The benefits of playing with a standard shaft?

I prefer longer standard shafts

I thought to compare you would need to put the same tips on(tip proporsity changes accuracy) use similar ferrule material,lbm ,ivory,micarta,ivorine,agis and the same length tapers.(pro -conlogical) All these incorperate a different feel or no feel. I agree with the other posters comment about Buddy Hall,there are 2 totally different feels of the shaft,by how you adjust the shaft,with or with out the grain up. I prefer the darker grained over the white wood as well. You can get the older wood from the cuemakers in longer lengths-you simply have to pay more for it. !!!!! look at how John Parris shafts are made,by hand and with a wood plane!!!! And the joint position of the cue is similiar to full spliced cues-in the rear of the handle area. I think the cue maker and his own shafts balance the cue are better. Just have the cuemaker make 3oz shafts or 4.2 oz. Cues are tools with pivot points. 1 piece cues by paris with 9.5 mm tip,brass ferrule= world champions. You can get shafts 12.5mm from paris too!!! In maple or ash, my .05 cents mark
 
jay helfert said:
Ok change of subject. Please don't kill me. This one's for you axe. My spare car is a 1964 Volvo B18 Coupe. It runs great! With the original paint job, so it looks weathered and old. I like it that way.

The other day I was driving on the 405 Freeway in West Los Angeles. All around me were Mercedes', BMW's, Lexus' and big SUV's. I looked all around the freeway for a couple of minutes, and I realized I was driving the oldest car on the road. You know what? That made me very happy!

End of story. Thanks.
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So Jay, what you and axejunkie are saying is... it's hip to be square?

If so, I'm relieved, because nothing's more square than a 27-year-old in 2008 who still quotes Huey Lewis and the News.

And Ben, you can claim your rugged individualist mentality all you want, but we all know what really stops you from trying the predator is you'd have one less excuse for losing to me.

For me, I think I'll always be a LD shaft person, because I bought one while I was still really a complete beginner, and so roughly everything I've learned about the game has been learned with a predator shaft. That would be a lot of ground to make up if I tried to switch to a standard shaft now.

-Andrew
 
Joe Rogan said:
I know lot of people prefer standard shafts to low deflection ones, but I wanted to ask here on AZ to get some opinions from you folks as to why that's the case.
Robb Saez tried a predator for 6 months but didn't like it, and I know some other really good players don't like them either. Corey Harper told me that there are some shots he can make with a regular shaft that he can't make with a low deflection one.

How many of you guys have tried a low deflection and went back because you felt that it wasn't good for your game?
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I've got no answers, only anectodes. I tried out the Predator 314 for a year and a half. And although I played pretty well with it, upon switching back to a regular shaft, I played better. The toughest part was that even after a year and a half, I never felt natural with slow spin shots, (i.e., the "feel" shots, like everyone one has been saying).

However, I find that if I'm rusty, I can get back in stroke more quickly using a low deflection shaft. Once I get back in stroke, I switch back to a regular shaft. In other words, I can get my best game out of a regular shaft, but if I'm loose or rusty, the low deflection shaft allows me to pocket balls and stay with "wanting to play" until my body works itself out of its funk (due to layoff or whatever). If I start of rusty with a regular shaft, I find myself missing centerball (with high or low ;) ) more often, and then just want to throw the cue out the window and go for bike ride.

I've never played my best game with a low deflection shaft. But, I don't think I've ever played my worst game with one either. I've definitely played my best and worst with a regular shaft.

I think people with a sense of science and logical reason should be able to get something out of that if they look hard enough. Im more consistent with a low deflection shaft, but my best game comes out with a normal shaft.

Interestingly enough, I think I can say the same thing about SPF.

Fred
 
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Do you have one of those old-school "Steve McGarrett" type phones in the car?
Bookem Danno!

stevemcg.jpg

Nick


axejunkie said:
Honestly, I think I don't play with one because I don't like hype and trendy stuff. I don't own a trendy i-Pod or trendy i-phone or wear trendy Puma shoes. Dare to be different I guess. Or maybe all Predator's talk of making the game easier reminds me of home workout videos. Get your butt in the gym and do it the old-fashioned way.

If I were more serious about playing, I would probably try one and throw that mentality out the door, but I'm happy as is with standard shafts.
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I think most people believe that LD shafts spin more because of the lack of squirt. The cue ball does not get pushed out as much and thus you need to aim wider when twirling the ball. With a whippier shaft I need to aim to hit the impeding ball to get the desired effect. With a LD shaft I'm aiming to miss (or farther out) and letting the cue ball come back. I think the total arc produced is equal(ish).

Nick
 
Good Regular standard shafts allow me to have more (pardon the pun) but flexibility.... if you use alot of spin and "use" deflection then the pred shaft is not for you. If you see the "truth" of the way the balls slide, collide, rotate, than IMO standard shaft is the way to go.
 
The best thing in my mind is that you can always get another shaft that hits about the same. If a tip falls off you can reach in your bag and pull out another shaft that hits close to it. It seems that more pros are shooting with low deflection shafts because it is much easier to pocket more difficult shots.
Something with a little less guess work.
 
