FHE vs BHE and Shafts.........

[The Renfro]

I switched a few month ago from a predator BK2 shaft which is similar in deflection to the original 314 to an OB Classic Pro....

For the last few months I have been trying to find more time on the table to get back in stroke but I had regressed from where I was before putting in the table time... Before the shaft change I was a BHE user and even used the swoop often... I had ran a cpl of full racks of rotation using TOI and BHE right before I swapped shafts and was still gonna give the 9ball ghost all he wanted.....

Today I finally broke down and spent 4 hours at one time on the table by myself.... With the OB I could not bridge far enough back for BHE to work consistently enough to match my mental images.... I switched to FHE since I could not find a pivot and low and behold everything started to fall back in place.....

I am wondering if at some point BHE may not be usable if the cue's deflection drops below a certain level... With the predator I could force the ball to run away from the tip when using english but the OB refused to run the ball away from contact even when I was coming up thru the cueball to get it off of the cloth......

I figure I have 2 options... Add some mass under the tip to add deflection and go back to BHE or stick with FHE... I don't mind the FHE and it may be a better way to go since there is no swoop with it and that means my cueball contact should be cleaner and more accurate..... I liked the BHE and swoop because it seemed to be forgiving as long as I stayed at the right pivot point. More forgiving on making balls btw.. Still had to work for shape.....

Chris

 

[scottjen26]

Over the past few years I’ve shot with a 314-2, Mezz WD-700, Z2, and OB2 (current). I definitely understand your pain and some of the changes that need to be made in order to use systematic adjustments with English.

I know with my Z2 (and now OB2) I can adjust with English very automatically, so much so that I find myself “abusing” the spin a little. With the 314-2, it always seemed like I was in between adjustments, speed was a larger factor, and I concentrated a lot more when need to do something funky with the CB.

Through my experimentation, I feel that the pivot point on the ultra LD shafts (Z2, OB2, OB Classic Pro, etc.) is too far back to use BHE reliably. It tends to work on longer, firmer shots, but for normal speed and distance shots it doesn’t. FHE is a good technique for those shots. For me, if shooting within a few diamonds, normal speed, etc., I feel like I’m using a parallel technique, but in reality it’s FHE, I just land on the ball with the English figured in and shoot. If doing it manually and slowly, it’s definitely more FHE. If shooting at further distances or higher speed, where the ball doesn’t swerve back at all, I’m able to feel a little more BHE in the technique and that works fine.

I feel a combination of the two is best for a lot of LD shafts and works well. You can basically treat the shaft like a lever, and if the front moves right then the back moves left a little as well. How much of each may vary by shaft, but with just a little practice the movements can be done in the air automatically on the way down to the ball and are very effective. I just worked with a pro on this technique, which by the way works well with follow/draw as well (level concept that is), and it’s very good. I can basically switch from my 314-2 to my OB2 to even a standard bar cue and within a few shots come up with a good combination that works well for a wide range of shots.

Play with that and see if that helps.
Scott

 

[RWOJO]

FHE vs BHE is basically dependant on what shaft you use. If you have a low-deflection shaft you should use FHE and that should be the most accurate. I have almost always shot with a Predator Z2 shaft so I have been using FHE for almost all 10 years that I have been playing pool. There was a few months in there where I did not have a low deflection shaft, so I was forced to work on BHE.

Both both a smooth and consistant stroke is important. Watch the pro's and see how they shoot most of their shots at the same speed - so my recommendation is to Stick with FHE and work on consistancy.