chinese players and their cues

The amount of deflection of Low Deflection shaft is not consistent compared to conventional shaft.
 
I think the word "don't allow" is misleading.
They probably "advise" players to not play with Predator shafts.

The way I understood it is that it's more of a macho thing.
Deflections is considered a given part of the game that must be over come with. Using a Pred to make it easier is considered by some as taking the easy way out. Also, for whatever reason, players in Taiwan like to judge how well a cue/shaft plays based on full ball hit and stunt shots. I've heard people referring to Pred cues to having a "hollow" or "unsatisfactory" feel for those types of shots. The same shot with a traditional shaft will result in a more a more "solid" feeling.

I have 314 fat shaft and it does feel "hollow" for those type of shots. Same shot with a good traditional wood shaft on the same butt feels solid.

A local custom cue shop called 39 Studio is becoming more popular. They make a very solid playing cue with nice execution. Most of their designs are quite original. They make real nice shafts. I have one of their shafts on my SW. They're stiff but quite lively. I think they play better than my original SW shaft (not a fair comparison. The SW shaft is an early 1990s shaft that's been sanded down to about 12.6).

In Shanghai, players recognize SWs. My SW's very low-keyed, but people are always asking if I'm using a real one. But most don't know much about other custom makers, except may Gina. The trends and knowledge for cues in China is largely led by the Taiwanese.
 
Last edited:
The amount of deflection of Low Deflection shaft is not consistent compared to conventional shaft.

Huh? This is not true at all. The amount of deflection in any shaft is consistent and constant.

A shaft that is considered to be low deflection is simply lower than a tested average of single piece shafts. The concept which has been proven adequately by Predator shows that a shaft constructed in a certain way does in fact have a lower deflection than the average one piece shaft.

The other concept is radial consistency. Not only does a single piece shaft deflect to a certain degree but it also deflects differently depending on which way the shaft is oriented. Thus the real benefit to the user is a shaft that bends the same way no matter the orientation.

A shaft can be high deflection but radially consistent. A shaft can be low deflection but radially inconsistent. Or as in Predator's case and similar shafts a shaft can be low deflection and radially consistent. Now, what difference this really makes is certainly up for debate. If one were to track tournament performances since the introduction of Predator shafts coupled with a data set that tracked who used what type of shafts during what periods then one could come up correlated results that might suggest that laminated radially consistent low-deflection shafts don't really translate into better results for the players. Or it might suggest otherwise.

In any event the science is pretty clear at this point that Predator and their competitors are producing shafts the deflect less and which deflect the same no matter the orientation. For that is in fact the entire premise of this Low Deflection shaft business.
 
I think the word "don't allow" is misleading.
They probably "advise" players to not play with Predator shafts.

The way I understood it is that it's more of a macho thing.
Deflections is considered a given part of the game that must be over come with. Using a Pred to make it easier is considered by some as taking the easy way out. Also, for whatever reason, players in Taiwan like to judge how well a cue/shaft plays based on full ball hit and stunt shots. I've heard people referring to Pred cues to having a "hollow" or "unsatisfactory" feel for those types of shots. The same shot with a traditional shaft will result in a more a more "solid" feeling.

I have 314 fat shaft and it does feel "hollow" for those type of shots. Same shot with a good traditional wood shaft on the same butt feels solid.

A local custom cue shop called 39 Studio is becoming more popular. They make a very solid playing cue with nice execution. Most of their designs are quite original. They make real nice shafts. I have one of their shafts on my SW. They're stiff but quite lively. I think they play better than my original SW shaft (not a fair comparison. The SW shaft is an early 1990s shaft that's been sanded down to about 12.6).

In Shanghai, players recognize SWs. My SW's very low-keyed, but people are always asking if I'm using a real one. But most don't know much about other custom makers, except may Gina. The trends and knowledge for cues in China is largely led by the Taiwanese.

I agree with your experiences. I do not use Predator shafts precisely because of the feeling. When I use a spliced shaft then it's generally my Tiger shafts because they feel like a normal shaft.

There is really no magic to making a good shaft. Start with great wood and season it properly turning it slowly to let the wood do it's thing. Taper as comfortable. Most cue makers don't have the wood stock or money to afford to buy enough wood to cull the best of the best for shaftwood.
 
The reason why SW cue is so popular in Taiwan is because of Yang Ching Shun.
Yang Ching Shun back then was the most well-known player in Taiwan along with Chao Fong Fang but I guess Yang is far more the idol for all the kid over there because of his game and his demeanor . I remember watching an old interview of Ko Pin Yi and he was like saying the same thing, it's funny because in the video Ko played Yang and got too much pressure on himself that he couldn't even make a ball and lost badly...
And Yang was playing with an ebody on ebony SW, that created a trend, and few local cue makers started making some replicas, I heard you can come I buy a rep of Yang's cue or others pros' cues ( I guess with the same specs ) in local pool shop. Now many of taiwanse players play with a real SW shaft on a replica butt.
And yes, Ko Pin Yi now is playing with a ebony on eboby SW ;)
 
I thought she got a sponsor and used their cue now?

this was probably years ago,
393485561_d344926b91_b.jpg
 
Judging from youtube clips, Mezz seems to be very popular.

One more thing: Why can't you use a LD shaft on a southwest cue?
 
hey "hellobaby" btw the chinese guy your refering to is named Fong Pang Chow, he is one of the best over there or used to be,he is like Earl he is getting older. He won at least one of the old style $50k winner take all matches against Strickland or Bustemonte years ago. He was and probably still is a great player.
 
Bump for the newbies.

I still find it funny that top Taiwanese players, arguably the best in the world, like fat shafts of solid maple with regular ferrules. Most of their cues would be on the heavier side, also.

Everybody is always so eager to ask "what kind of shaft/cue/tip XYZ is using" and rushing for the latest gadgets, while the Taiwanese are kicking ass with old-school stuff.
 
Bump for the newbies.

I still find it funny that top Taiwanese players, arguably the best in the world, like fat shafts of solid maple with regular ferrules. Most of their cues would be on the heavier side, also.

Everybody is always so eager to ask "what kind of shaft/cue/tip XYZ is using" and rushing for the latest gadgets, while the Taiwanese are kicking ass with old-school stuff.

Also funny is the fact no one ever says that these guys will be even better if they switched to tech shafts lol

At the end of the day hard work is a tech that will never be obsolete
 
Back
Top