Some companies will advertise one of their shafts as being "consistent." I'm sure this could mean different things. In regards to a cue ball being hit with a firm, dead-center strike, could the direction the cue ball travels vary from shaft to shaft? I'm assuming here that the same tip, butt, chalk, etc., are used for each shaft. Thanks!
Consistency in shafts with firm, dead-center strikes on cue ball?
- Thread starter Rachel T
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tomatoshooter
Well-known member
I was wondering this, too. On vertical axis hits, I was not getting the accuracy out of my 314. A traditional solid maple shaft worked well and I picked up a carbon shaft that also delivers. I don't know what factors are affecting this. If my stroke was crooked, I would expect an LD shaft to be less inaccurate, unless my understanding of deflection doesn't apply. I don't see how my technique on vertical axis shots works better with a stiffer shaft. I don't know if the tip, assuming it's not misshapen would cause this. I don't think the placebo effect is that important because I didn't remember what shaft I was using until I dogged a bunch of shots. I do know that those "maybe" shots are "fighting chance" with the stiffer shafts and "what made you think that was a good idea?" with the more flexible shafts.
I doubt that's the constancy they're talking about.
You can hit dead center and play a rolling ball... you can hit dead center and play the tangent line. Heck, any ball wants to follow the tangent line, at first. How long will it follow that line? Are you cheating the pocket?
It’s on you to play the proper part of the pocket and strike the ball where you intend.
Precision vs accuracy. You can rattle a ball in and say you’re accurate, but not precise.
dendweller
Well-known member
I think mostly what that sales pitch means is that if you're hitting the cb off center it will deflect the same regardless of how the shaft is rotated. But I may be missing something.
They could be talking about the consistency of their carbon shafts. A carbon shaft isn’t prone to inconsistency of maple and that is one of the selling points. We all know that you can have 2-3 supposedly identical maple shafts in your bag and one of them just plays better….
I drop the stick vertically onto the tip. If it comes straight back up consistently, that's how it'll hit. Course, tip trueness can be a factor. It's still a pretty good test of off the rack cues.
Yes, I'm starting to think that a stiffer shaft -- one that has a bit more deflection than the very low deflection shafts -- may be a better alternative, at least for me. The slightly more deflection of the stiffer shaft can be adjusted to with time. Once that adjustment is made, the player is left with a more accurate shaft due to the extra stiffness. It only makes since, at least to me for now, that a more flexible shaft, even though it's very low deflection, would be less accurate than a stiffer shaft. Having said all that, I'm still very much experimenting will all this which is why I posed the original question to everyone.
What got me to thinking about all this were comments made in a pool tournament by commentators Grady Mathews and Buddy Hall. Grady asked Buddy if he ever had times when he seemed to do everything right but the cue ball strangely went off-line? Buddy, answered, "yes."
Assuming they felt like their stroke was in-line, I then wondered what else could've been the problem.
Assuming they felt like their stroke was in-line, I then wondered what else could've been the problem.
Good point! I'm trying to not use as much side spin as I have been. Even with the very low deflection shafts, extreme English can lead to a miss, at least with my current game. With a bit less side spin on the cue ball, the stiffer shafts seem much more manageable now as far as deflection is concerned, plus I'm not so sure I really need a high degree of side spin.
Very interesting, Tony!
That makes sense, especially given the grain of the wooden shaft.
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Interesting test! Seems it would be hard to get a consistent drop, assuming I'm understanding the test correctly.
Yes, it would be great if they had a machine that could deliver a perfectly consistent strike.
Your response goes to the heart of my question. I hope to hear other opinions on whether any cue will hit straight or not on a dead center hit.
I've been focused only on maple shafts for now, even though I own a few CF's. The concept of "veneer" points in the maple shaft seems to be trying to create a more consistent shaft/cue and I would love to hear more from others on the subject of veneers.
("Points" may be the wrong word used above)