Recreational player one cue do it all
- Thread starter mickael57280
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mickael57280
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With the 25% customs fees on the price of merchandise plus shipping cost it get high fast!
I avoid breaking with an LD shaft unless it's at like 75% power, they have lower end mass which means thinner ferrule walls and hollow areas in the front, lighter material used, more risk of damage that way.
My son decides not to listen to me and broke two shafts breaking with his playing shaft, one was an OB another a custom made shaft. After he was told by the cue maker to not break with it due to the weaker structure, and we lost a great hitting shaft.
When I do break with my playing cue it's when I know I am not going to be putting full power into the break, so 8 ball break is pretty much out, and 9 and 10 ball breaks with the template only. Anything else I grab a house cue to break with.
Well, if there was ever a time for a large comparison write up, now is likely it, lol.
Thanks for your input brother, hope you are well
mickael57280
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55$ shipping from billiardwarehouse, GREAT.
Now the problem is that I'm totally confused...
1. Is a Schmelke a better cue than a Players?
2. Is a LD shaft better than an solid maple?
3. Is it better to have a break cue even if I don't play more than 10 hours a week?
Now the problem is that I'm totally confused...
1. Is a Schmelke a better cue than a Players?
2. Is a LD shaft better than an solid maple?
3. Is it better to have a break cue even if I don't play more than 10 hours a week?
1.) You will pocket balls just the same with either one.
2.) You will pocket balls just the same with either one (but the aiming will differ)
3.) Depends on what tip/ferrule you're using on your playing cue. If you're sporting an Elkmaster tip on a thin LD ferrule, then I'd spring for a cheap break cue or break "off the wall". A hard tip on a standard ferrule (non-LD) you can break with all day long.
We're overthinking this a ton.
Maniac
Buy the standard Schmelke sneaky pete with standard shaft and triangle tip,,, then go play pool, nothing else needed. Enjoy
I also have two HXT shafts, both in the 12.75 configuration. I love them both. I can't say that they're all that way, but the wood on my two are of excellent quality. They are both arrow-straight w/zero rollout.
As far as the LD qualities go, mine seem to play closer to a standard deflection shaft than an LD shaft. That said, that is fine with me because my main playing cue (by Larry Vigus) has two shafts that are both standard deflection.
Edit to add: The HXT Skinny shaft (11.75mm) has a shorter ferrule and could possibly have better LD qualities than the 12.75mm shafts that I have, but...IDK.
I would not hesitate for one second recommending an HXT shaft to someone looking for a standard replacement shaft. I like the hit of both of mine better than I do my 314-2's or my OB Classic and would not have any misgivings at all if I ever had to pull one out of my case as an emergency replacement.
https://www.seyberts.com/purex_hxt_shafts
Maniac
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I have only played with one Schmelke cue, and I did not like it as much as the Players cues I have played with. The construction felt a bit rough and I did not like the hit feel or the shaft.
LD shafts are not "better" without having a lot of extra things added to is. For some players LD shafts are better. For a beginner, I think they will be much better. For an experienced player, probably not. They all have benefits, I think the benefits to standard shafts are not as strong as the LD shaft benefits. The only thing a standard shaft does better than an LD shaft performance wise is jumping, the rest is the feel and what you are used to playing with. There is no real right or wrong choice since without trying things over several years you won't know what YOU like and can play with at a good level. Like I said in my other post, whatever you buy you should consider it a starting point, I don't know any good player that stopped at playing with one cue and especially not with just one shaft. Heck, I know C players that carry around like 3 grand worth of equipment and shafts. Nothing mentioned in the thread is inherently worse or better, it's not like you are picking a car based on reliability or gas mileage. A cue depends on you to do most of the work, I find that and LD shaft helps you more to do the work properly to make the ball, so that is what I suggest most often. I mean these days would you go out and buy and old style long bow or a composite newer design bow? Newer tech helps you do what you need to, you don't see the military still use muskets, they are using modern rifled barrels with high tech designs of guns and the ammunition, because it helps them hit the target and do what they need to do better. Same thing for LD shafts.
You can get a break cue for like $50 that is just fine to use, so it's really a matter of how much space your bag has to hold it. a 2x2 or 2x4 case is a good start, many of the players use a 3x6 for backup shafts or just different shafts to play with and maybe a second butt to carry with for variety or even a spare or a loaner for a friend.
I like carrying things since I often run into people that ask about shafts and cues/pins, etc.. and it's nice to have them on hand to show.
It's normal to be confused or at least not sure about things, unless you have a ton of money and can just buy whatever that is the curse of being able to think and having options. You are limited to what you can try, and even people that are not limited tend to hop back and forth between what they want or like. Without going somewhere to try out cues, you are guessing about what you will like.
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mickael57280
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I was thinkin' that the Players HXT shaft is a true LD shaft...
If not what's the option if you want to play with a LD shaft as your 1st cue when you start playing ?
If not what's the option if you want to play with a LD shaft as your 1st cue when you start playing ?
If your budget is @ $200 like you said in the OP, then the HXT is about the only real choice.
