I've used standard shafts for most of my pool playing days. And I should point out that I lived in the NYC area, where I grew up on and favored straight pool. I believe the unique positional demands of straight pool force a player to learn inside english. Therefore, I never had much problem with using inside. And inside, I believe, is the primary reason people go to a LD shaft.
In any case, since a lot of players had gone to LD, I thought I'd try them out. So I borrowed a Predator 314 and bought an OB1. Of the two, I preferred the hit of the OB1, which felt more solid to me.
As for squirt, at first I was impressed that I didn't have to make much of a compensation with english. I could shoot a straight in shot with a full tip of english and not have to change aim, as long as I hit it hard enough to negate throw. Pretty cool.
But as I began to play with the OB1, I realized how many aiming nuances I had to adjust for. I have played with the same cue for 25 years! I know it intimately, and we aim without thinking. And so, with an LD shaft I had to think on every shot I used english. It was incredibly distracting.
I had two lengthy trial periods before I concluded there was no benefit to LD shafts. Yes, there is less compensation required, but that primarily is limited to inside english. Using outside, there is often MORE compensation. Moreover, I had better feel with my solid shafts, so I felt more in control of cueball subtleties.
So, on balance, I can see why people are attracted to LD shafts. But to imagine that a LD can do things a solid shaft cannot shows a lack of understanding and reveals a tendency for magical thinking or delusion.
