stikapos said:
Yesterday, after weeks of hitting with a Deano and a smart shaft fitted cue, I took out an old, stiff hitting 5/16x14 ebony cue. Had to work like a dog to get the cue to do what I wanted it to do, nevermind the deflection. But with a few minutes, I adjusted and began hitting the cue well. Then I started thinking. With the new super shafts, you really never get any negative feedback regarding your stroke. With an older cue, say a TS or a SW, if you hit badly, the cue would practically stop what it was doing and beat you upside the head. So, by relying on "super shafts", are we really killing stroke ? I'm starting to wonder. Practice using something stiff and then use a super shaft ???
tim
This is quite an interesting thread. You ask a good question.
I was a soft finesse follow-through-stroke shooter for quite a while, and when I tried the Predator 314....I could not draw or follow with it, like I could with a regular McDermott shaft. And I can draw a ton. Most times the CB would just stop dead when using the 314. Now, I tend to hit the CB real hard because I like to use 3 or more rails to get shape on the next OB. I switched back to the 314, and I can get just as much CB action as I did in the past using a regular shaft. FYI: I have never been criticized about my stroke in a bad way.....except for the frequent....you stroked that too good. Which in context means, I missed the shot because I used too much stroke.
Just recently, I had a short business trip to Austin. I didn't take any of my cues, and I met up with a couple of buddies at Fast Eddies. They were showing me their new break/jump cues with phenolic tips. They let me shoot with their cues, and I opted to play with the break cue with phenolic tip because I wasn't getting any CB action on the slow cloth. I was shooting table length draw shots with it, and they were pissed that I was beating up on them with that type of cue. I had a very short shot (CB to OB distance) and I wanted to draw the CB. So, I jacked up on the CB like I would normally do, but I forgot I was playing with a B & J cue. I jumped over the OB, and I just about crapped my pants. I can't jump to save my life. I can masse like a champ, but jumps have always been my worst stroke. I think there was about 3 millimeters between the CB and OB, and for me, to jump over the OB....just blew me away. I am definitely going to get me a Break/Jump cue with the phenolic tip.
I think there are a lot of conditions that will determine the CB action using either a regular shaft or Low Deflection shaft.
Here are some of my thoughts about reasons for differing results:
Type of stroke
Stroke Power/Speed
Type of English (Back Hand English, or other types)
CB and OB cleanliness
Cloth (Humidity/Dryness in the air effects cloth)
But I can definitely tell you that the low deflection shaft does, in fact, reduce (practically eliminates) CB deflection. The reason I know this, is because when I first started using the 314, I missed almost every shot. That is when I realized that I had instinctively adjusted my aim on shots to account for the CB deflection. When I stop making that adjustment, I would pocket balls all day long.....especially since I couldn't use any english on the 314...at that time. Using dead center CB is very accurate.
I can play just as well with the low deflection or a regular shaft. The only determining factor seems to be with making the CB deflection adjustment.
I don't know about the in depth analysis stuff like the Mad Scientists that crunch numbers about shots and what not. Maybe they can create a science project and figure out if the factors I mentioned would have a significant effect.....and quantify how much of an effect.
