Pia Filler hates wood shafts
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Dealer here, so grain of salt. The carbon shaft thing isn't really about skill level, it's about deflection and feel. Low deflection shafts let you get away with imperfect aim on cut shots because the ball squirts less, so yeah, that can flatten the learning curve some. But plenty of pros grew up on wood and never switched, guys like Efren didn't need a carbon shaft to shovel english on people. Pia's comments probably come from personal preference on hit and feedback, wood just feels different off the tip, more traditional thump versus the stiffer carbon response. Neither is objectively better, it's closer to picking a golf shaft flex than picking training wheels. If you're newer and want a rundown on what actually matters in a beginner cue, I wrote up a fuller guide here: https://billiardhome.com/blog/best-pool-cues-for-beginners
Top players get sponsored. Sponsored players use the equipment their sponsors are trying to sell, or at the very least, equipment that looks, on camera, like it is the equipment their sponsors are trying to sell. That's the whole point of sponsorship. Very few players are good enough to pick and choose their sponsors so that they only have to use their own preferred gear. Free gear is generally better than gear they have to pay for, because as good players, they can play well with anything. To keep getting that free gear, they sing the praises of their sponsors' products, whether that gear is deserving of praise or not.
It is marketing hype that lower deflection is inherently better than higher deflection. They're just different. A certain amount of deflection is expected with any shaft. As long a a player consistently uses the same gear, they'll get used to playing with whatever amount of deflection that cue has.
Let's say that's true- that the atmospheric conditions will effect the way a shaft plays. Why wouldn't learning how that is and adjusting to it be beneficial? Everyone knows humidity changes the way a table plays. That isn't speculation. Having a CF shaft will not save you from that type of variance. Knowing how and what is being effected is what helps a player to adjust no matter what... not having a particular kind of shaft.
your wood shaft doesn't play any different with changes in the weather that is all horseshit. its not a golf club that bends with your swing. your swing is straight,
and even the old wood shafted golf clubs which i learned on didn't bend according to the weather. and if wood did that all the time, building houses would be a nightmare.
the cueball doesn't roll different because of the weather its the cloth that slows down the balls as it get more humid. i would guess because there is slightly more friction on a damper cloth.
and even the old wood shafted golf clubs which i learned on didn't bend according to the weather. and if wood did that all the time, building houses would be a nightmare.
the cueball doesn't roll different because of the weather its the cloth that slows down the balls as it get more humid. i would guess because there is slightly more friction on a damper cloth.
Shafts are flexible and bend during a shot, some more and some less but they do bend and vibrate and work a bit like s spring.
Humidity and weather will affect that, might not be noticeable with all shafts but it’s there.
But that’s not the big issue.
Flying across the world for a tournament, getting your cue out and realize that the shaft has warped is not fun… finding an annoying ding in it is also not fun, finding a cue repair shop that you can trust across the world is not fun.
Non of these are issues with CF shafts.
Quiet mind when it comes to the personal equipment is golden and worth every penny and the phase it takes to get used to CF.
I buy the travel thing. It's not one stable climate but dozens of them in vicious cycles plus the plane rides.
Hmm, her 2 rail safety kicks are off......a tight grain wood shaft can twist to ball more to make a good hit....and bank easier. Trees love humidity. Shaft stabilizer cures any humidity concerns.
I would argue that wood is superior when it comes to dings and other damage. Sure, a wood shaft can be dinged, but it is also trivially easy to remove a ding from a wood shaft non-destructively, without removing any material. Nick a CF shaft, and if it can be repaired, it will take a lot more time and effort to make it glass smooth and structurally sound again.
About twenty years ago, the house cue smith (regrettably, I cannot recall his name at the moment) at Uncle Waldo's Billiards, in Daytona Beach, showed me a wood shaft he had just repaired. The owner's new puppy had gotten ahold of it and gave it the chew toy treatment. It looked like new when he finished his repairs. Wood is resilient. I have my doubts that a CF shaft would have been repairable at all.
About twenty years ago, the house cue smith (regrettably, I cannot recall his name at the moment) at Uncle Waldo's Billiards, in Daytona Beach, showed me a wood shaft he had just repaired. The owner's new puppy had gotten ahold of it and gave it the chew toy treatment. It looked like new when he finished his repairs. Wood is resilient. I have my doubts that a CF shaft would have been repairable at all.
NO WAY, nada, to ding/nick a cf shaft. You can hurt one by swinging it at a light or tables edge but that's about it. In normal use, even knocking balls around,you will never hurt one.
I've been around too many CF products to believe that. The material isn't indestructible, and a quick Internet search revealed damaged CF shafts and requests for repair procedures.