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.
It seems like the Euro billiard academies that these young players are coming from heavily push carbon, I saw barely any wood in the latest Predator youth event. Except for Walter Laikre of Sweden, who won one of the events.
My friend's CF shaft was destroyed when someone leaned against it by accident.
Factual..ok. Not relevant though.
The force required to damage a carbon shaft is far greater than to damage a wood one, so the majority of dings- which are likely minor- are completely avoided with cf.
A correctly built Kielwood shaft might not be immersion water proof but it’s pretty resistant to humidity, i.e., moisture.
Me thinks Pia Filler knows not much of what she speaks or else is just huckstering for the carbon fiber shaft industry.
Here’s a observation I think others will attest to. I have never had any of my cues orig. maple shaft warp, bend, curve
or manifest any curvature. My Palmer is over 60 years old with 2 shafts; my Runde is 41 years old w/3 shafts. My TS
is over 20 years old and both shafts are straight as a tautly pulled string. And I’ve lived in different USA locations.
Now about Kielwood, I have 4 shafts from 2 builders and expect I’ll be adding more. I’m fussy about the specs so a lot
of shaft builders can’t build what I want made. If you look around, you’ll generally find what you want and I have. KW
shafts are not brittle, exhibit much lower deflection than maple equivalents, and are much more resistant to warping.
I have played with carbon shafts. I don’t wear a pool glove and never will. I haven’t any need for it and a silky smooth
wood shaft feels great in my closed bridge whereas CF shafts feel like something I’d get at Walmart or Target on a pool
cue selling for $59.99. CF shafts have a unappealing tactile feeling but wood, well, a properly maintained shaft is A+++.
Pia, and I suppose many of her peers. might possibly have sponsor connections that help influence their comments or
might fervently believe what they say. All I know is my experience with KW shafts and how better they play than maple.
Me thinks Pia Filler knows not much of what she speaks or else is just huckstering for the carbon fiber shaft industry.
Here’s a observation I think others will attest to. I have never had any of my cues orig. maple shaft warp, bend, curve
or manifest any curvature. My Palmer is over 60 years old with 2 shafts; my Runde is 41 years old w/3 shafts. My TS
is over 20 years old and both shafts are straight as a tautly pulled string. And I’ve lived in different USA locations.
Now about Kielwood, I have 4 shafts from 2 builders and expect I’ll be adding more. I’m fussy about the specs so a lot
of shaft builders can’t build what I want made. If you look around, you’ll generally find what you want and I have. KW
shafts are not brittle, exhibit much lower deflection than maple equivalents, and are much more resistant to warping.
I have played with carbon shafts. I don’t wear a pool glove and never will. I haven’t any need for it and a silky smooth
wood shaft feels great in my closed bridge whereas CF shafts feel like something I’d get at Walmart or Target on a pool
cue selling for $59.99. CF shafts have a unappealing tactile feeling but wood, well, a properly maintained shaft is A+++.
Pia, and I suppose many of her peers. might possibly have sponsor connections that help influence their comments or
might fervently believe what they say. All I know is my experience with KW shafts and how better they play than maple.
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Right, but it's not as though experienced players frequently ding their wood shafts. But when it does happen, it's quick, easy, and painless to completely remove those dings from wood shafts, nondestructively returning the shaft to pristine condition. Such damage cannot be completely avoided with CF shafts, and when it inevitably happens, the repair process, assuming the shaft is not damaged beyond repair, is much more complicated. Many players won't even be able to DIY the repair, let alone complete the repair before the next day's session (or sooner). In a pinch, a wood shaft ding can even be properly removed during a playing session if a spare shaft can be used for a few racks.
With respect to maintenance, when choosing between wood or CF shafts, people choose between occasional simple and easy repairs with wood, or even less frequent, albeit more complicated and expensive, repairs with CF.
No ding to a wood shaft that is "quick, easy and painless" to remove would have occurred if inflicted upon a carbon shaft.
The rest, therefore... unnecessary in writing or the pool room.
You're kidding yourself if you really believe that.