Are LD shafts really alot better?

travis13

travis13

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Ok, so just a little back story:

I have been playing pool since I was maybe 10 (25 now) and only got serious this year, and I am addicted. A very good friend of mine started playing in the APA and he convinced me to join along with my father.

My friend is a huge Predator guy, and the pool hall where he lives is like a Predator factory, seriously every guy in there has a Predator and it has been instilled into my head from all these guys that Predator is just leaps and bounds above everyone.

Well I drank the kool-aid and bought a P3 with a 314^2 and a z2. I have been playing pretty good in the last 4 months and have got up to a skl 6 in APA.

When I was 17, my father bought a pool table, and he bought me a cue. He hit every cue in the shop and ended up buying a Viking, he said it hit as good as any cue the guy had. My dad is a very good player.

So the other day, I got that Viking out and started playing with it. I shot GREAT with it. My dad was always upset that I bought another cue anyway, and now I see why. He plays with a very old Mali that he got on his 17th birthday and shoots great with it.

I really can't tell that much of a difference between the Predator shafts and the Viking, but I am no pro. I realize the LD shafts do work, but is it that much better than just a stock shaft?
 
it all depends on how you play...im not trying to knock your play but in vnea i could call you a B or possibly an A if your a 6 in apa. which isnt bad. what you have to look at with these cues is, do you use the squirt of the cueball in your game? i personally do so i do not like LD shafts but if your still learning then i would say jump all over the LD shafts because you can use tons of side spin on it and it will go straight where your aiming. regular shafts will hit a bit off of where you aim if you use english.
 
You are going to get a lot of varied answers on here regarding this subject of LD vs Solid Maple (been covered a fair few times as well;)).

For me, I have experimented with a 314, 314-2 and a OB1. Now, all are shafts I could get used to if they were the only shaft I had available, but (and here is where everyones opinions will differ in some form)...my maple shaft gave me much more feel to every shot than all of the above named shafts.

Stick with what feels good, and dont chop and change. It will damage your game and you will become frustrated by bad performances.

Just my 2p worth (sorry, 2 cents ;))
 
travis13 said:
Ok, so just a little back story:

I have been playing pool since I was maybe 10 (25 now) and only got serious this year, and I am addicted. A very good friend of mine started playing in the APA and he convinced me to join along with my father.

My friend is a huge Predator guy, and the pool hall where he lives is like a Predator factory, seriously every guy in there has a Predator and it has been instilled into my head from all these guys that Predator is just leaps and bounds above everyone.

Well I drank the kool-aid and bought a P3 with a 314^2 and a z2. I have been playing pretty good in the last 4 months and have got up to a skl 6 in APA.

When I was 17, my father bought a pool table, and he bought me a cue. He hit every cue in the shop and ended up buying a Viking, he said it hit as good as any cue the guy had. My dad is a very good player.

So the other day, I got that Viking out and started playing with it. I shot GREAT with it. My dad was always upset that I bought another cue anyway, and now I see why. He plays with a very old Mali that he got on his 17th birthday and shoots great with it.

I really can't tell that much of a difference between the Predator shafts and the Viking, but I am no pro. I realize the LD shafts do work, but is it that much better than just a stock shaft?
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Some conventional shafts are pretty low in the deflection area. Predators, Tiger's, OB's are consistently low and pretty consistent from shaft to shaft. With conventional shafts, you have to look to find one.

Whatever the case, high squirt shafts can be difficult to adjust to. There are some shafts which would never give me my best game.

Most aftermarket LD shafts sacrifice hit quality for accuracy. Most of that is in the sound. Once you adjust to that, it's a small thing to give up for repeatable accuracy.

Chris
 
From what I've read the Mezz WD700 has great feel and is low deflection. I haven't hit one and I don't know anyone with a Mezz
 
Have not played with a Predator. But I can definitely tell the difference in squirt between my OB1 and a stock maple shaft.
 
I have never hit an ob1. I really do not like the 314^2. It is too light and hollow feeling for me.
 
travis13 said:
I have never hit an ob1. I really do not like the 314^2. It is too light and hollow feeling for me.
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The OB Classic is very solid. It's pretty much the best of both worlds. The new Tiger Ultra LD soild shaft only sacrifice a small amount of hit feel for excellent squirt characteristics.

Chris
 
i have a viking vx 13 i bought way back in 98.played with a wood to wood stock maple shaft til just last year.i bought an ob2 from alex brick in nashville and he fit it to my old trusty viking and i love it.i can feel a major difference in deflection.the stock maple shaft was 12.5 mm and the ob2 is 11.75.it took me a while to stop adjusting for the squirt and i missed balls occassionally but i wouldnt take twice what i paid for that combo.
 
As far as LD shafts, over the years I have purchased and tried the 314, 314-2, Z, OB-1 and OB-2. I now play with the OB classic and it is the first LD shaft that does not feel hollow or dead to me. Plays great and feels great. I am very pleased with this shaft.
 
