Wood or carbon?

[SpiderWebComm]

I've seen the tip size on CF shafts vary from one maker to another. But haven't seen anything on the overall weight.
What do they usually come in at? All under 4 oz. or even 3.5 oz? Any over 4 oz?

 

[Texas Carom Club]

I have had wooden shafts for 15 years or older without dent and no warping. Had them since I was 15 years old ... I always took care of them. I go to pool halls and see guys walking around with cues screwed together out of their cases walking around like goofballs... Rediculous .. what do you expect being so careless ...

I never leave them screwed together if I'm not using them ... It's not painful to unscrew them and put them away until you need them

Yay

 

[RADAR]

At end of the day the CF,kielwood its all about the marketing there is not enough difference to make a difference at any skill level of play. All about the cash!

 

[iusedtoberich]

I had SD 3c Revo for a bit, it went back to seller coz of defect and I did not rebuy.

I didn't like it for 3c at all but it was good for pool.

Nice, I never heard of anyone having one, ha ha.

What was the defect by the way? I had to return one Revo shaft, the joint insert was not concentric with the joint collar. I must have had 20 314/Z' over the years, and they were always perfect.

 

[hang-the-9]

Need 1 more column..
Sponsored by

Very likely same as the one they use. As in 95% likely.

 

[Bob Jewett]

Very likely same as the one they use. As in 95% likely.

If you're in the top 10 at carom you are probably sponsored by a cue maker, but it's not actually stated. On the other hand, I think none of those players is going to use a shaft they don't like.

 

[RDeca]

If you're in the top 10 at carom you are probably sponsored by a cue maker, but it's not actually stated. On the other hand, I think none of those players is going to use a shaft they don't like.

There is not really bad products anymore in pool once you go above 300$ or so. It's common sense to Use whoever is gonna pay you the most money. (Wich is predator and cutec) this is why alot of pros use their equipment

 

[Black-Balled]

Nice, I never heard of anyone having one, ha ha.

What was the defect by the way? I had to return one Revo shaft, the joint insert was not concentric with the joint collar. I must have had 20 314/Z' over the years, and they were always perfect.

There was something loose inside. No impact on playability at all.

It was hard to pay full retail and I was glad to bail on it.

I spent a good bit of time with it and hated the pool-ish taper.

 

[Baby Huey]

I think the Carbon Fiber is certainly more emperical (accurate) with the hit. But certain shots especially in One Pocket you desire a scoot or swerve out of the cue ball. Touchy high spin low speed ball take outs from your opponents pocket, IMO, are better served with a maple shaft. You can't get that cueball action with carbon.

 

[jokrswylde]

I remember 50 years ago we had the same discussion about tennis racquets, and that many of the top pros were using wood racquets because they grew up playing with them and that is what they were used to. Now you occasionally see one at Good Will or a garage sale.

There are threads ad nauseum on here on the wood vs. CF debate, so I don't want to get into that again. But to your point, I am not sure the performance increase is the same as in Tennis rackets (or golf clubs). With those high speed, high impact sports I think the CF clearly has a huge advantage.

I am an old purist I guess. Just like with my custom knives...CF or Micarta are higher tech, more durable options for handles, but I prefer wood scales all day. With my shafts, I actually enjoy the blue tint and the whole process of cleaning them, and dings are like battle scars.

Ah, who am I kidding. I am really close to pulling the trigger on a Rogue.

 

[SSP]

I think the Carbon Fiber is certainly more emperical (accurate) with the hit. But certain shots especially in One Pocket you desire a scoot or swerve out of the cue ball. Touchy high spin low speed ball take outs from your opponents pocket, IMO, are better served with a maple shaft. You can't get that cueball action with carbon.

All shafts wood, CF, whatever comes next will have some deflection, stroke is what produces spin regardless of the shaft

 

[dendweller]

All shafts wood, CF, whatever comes next will have some deflection, stroke is what produces spin regardless of the shaft

I'm always considering a cf shaft, had a couple didn't keep em.

