It depends on what you mean by "big." For more info, see advantages and disadvantages of LD shafts.
The short answer is: Yes, it does make a difference (a "big" difference if you don't adjust well).
Regards,
Dave
LD Shafts Back To Regular Shafts
- Thread starter DrCue'sProtege
- Start date
The short answer is: Yes, it does make a difference (a "big" difference if you don't adjust well).
Regards,
Dave
I disagree respectfully with you. I agree with the poster
who said snooker cues are naturally low deflective.With the front end mass being smaller due to tip size, they would deflect less.
Cue ball weight plays a big factor if you ask me. A heavier ball deflects less, both off the cue tip and off the object ball if you aren't hitting the object ball straight on. When you are playing the angles of the table for position, you must make an adjustment for the difference in angle the heavier cue ball comes off the object ball as you are playing position. I think you can get more "feel" of the cue ball when you are using a solid maple shaft...I think it resonates more...tone, if you will.
The key to playing well is understanding what "tone" is most favorable for your style of play. If you like to play "ping pong" style (back and forth all over the table, get a harder tip and a shaft that will make the cue ball come off the tip faster...I think a stiffer shaft does this. If you play a softer game where you try to spin and caress the cue ball around the table, use a softer tip and a shaft that bends a bit where it will let you "pull" the ball around the table with spin.
If you play like I TRY to, I play "no spin". For ME, the most comfortable shaft is one that gives me a mixture of both...a medium tip and a shaft that has flex, but not so much that it spins the ball by itself (many of the new LD shafts have this as one of their main selling points). Once you have developed your stroke, you will realize that spin isn't always the best way to create angles. Use natural angles as much as possible and let the cue ball "float" around the table.
I don't want to derail this thread, but players must understand that NO shaft is perfect for every player or even every situation. I can play with pretty much any cue, but I had rather play with a cue that I already know is tailored for my style..
I was playing yesterday with two of my cues (I try to use the same cue as much as possible to keep a consistent feel, but since I play only on Sundays my feel is gone from one week to the next) and when I realized that I was hitting the ball good but with not enough "oomph", I switched to another cue with a bit more forward weight and a bit stiffer shaft. They both had the same tip (TNT Max Pro) so the feel was "similar". By similar, I mean the way I could hit the cue ball in the same spot and get the same "resonate" tone that I could "feel" in my hands and I could judge it by the reaction of the cue ball when it came off the object ball.
The key to a shaft is to get something that "fits" YOU. You have to "know" what feel you like before you can ever decide what type of shaft is best for YOU. Some people swear by LD vs non-LD. I swear by "feel"...if I hit the ball and get the right feel, I know almost automatically that I have hit the ball good because my cue feels like I've hit the "sweet spot", like you feel when you make a good shot with a tennis racket. You don't always hit the ball over the net when you have hit the ball good, but you almost ALWAYS know when you have hit it bad...because you don't feel the same "resonation".
Aloha.
My tip popped off my LD shaft, and I didn't get it changed for a few months, so I was forced to play with my regular 13mm shaft. It is definitely a small adjustment. I have to admit that while I enjoyed playing with the regular shaft again at first, I realized how much I missed it when I went back to my LD shaft. I didn't really think that much of the LD shaft until I played with my regular shaft again, and then went back to the LD shaft. That being said, neither creates something that can't be adjusted for.
A more concise answer is that their is an adjustment, and that adjustment has to be performed all the time. In my case, it got annoying to have to think about it that much after not doing so as much with the LD shaft
Don't most snooker cues have a brass ferrule? I would think that would make them far from LD, regardless of their smaller tip diameter. They certainly aren't designed for LD...which is fine as I don't think Snooker players tend to use a lot of english anyway.
9Ballr, you are wrong. The biggest advantage of LD , is , it is easier to adjust since the aiming offset is usually within the pocket region; unlike, HD, where you have to aim 1/2 a diamond off to make a ball with running english (not stun) . At least with LD if you off a bit, there is a chance to make the ball..
That's fine.
Doesn't mean you're right.
They are not "naturally low deflective" in the least.
But in my post I said, "But regardless of that," as in never mind that. Because that's not important. And then went on to describe how much happier my friends and I have been after the change.
It's all a matter of personal preference.
I hate the LD's.
They're just utter junk.........every one of them....and that's a fact.....hahaha.....just kidding......golly.....don't be so sensitive......
Bottom line: personal preference. Oh and there's no way you can match the feel of a solid maple in an LD shaft.....if one likes that feel there's only one way to go.
I don't mind LD shafts on cheaper cues. On the super cheap junk those shafts are ok.
But do you think I'm going to put an LD shaft on my Richard Black, Scruggs or Gilbert cues.....common now......and completely ruin the feel the maker wants to pass on to me?
Paying thousands of dollars just for a fancy butt just to put an LD shaft on it seems preposterous to me.
These cue makers aren't top makers just because they make sharp points.
You couldn't be more wrong.
"easier" is a matter of what one considers easy.
And that's hugely based on what one gets used to.
Get used to LD's and they're easier, get used to solids and they're easier.
Ever seen Efren play with an LD. I have and it was like watching a chicken trying to fly.
He was missing shots he's been making since the first day he picked up a cue.
So for him 'easier' is a solid maple shaft.
You are absolutely right.
Just do add, they use English a lot.
But, like you said, there is nothing LD about a snooker shaft.
Exactly nothing.
If anyone thinks it is they should shoot a few shots with those sticks and see what I'm talking about.
And none of those players use them and they have smaller balls and larger tables.
LD is the biggest hype to hit the pool world in the last few years.
And the pool players are eating it up as if it's some major advantage to use those shafts, not so with the snooker players, they don't buy into the hype and bs, rightfully so.