OK, let's start at the beginning.
Why do shafts have a ferrule anyway? They have a ferrule to protect the tip-end of the shaft from splitting and mushrooming the wood.
Will a shaft without a ferrule have less squirt? The science says yes because there is less front-end mass; plastic weighs more than wood.
But by the same token, that shaft is at risk of being split or mushed BECAUSE of the lack of a ferrule. Almost every cue-maker in the world realizes and understands this.
A ferrule-less shaft is nothing new or innovative. It's what they had before they realized a ferrule was needed. Why do you think all shafts come with a ferrule installed??? looks??? It's there to protect the wood. There's no 2 ways about it.
Ask Schon or McDermott to give you a ferrule-less shaft when you order your new cue and see if you get a warranty with it.
OK, let's look at ferrule length(s). As stated, plastic weighs more than wood. The longer the ferrule, the greater the front-end mass. That equates to greater squirt.
This could almost be viewed upon as a mute point because a true, accomplished player will adapt to the equipment he has. However, that example is more about human adaptability than the science of squirt and the length of a ferrule so I'll leave that be.
Ferrule length, composition and tenon diameter have as much to do with a cue's hit as does the selection of tip. They go hand in hand.
OK, since plastic weighs more than wood, it would stand to reason that the shorter the ferrule, the less additional weight. So what is the optimal length? This is where it starts to get fuzzy because nobody really knows.
Even if a standard length were agreed upon there would be exceptions because everyone has a different game. Everyone hits the ball differently & not all QBs weigh the same. Let's say you've got the strongest break in the room.
Do you honestly expect that ferrule less shaft to hold-up and not incurr damage at some point? You know how your tip will mushroom? I'll bet that the wood just under that tip is doing the same thing, albeit to a lesser degree.
To answer the OP's question of: "It seems to me that a shaft with no ferrule would be better than one with such a super short one. Any thoughts?".
Yes, something is better than nothing. We just haven't determined how much of 'something' is best.
Squirt, and measures taken to counter it, are very real. So real it's become a science.
Platinum Billiards, when they were up & running, did an independent test on a myriad of shafts to compare the degree of squirt that each shaft would produce. The test parameters were the same for all shafts.
The shaft with the least squirt was the Predator Z @ 11.75mm.
However, the shaft with the next least deflection was the Predator 314 @ 12.75mm. Next in line was the OB-1 which is also @ 12.75mm or just a touch above. None of the shafts tested, to my knowledge, were ferrule-less.
Even the Predator BK break shaft was in the top 8 of 46 shafts tested. The Predator FAT @ 13.2mm was not in production at the time of the tests but given it has less F/E mass than the BK shaft, I would be inclined to rate it higher.
Nobody's fudging the facts Jer, it's just weird science.
