Why don't Snooker players use low deflection shafts?

[telinoz]

If you search the interwebs for THROW in Snooker, you will get more results.
That is the term used, not deflection.

As far as the modern game is concerned, Snooker players play with a lot of English all the time.
Feel free to check out more extreme examples watching Judd Trump.

About the only two big changes in Snooker that are now more mainstream are.
1. Taom Chalk, game changer.
2. Titanium ferrule is more used, as it reduces throw a fair bit on Ash cues over longer distances.

Here is a very recent video of Kyren Wilson demonstrating brass vs Titanium on a Snooker cue.

Kyren at 1 min 14 secs.

I grew up in UK playing 2 shot pool, Snooker.
Then got into American pool later.
Now living in Australia, big choice of cuesports but I play American pool more these days.
Even played a year with a Z Shaft, first gen with Snooker. Got funny looks from traditional players.
When I do play Snooker now, ash cue, titanium ferrule, Taom chalk.
With that I have noticed less throw, less kicks and am enjoying Snooker more now because of it.

I still have my pool bag, not too many gimmicks.
Ha ha.
Most of it is junk, just maintain your tip. No need for 20 cue varieties either.. lol.
Playing cue, break cue, jump cue. A Kamui Vue rest, best one.

 

[MitchAlsup]

Plus, they don’t spin the ball like modern pool players do.

Even seen Ronnie draw the CB 3-rails on a 12-foot table and land it within 1" of where it needs to be ??

 

[hang-the-9]

Even seen Ronnie draw the CB 3-rails on a 12-foot table and land it within 1" of where it needs to be ??

Probably meant side-spin. The small shaft on the snooker cue would deflect less, but then the smaller balls would deflect more hehe.
Either way, snooker is not into change or new things really, the focus is on making the ball and mechanics not as much on side spin, and if they all learn to play with the cue they have without anything else, that is what they will play with. If everyone in your town is using a fire to heat up a kettle, all the stores sell normal kettles, it's not likely you are going to be looking into an electric kettle or even be very well aware there is anything else.

 

[telinoz]

Probably meant side-spin. The small shaft on the snooker cue would deflect less, but then the smaller balls would deflect more hehe.
Either way, snooker is not into change or new things really, the focus is on making the ball and mechanics not as much on side spin, and if they all learn to play with the cue they have without anything else, that is what they will play with. If everyone in your town is using a fire to heat up a kettle, all the stores sell normal kettles, it's not likely you are going to be looking into an electric kettle or even be very well aware there is anything else.

Snooker players are aware of pool.
Cheers.

 

[Welder84]

They use conical-taper ash as a rule. Also use a brass ferrule. I don't know what deflection they have but the players just aim and shoot with them. They think us pool players are kinda nuts with all our equipment mania.

Aren't Snooker balls much lighter?

 

[Patrick Johnson]

Aren't Snooker balls much lighter?

They have almost 1/4 less volume...

pj
chgo

 

[ChrisinNC]

I'm watching the 2021 World Seniors Snooker and I started to wonder about the
shafts they are using. Everyone seems to be using the same type of ash shafts.

A friend suggested that most snooker shafts have a conical taper which by
nature has less deflection could be the reason why.

Snooker cues are the least deflecting cues you can possibly have, much less deflection than any low deflection pool cue. They are just not practical to use for pool due to the larger, heavier balls.

They impart so much spin on the ball due to the much smaller (9-10 millimeter) tip, that it would be next to impossible to find the dead center of the cue ball when you wanted to, and the unintentional spin throwing the object ball would be the cause of most misses.

 

[hang-the-9]

Snooker players are aware of pool.
Cheers.

Yes but are they looking to have the same type of equipment variables or pretty much the same traditional standard? Pocket sizes, ball colors, cues, cloth color and construction is very standard and if there has been talk that it should be changed I have not heard of it.

 

[telinoz]

Yes but are they looking to have the same type of equipment variables or pretty much the same traditional standard? Pocket sizes, ball colors, cues, cloth color and construction is very standard and if there has been talk that it should be changed I have not heard of it.

Post 41 is where I gave my detailed answer.
Thanks mate.

 

[Fatboy]

I'm watching the 2021 World Seniors Snooker and I started to wonder about the
shafts they are using. Everyone seems to be using the same type of ash shafts.

A friend suggested that most snooker shafts have a conical taper which by
nature has less deflection could be the reason why.

The question is why do pool players use LD shafts?

 

[telinoz]

The question is why do pool players use LD shafts?

To be the same as Snooker players!

Not joking.

 

[tomatoshooter]

Can you make more balls? I've seen a lot of guys switch to carbon and ld shafts, and frankly I've NEVER, not even once seen the player improve as a result.

Yes, I can make more balls. There's usually 1 ball in a rack that I have to load up sidespin to get position. With a conventional maple shaft, I would miss the initial shot more often or suffer poor position and miss the following shot more often. It's not a huge difference, and it may not be critical every rack, but, given the cumulative nature of pool, it can add up to a real difference. It's probably not something you'd notice if you are not the person shooting, but even 1 more miss every 2 racks can mean a significant difference in the final outcome.

