predator...hard to control?

[cheemagun]

I've been playing with a predator for a couple of years now and its ok.. But now that ive gotten better i want to try a shaft with more feel in it.

I shot with my friends Gina cue and I was WAAAY off.. but the stick felt good. like.. i can feel what i was doing on the table. and it made my predator feel kind of dead. I changed to a brand new tip on my predator and i had a little bit of that feel for a couple of days and thats it. but what other shaft do you guys recommend? i tried a tiger x shaft and it felt good. Im sure i can adjust the deflection after a few days but im want to feel what im doing. any suggestions?

 

[Egg McDogit]

I remember the first day I played with my predator. I put the same stroke I usually had to with my old stick (I had to work hard with that thing) to pocket a ball a foot or so from the pocket and force follow down the table. It put so much spin on the ball, it hit the rail and killed.

Another reason I think they produce more spin is b/c of what someone else and drivermaker pointed out...you miss some shots b/c if you overstroke a little, you get such a ridiculous amount of english that the object balls throws away.

So to me, the difference in spin is like night and day.

One thing I immediately noticed with my new non-predator shaft is that I have to stroke the ball better to get the same action - which I personally prefer b/c I can let my stroke out more and not worry about overstroking.

Predator has perpetrated this malarky about their shafts producing more spin. They don't. They're not some kind of hypersensitive weapon suitable for only the best strokes. The difference between predator shafts and most other shafts is simply that they squirt less.

That's an important difference because you have to aim differently to pocket the balls. But that's the extent of the difference.

mike page
fargo

 

[Egg McDogit]

I really like the universal low squirt shaft. It's kind of like a more tame version of the predator...the amount of spin you get is comprable to a normal shaft...and it's very predictable. It squirts just a little bit more than the predator. It shoots just as straight. It hits really solid with very little vibration. I also like the tiger x shaft, but not quite as much.

I've been playing with a predator for a couple of years now and its ok.. But now that ive gotten better i want to try a shaft with more feel in it.

I shot with my friends Gina cue and I was WAAAY off.. but the stick felt good. like.. i can feel what i was doing on the table. and it made my predator feel kind of dead. I changed to a brand new tip on my predator and i had a little bit of that feel for a couple of days and thats it. but what other shaft do you guys recommend? i tried a tiger x shaft and it felt good. Im sure i can adjust the deflection after a few days but im want to feel what im doing. any suggestions?

 

[MFB]

I remember the first day I played with my predator. I put the same stroke I usually had to with my old stick (I had to work hard with that thing) to pocket a ball a foot or so from the pocket and force follow down the table. It put so much spin on the ball, it hit the rail and killed.

Another reason I think they produce more spin is b/c of what someone else and drivermaker pointed out...you miss some shots b/c if you overstroke a little, you get such a ridiculous amount of english that the object balls throws away.

So to me, the difference in spin is like night and day.

One thing I immediately noticed with my new non-predator shaft is that I have to stroke the ball better to get the same action - which I personally prefer b/c I can let my stroke out more and not worry about overstroking.

I agree 100%.

 

[Fred Agnir]

I have come to the conclusion that for >me< I think a predator shaft puts too much spin on the cue ball, which in turn puts too much spin and/or throw on the object and it's just enough to make me miss pockets more than I like.

A lot of people come to this conclusion, but it's not really what's happening. It can't be. There's less squirt, so swerve dominates. And most players will blame a lot of things on throw when it's really swerve.

The toughest shots with low squirt shafts, if you're used to normal squirt shafts are swerve-dominant shots like long shots with english shot at a medium pace, or even short shots with english shot at a slow pace. The there's no squirt to counteract any swerve (and there's almost always swerve).

Fred

 

[MFB]

A lot of people come to this conclusion, but it's not really what's happening. It can't be. There's less squirt, so swerve dominates. And most players will blame a lot of things on throw when it's really swerve.

The toughest shots with low squirt shafts, if you're used to normal squirt shafts are swerve-dominant shots like long shots with english shot at a medium pace, or even short shots with english shot at a slow pace. The there's no squirt to counteract any swerve (and there's almost always swerve).

