Flexible shaft ?

David Brown

David Brown

Plastic Pool Player
I have been watching the 9 ball tournaments on ESPN & have noticed all the pros use a really flexible shaft & that when they shoot it rests on the table bent in a slight arc, especially after the break ?

I am new to all of this can someone explain what the benefit is or why they do that ?

Alos how important is the flex shaft & what does it do for you ?

I also had a friend over to play on my table & he left chalk lines all over my table from doing the same thing ( annoying) am I missing something?

Please help a newbie get a clue:o
 
its all for show it doesnt help you in any way. the only reason i can think for why some pros do it is because of their "follow through" but there's no sense in it you can follow through with a level stroke just the same.
 
a lot of the time it is for show and it's exaggerated - but there is some logic in it. ultimately the cue isn't perfectly level and parallel to the table. it can't be, and indeed it doesn't nessecarilly have to be. so naturally a follow through is always gonna end up with the tip/cue going into the table, and often the shaft will flex very slightly, depending on how much and how hard the cue hit the cloth in the follow through. key thing is as well, is the closed bridge, the cue won't really bend at all with an open bridge for obvious reasons.

what you get sometimes is players pressing their closed bridge down a bit to forcefully bend the shaft. and the only reason for that is for show, although whether it's particularly impressive or not is another issue altogether!
 
BigDaddyInc. said:
its all for show it doesnt help you in any way. the only reason i can think for why some pros do it is because of their "follow through" but there's no sense in it you can follow through with a level stroke just the same.
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In a classic stroke.... If you follow through properly, most of the time your cue will/should end up at or near the table surface at the end of your stroke.

On breaks many players extend their follow though because they have used a longer backstroke, which includes often raising the elbow and arm, and holding the cue farther toward the end. This, in theory, gives more time before contacting the Qball and hence, more time to increase cue speed. It also takes longer for the cue to come to a natural finish because of the increased speed, thats the extended follow through. As the arm moves through the stroke arc, after contact, the bridge pivots the cue toward the table and momentum carries it forward farther than usual. Player's body momentum also often makes them raise up, pushing the tip farther and forward into the table. Thats what your seeing and why, IMHO.

Is the extra speed worth it? Ask Bustamonte or Pagulayan.
 
BigDaddyInc. said:
its all for show it doesnt help you in any way.
.
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worriedbeef said:
a lot of the time it is for show and it's exaggerated
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You two aren't the only ones who think it's "for show." And I don't understand why anyone would think this. I don't believe there is a single accomplished player who bends his shaft on the break "for show."

The shaft bends if the player follows through to the cloth. You were right worriedbeef, so I don't get why you would think anyone does it for show. For most players, the shaft will bend on draw shots with good follow through as well .

Fred
 
You two aren't the only ones who think it's "for show." And I don't understand why anyone would think this. I don't believe there is a single accomplished player who bends his shaft on the break "for show."

The shaft bends if the player follows through to the cloth. You were right worriedbeef, so I don't get why you would think anyone does it for show. For most players, the shaft will bend on draw shots with good follow through as well .
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yes i agree completely with what you're saying - you've made me realise i wasn't perfectly clear when i said the bit about it being for show and exaggerated.

what i meant is some players sometimes don't bend the shaft naturally and inevitably on their follow through, but they strive to replicate the visual effect by simply pushing down with the bridge and bending the cue. which is a different point altogether tbh. that is the 'exaggerated for show' part.

but just to stress again - done legitamately the shaft bending a bit when it touches the cloth is simply a reflection of a good cue action.
 
yes well i've seen pro's do this shaft bending and what seems to happen is that they raise their body upwards through the stroke while their bridge hand stays firmly on the table therefore causing the shaft to arc. plus i've seen pros break them hard and the cue never touch the table. i
 
David, one's tip will end up touching the table after follow-through on many shots but not all. The cue's shaft should never bend significantly - certainly not enough to be discernible on TV. Doing so is very poor technique, no matter who's holding the cue.

Trust your common sense. Would you deliberately and forcefully bend your personal shaft after every stroke?
 
Dhakala said:
David, one's tip will end up touching the table after follow-through on many shots but not all. The cue's shaft should never bend significantly - certainly not enough to be discernible on TV. Doing so is very poor technique, no matter who's holding the cue.

Trust your common sense. Would you deliberately and forcefully bend your personal shaft after every stroke?
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Try explaining that to Archer.
Steve
 
i asked charlie bryant why he flexes his shaft after his break and his response was that if he didnt he would lose balance. you can check his section on the boards for his full explanation.
 
My .02 ...

Most of the ones 'bending' are regular shafts on regular sticks. Break sticks with a 14mm shaft with a conical taper do not bend like that.
 
pretty much almost every shaft can bend. they're all flexible, even billiard shafts. you wouldn't want to play with one that couldn't. however, there are shafts that are whippier than others, but you wouldn't want to play with a "limp noodle either":):):) . for lack of a better term, some shafts have a better "spine" than others.
 
Dhakala said:
Is Mr. Archer particularly dense?
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I wouldn't say that. But I have seen him really bend a shaft, particularly on his break shot. Maybe you should talk to him, and draw your own conclusions.
Steve
 
pooltchr said:
I wouldn't say that. But I have seen him really bend a shaft, particularly on his break shot. Maybe you should talk to him, and draw your own conclusions.
Steve
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I really am puzzled why all these people believe the shaft bending to be either purposefully show-off moves, or "poor technique."

Mizerak's beautiful stroke, his shaft bent on every draw shot. His break? Bent shaft. It's just the natural finish of a long stroke if the bridge hand is is left closed. Common sense? Yeah, common sense is that the shaft's going to bend during many normal, good techniqued strokes. The break happens to be a very long stroke for most players.

Fred <~~~ wondering what the heck is going on with this board lately
 
I personally like a fairly whippy shaft, like the black dot's for my Meucci. It's all a matter of personal preference of course. I just like the "feedback" that the shaft tells my body/arm when I shoot and I know by the feel if the hit is good/bad/ugly and can make adjustments from there.

Now, in terms of the shaft flexed to the table after the break for "balance"; with some of these really powerful breakers and classic stroke I don't doubt it. However, they also make enough money to buy new shafts whenever they need them :)

I don't break with my Meucci of course, but any cue I do break with I prefer control and accuracy over sheer acceleration and power. Just my 2 cents.
 
pooltchr said:
I wouldn't say that. But I have seen him really bend a shaft, particularly on his break shot. Maybe you should talk to him, and draw your own conclusions.
Steve
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Babe Ruth swung a bat "all wrong," too. But he played with total concentration on what he was doing at the moment. Archer (whose intelligence I never doubted), does the same. Both are Zen masters.
 
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