 

[Cornerman]

To be the same as Snooker players!

Not joking.

That has never been a consideration I have ever heard. We’ve now been discussing low squirt cues since the 90’s. Not once have I read anyone saying they did it to be the same as snooker players. I own a dozen low squirt shafts or more. I certainly haven’t considered any of those purchases to be the same as a snooker player.

 

[CanadianGuy]

lots of attempts at marketing low deflection over the years

Stephen Hendry was promoting Acuerate for a while, Mezz has had a line for a while, Predator has had stuff

now all the pool manufacturers are starting to offer a 10mm-ish snooker carbon shaft

not sure it will ever take off or if "deflection" is reason enough to change a culture with such strong traditions

I can tell you that we need to be taking a page from them and switch from Simonis over to the high end snooker cloths and even the profile edge of their cushions is better as the balls contact more of a wall than a blade

chinese 8 ball tables meet this criteria and the tables just play better

interestingly even those guys still use (at least some of them) snooker style cues, some of which are made in china and are super inexpensive

 

[hang-the-9]

I doubt if CF shafts will gain any foothold. They have been around quite a few years. There were 142 players in the qualifying and Crucible rounds. 100% wooden cues. With a lot of money to win players certainly aren’t reluctant to find an edge over an opponent.

The American Pool cue market is largely driven by newbies, folks who can’t aim and by ‘looks’. Aiming isn’t a major issue in Snooker. It’s about spin, cueball safety, strategy. People who can’t aim don’t play Snooker. Aiming is a minor part of the game that is learned in the first 2 years. No pro needs to learn to aim.

Looks? More or less a non issue in Snooker. There is more of a simplicity if form.
In 20 years 100% of cues used by Snooker pros will be wood.

It's not the aiming that is the issue with missing in many cases, it's the ability to hit where you are aiming. Which is where the LD shafts can help. I can teach someone where to contact the object ball and how to line up the shot to hit that spot in 10 minutes, it will take them another 10 months to do it decently in a game using position and spin due to needing to develop a good stance and stroke. Proper mechanics and alignment are a much bigger determent to making a shot than just the aiming part.

 

[smoochie]

The brass ferrules I've seen are a fairly thin, hollow cap and quite short. I think they weigh much less than, for example, a 7/8-inch ivory ferrule. In my experience snooker cues have less squirt/deflection than most pool cues. It helps that snooker cues are down around 10 mm diameters.

I have heard the UK commentators refer many times to squirt but they seem to call it "throw" or "throw off" or "push", which can be confusing if you are used to American terms.

Throw is totally a different thing than deflection or squirt… throw is when you cut a object ball to the right and apply left English to the cue ball it throws the object ball to the right more…. That’s throw

 

[ChrisinNC]

Throw is totally a different thing than deflection or squirt… throw is when you cut a object ball to the right and apply left English to the cue ball it throws the object ball to the right more…. That’s throw

Throw happens on virtually every shot the cue ball is struck left or right of center. On an absolutely straight and shot that you are playing it straight in but you unintentionally apply a little bit of left or right spin, particularly with a low deflection shaft, that throw is more than likely what causes the miss.

 

[tg_vegas]

I bought a used cue lathe about six months ago. It came with a ton of supplies (tips, ferrules, rods, tools, etc.) The previous owner was a snooker guy. There were probably 60 tips in the set of various types. I was amazed that there were many in the 7, 8, 9, and 10mm sizes. The 7mm tip looks just slightly larger than a pencil. I can't image using something that small. I have a 10.9 on my Lucassi and it seems super small.

 

[Greg M]

I bought a used cue lathe about six months ago. It came with a ton of supplies (tips, ferrules, rods, tools, etc.) The previous owner was a snooker guy. There were probably 60 tips in the set of various types. I was amazed that there were many in the 7, 8, 9, and 10mm sizes. The 7mm tip looks just slightly larger than a pencil. I can't image using something that small. I have a 10.9 on my Lucassi and it seems super small.

7mm-8mm is English pool spec. You'd never usually find a tip that small on a snooker cue.

 

[Double-Dave]

I'm watching the 2021 World Seniors Snooker and I started to wonder about the
shafts they are using. Everyone seems to be using the same type of ash shafts.

A friend suggested that most snooker shafts have a conical taper which by
nature has less deflection could be the reason why.

The most common method of reducing deflection in pool cues has been to drill a hole in the front of the shaft to reduce weight, sometimes replacing with a lighter wood or foam, sometimes leaving it empty.

In a 13mm pool shaft you can drill a hole of 7mm and still have 3mm of wall thickness but you're removing a significant % of weight from the front, around 29%.

Apply that same wall thickness to a 10mm snooker shaft and you can only drill a 4mm hole removing around 16%% of the weight, on a 9mm shaft it will be only 11%.

The method simply doesn't work nearly as well on the thinner shafts.