Do you pro players prefer Stiff or Flexible cues?

R

racer rx

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
What do you pro players prefer? Stiff or flexible cues?

I presume that Stiff would give you much more control...
And flexible will give you endless amounts of spin...

I was thinking of a Mid-priced Viking cue... Does anyone know how flexible their shafts/cues are?
 
Stiff shafts are preferable due to increased accuracy. Endless amounts of spin is a useless attribute- You are going to be playing pool with it, not digging a hole!

No info on the Viking cue though...now that I think about it, InsidePool mag has a (Meucci?) ad that charts deflection of different shafts.

-pigy
 
Doesn't Viking offer a choice in shaft taper? I have played with a Viking before I thoudght it played pretty good, I would say it falls somewhere in the middle between Stiff and Flexible. Not as stiff as a McD
 
There is an endless amount of debate over stiff shafts and whippy shafts regarding which gives more spin, control, accuracy, which squirts the ball more, ect.... I am not going to get into it, I have heard good arguements for both and some of the top players I know shoot awesome with their whippy shafts and some shoot awesome with their stiff shafts.
 
I'm no pro so my advice might should be carried over to the next reply....but I prefer a stiff shaft....I changed to the stiff a year ago and it has improved my game. If I'm not mistaken, the Vikings are 13mm at the tip....and will probably be a more stiff shaft than some....mike
 
Not a pro but playing for several years...
IMO with a Whippy shaft its easier to draw, I find it harder to follow through, miscues often when following through.....

Qguy use to play with a whippy shaft...hates a stiff shaft..

now using something in between....a "Stippy" shaft...
 
im no pro, i agree with joseph, only time can tell which one suits you best. i play my best game on my favorite aska cue which i dont even know if its stiff or whippy...but i think its stiff...:D
 
locki said:
im no pro, i agree with joseph, only time can tell which one suits you best. i play my best game on my favorite aska cue which i dont even know if its stiff or whippy...but i think its stiff...:D
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Exactly. What the pros use have nothing to do with your choice.
Mine is skinny. Sure I'd like a thicker one with less deflection but I just like a skinnier shaft.
 
I'm not a pro player but I'm pretty good, and I've collected and played with a lot of cues.

Better players seem to gravitate toward stiffer shafts. Personally, I believe that a stiffer shaft is more consistent on harder struck shots.

If you can find some old Dufferin one piece sticks, these are about as reasonably stiff as you can get. They have a very gradual constant taper that starts at the butt and works it's way to the tip - down to about 12.5mm. This conical shape is laterally considerably stiffer than a straight taper.

This is one end of the spectrum. Now, grab a Meucci and look at the taper - long but constant. This is a soft shaft with very little taper.

Vikings are very good playing cues and they are right in between these extremes.

Chris
 
In my opinion, as is the case with this post, ask as many pros as possible and even ask them to hit a ball with your cue. They'll know the difference.

As a professional instructor, my advice is based on your consensus from asking the pros - to build a shaft that is similar to what they use and then adjust to the feel of this new shaft. In doing so, you will begin to feel what the pros are looking for from the feel of their shaft. If your game does not improve over time, then take some lessons from a professional instructor.
 
The stiff versus whippy shaft thing seems to be a gear-nut trend just like the ones I've seen in my other hobbies. The constantly evolving hype helps the industry giants to stay rich, but it erodes the quality of the hobby because people become more fixated on gear-as-crutch than on their own performance and enjoyment. Although there are many positive lessons to be learned from these trends, the result is usually that the amateur ranks become so ignorant and deluded by the hype that the hobby loses its appeal.

There's a broad range of shaft stiffness that is acceptable in terms of the physics of the game. Within that range, it's a matter of finding a cue that's comfortable for you and has the hit characteristics that match your game (the latter is why many players change their hit preference as their game progresses). I enjoy playing with a few sticks that feel quite different from each other, and I play well with them because my body learned how to play according to the characteristics of each of these cues.
 
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