First Predator shaft experience!

Hustler84

Hustler84

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
First off let me say wow! I have heard all this talk about how long it takes people to get used to using low deflection shafts. I found the transition extremely easy. I normally shoot with my Lucasi cue with stock shaft, but tonight one of my friends let me put his 314z on my Lucasi butt, and the results were phenomenal! I instantly hit the balls better. I was running balls down the rails that I normally miss with ease. If I had an open shot after the break, I was pretty much out from there. He offered to sell me another 314z that he has, and I told him I will definitely take it! The hardest part is waiting on him to get the ferrule fixed. Predator is fixing it and will be sending it back soon, and I cannot wait. I have been shooting with my Lucasi for a few years now, and after many years of breaking with it, it has more deflection than normal. So this Predator is exactly what I am looking for. Just a positive review from a first time user! :thumbup:
 
I also had heard about how long it takes to get comfortable with the shaft. But my transition was as yours pretty quick. I found that the cueball moves around with less effort and the big change was on my long shots, they became a lot more accurate. I really like mine in fact thinking of buying an extra one just to have a spare in case something happens to the first one or a tip needs to be put on, I won't have to wait for a repair.
I think a lot of the adjustment time all depends on how good of a shaft you were playing with before.---Smitty
 
It may be you are lucky and your transition was just that easy.
It wasn't quite as easy for me but I still love 'em. You may be suffering from "New cue-itis" where everything
is gold and rainbows when you have a new shaft and feel good and confident about it :)
There are worse problems to have though. Hope that feeling sticks around for years.
 
Glad you like. You'll never go back.

Oh, and by-the-way, if you really want that shaft to stand up to the performance level expected of it, have one of our new FourSkin tips put on it. Long lasting at a great price. :)
 
my Transition was the same,, i didn't have to get use to it at all,,, i Shot Lights out with my 314*2 Shaft the 1st Night i had it,,, i was playing an 8Ball Match against a 7 and shut him out 5/Nothing,,, its an awesome Shaft but I do like OB Shafts a LiL better tho
 
Harold Smith said:
I also had heard about how long it takes to get comfortable with the shaft. But my transition was as yours pretty quick. I found that the cueball moves around with less effort and the big change was on my long shots, they became a lot more accurate. I really like mine in fact thinking of buying an extra one just to have a spare in case something happens to the first one or a tip needs to be put on, I won't have to wait for a repair.
I think a lot of the adjustment time all depends on how good of a shaft you were playing with before.---Smitty
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If you believe that, you're in for a surprise.

It can take, literally, years to get the nuances of a low-d shaft. Years. And even then you will STILL have to sacrifice SOME shots that can't be had with one. I play 8-ball on a small table and I was frustrated by not having some of my favorite shots in my 314 quiver.

3 months ago, after 7 years with a 314, I went to a medium deflection shaft. I'm just about up to speed with it. I had had it with the 314 and finally switched back. It was a good move.

Good luck either way,

Jeff Livingston
 
2 questions. 1. Is the shaft you borrowed from your buddy a 314 or a Z shaft? There's a big difference between the 2.
2. Isn't Lucasi a subsidiary of predator so shouldn't the equipment be very similar?
 
Hustler,

This may be a foolish question, but do you shoot with english or are you a center cue ball guy?

If you are a center guy I would not recommend the smaller tipped Z shaft.

In fact, if I were a center guy I would go with the Predator Fat Shaft or better yet to OB XL.

But if you are an english kind of guy then the Z would be good or one of the other smaller tipped LDs.

I have played with english for 46 years & got my first LD shaft last year. It only took me a few shots to adjust & a few sessions to really fine tune dial it in.

Best of Luck with whatever shaft you choose & Best Wishes,
Rick

PS I think the LD quality for most shots generally out weighs the shots that one sort of loses. I can always pull a cue off the wall if I want to shoot one of those shots. JMO as is the whole post.
 
In theory I can think of two situations when it would be easy to go from a regular to an LD shaft.

If the player does not use more than 1/4 tip of english, or thinks he does but does not actually hit the ball right to actually hit with spin.

Or if the stroke is a bit crooked, causing off center hits with a regular shaft, which would make an LD shaft seem more accurate as it's more forgiving. If one thinks he's hitting center but is not, it causes a miss, especally on longer shots. An LD shaft would hide that off center hit a lot more. I actually had this issue for a very long time, and just fixed it recently by moving my head a little bit off to the right.
 
Mitch,

I do believe that over the years, my break caused the shaft to have more deflection. I normally break around 25-26 mph, and after a few years of that, it did. I can tell a huge difference from the time I first got the cue to how it plays now.
 
I don`t play with predator, but changing from a ordinary maple shaft to a LD shaft was an instant improvement, so the myth about equipment not making a difference is just that - a myth!
 
Hustler84 said:
Mitch,
I do believe that over the years, my break caused the shaft to have more deflection.
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Banks said:
What he said.. then I went back. :confused:
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I thought Predator's were good until I ventured out of my box and tried other LD shafts.

OB shafts, in my opinion, are so far ahead of Predator that I won't go back to Predator unless they change their technology.

There wasn't a lot of "feedback" with my 314-2-I felt like a lot of my shots were dead. That's the best way I can explain it, and I used a good few years playing with them.
 
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chefjeff said:
If you believe that, you're in for a surprise.

It can take, literally, years to get the nuances of a low-d shaft. Years. And even then you will STILL have to sacrifice SOME shots that can't be had with one. I play 8-ball on a small table and I was frustrated by not having some of my favorite shots in my 314 quiver.

3 months ago, after 7 years with a 314, I went to a medium deflection shaft. I'm just about up to speed with it. I had had it with the 314 and finally switched back. It was a good move.

Good luck either way,

Jeff Livingston
Click to expand...

Not real sure what you are trying to say here, I just said what I thought about the transition period which was very little time for me. I play a lot of 1P, been playing pool for 55 years, so I should know what I feel from a cue. It could be that there are some people out there that can't make the adjustment.---Smitty
 
Harold Smith said:
Not real sure what you are trying to say here, I just said what I thought about the transition period which was very little time for me. I play a lot of 1P, been playing pool for 55 years, so I should know what I feel from a cue. It could be that there are some people out there that can't make the adjustment.---Smitty
Click to expand...

I thought I was posting to the OP, but maybe not.

Anyway, the nuances of each type of shaft, for a detailed player like myself, take a lot of time to adjust to....for me.

I've played for 50 years, so maybe I'll learn what you said in the next 5 or so? ;)

Jeff Livingston
 
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