RustyBurton said:
i have a viking vx 13 i bought way back in 98.played with a wood to wood stock maple shaft til just last year.i bought an ob2 from alex brick in nashville and he fit it to my old trusty viking and i love it.i can feel a major difference in deflection.the stock maple shaft was 12.5 mm and the ob2 is 11.75.it took me a while to stop adjusting for the squirt and i missed balls occassionally but i wouldnt take twice what i paid for that combo.
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I live 30 min from Nashville. Does he have a shop?
 
Huge predator fan here. Ld just makes sense. I totally understand a veteran scoffing though. They would have to relearn the game with an ld. Dan Louie is my instructor and he sticks to his old shaft.
 
travis13 said:
From what I've read the Mezz WD700 has great feel and is low deflection. I haven't hit one and I don't know anyone with a Mezz
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Hi there! I was 314-1/314-2 user for many years and was happy with them. 2months ago I had a opportunity to shoot with Mezz which had WD700. From my point of view WD700 is equal/slightly better in terms of deflexion compared to 314-2 and the feedback of the WD700 is very close to standard shaft which makes it perfect shaft for me. I think the main reason why WD700 has the feedback of a standard shaft is the fact that WD700 is not a laminated shaft, it is one piece wood. Well anyway I bought Mezz Z101 at the begining of january, took me like 14 day to fully adjust and now I am absolutelly happy with it, I made it to the finals of 10b and 14-1 nationals with it so the cue has to be good... :D :D :D
 
I use LD shaft for quite a while now (314) to be specific. Potting is easier when using english. I switch to wd700, it has an edge when it comes to feel of the shaft but a little unforgiving when it comes to potting since it has smaller tip diameter. Deflection wise both are pretty close.
If you play with LD shaft going back to standard maple is hard. I bought a custom cue with standard shaft and my potting have decrease, I went back to LD shaft and playing well again.
 
Most of the people on these forums would give 6 of their teeth to be able to shoot one ball better. You brought out that Viking and you said you shot GREAT with it...

Worrying about LD shafts is one thing, but what everyone has to realize, even the LD fans, is that all an LD shaft means is you have to adjust LESS when using left or right english. Going from a non LD shaft to an LD shaft is an adjustment, just like going from an LD shaft to a non LD shaft. Basically, if you shoot with a mop handle and you get really good with it, changing to anything else is a HUGE adjustment. This is no different than the folks that worry about perfect alignment yet compare themselves to the pros strokes ... the pros have put so much time in that their strokes are their strokes and it doesn't matter about mechanics.

Anyways, if you play a game that uses little left or right english, the Viking may hit better for you. The LD fans seem to forget that the ONLY TIME that LD matters is when you are using left or right spin. You could be playing your entire game with draw/follow/stop.. in which case LD shafts mean NOTHING.
 
A lot of my pool buddies use these shafts. Every brand and variety you can name. I've hit a couple of balls with them. Personally I think it's more of a gimmick and a crock of shit than anything.

I'll take a good 'ol fashioned maple shaft any day.
 
14oneman said:
A lot of my pool buddies use these shafts. Every brand and variety you can name. I've hit a couple of balls with them. Personally I think it's more of a gimmick and a crock of shit than anything.

I'll take a good 'ol fashioned maple shaft any day.
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Because you can get a really good grasp of things by hitting a couple balls :smash:

"Personally" is far from fact. There's a bunch of info out there regarding LD technology and is proven.

It all comes down to what works for you. If you like it, good. If not, good. If the balls roll and pocket the way you like while getting the action you expect, why fix something that isn't broken?
 
Latest, greatest

travis13 said:
Ok, so just a little back story:

I have been playing pool since I was maybe 10 (25 now) and only got serious this year, and I am addicted. A very good friend of mine started playing in the APA and he convinced me to join along with my father.

My friend is a huge Predator guy, and the pool hall where he lives is like a Predator factory, seriously every guy in there has a Predator and it has been instilled into my head from all these guys that Predator is just leaps and bounds above everyone.

Well I drank the kool-aid and bought a P3 with a 314^2 and a z2. I have been playing pretty good in the last 4 months and have got up to a skl 6 in APA.

When I was 17, my father bought a pool table, and he bought me a cue. He hit every cue in the shop and ended up buying a Viking, he said it hit as good as any cue the guy had. My dad is a very good player.

So the other day, I got that Viking out and started playing with it. I shot GREAT with it. My dad was always upset that I bought another cue anyway, and now I see why. He plays with a very old Mali that he got on his 17th birthday and shoots great with it.

I really can't tell that much of a difference between the Predator shafts and the Viking, but I am no pro. I realize the LD shafts do work, but is it that much better than just a stock shaft?
Click to expand...
. You must keep up with technology. Whatever shaft you play with now will be old hat next year! The folks at Predator are all over it, doing their homework so you don't have to. Keep buying the latest and greatest or you will quickly fall behind.
 
maple shaft for me.low deflection shafts fry my brain as the pivot points too far back.
if you use BHE then you only have to adjust for throw and swerve so deflection doesnt really matter
 
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