Game improving clubs

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Hardmix

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For decades touring PGA pros played blades. While these clubs have a smaller sweet spot they transmit the most feel to the player and also allow the player to "work" the ball more than the cavity back irons with larger sweet spots.

Fast forward to today and we are seeing more touring pros playing cavity back irons and most recently some are even playing rescue clubs up to the 5 iron that make solid contact even easier.

So my question is this. Are the low deflection shafts the cavity back irons of billiards? I expect they are given the reduced amount of squirt.

I pose this question because for some strange reason I am finding myself wanting to switch back to the maple shaft. I took took 17 yrs off and came back to the game 2 yrs ago I was a bit overwhelmed with all the new equipment. I hit a few balls with a friends Mezz with the WX700 shaft and immediately bought one.The cue has been great and my potting skills are still my strength. That said, I have this strange pull to move back to the Maple shafts.

So if a player has made the adjustment to a LD shaft does it really make sense to return to maple that has a smaller margin for error?

Side note....i am playing 95% one pocket these days since it appears to be the game of choice here in the south.

Hardmix
 
Hardmix said:
... So if a player has made the adjustment to a LD shaft does it really make sense to return to maple that has a smaller margin for error?
...
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I think you've answered your own question, but....

There is some period of adjustment when switching between high-squirt and low-squirt shafts. For some people it is fairly quick and for others it is months and they abandon the switch.

You seem to be playing well with what you have. If it simply a matter of money burning a hole in your pocket and giving you strange urges, then you may want to try out other cues similar to what you have now.
 
Hardmix said:
For decades touring PGA pros played blades. While these clubs have a smaller sweet spot they transmit the most feel to the player and also allow the player to "work" the ball more than the cavity back irons with larger sweet spots.

Fast forward to today and we are seeing more touring pros playing cavity back irons and most recently some are even playing rescue clubs up to the 5 iron that make solid contact even easier.

So my question is this. Are the low deflection shafts the cavity back irons of billiards? I expect they are given the reduced amount of squirt.

I pose this question because for some strange reason I am finding myself wanting to switch back to the maple shaft. I took took 17 yrs off and came back to the game 2 yrs ago I was a bit overwhelmed with all the new equipment. I hit a few balls with a friends Mezz with the WX700 shaft and immediately bought one.The cue has been great and my potting skills are still my strength. That said, I have this strange pull to move back to the Maple shafts.

So if a player has made the adjustment to a LD shaft does it really make sense to return to maple that has a smaller margin for error?

Side note....i am playing 95% one pocket these days since it appears to be the game of choice here in the south.

Hardmix
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If we let *the feel and hit* aside, which are anyway subjective--

One thing is for sure: once you decided to play successful and with consistency, you should stay with your material.

The low deflection shafts have an advantage for sure- especially at the very beginning. Because as long as you re in a smaller distance (talking about the distance between cueball and object ball) let s say less than 3 diamonds apart- and you re using a moderate speed (means not hittin it with high speed) you can play many shots without even compensating for spin.

so the learning curve here is for sure faster-- because you don t have to take care for compensating.

Imo the Mezz shafts are high quality- and their quality management is also supberb- so they have also a very high repteable result. something i miss for example on 314-2 shafts from predator, where the shafts have been so varying.....that the results (just talking for myself) have been unacceptable for me.

If you re playing since 30 years with regular shafts-- you will need for sure 2-3 months to really get ready with a LD shaft- because you have to think about it every single time :-) you have to learn new.

but the holy gral? well, sure not. For some shots it s nice, and also helpful. But if you are used to your material- even if it s a regular shaft its all about YOUR feeling.

Just personal choice- and imo also often overrated.

bw from overseas.
 
Thanks for all of the replies. I do tend to agree that LD vs Maple is probably over rated only as long as you are striking the CB where intended. We all have those days where that is not the case and I think its at this time where the LD shaft has a distinct edge.

That said, I can not jump the ball hardly at all with a LD shaft and masse's are not quite as easy. So, I guess, in the end you have to pick your poison and go with it.

Hardmix
 
Some players have trouble with the low deflection shafts as they get more spin on the ball than they plan to. It's worth softening a bit and getting used to the "better" low deflection shafts IMHO.
 
BilliardsAbout said:
Some players have trouble with the low deflection shafts as they get more spin on the ball than they plan to. It's worth softening a bit and getting used to the "better" low deflection shafts IMHO.
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I'm curious about this statement because my experience was the opposite. When I made the switch, I experienced less side spin on the cue ball than before and it took me awhile to adjust. Maybe it has to do with what shaft you're switching from and how much side spin you're used to applying.

Can anyone else weigh in on this?
 
Hardmix said:
Thanks for all of the replies. I do tend to agree that LD vs Maple is probably over rated only as long as you are striking the CB where intended. We all have those days where that is not the case and I think its at this time where the LD shaft has a distinct edge.

That said, I can not jump the ball hardly at all with a LD shaft and masse's are not quite as easy. So, I guess, in the end you have to pick your poison and go with it.

Hardmix
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I remember back in the '70's on the East Coast when everyone was playing 14.1 --- the cues had stainless steel joints and the shafts were thin with very little taper --- and they vibrated like tuning forks.

We've come a long way since those days. Playing a game like 9 ball with that type of shaft was a nightmare because of how difficult it was to spin the big shots and be accurate. There are now a lot of shaft types between the extremes of the low deflection shaft and the whippy shaft of the old days. I find that if you're playing a game where you need to use side spin on big shots, I think that low deflection shafts are the way to go.
 
There is a reason the PGA pros are now playing cubs with a larger sweet spot. I am using the same mentality for for the shaft even though I prefer the hit of maple.

I have heard the SS360 is a good compromise. Anyone have a comment on that?

Hardmix
 
Ss360/2..................

Hardmix said:
There is a reason the PGA pros are now playing cubs with a larger sweet spot. I am using the same mentality for for the shaft even though I prefer the hit of maple.

I have heard the SS360 is a good compromise. Anyone have a comment on that?

Hardmix
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They are great shafts. I'd use "blend" instead of compromise. Its not quite as LD as my OBClassic+(great shaft,btw) but is really close to solid maple in feel. For 180bux(at Seyberts) they are a hell of shaft for the money.
 
Matt...You do not get "more spin" with an LD shaft...there is just less guesswork in how much you have to adjust your aim, to compensate for less squirt. This is same bs as "this tip gets more spin than that tip"...also a myth.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

BilliardsAbout said:
Some players have trouble with the low deflection shafts as they get more spin on the ball than they plan to. It's worth softening a bit and getting used to the "better" low deflection shafts IMHO.
Click to expand...
 
Scott,

Bob Jewett did a post on a nearby thread explaining the efficacy of certain tip/shaft combinations, also referencing Dr. Dave's research. Worth checking into.
 
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