Pia Filler hates wood shafts

[overlord]

It's resistant to minor dings. If you hit one too hard or just the wrong way, it breaks or chips and repairs are not straight forward or guaranteed to work. It probably shouldn't happen if you are careful with your cue, but it can happen. I guess the cue being solid has value if you chuck it in the trunk after playing or play in bars etc. It can also have some value to a pro that has to travel a lot with the cue from humid to dry environments, probably. If you fly from Nevada to the Phillipines then to Germany and China, it's good to know the shaft won't warp.

I'm not a world beater at this game and I never will be. The enjoyment is in the playing, hitting the ball sweetly and getting that great feeling you get when you hit the ball just right and the cue makes that wonderful sound and gives you a nice feel in the hand. The soulless, hollow "thunk" or "plink" from a carbon cue just doesn't deliver that for me. Most people playing carbon tend to use soft tips, to mitigate the horrible feel and sound, and that's just the opposite of what I prefer. The lousy feedback also robs me of information about how I'm hitting the ball as a bad stroke feels no different to a perfect one. I feel it's harder to stay on top of my game with carbon.

Filler seems to be doing just fine playing with CF.

Champions win with CF or Wood.

Wood shafts are a lot more work than CF.

CF so easy to maintain.........

 

[Coos Cues]

Pia Filler doesn't play strong enough to know the difference in such minutia. She is entitled to her opinions of course but it's not the gospel.

 

[axejunkie]

I see about as many CF shafts and wood shafts in my shop, so they are far from indestructible. If you go back and listen to the original promo video Predator made for the Revo line of shafts, Pia is basically just parroting those claims, so this is nothing more than marketing in a more personal form. The constant comparison to tennis rackets, golf clubs and hockey sticks is a bit dishonest, as none of these pieces of sports equipment have a high focus on feel and feedback. I think a more fair comparison would be instruments where feel is essential and if you have a look there, Carbon fiber has made very little inroads in the music instrument market..
If you prefer wood or carbon fiber, they both have advantages and disadvantages, saying categorically that one is better like Pia (and Predator) does is just not true. It really depends on what features you emphasis.

You make some good points in reference to tennis and golf. Those sports have ever-present metrics like serve speed and swing or ball speed, which must be on some constant albeit gentle upward trajectory over time. No comparable metric in pool exists. Break speed has been measured but we know it's much less meaningful than those in tennis or golf.

 

[lfigueroa]

That has not been my experience.

I used to go crazy steaming out dings in wood shafts.

You can always feel little imperfections where the ding was.

CF is super smooth.

Put some water in a cup, microwave it to boiling, dip a Q-tip in and apply to the ding.

Viola.

Lou Figueroa
beware super heating the water
because it can explode

 

[Z-Nole]

Some women just don’t like wood.

This took way too long for someone to say!

 

[Chris]

That has not been my experience.

I used to go crazy steaming out dings in wood shafts.

You can always feel little imperfections where the ding was.

CF is super smooth.

My experience aligns with Lou's (although our techniques differ). Perhaps your personal ding removal technique needs refinement.

 

[Coos Cues]

My experience aligns with Lou's (although our techniques differ). Perhaps your personal ding removal technique needs refinement.

Some shafts are so dinged up you have to take greater measures.

 

[Chris]

Some shafts are so dinged up you have to take greater measures.

I can see that with house cues, but I typically remove dings from my personal shafts within a few hours of each ding. That way, dings don't accumulate. Personally, a ding on an otherwise smooth shaft feels like a huge crater, so its removal is very high priority once I leave the pool room.

 

[Coos Cues]

I can see that with house cues, but I typically remove dings from my personal shafts within a few hours of each ding. That way, dings don't accumulate. Personally, a ding on an otherwise smooth shaft feels like a huge crater, so its removal is very high priority once I leave the pool room.

You would be amazed at some of the shafts people play with. Just today I put a tip on a shaft that felt like a french tickler. I always try and clean and smooth the shafts when I put tips on and charge a few dollars more but people seem to appreciate it. Lots of comments on the shaft and very few on the tips.

 

[Chris]

You would be amazed at some of the shafts people play with. Just today I put a tip on a shaft that felt like a french tickler. I always try and clean and smooth the shafts when I put tips on and charge a few dollars more but people seem to appreciate it. Lots of comments on the shaft and very few on the tips.

I can believe it. I've encountered a lot of bangers and, to a lesser extent, newer players who have been led to believe that sandpaper is the best way to keep a shaft clean and smooth. Their approach to shaft maintenance is clearly suboptimal.

 

[Cleveland_Rocks]

Pia can be Pia, but as for mea, I play with carbon. Predator 12.4 Revo. Less muss and fuss, thus my decision. I also have a Revo on my break and on my jump for consistency. I would much rather do drills on a nine footer for an hour than talk about cues for an hour.

 

[Highmiles]

I am amazed by all the concern for dings in wood shafts. Are people using them for sword fights between games? I have had 2 dings to repair in the last 10 years. Both dings were easily removed in a very few minutes.
I value my equipment and certainly don’t mind keeping it clean and in good condition.
Carbon fiber is great for some people, but not the favorite of all people. My only fear is that someday there won’t be a chance to still get a good wood shaft, and that will be a sad day. I fear that marketing “facts” are being taken too seriously by some players. I wish I had a dollar for every new player I see using carbon fiber, and who hasn’t hit a shot that wasn’t center ball in his/her life. Does carbon fiber make playing easier for everyone? Of course not, but some are able to utilize the lower deflection and some are not. Is carbon fiber “that much better” than a low deflection wood or Kiel wood shaft? Doesn’t matter because it only matters if you are smart enough to compensate correctly for what you use, and we all have to compensate. There are no winners or losers in this argument, find what works for you. Don’t be like the beginners that think they can ONLY play with what some marketers are telling/selling them.

 

[smoochie]

I think this is the first time hearing this argument against using wood shafts. I have been thinking for a while of switching from my Revo to a 314 shaft so I can get more feedback. Maybe even keilwood. But apparently wood shafts play different depending on humidity. Humidity changes depending on the season and geo location. I mean humidity changes a lot all the time, like a rainy day. I would rather not add another inconsistency to playing pool if there is any truth to what she is saying?

Why wouldn't she hate wood? Playing with wood is like still using Nokia flash old phones today because you dislike how the smartphones/iphones look.

There's zero advantage to playing with wood as opposed to playing with a CF, in fact playing with a CF will ultimately advances your levels by at least 20% to 30% from where you've started...i.e. the lower level you are the higher you would feel the jump, if you're already a high level player your jump isnt as severe but it is a more consistant jump still.

We've discussed this or at least I did in a whole another thread, I aint gona start the argument again from the wood lovers and those who go by "OH BUT BUT I HATE THE SOUND OF CF" -- BS excuse.


Go back and use these please, because you like how they feel

 

[Rocket354]

I am amazed by all the concern for dings in wood shafts. Are people using them for sword fights between games? I have had 2 dings to repair in the last 10 years. Both dings were easily removed in a very few minutes.
I value my equipment and certainly don’t mind keeping it clean and in good condition.

There's also freeing up the mental real estate and not worrying about your cue. I can move balls around with the cue without being dainty, worrying about it, and still checking it later. If the cue gets knocked over, no concern.

And that's in addition to less general maintenance, less worrying about warpage, and staying smoother longer.