Traditional wood shafts making comeback?

skor said:
I get that, I do, and I have some nice shafts with some of my cues that are not really in use.

If you are a recreational player, then this will work. But if you compete, even just in a local league, you want to get any equipment advantage that you can.

I just returned to the game; when I quit, there were no CF shafts, and Predator LD shafts were still the kings. I have a bunch of 314-2 shafts; some are barely chalked... and yet I jumped on the CF shaft waggon because I wanted to see if they can give any kind of edge.

To be honest, in terms of playability, I don't see it yet, but just not having to care about dings, cleaning and such is a blessing.

I also got a new cue for league because I can't attach an extension to any of my other cues (except for the Jacoby, but that's a $200 extension); that's another tool that brings an edge to your play if you compete. I didn't think about it before getting CF shafts; to cues I can't attach an extension. I could have saved some money going with a brand new set of cues instead of trying to bring the other cues up to current speed.

And here lies another issue: just like you, I like my older cues more...

Back in the day, I would shoot a lot, 4-5 times a week, so I would take, every now and then, a different cue. Even with a regular shaft, I could jump from standard to LD with no issue. Today, I limit myself to twice a week, and one of those nights is league night, so I try to focus on one cue and one shaft, and all the other cues will have to wait until I get back to stroke (if ever...).

In the last league session I started to play well, but all of a sudden, I started to miss balls. I switched the CF to a 314-2 I brought as a backup, and I started to shoot well again... maybe it's psychological; maybe it's a thing of still needing to get used to CF shafts. I don't know... And yet I do believe that CF (or any other future composite) is the future, and I want it to work for me. The next day, I replaced the tip on that CF shaft and went out to shoot, and I was shooting well again (relatively).
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Very well said.

I'm not knocking carbon shafts at all. I got a lot of shit on here for saying I have a competition setup aka professional setup with all the bells and whistles in my bag for tournaments. A lot of pockets to hold what I think I need.

I also have a fancy leather case with custom cues. No break cue, no jumping and no tip tools and its for recreational play and enjoyment.

I grab either-or depending what I'm doing.

Lets face it....if I'm playing seriously the fancy Manzinos of the world isn't coming with me. LOL
 
skor said:
Actually, in the long run, a CF shaft is cheaper.
No need for maintenance products, no need to refinish for dings, no need to a new one when it warps.
Just wipe it down and continue shooting.
So if you are in the market for a cue or shaft, a $400 CF is cheaper than a $125 wood and where do you get a really good wooden shaft for $125?
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I hear ya. But for consideration, I've played primarily with only one of my two shafts since 2017 and have spend zero dollars on maintenance. While CF is more durable, from my perspective this entire discussion is really for fanatics, which is cool, but it really is de minimis either way. My fargo says that I am 646 as of this writing. If switching to CF and / or low deflection would get me to 700 tomorrow, then I'd jump right on it. But it won't for me, and it won't for anyone.

But really, it's all good. The far better question is what music to listen to when playing. I've been all over the map recently...from Delta Blues to The Clash to Warren Zevon to hip hop. I think I play best to fast...so sometimes metal is best.

Cheers,

JL
 
slide13 said:
I have not seen any move back towards wood around me. Wood is still in use by mostly casual players and a few serious players here and there but that number seems to be dropping. Most players I see who are intermediate or above are playing carbon these days.

Small local tournament last weekend had about 25 players and I'd say probably 20 of them were playing carbon shafts for their playing cue (probably a few more than that for break cues, number of players play with a carbon shaft but still breaking with wood)
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I'd say this is about the ratio of wood to CF in my area as well
 
skor said:
If you are a recreational player, then this will work. But if you compete, even just in a local league, you want to get any equipment advantage that you can.
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I talked to a 728 rated player two nights ago about his shaft. Kielwood evidently. I asked if it was spliced / low defecltion or whatever. He didn't know. It looked like just brownish maple with no splices, so I guess it's kielwood or whatever its called. I guess its another ball of wax entirely and I have no clue about it either. But he played great with it. Of course, I've only seen him play great, and I have no clue what he shoots with normally.
 
skor said:
And yet I do believe that CF (or any other future composite) is the future, and I want it to work for me. The next day, I replaced the tip on that CF shaft and went out to shoot, and I was shooting well again (relatively).
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If I ever to have a need to get another cue, I'll just try CF. I agree it's the future and not having to worry about warpage and dings is worth it for that reason alone.
 
billiards_watch said:
I still like it that my friend has 40 year old blanks and I'm trying to convince him to let me send one of them to my cue maker.

The shaft would be as old as me. It's the romanticism I guess.

Buying a Johnny come lately synthetic shaft doesn't sound as cool.
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That would be nice. I bought a maple schon shaft with my new schon and hated it, but I bought an old ex era schon with schon shafts from 1993 and absolutely love it. That slow grown maple definitely hits different
 
sciarco said:
World class players get good $$$ for playing with Cf shafts it's all about money, if they went back to wood Cf shafts wouldn't be so popular.
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Don't know about the "good $$$", but YES, amateurs do want to use what the pros are using and this is true to all sports.
For a pro player that travel the world, the durability and consistency of CF that may give the player a clear mindset regarding the equipment is worth gold.
 
Moe Szyslak said:
Don't they also use much less english than pool players and therefore don't have to deal with deflection much, though?
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They use enough English but the tip is like 9mm so front end mass is low so it’s a low deflection cue compared to a traditional pool shaft.
The balls are smaller so it does balance it a bit.
There is no doubt that snooker stayed more traditional than pool when it comes to equipment but I’m sure they will catch up eventually.

BTW, Snooker cues don’t use maple, they use Ash
 
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