Do carbon fiber shafts make the game easier?

Straightpool_99

Straightpool_99

I see dead balls
Silver Member
Simple question, but to clarify:
Would a person who switches to a carbon fiber shaft (Predator, Cuetec, Jacoby etc.), play at a higher level afterwards, with the same amount of practise as before, after he has gotten used to it?
 
P

poolguy4u

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
.



Yes makes the game easier. More consistent hit.

Straight as an arrow and smooth. Cue ball control is easy.


Pocketing balls is easier too. Heck, you might even run 627 with one.





.





.
 
conetip

conetip

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Some carbon shafts are superior to a wood shaft. They have total radial consistency. They are less effected by the weather and temp and humidity.
Many people do have a game improvement with a good carbon cue shaft compared to the wood cue shaft that they were using.
Neil
 
S

S.Vaskovskyi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Straightpool_99 said:
Simple question, but to clarify:
Would a person who switches to a carbon fiber shaft (Predator, Cuetec, Jacoby etc.), play at a higher level afterwards, with the same amount of practise as before, after he has gotten used to it?
Click to expand...
It may be c.f. shafts make the game easier... time will tell...but what I do know they are definitely make it easier to maintain it to be clean, slick and having more consistent feel in the bridging hand when the environments change.
Second point...for me as the learning student in cue-building once there are good quality ready to finish c.f. tube blanks offered here and there from the suppliers...ready c.f. blank makes it easier to complete the shaft when it comes to knowing exactly how much time needed till it's completely finished with more consistent result and there's no/or very low risk the shaft moves afterwards.
So as c.f. is a man made material and all those people responsible for marketing making a good job attracting the demand for c.f. shafts it definitely makes it easier to make more money with less time needed for a finished product having more consistent quality.
Unfortunately pool players are not in that situation like snooker players having possibility to make a nice living when their profits could be based on the prize money won. So as they are not as free as snooker players it's much cheaper for big production companies to have them in their pro-team to promote their products and making the hobbyists believe ...whatever they are interested in.
I would be glad to see what pool would look like if there is real money in the sport in competitions for the players so to make them not so dependent on... The main question to find those other sponsors to be interested in pool.
For the time being the main hope is for Matchroom finally finding some solutions).
 
Last edited:
S

S.Vaskovskyi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
One more thought to consider.
It is not so long for the annual MC from Matchroom to come.
Let's look at it from this sight of view...
It is Europe - the continent where pool is treated more or less as a sport with the top 5 players in the team playing:
J.Filler - Predator with Z3 shaft
E.Kaci - Predator with 314 shaft (at least he switched back as I know)
A.Kazakis - IQ custom cues with their solid maple LD shaft
J.Shaw - Peri cues with their maple LD shaft
N.Feijen - Longoni with their spliced LD shaft.

And it is USA where pool is not treated as a real sport but mostly as a game unfortunately and top 5 american players in the team:
SVB - Cuetec with Cynergy c.f. shaft
S.Woodward - Meucci with Carbon pro shaft he played at the International Open?
T.Styer - Predator with a Revo 12.9 shaft
B.Thorpe - Cuetec with Cynergy shaft
??? - whoever Johan picks will be the only player playing "old school".
So what we will also see...whose approach works better and is all this hi-tech stuff going to make this game any easier for team USA?
What team would you bet your last money on? ;)

P.S. the main question even if it makes the game easier ...does it make you a better player?
 
Last edited:
trob

trob

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Straightpool_99 said:
Simple question, but to clarify:
Would a person who switches to a carbon fiber shaft (Predator, Cuetec, Jacoby etc.), play at a higher level afterwards, with the same amount of practise as before, after he has gotten used to it?
Click to expand...

No..you still need knowledge and solid fundamentals. Low deflection shafts and carbon fiber shafts are just another choice on the market. They definitely hit different. If you like that different hit and it gives you confidence then play with it.
 
$TAKE HOR$E

$TAKE HOR$E

champagne - campaign
Silver Member
poolguy4u said:
.



Yes makes the game easier. More consistent hit.

Straight as an arrow and smooth. Cue ball control is easy.


Pocketing balls is easier too. Heck, you might even run 627 with one.
Click to expand...

They warp, not as often as wood but most people would be surprised at the quality control coming out of these places making them. I spoke to a cuemaker recently and a Chinese company had about a 30% scrap ratio. That seems extremely high to me for a man made product but it’s possible I guess.
 
G

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
$TAKE HOR$E said:
They warp, not as often as wood but most people would be surprised at the quality control coming out of these places making them. I spoke to a cuemaker recently and a Chinese company had about a 30% scrap ratio. That seems extremely high to me for a man made product but it’s possible I guess.
Click to expand...
If the layup and curing is not done properly you could get a non-straight shaft. Once its made its not going to change tho. They shouldn't change shape over time once the cf/adhesives are cured. Don't know about all brands but Go Customs has a +/-.3mm, +/-.01" straightness guarantee. That's pretty darn straight. I've seen played with four(both Revo's and BeCue, Cynergy) and they were all dead straight. As for easier? I don't really think so. Maybe a lil extra energ. trans. I do think cf is a FAR superior material as far as durability, ease of care. Look, getting quality, properly cured maple is already tuff and its not going to get any better. CF is the future.
 