Fred

Please define swerve.

 

[drivermaker]

Predator has perpetrated this malarky about their shafts producing more spin. They don't.

mike page
fargo

Is that the ONLY malarky coming out of them? Maybe there's been more than a fair share of it all the way around. Look how long and hard you've been falling for it.

Hey, let's face it. They're ALL discovering where the REAL money is in sales.
It's just like in golf...THE SHAFT!! You can sell millions of shafts compared to whole cues for a fraction of the money, but LOADED with a much greater profit for one and all. Each one making a claim to improve this that and the other to revolutionize your game.

Now you have Saluc coming out with an Aramith shaft that claims very low deflection along with a training kit to show you how to apply sidespin properly to maximize performance with this particular shaft.

You also have the Tiger X shaft...the Universal shaft...the McDermott I.C.E. shaft...Meucci red and black dot...a couple of Cue-Tec shafts...Annie-O shafts...and more that I'm forgetting right now.

Where were all of these just a few short years ago? It's all about $$$$$$$

 

[mikepage]

Is that the ONLY malarky coming out of them? Maybe there's been more than a fair share of it all the way around. Look how long and hard you've been falling for it.

Huh? What have I been falling for?

mike page
fargo

 

[tom haney]

saw some advice on another thread about getting a predator...I played with one and recently switched to another shaft. Looking back, I was thinking that the predator was kind of hard to control. For instance, one shot I had a problem with was a 2/3 table shot where you have to draw it like 1 foot. I'd either draw it a couple feet or only a few inches. In all fairness, I didn't play with a predator that long. What do you think? Do you think that the predator's harder to control than a normal shaft?

I think so. I bought a sneaky pete with z shaft and
I'm having a heck of a time with it.

 

[drivermaker]

Huh? What have I been falling for?

mike page
fargo

Oooops....Uncle Mike is having a hard time again today following the flow of a thread. C'mon, don't give me any of your malarky. (your clue is in that last sentence)

 

[Mungtor]

Please define swerve.

AFAIK, swerve is "defined" as the tendency of the CB to curve slightly due to the application of english and the impossibility of a perfectly level stroke. Masse is intense swerve.

 

[MFB]

AFAIK, swerve is "defined" as the tendency of the CB to curve slightly due to the application of english and the impossibility of a perfectly level stroke. Masse is intense swerve.

Thank you for the definition.

 

[Obelix]

saw some advice on another thread about getting a predator...I played with one and recently switched to another shaft. Looking back, I was thinking that the predator was kind of hard to control. For instance, one shot I had a problem with was a 2/3 table shot where you have to draw it like 1 foot. I'd either draw it a couple feet or only a few inches. In all fairness, I didn't play with a predator that long. What do you think? Do you think that the predator's harder to control than a normal shaft?

I have just started to play pool, exatly on last November, yet I have a quite solid foundation of snooker skills created in early 90s.

At first I played Pool with used Cuetec, which I desided to change into Predator since Cuetec's synthetic shaft, which felt uncomfortable to me.

I had have a good start of playing in local tournaments and succeeded well with Cuetec. With Predator my game went down, but I was patient enough to practice about 4 months with it. I was still down. I started to test occasionally different cues like Meucci, Adam or Joss of my friends. I found out that the reason of my depression was not caused by Predators shaft as it was of the weighing point. My Predator 4k2 had much more heavyness in front than the other Cues I tested. That took totally away my position play.

Now I'm playing with Meucci, predator shaft screwed in. It has put my balance back to get a good feeling of playing.

 

[mikepage]

Oooops....Uncle Mike is having a hard time again today following the flow of a thread. C'mon, don't give me any of your malarky. (your clue is in that last sentence)

You're right; I don't understand the flow of the thread.

And the same thing happened in another thread. You seem to object to something I say, but you don't put it on the table.

You seem to have a chip on your shoulder about me trying to contribute here, and I really don't understand why.

mike page
fargo

 

[drivermaker]

You're right; I don't understand the flow of the thread.

And the same thing happened in another thread. You seem to object to something I say, but you don't put it on the table.

