What are the playing characteristics of a stiff, low deflection shaft and how does it differ from a whippy shaft. Does it differ as in jumping, masse, deflection, English, breaking, etc.?
Stiff, low deflection shafts
- Thread starter Tennesseejoe
- Start date
Been playing for over 40yrs and i've yet to see/play a 'whippy' cue. The Meucci was a tad more flexible than some but FAR from whippy. Virtually every lo-d shaft i've hit has been fairly stiff. The Jacoby laminated seemed a bit softer but not much. All the cf shafts are stiff and they play great, some feel better than others but playability has been good on every one i've tried. I don't jump or break with a playing cue, i like my tips better than that. You just have to try a bunch til you hit the one you like.
The 314 shafts are a bit on the whippy side. So is the SMO from JFlowers compared to most CF shafts.
On the other hand, the Revo 12.9mm is stiff.
My guess in order to make a stiff low deflection shafts, the diameter has to be bigger to enable lower front end mass. Or use conical taper to obtain stiffness, like the Z shafts and Revo 12.4 (that have a sort of hybrid taper).
Fvalstounge
Member
I've been playing with a vintage Meucci for 40 yrs and had my bullwhip long before that. Never did get the "whippy" characterization. It's not like some flimsy noodle out there. Rather, I always felt is was a bit softer of a hit. Feels like the cue strokes through the ball, whereas firmer sticks always felt like they want to bounce off it. I get more "feedback" with a stiffer cue. Can't say it's excessive vibration, just different.
I don't shoot particularly hard, so it complements my own playing style, but the tip has just as much to do with the feel. In the end, I think the greatest impact comes from having your own, personal cue that you use until it feels like an extension of yourself. That consistency and trust factor is more important than tiny measurements in deflection.
Play characteristics shouldn't differ a whole lot. It's mostly a feel thing.
That said, back in the day I tried an OB shaft and I would have no confidence in that thing to do any full-cue jumps. It did feel like a wet noodle. But otherwise, it's just how it feels. For me, I like stiffer shafts as they give me more confidence. But to each, his own.
That is why I asked. I cannot jump with my OB Classic shaft.
lo squirt shafts are generally bad jumpers. kinda goes with the territory, you need squirt to jump good. can be a tad harder to really masse one also for same reason.
I'm the same. I started with house cues, then my first cue was a Meucci in the early 90's, then I had a used McDermott, then a custom Tim Scuggs. After that, Predator shafts on various butts until today. I never noticed one or another to be whippy. They all made different sounds on the hit, and squirted the cb a bit differently. But as far as a noticeable difference in how much the shaft bent, if it did, I never noticed.
Excellent reply to the question. So it is the squirt of the OB shaft. How about a CF shaft? I believe they are much stiffer? Do they jump/masse better? I am thinking about purchasing a CF if there are more benefits than that they don't ding and are easy to clean.
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Must be a soft tip thing, I use medium tips and break every rack with my player and see no ill effects on my tip. If anything it hardens (from compression) the tip quicker where it gets to the point that I really like it, but never any mushrooming.
I’ve heard this, but never understood why. Can you (or anybody) explain the physics?
pj <- thanks in advance
chgo
no clue just experience, lo-d shafts in my use have not jumped or curved the ball near as well as a regular defl cue. not even close. why are you asking anyway dr of all things pool? Sounds like a lame attempt at a rhetorical question. i'm sure you know all the details.
I play with a low-d cf shaft and I can do full-cue jumps readily, whereas I couldn't get the cb off the cloth with my old OB.
Other benefits of cf is not worrying about warping or humidity effecting it too much.
I'd appreciate any insights from those with actual knowledge or believable theories... Dr. Dave? Bueller?
pj
chgo
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Thanks for an answer that helps in my decision. Will you share the combination of shaft/tip you prefere?
the obvious benefit you already know
less aim adjustment when using spin/better energy transfer
I use a Tiger Everest. A brand new one is a little softer than I prefer so my tip installer sands a couple layers off at install, I think it helps it to stiffen them up a little faster especially since I break with it. I have them on McDermott G-Core shafts which people say are not really LD shafts but its what I have been playing with for 20 years and I am used to them. Since they usually last a couple of years sanding off a couple of layers really doesn't bother me.