Maniac
mickael57280
Registered
So if you want a true LD no other choice to spend something like 400$ for a Mezz or something like that ?
bet a $1000 he doesn't buy shit. lol.
mickael57280
Registered
It was more of a question...
If you're a beginner and want to start right on with a real LD cue you have no other choice to paid more than 400$?
Why the Players HXT is so much apreciate if it's not a LD shaft?
If you're a beginner and want to start right on with a real LD cue you have no other choice to paid more than 400$?
Why the Players HXT is so much apreciate if it's not a LD shaft?
New player, adult and ten hours a week. Considering how hard it is to develop and maintain a accurate and repeatable stroke, when coming into this game late, why overthink this?
Can you shoot straight in shots from the far end of the table? Always? And can it be done chosing which side or center of the pocket? My point is vertical axis can get you to a lot of positions. Controlling that, especially with draw, takes an awfully long time. Why a complicated routine when basics need to be mastered first?
I play around with my notebook of sidespin drills but I also know the reality of how difficult this is. Can a LD shaft make it easier, sure. But untill you have the stroke, aim and speed nailed down pat I fail to see how a hot shit cue will help. They are nice to look at, I have some, but a Players or Schmelke will do me and most, just fine.
Can you shoot straight in shots from the far end of the table? Always? And can it be done chosing which side or center of the pocket? My point is vertical axis can get you to a lot of positions. Controlling that, especially with draw, takes an awfully long time. Why a complicated routine when basics need to be mastered first?
I play around with my notebook of sidespin drills but I also know the reality of how difficult this is. Can a LD shaft make it easier, sure. But untill you have the stroke, aim and speed nailed down pat I fail to see how a hot shit cue will help. They are nice to look at, I have some, but a Players or Schmelke will do me and most, just fine.
Exactly what I was thinking.
See my first and last paragraph in post #48.
I've given all the advice/help that I can. So I'm done here.
Maniac
They are low deflection, the thicker one with larger ferrule is in between a standard shaft and lowest deflection stuff. The 11.75 HXT shaft is very close to many of the Predator and OB shafts. For the price you won't get a better cue with an LD shaft than the PureX line, which is the HXT stuff with a newer name.
If you want to get into come cues for cheaper, look for used stuff. What I like doing is pairing a good quality but cheap butt with whatever shaft I want, which is why I try to keep my cues with a very small range of pins, most of mine are 3/8 x 10 pins so I just need to get shafts with that pin and I can try them out on a bunch of butts for balance and hit feel. At one point my favorite setup was a McDermott Lucky wrapless cue worth about $70 with a 2" extension with a pin adapter that I was using with a uniloc REVO shaft that is $500. It had a better hit than the shaft did with the Predator butt it came with which was worth 6-7 times what the other cue was.
This has gone on too long. Look at the OP question as a math problem.
Twin brothers both with the same athletic ability and eye/hand coordination. They both have $400. to spend on their new hobby, pool. Brother a. Adam, takes his $400 and buys a cool LD cue. Brother b. Bob, takes $80. and buys a Players sneaky Pete, another $20. for a case and spends the remaining $300. on six hourly lessons from the local Pro who happens to specialize in stroke and SPF training.
Both brothers practice ten hours a week for the next year. Who will be the better player?
For the next year both brothers practice and play ten hours a week. At the end of that year who is the better player?
My simple contention is that Bob, if he were to gamble, would not only still be the better player but would have won enough money from Adam and their friends to both buy a super nice Mezz with LD shaft and lessons from a pro well known for position training.
No one can really tell the OP what the best course is. But maybe he should look at it as a math problem.
Twin brothers both with the same athletic ability and eye/hand coordination. They both have $400. to spend on their new hobby, pool. Brother a. Adam, takes his $400 and buys a cool LD cue. Brother b. Bob, takes $80. and buys a Players sneaky Pete, another $20. for a case and spends the remaining $300. on six hourly lessons from the local Pro who happens to specialize in stroke and SPF training.
Both brothers practice ten hours a week for the next year. Who will be the better player?
For the next year both brothers practice and play ten hours a week. At the end of that year who is the better player?
My simple contention is that Bob, if he were to gamble, would not only still be the better player but would have won enough money from Adam and their friends to both buy a super nice Mezz with LD shaft and lessons from a pro well known for position training.
No one can really tell the OP what the best course is. But maybe he should look at it as a math problem.
Your math equation has some merit, but it does have at least one hole in it.
Some people are just born with an innate talent to be able to do certain things which require others to have to constantly practice at and still maybe not achieve the ability of the one that was born with it.
In your scenario, if Adam had that innate ability and just naturally became an excellent pool player, Bob may have to put in a shit-ton of hours of lessons and practice to be able to break even with Adam....and then still maybe cannot.
I've personally witnessed innate ability in action in many hobbies/pastimes of people I have been associated with, and I have seen those who have spent hundreds of dollars on lessons and countless hours of practice that still cannot make four balls in a row.
Either you have it, or you don't. HAMB will increase your chances of success though, IMHO.
Maniac