Last edited:
KRJ

KRJ

Support UKRAINE
Silver Member
garczar said:
If the layup and curing is not done properly you could get a non-straight shaft. Once its made its not going to change tho. They shouldn't change shape over time once the cf/adhesives are cured. Don't know about all brands but Go Customs has a +/-.3mm, +/-.01" straightness guarantee. That's pretty darn straight. I've seen played with four(both Revo's and BeCue, Cynergy) and they were all dead straight. As for easier? I don't really think so. Maybe a lil extra energ. trans. I do think cf is a FAR superior material as far as durability, ease of care. Look, getting quality, properly cured maple is already tuff and its not going to get any better. CF is the future.[/QUOTE]

Probably right. Look at baseball, once they went to a metal bat they never went back. The pro's don't use them (they'd kill someone) but from little league through Div 1 baseball uses metal bats. Go into any sporting goods store and you might not even find a wood baseball bat inside ;)

On occasion when my son played travel baseball, they'd have a "wood bat tournament".... the kids didn't look forward to as much as you think. They liked their metal ;)
Click to expand...
 
G

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
ChicagoRJ said:
garczar said:
If the layup and curing is not done properly you could get a non-straight shaft. Once its made its not going to change tho. They shouldn't change shape over time once the cf/adhesives are cured. Don't know about all brands but Go Customs has a +/-.3mm, +/-.01" straightness guarantee. That's pretty darn straight. I've seen played with four(both Revo's and BeCue, Cynergy) and they were all dead straight. As for easier? I don't really think so. Maybe a lil extra energ. trans. I do think cf is a FAR superior material as far as durability, ease of care. Look, getting quality, properly cured maple is already tuff and its not going to get any better. CF is the future.[/QUOTE]

Probably right. Look at baseball, once they went to a metal bat they never went back. The pro's don't use them (they'd kill someone) but from little league through Div 1 baseball uses metal bats. Go into any sporting goods store and you might not even find a wood baseball bat inside ;)

On occasion when my son played travel baseball, they'd have a "wood bat tournament".... the kids didn't look forward to as much as you think. They liked their metal ;)
Click to expand...
Aluminum(and now composite) bats were mostly an economic issue. Look, they don't break. The cost of bats to LL, high-school and college teams was getting up there. BTW, Canseco hit a 600ft hr in HIGH-SCHOOL with an aluminum bat. That's crazy.
Click to expand...
 
C

CocoboloCowboy

Cowboys are my hero's
Silver Member
The great Willie Mosconi never heard of a Carbon Fibre Shaft, I would take Willie's skill over any piece of equiptment.
 
L

longhorns2

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Other than maybe being lower deflection, they offer no real advantage. Their main upside imo is not worrying about warping, dings, etc and being able to just wipe them down with rubbing alcohol to clean, as opposed to having to use some kind of abrasive to clean wood
 
G

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
CocoboloCowboy said:
The great Willie Mosconi never heard of a Carbon Fibre Shaft, I would take Willie's skill over any piece of equiptment.
Click to expand...
Had CF been available back then you don't think players like Mosconi would have used, or at least tried, them? I've given four cf shafts a fairly good try-out and they really don't play much different. As said before energy transfer "may" be a little greater. Deflection is about same as a quality wood LD shaft. To me the durability and super-slick finish are the big plus's.
 
Patrick Johnson

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
CocoboloCowboy said:
The great Willie Mosconi never heard of a Carbon Fibre Shaft, I would take Willie's skill over any piece of equiptment.
Click to expand...

garczar said:
Had CF been available back then you don't think players like Mosconi would have used, or at least tried, them?
Click to expand...
And maybe played even better than he did.

"Great old time player X didn't have today's equipment" is a nonsense argument against the importance of equipment improvements.

pj
chgo
 
M

MitchAlsup

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
S.Vaskovskyi said:
It is Europe - the continent where pool is treated more or less as a sport with the top 5 players in the team playing:
J.Filler - Predator with Z3 shaft
E.Kaci - Predator with 314 shaft (at least he switched back as I know)
A.Kazakis - IQ custom cues with their solid maple LD shaft
J.Shaw - Peri cues with their maple LD shaft
N.Feijen - Longoni with their spliced LD shaft.

And it is USA where pool is not treated as a real sport but mostly as a game unfortunately and top 5 american players in the team:
SVB - Cuetec with Cynergy c.f. shaft
S.Woodward - Meucci with Carbon pro shaft he played at the International Open?
T.Styer - Predator with a Revo 12.9 shaft
B.Thorpe - Cuetec with Cynergy shaft
??? - whoever Johan picks will be the only player playing "old school".
Click to expand...

So if Europe wins, then wood is better than carbon fiber; and if America wins, CF is better than wood.
 
C

CharlesUFarley

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I believe that CF transfers more energy to the cue ball, so you will get more spin/draw/follow from the same stroke with CF than you will with wood. It does not improve your aim or your accuracy.

When I switched from a Z2 to a REVO, my draw stroke became a bit hard to control, particularly when I need to just draw a foot or two from a distance. it's easier for me to draw 15 feet than it is to draw 1.5 feet, if that makes sense.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top