I understand your need to defend your product.. and I'm sure you will understand the giant grain of salt that I have to take with your post..
on the one hand we have the claims that LD shafts require less adjustment.. but now you are saying it needs to be pointed further away from the shot line..Which is it??
I do not deny that low end mass changes the line of the CB but in this post you are saying the lines are the same... Which is it??
I'm not denying that low endmass shafts play different than solid maple shafts.. that's not hype
saying they play better than regular shafts IS hype..
you are selling these things to low level Leauge players with the promise of increased ability.. but the reality is you are putting them right back at square one.. what little experience they had is now worthless..
you get good at pool on the table not in the pro shop..
have a nice day
Softshot
It looks like you're a night time guy, and I'm a morning guy, so I'm just now getting to read your post.
First, I wasn't defending my product, I was defending John Schmidt. As you can see by the facts, he didn't play as bad as you made it sound.
Now, on to your next point. Actually, we don't say our products require less adjustment. What we say, and prove, is that the squirt is less. What most players get out of this is that they reach a point, usually pretty quickly, where they don't have to consciously compensate for cue ball squirt. The good news for you, is that most players can reach the same point with a normal squirt shaft, it just takes a little longer. Now, here's where it gets interesting. When you, subconsciously, compensate for cue ball squirt, there are tons of variables like how hard you hit it, how far from center you hit it, friction, etc. By reducing the squirt, the amount of compensation that your subconscious mind has to judge is less. When you consider the fact that we all make errors, even with our subconscious, a reduction in that compensation is an improvement on margin. This really only applies when we don't hit it perfect. So what a low squirt shaft does is improve slightly the margin of error when we miss.
Now to yoursecond point. Actually, in this instance, I'm saying that you have to consciously adjust your line of aim to shoot this shot with both shafts. This shot, a long, high side spin shot at a slower speed will curve the cue ball substantially. If it didn't, then it wouldn't have the effect you mentioned of a "fuller" hit. This shot is not that common. Certainly not as common as the other routine side spin shots that come up all the time. So, our low squirt equipment provides the benefit of margin of error on the largest majority of shots, while still needing a conscious adjustment on the smaller smaller majority of shots. I still call that an advantage.
Next, the cue ball paths, for the same shot to be executed, will be the same for both cue shafts. What will be different is the direction the cue shaft is traveling when it hits the cue ball. That's it! No magic to mysteriously change the physics of how a cue ball travels over the cloth with speed direction and spin. You think we've said things that we haven't said.
We've never advertised that our cue shafts "play" better than any other. We advertise what there advantages are. Remember, cue shafts don't "play", players "play". Now, our product has advantages that some players may want to take advantage of. And if they do, and they play better, then more power to them.
Now, for the last, and I take offense to your statement. We have never sold anything to anyone with a promise of increased ability. Again, we sell our products on there advantages.
Equipment advantages are not new to the world. We always hear that saying "It's the Indian and not the arrow" and that statement is true. However, each Indian will perform his best with the best equipment. It's true that Tiger Woods would destroy me on the golf course even if he was using the worst junior clubs you could find. It's also true that the other top level pro golfers would destroy Tiger if he used those same clubs against them. For him to compete at the level he wishes to, he needs the best equipment he can get.
Here's a tidbit of information for you. We've been going to all the large amateur national tournaments for quite some time. Most every year at the APA team championships for example, we have at least one person come to the booth and tell us how they have increased their skill level significantly since last year when they bought our products. They say our product helped them to get there. When you consider that that 99.9% of the people who play pool and buy pool cues and post on these forums are doing it for enjoyment and not for a living, isn't that what it's all about? These players come from all directions and all walks of life. From different skill levels and different expectations of themselves and the game. If you don't like our products that's fine. Don't buy them. But keep in mind that others may not feel the way you do, and that's OK!
Royce Bunnell
