They vary in this respect.
The cf shaft I've finished using the quality blank had less deflection than those solid maple shafts I used to play before I started to learn and build some cues ... but if comparing to my current solid maple shaft I built for myself it had noticeably more deflection. When it comes to finish, durability etc. it's on par with all those known cf shafts.
To tell the truth the major reason I prefer playing with my wooden shaft is pretty simple ... and it was even more obvious to me once I was back to playing without a glove. I just prefer the feel of a good maple shaft in my hands comparing to that "plastic" feel.
When it comes to durability ... well that feature will be appreciated by 12 y.o. kid I coach who is mad sometimes after miss. I know how to treat my maple shafts and don't mind some extra time for that comparing to cf.
 
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ChrisinNC said:
I don’t entirely agree, although the durability and maintenance free aspects of carbon fiber shafts is a factor. For me, I think it’s more of a mental thing - my mind tells me that there must be more consistency particularly regarding deflection with carbon fiber versus wood, when applying various amounts of spin on the cue ball.. Even if it might not be proven, it gives me more confidence when I’m shooting, and we all know how important that is.
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I get where you're coming from, the confidence is a huge thing and the mental boost is probably more than worth the price. That said, I doubt anyone but people in the top 50 of fargo rate would benefit any perceptible amount from the consistency aspect. I'm not discounting the confidence and mental game boost though, but mechanically the consistency is such a small aspect that there's probably small aspects of our game that we could improve and gain 10X more results than what comes from the consistency.
 
ChrisinNC said:
Does a ding in your car keep you from driving the car? Of course not, but who wants a ding in their car or a ding in their pool cue shaft? Certainly not me!
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My shaft has a couple dings, I cannot feel them with a glove on. Someone at Tin Man's level might...
 
Really good seasoned shaft wood does not ding nearly as easily as less quality shaft wood from my experience. I rarely ding my maple shafts- but when it happens; I use a combo of a teapot steam directed at the ding, a solid glass rod for wood burnishing, and a final finish with 1500 -2000 grit paper. I finish it all off with a microfiber and I have always been successful in getting it back to prior to ding condition. I always start by cleaning the dinged shaft with a 91% alcohol dipped cotton rag or magic eraser prior to the ding removal process.
 
IMHO Jacoby black 12.3 was shit, tried my friends for a night and experienced the same thing, it is no way on the same par of the cynergy or revo shaft. Granted there is a learning curve and you line may be a little off or what ever type of (aiming) you are using needs to be tweaked. Some people love that shaft and for me I couldn't run a 3 pack... To each is their own I guess.
 
Welder84 said:
My shaft has a couple dings, I cannot feel them with a glove on. Someone at Tin Man's level might...
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I agree. I mean, geez, shoot the balls, play the game, how is a ding gonna stop you from making balls. This just tells me their focus is not in the right place when they are shooting if they are feeling dings while shooting ?
 
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Welder84 said:
My shaft has a couple dings, I cannot feel them with a glove on. Someone at Tin Man's level might...
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Also I tried the Jacoby black for two weeks. It's a good shaft, but not for me. I like a slow rise taper. When carbon shafts have more taper options I might be interested. They could also use a tan or white coating in the shaft. I find all black a little distracting.
 
S.Vaskovskyi said:
To tell the truth the major reason I prefer playing with my wood shaft is pretty simple ... and it was even more obvious to me once I was back to playing without a glove. I just prefer the feel of a good maple shaft in my hands comparing to that "plastic" feel.
When it comes to durability ... well that feature will be appreciated by 12 y.o. kid I coach who is mad sometimes after miss. I know how to treat my maple shafts and don't mind some extra time for that comparing to cf.
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This ^^^

I don't like the sterile feel of CF. I also think my disdain for 'not wood' goes way back to the fiber glass cues they made a long time ago, (do they still make those?). I got it in my head that anything not wood was a gimmick. Don't think I'll ever shake that. Thus far I have yet to experience anything to make me think otherwise.

I've had my Z2 player for +15yrs, and has one tiny ding. I feel it when I stroke on occasion, and just turn it off my knuckle. I stopped wacking my cue off the table after my balls dropped and I started buying my own things.
 
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