Now I'm considering it again, looked for youtube vids of reviews on revo and defy.
One of the revo reviews was by the CTE guy. It became clear pretty quickly that it wasn't a review, more of a sales pitch for CTE. I could tell when he set up some shots with a sheet hanging over the table so he couldn't see the pocket. Pretty perceptive of me I think.

To be fair I didn't watch the whole thing, once I saw 2 minutes of the benefits of CTE I split.

 

[PoolBum]

I'm eager to try one of those new carbon fiberglass shafts.

 

[Woodshaft]

Are the days of wood numbered?

No. I'd venture to say that the 5 guys using carbon are being paid handsomely to do so, just like most of the top carbon players in pool.
If sponsorship money wasn't involved, I believe carbon wouldn't be in most top players' hands.

 

[Woodshaft]

On the other hand, I think none of those players is going to use a shaft they don't like.

Guaranteed sponsorship money has more power than you think

 

[Cuedup]

People will wait ridiculous amounts of time and pay outrageous prices for an exclusive custom cue they've never even hit before because they're purist but the people buying carbon Fibre shafts because of "marketing ".

Riiiight.

 

[Bob Jewett]

Guaranteed sponsorship money has more power than you think

On the other hand, for carom there is a major reason the top players want to stay at the top. If you are in the top 12, you get an automatic invite to the tour events and that includes travel, hotel and some guaranteed prize money. If you fall out of the top 12, you lose that. I doubt that a sponsor is going to pay enough to get a player to put that status at risk.

 

[Woodshaft]

On the other hand, for carom there is a major reason the top players want to stay at the top. If you are in the top 12, you get an automatic invite to the tour events and that includes travel, hotel and some guaranteed prize money. If you fall out of the top 12, you lose that. I doubt that a sponsor is going to pay enough to get a player to put that status at risk.

Some sponsorship money exceeds 6 figures annually, GUARANTEED. Even I would play with a carbon fiber shaft for that peace of mind.
Look at your list. 4 out of 5 carbon boys are using a Predator shaft.
Predator is a gold mine. They're paying those players very well because they need the pro exposure to sell their high-profit cf shafts.
Again, GUARANTEED, reliable income for the top players trumps all.
Do you really think that Predator wants Josh Filler to play with his favorite low-profit wood Z3?
He's using a carbon shaft now to keep the sponsorship money flowing, and I don't blame him.

 

[iusedtoberich]

For me personally as a pool player, I found out about Predator from a magazine ad in the mid 90’s. It was the pool room copy I was flipping through. It was talking about the deflection, not any pro player. There was a local dealer who had one and I hit a few shots with it. None of the room players had one. I was probably a C- player at the time. 1 single shot with spin was all it took to convince me something was completely different about this shaft. I bought the shaft right then. It was either 140 or 125. 25 years later and I’m still loyal to the brand.

I didn’t even know any pro player names at the time other than efren and Earl, and I could care less what cues they were using.

I’m sure players are influenced by what pros use. But when there is a demonstrable difference in a shaft, none of that endorsement means that much, imo.

 

[Woodshaft]

For me personally as a pool player, I found out about Predator from a magazine ad in the mid 90’s. It was the pool room copy I was flipping through. It was talking about the deflection, not any pro player. There was a local dealer who had one and I hit a few shots with it. None of the room players had one. I was probably a C- player at the time. 1 single shot with spin was all it took to convince me something was completely different about this shaft. I bought the shaft right then. It was either 140 or 125. 25 years later and I’m still loyal to the brand.

I didn’t even know any pro player names at the time other than efren and Earl, and I could care less what cues they were using.

I’m sure players are influenced by what pros use. But when there is a demonstrable difference in a shaft, none of that endorsement means that much, imo.

For the sheep, endorsement is everything. And there are a lot of sheep.
You're not Predator's target market.