Patrick Johnson said:
I don't think so. Some people think that if you aim the center of two shafts at the same place on the CB the smaller diameter shaft will hit farther from the CB's center - but this usually isn't true. Unless you're close to maximum sidespin or the tips are curved differently, they'll hit in the same place on the CB.

There's no reason that I know of for a smaller diameter shaft to give more spin for the same hit, and in fact tests show they don't.

pj
chgo
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Patrick,
Perhaps it is a visual thing. In that when aligning a smaller diameter shaft to an offset position on the CB, there appears to be more of the CB visible on the outside of the CB. Giving the feeling that there is still more offset possible without risking a miscue.

This might translate in the mind as feeling like we are hitting closer to CB center.

Colin
 
Shafts

My experience is this..... I played around 30hrs weekly for about 5 years. Took 2 years off and had a hard time getting back in stroke. Brought out a few cues that I hadn't sold. An Olivier and a Scruggs, I remember the hit and feel well of both but I couldn't seem to make shots using extreme english. Broke down and thought I would try a predator again (tried one for two weeks years ago) and my game is close to before I stopped playing.After owning a lot of cues by top makers like Scruggs, Black etc. theres no doubt that the feel and mystique is unmatched however, an Ivory jointed cue with a matched 314-2 shaft seems to be the winning combo for me.. JMO:wink:
 
It seems like "feel" is the main reason why people prefer regular shafts.
Quite a few top level pros like shane, efren, archer, bustamante all prefer regular shafts too. I guess after learning how to adjust to the deflection for so long it's got to be weird to try to adjust to less.
I know Earl used an ob1 for a while but switched back because of a lack of feel.
 
Joe Rogan said:
It seems like "feel" is the main reason why people prefer regular shafts.
Quite a few top level pros like shane, efren, archer, bustamante all prefer regular shafts too. I guess after learning how to adjust to the deflection for so long it's got to be weird to try to adjust to less.
I know Earl used an ob1 for a while but switched back because of a lack of feel.
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I'd agree with that.

I like my Predators and will probably never part with them, but in the end, they're really just different, not neccessarily better.
 
Love the Predator.

Not knocking you Joe, but this discussion has already been covered many-many times. The best advice I can give you is, trying different shafts for yourself is the only way you are going to know what works for you and what doesn't. I'm sure you have enough scratch to buy a few and try them at home. :wink:
 
Joe Rogan said:
It seems like "feel" is the main reason why people prefer regular shafts.
Quite a few top level pros like shane, efren, archer, bustamante all prefer regular shafts too. I guess after learning how to adjust to the deflection for so long it's got to be weird to try to adjust to less.
I know Earl used an ob1 for a while but switched back because of a lack of feel.
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Joe,

I prefer the hit of a regular shaft over a predator shaft, but I can't master allowing for side english deflection with regular shafts. It's a guessing game for me on a 9' table, but when I play with a predator shaft I have more confidence that i'm not going to miss a shot when I have to use side spin. It's worth giving up some feel hitting some of the shots to not have to guess on compensating for deflection on other shots.

James
 
SCCues said:
Joe,

I prefer the hit of a regular shaft over a predator shaft, but I can't master allowing for side english deflection with regular shafts. It's a guessing game for me on a 9' table, but when I play with a predator shaft I have more confidence that i'm not going to miss a shot when I have to use side spin. It's worth giving up some feel hitting some of the shots to not have to guess on compensating for deflection on other shots.

James
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Ever try using a low deflection regular shaft? I have three 11 mm tipped, regular, shafts that deflect less than a 314 or OB-1. And I have all the feel I need.

Flex
 
If the 314 is good enough for Alex P or Ralph Souquet...its good enough for me.

Actually - Klein is fixing me up an OB1 for my cue as well, and I'm going to give that a spin.
 
HollyWood said:
1 piece cues by paris with 9.5 mm tip,brass ferrule= world champions. mark
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I have a one-piece ash cue John Paris made for me years ago that fits that description exactly. :) But I sure ain't no world champion! :(
 
Joe Rogan said:
It seems like "feel" is the main reason why people prefer regular shafts.
Quite a few top level pros like shane, efren, archer, bustamante all prefer regular shafts too. I guess after learning how to adjust to the deflection for so long it's got to be weird to try to adjust to less.
I know Earl used an ob1 for a while but switched back because of a lack of feel.
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Joe in a sense you are right.

Many of the aftermarket low-deflection shafts achieve the "low-deflection" by lighten-ing the front end and changing the shafts' natural pivot point. They do this by strategically drilling/removing material from inside the shaft. That kills a lot of feel!

Personally, my stroking arm/hand are very sensitive, if you take away any sensitivity whatsoever, it just feels dead to me (insert vulgar condom reference here :grin: ).

With our "X" Shafts, we try to hit the happy medium of improved accuracy and enhanced feel. Did you like your shaft(s)?
 
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