When you changed to a LD shaft ?

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8up

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Did you get the same tip or a different one?
How long did it take to adjust your shooting to it?

I shot with one for 3 hours today and I sucked badly. The tip is harder than my triangle on my regular shaft. The tip dia. is smaller. Of course the more I missed the more I got pissed.
Thanks
 
I bought 2 OB-2 shafts for my Schon. I left the everest tip on one and replaced the other with a Moori Med. ( my prefered tip ) I shoot well with both but the Moori just seems to grab a little better. Could be just mental bias on my part.......Dan
 
8up said:
Did you get the same tip or a different one?
How long did it take to adjust your shooting to it? Thanks
Click to expand...

I usually leave the Tiger Everest on the shaft until it gets to being on its last legs. I just can't see cutting off a $15 tip which plays pretty nice anyways. But, I am a Triangle man all the way, so eventually a Triangle is going on the shaft.

Maniac
 
I never used to worry about equipment, and basically only bought the LD shaft because I heard good things about it and I needed a shaft (broke the other one... that'll teach it to miss a ball).

Because I never pay attention to tips, it didn't even occur to me to change it. I have no idea what's on it. Works fine.

The adjustment in deflection caused me to miss a few easy sidespin balls. I'd say I'm used to it now but it took a month or so.
 
I play with a triangle on my 314 and my 314-2,and if I buy a new shaft or cue it will have a triangle on it before I play a match with it,I have done all the tip shopping that I plan on doing ,but I am very comfortable with my equipment and I am completely confident in it
 
I picked up an OB1 shaft for my McDermott about a month ago. It took about 5 minutes to get used to it. I could not hit anywhere close on alot of spinshots with the old shaft. Especially with reverse english. The deflection was terrible. With the LD shaft I started to make balls again. I was hitting balls as hard as I could and pocketing them with all kinds of inside spin.
After about two weeks I noticed a decline in the quality of my stroking ability (that means I couldn't do sh1t with the cueball). I liked the everest(?) tip, but I tried to work on it with no luck. Then the tip fell off! Even though I never broke with it, I guess the glue didn't hold. I bought a Kamui Black soft just to see if it would change the hit. As I was shaping the tip I noticed a problem with the shaft and sent it in for repair. When I get it back I'll let you know how it hits compared to the Everest. I have a Kamui Black medium on my other pos shaft. I might try that next on the OB1because it hits pretty good.
 
I dropped 2 skill levels in a matter of minutes going from a triangle on my stock lucasi to a wizard tip on a ld shaft of couse I am talking an apa 4 to a 2 lol
 
How much smaller is the diameter of the shaft? That is difficult to get used to. I like the smaller diameter tips though.

Regardless.... whatever shaft you use, if you keep practicing with it, you'll get used to it.
 
I still haven't fallen to the grand marketing of the LD shafts. I still like my Ivory ferrule shafts and triangle tips. I imagine I will for a very long time.
 
I played with an original 314, and now a 314-2. When switching to LD, my game was screwed up for a while because my previous cue was very high squirt/deflection. When you play with that for so long, the aim (adjustment) for squirt becomes second nature.

It took about 6 weeks to adjust to the Predator. I didn't do it by slowly reducing the squirt compensation. I went the other way around. I began my immediately training myself to shoot straight at the spot without any adjustment for english. This was hard, but much easier in the long run because you don't have to play around with variables. No adjustment for anything.

Of course, the Predator isn't squirt free. But it's easier to adjust from no compensation to the very little that the Predator requires than it is to work your way down from a very high squirt shaft.

People who adjust very quickly to LD shafts either have a gift of natural ability or their game was never in tune with a cue's various squirt levels for tips of english + speed of hit. For me, it takes a while to truly know a cue. That means knowing exactly how much it will squirt for any given shot.


As for tip, Triangle is the greatest.
 
8up said:
Did you get the same tip or a different one?
How long did it take to adjust your shooting to it?

I shot with one for 3 hours today and I sucked badly. The tip is harder than my triangle on my regular shaft. The tip dia. is smaller. Of course the more I missed the more I got pissed.
Thanks
Click to expand...

