OB or not OB that is the question
- Thread starter gpeezy
- Start date
No, it will not make you a better player. It's just making you lazy. If you know your cue well, you can have the same results. Actually, a normal shaft will make you a better player, because with a deflection shaft, you will learn what deflection is and how to control it. With a low deflection shaft, it's just making you easier. You don't have to learn how deflection works. So when you turned from an OB to a normal shaft, you can hardly pot a ball with english.
Try searching the archives. There's a fair amount of material on this topic.gpeezy said:
i would say your opinion is the other extreme to the predator and ob-1 fanboys! they're just different at the end of the day. you can argue they're better to a certain extent, but they're just different. not 'better', or 'worse'.
WesleyW said:
I agree completely. I think they are fine for a pro level player who has a perfectly refined stroke already. For an amatuer who is trying to develop a straight fluid stroke, I think they are the devil. They mask too many errors and give you extra cueball action that is not deserving of your stroke. I used to be a predator junkie with a horrible stroke. The shaft allowed me to do things that would take a "good" stroke to do with a normal shaft, therefor I never worked on improving my stroke. The predator became a crutch that ultimately stalled my progress.
Ian
Maybe you should expand your vocabulary. There are plenty of people in the USA that pot balls and refer to it that way on occasion.etimmons said:
The OB-1 shaft does what it is supposed to do and that is to be radially consistent and low deflection. It's not intended to be for everyone, nor should it be. You will need to try it and see if it is something that works for you. Obviously it works well for many.
Well no cue will make you a better player. You have to become a better player on your own.
However I do believe that an OB-1 is a great tool to have in your corner.
The great thing with the OB-1 is that they are more consistent, and consistency is the ultimate goal in this sport. So if you have the shaft that is the most consistent, then why wouldn't it be a good thing?
Besides if you for some reason ruin the shaft and order another OB-1 shaft they will play pretty much the same. You can't say that for a maple shaft that was made for a cue out of maple stock. No two maple stock shafts will play exactly the same.
The OB-1 is the closest shaft to have radial consistency built into it. The low deflection part is just an added bonus.
Give me the tool that is the most consistent, and then I will work on becoming more consistent and look out world!
To the guy that said his predator was a crutch I don't think that is the case. I think you just didn't work on your stroke, and that isn't a fault of the cue. That is more of the fault of the cue operator. Someone that wants to get better will work on their stroke, and work on their game. So I don't believe the shaft will mask the problems at all. If you have a crappy stroke it will be noticeable. I have seen people that are bangers and pocket balls with a stock shaft, and you wouldn't think they would pocket anything! The OB-1 wouldn't change the fact that they have a crappy stroke.
Anyway, the ultimate thing with the OB-1 is try it and see if it fits your style of play. If it does then get one, and if it doesn't then don't get one.
I do believe that it is the most radial and most consistent shaft out there, and it fits my game perfectly. So that is the reason I chose it.
However I do believe that an OB-1 is a great tool to have in your corner.
The great thing with the OB-1 is that they are more consistent, and consistency is the ultimate goal in this sport. So if you have the shaft that is the most consistent, then why wouldn't it be a good thing?
Besides if you for some reason ruin the shaft and order another OB-1 shaft they will play pretty much the same. You can't say that for a maple shaft that was made for a cue out of maple stock. No two maple stock shafts will play exactly the same.
The OB-1 is the closest shaft to have radial consistency built into it. The low deflection part is just an added bonus.
Give me the tool that is the most consistent, and then I will work on becoming more consistent and look out world!
To the guy that said his predator was a crutch I don't think that is the case. I think you just didn't work on your stroke, and that isn't a fault of the cue. That is more of the fault of the cue operator. Someone that wants to get better will work on their stroke, and work on their game. So I don't believe the shaft will mask the problems at all. If you have a crappy stroke it will be noticeable. I have seen people that are bangers and pocket balls with a stock shaft, and you wouldn't think they would pocket anything! The OB-1 wouldn't change the fact that they have a crappy stroke.
Anyway, the ultimate thing with the OB-1 is try it and see if it fits your style of play. If it does then get one, and if it doesn't then don't get one.
I do believe that it is the most radial and most consistent shaft out there, and it fits my game perfectly. So that is the reason I chose it.
likes and dislikes
Like most things in life you wish you could have the best of both. There are certain things that I can do better with the OB-1 and other things that I wish I coukl switch shafts mid-rack and shoot with a stock shaft. For instance, I use low inside to kill the cueball a lot. I did that shot for 20 years with a stock shaft and It just doesn't feel right with the OB-1. The stiffness effects "the feel factor"/"muscle memory". On the other hand long straight shots seem to fly in the pocket and draw and follow are better (I always had a decent stroke but the OB-1 does the same without feeling like I have to force it as much). comparing to predator I feel that the hit has somewhat of a softer feel almost like that of shooting with an ivory ferrule which I like.
Like most things in life you wish you could have the best of both. There are certain things that I can do better with the OB-1 and other things that I wish I coukl switch shafts mid-rack and shoot with a stock shaft. For instance, I use low inside to kill the cueball a lot. I did that shot for 20 years with a stock shaft and It just doesn't feel right with the OB-1. The stiffness effects "the feel factor"/"muscle memory". On the other hand long straight shots seem to fly in the pocket and draw and follow are better (I always had a decent stroke but the OB-1 does the same without feeling like I have to force it as much). comparing to predator I feel that the hit has somewhat of a softer feel almost like that of shooting with an ivory ferrule which I like.
txplshrk said:
I agree, I didn't work on my stroke. That IS my fault. What im saying is, I didn't realize how BAD my stroke was partially because I played mediocre. I was able to do things that "crappy strokes" could not do. (ie draw the table length). Summing up, the shafts can almost distort your impression of your game/stroke. I know its my fault for not working on my stroke, but like I said, my "results" had me thinking that my stroke was decent.
I personally would NOT recommend them to anyone until they have a ROCK solid stroke.
Ian
xianmacx said:
I could draw the length of the table with my McDermott shaft and that was with a crappy stroke where I just poked the hell out of it.
What I am saying is I don't think that the shaft will hide the flaws from your stroke, so I don't think it would hurt a beginner to use a predator or a Z.
I think if anything they might play more consistent a lot quicker because they won't have to worry about squirt nearly as much.
gpeezy said:
As others have suggested search some of the other OB-1 threads.
In the meantime, find someone who has one. (look on their website for your state's distributor, call them and ask them for a test drive).
I was practicing a few different shots with the OB-1 and I can make them more easily with the OB-1 than I can with traditional maple shafts.
One of them is below. And NO, you can't follow, just because.
JoeyA
WesleyW said:
Well, having played with some low deflection shafts, such as Predator, Black-dots, and other shafts that were modified to become low deflections shafts, as well as having played with lots of regular and high squirt shafts, I suppose I'm going to have to disagree with you on this. With any shaft, one needs to know how to deal with cue ball squirt. Every shaft squirts, some more, some less. It's all about managing the squirt.
Flex