You seem to have a chip on your shoulder about me trying to contribute here, and I really don't understand why.

mike page
fargo

What chip?

 

[MFB]

Think he's referring to,

On long shots where sidespin is applied to the cueball, if the ball is not struck hard enough to compensate for the english, the spin will take before the cueball reaches the object ball, causing the cueball to "swerve" off the correct line of aim.

The longer the distance between cueball and object ball, the faster the shot must be to hold the spinning ball to a true line. Hit too soft and the spin has a chance to grab early.

Well I don't hit the balls too softly too often to allow that to happen. But thanks for the clarification.

 

[Rod]

You're right; I don't understand the flow of the thread.

And the same thing happened in another thread. You seem to object to something I say, but you don't put it on the table.

You seem to have a chip on your shoulder about me trying to contribute here, and I really don't understand why.

mike page
fargo

DM said "Is that the ONLY malarky coming out of them? Maybe there's been more than a fair share of it all the way around. Look how long and hard you've been falling for it."


I didn't understand that reply either.

DM also said "I think this was probably it more than anything else. (seriously) There will be those that say it doesn't create more spin, however that totally contradicts Predator claims and ads which say that it DOES have more spin."

(This was related to a comment that the ball spins more.)

Surely a man with a half dozen or more aiming systems can get past a little spin? I happen to agree with Mike, it doesn't produce more spin. Less squirt maybe, but your aiming systems should make up for that as well? Or maybe just maybe you need a little more "feel" for the aim and fewer systems.

Fred's comment makes more sense, if it doesn't squirt as much then it becomes more of a swerve issue. However I don't necessarly buy into that but it's possible.

I aim the same with a pred as my fat ass shaft. The balls still go but I don't like the pred taper or the soft dinky shaft. I never run out and bought one like most looking for miracles. I have played with several and with a shaft that fit my cue.

They don't spin more, draw more or IMO deflect any less. Its all hype as far as I can tell. If it does deflect less it's so small I didn't notice the difference. I do agree with one thing though, Pred can sell a bag of shit. Huh DM?

Rod

 

[drivermaker]

They don't spin more, draw more or IMO deflect any less. Its all hype as far as I can tell. If it does deflect less it's so small I didn't notice the difference. I do agree with one thing though, Pred can sell a bag of shit. Huh DM?

Rod

Rod...if somebody can't follow the flow and meaning of your last paragraph above, they need a remedial reading course. Truer words can not be spoken!

Some people refer to the bag of ca-ca that Predator is selling as "chips", otherwise know as dried animal dung. Maybe that was the "chip" Mike was referring to, I don't know...I don't understand him either. But it's not on my shoulder, it's all over the ground and being spewed out by all of the deflection freaks. Everytime it's brought up the place starts stinking too.

 

[Fred Agnir]

Well I don't hit the balls too softly too often to allow that to happen. But thanks for the clarification.

Your cueball will start to swerve almost immediately with a Predator shaft. You'll just happen to notice it more with the softer shots.

As I said, with a Predator, even on medium speed (3 table length lag), at a decent distance (5 or so diamonds), swerve will dominate.

Fred

 

[Fred Agnir]

Surely a man with a half dozen or more aiming systems can get past a little spin? I happen to agree with Mike, it doesn't produce more spin. Less squirt maybe, but your aiming systems should make up for that as well?

No, it doesn't. The aiming systems by Hal Houle will work for centerball shots for all cues. But with firm english, they have been built on the idea that a cueball will squirt. A Predator doesn't work with any of Hal's Systems when using english and firm speed.

Fred's comment makes more sense, if it doesn't squirt as much then it becomes more of a swerve issue. However I don't necessarly buy into that but it's possible.

This was definetly an issue for me. I still won tournaments, and still played well, but I wasn't comfortable and I never felt like I was playing my best.

It's a pretty common theme for people who don't like Predators. That is, it's always the issue of "losing speed control on soft english shots," or worse, "completely missing easy slower english shots." Given the Predator technology, the swerve dominant idea makes 100% sense to me.

Fred