thick shaft VS Thin shaft

[sonnic]

What is the difference. I heard it was supose to fit the size of your hand but i think that the skinnier the shaft the more english you can get. Is this true?

[Oberyn Martell]

Well ill do my best to answer hehe. A thicke shaft is usually stiffer meaning less deflection, a thin shaft is whippy, if by english you mean additional ball deflection then i suppose yes a thinner shaft would deflect more, but the shaft flex would reduce stroke power and shaft life would decrease.

based on Predator test with iron willie the stiffness or flexibility of the shaft has nothing to do with the deflection of the shaft. Its shaft end mass that does. Notthing might be an exagerration but I would think that if it did it would only be miniscule since the contact time is only about .01 sec between tip and ball.

[Sid]

The thinner the shaft, the less cue ball deflection. (less weight at the end of the shaft) Your right, it is a small amount and barely worth worrying about. I would be more concerned with a comfortable feel to the bridge hand.

[dags_lax]

English on the cue ball is the result of friction between the cue tip and the cue ball. To get more english you need more friction.

Yes a thin shaft will flex more than a thick shaft. All things being equal, grain alignment of the shaft, tip hardness, tip radius, chalk, more flex allows a longer contact time between the tip and the ball thus increasing friction (english). A softer tip will also increase the contact time between the tip and ball. Also, a softer tip also will compress more, increasing the contact area which will also create more friction. Note: shaft diameter doesn't change the contact area. A dime radius is a dime radius whether on 14mm shaft or a 12 mm shaft.

Anonymous has it wrong, deflection of the CUE BALL is dependent on the effective mass at the end of the shaft. Stiffness and flexibility have every thing to do with the deflection (flex) of the shaft. The amount of flex that shaft exhibits will, on any given shot, very depending on the alignment of the grain in the shaft in relation to contact location on the cue ball. Rotate the cue 90 degrees hit the cue ball in the same location and the flex in the shaft will be different. If you make your bridge closer to the cue ball you will get less flex than if your bridge is farther back.

The whole purpose for Predator having the pie shaped splices is to create radial consistency. Predator's techniques for reducing the mass at the tip lead to reduced cue ball deflection. I have read post from Predator some place (may even be on this site) commenting that their shafts perform best when turned down 12.25 mm. Why, less mass therefore less cue ball deflection and the thinner shaft has more flex allowing the shooter to put more spin on the cue ball.

What do the best players shoot with: It varies from thick shafts with a short taper and a nickel silver joint with a hard tip to thin shafts with a long taper, an ivory joint and ferrule with a very soft tip and everything in between. All that being said the stick needs to feel comfortable in your bridge hand.

As for Oberyn's comment, shaft life would decrease, come on.

[Oberyn Martell]

nice informative comment, sorry about the decrease thing i was attempting to answere the question as best i could at the time :oops: , and thx for the diameter info.