I think it's partially a mental thing and partially a feel thing. Anytime you change a shaft, if the new one has considerably different characteristics compared to the old, you can expect your game to take a nosedive and your confidence in the cue to plummet temporarily.

The hardness you feel isn't necessarily just the tip. The lightness of the tip side of the cue and ferrule material makes the tip seem harder than it is.

If after a mointh or two your game hasn't come around, shelf the LD shaft. But if you do adapt, after that your old lucasi shaft will feel strange.

Today I was testing a new break cue in development for a manufacturer. I was testing a new leather break tip, but I was actually playing racks with it - to see what extremes the tip could take. I was jumping balls etc. The design of the cue was very high squirt. On some spin shots I was missing the pocket by 6 inches. All I could think was "thank god for my LD shaft". They can keep these high squirt monsters.

Like Bolo Ocho said, at least with an LD shaft, you can aim almost like you would with no spin -like you were shooting center ball - and you will be pretty close. They don't require large adjustments from center ball aim lines.

Chris
 
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When I had the OB1 made for my Trogdon, there was no adjustment time that I noticed at all. In fact, I still switch out all the time with no ill effects.

I think one of the reasons is I had a Moori quick installed on the OB, therefore the tips are consistent on both shafts.

I also used to switch from a standard shaft to a 314 constantly on my Helmstetter, so I guess I'm used to the difference and don't notice myself adjusting.
 
I think everyone has their own "adjustment" time.

I went from a Lucasi Shaft to a 314 and it took me about a month to get comfortable with it. The improvement in shot making came after practicing for a few months. Both Moori medium tips.

Then a few months ago, I went from the 314 to the Z2. That took about a month too. I had to adjust for the amazing amount of english I was getting on the CB. The Z2 has taught be to hit very soft. I went from a Moori to a triangle, but switched to a Kamui Black.

So it took about a month. If I didn't see any improvement in the new shaft within a month, I would have went back to the 314. Why change to something that doesn't improve you.
 
whoaaaa said:
I think everyone has their own "adjustment" time.

I went from a Lucasi Shaft to a 314 and it took me about a month to get comfortable with it. The improvement in shot making came after practicing for a few months. Both Moori medium tips.

Then a few months ago, I went from the 314 to the Z2. That took about a month too. I had to adjust for the amazing amount of english I was getting on the CB. The Z2 has taught be to hit very soft. I went from a Moori to a triangle, but switched to a Kamui Black.

So it took about a month. If I didn't see any improvement in the new shaft within a month, I would have went back to the 314. Why change to something that doesn't improve you.
Click to expand...

You raise an interesting question: If you take a month to see improvement, can you attribute the improvement solely to the new shaft or could it be that you are getting better by virtue of a month of extra practice and play?
 
By midnight last night I was feeling lot better about this shaft. The smaller diameter tip is what was getting me I think. I was also lazy in chalking which was not as noticeable with the larger diameter shaft and triangle tip. I am liking this shaft at the moment. I will report on it once I give it a little time.
 
I went from using a Lepro tip to a layered Everest tip. I love the everest tip because it holds its shape for the life of the tip. It did not take me that long to adjust to a low deflection shaft but I am pretty sure that it was due to my lack of knowledge at the time of using english in my shot making especially inside and outside english. I shot with a Viking cue for a couple of years but the only english I used was tops or bottoms for the most part. I eventually bought a 314/2 for my Viking and continued to take lessons from a local instructor. Once I was shown how to properly use english it took some time to learn but nothing crazy. Learning how to properly compensate for throw and swerve regardless if the deflection is higher or lower will take time. I still believe that is the most challenging aspect I find in pocket billiards. Now that I am fairly comfortable using english with my low deflectoin shaft and every once in a blue moon I try to do that same shot with a bar cue I miss pretty bad though. You can learn how to use english with any cue any deflection with time, patience, and lots of practice. I find low deflection easier but my opinion is biased because thats how I learned how to use english all around. Some people learn faster than others also. If you do take the plunge and buy a low deflection cue do not worry. Spend about 4 hours a day for 3 days in a row doing drills only using english and I am pretty sure you should have the cue and the deflection down pat for the most part. Oh I play with a Predator P3 with a Z shaft in case you were wondering. I hear Ob-2 is a safe bet too. Best of luck.
 
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