What is the Low Deflection Pool Cue: Utlimate Guide of 2022

What is the low deflection pool cue? Is it a new type of pool cue or something else entirely?

The low deflection pool cue is a new type of pool stick designed to reduce the vibration players feel, allowing them to play longer without feeling fatigued.

It has been around since the early 2000s, but it was only recently that manufacturers began mass-producing these sticks. They are now being sold at sporting goods stores across the country.

What is Low Deflection Pool Cue?

Low deflection pool cues are made to minimize “squirt” as much as possible. Squirt, also called deflection, refers to changing the cue ball’s angle whenever you make a shot. There’s some amount of squirt with every shot. However, LD shafts can reduce the amount as much as possible to improve the accuracy.

In general, the number of squirts increases when you add more “English” or sidespin that you place in your cue ball. Therefore, a straight shot such as a break is usually accompanied by a small squirt.

However, a shot with lots of English will contain a greater squirt, which means more deviation from the target.

If you use standard shaft cues, you’ll notice more squirt and have ways to make up for that. With low deflection cues, there’s more petite squirt. And, consequently, there’s less compensation to be made.

It is the reason it’s challenging to make the switch between the two types as they are either over or under-compensating.

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Why is Low Deflection Pool Cue Important?

Being able to win games and play at a higher level requires the ability to determine where the cue ball is and get yourself into the right position to hit several shots and get the ball off the rack.

Finding a good spot and “shape” in pool terms usually requires English or side spins to control the direction in which the cue ball will go.

The majority of shots go unnoticed the moment English, as well as sidespin, are utilized. The reason for this is that when you play English, the cue ball isn’t going exactly where you want it to.

The cue ball gets pushed toward the opposite end of where the cue’s tips struck it. It is called cue ball deflection, also known as a squirt.

A typical player has to be taught for years to correct this aspect. The deflection depends on the cue being used, the tip’s position, and the strike’s rate. The farther away from the centre, the greater the cue ball will be deflected off-line. Deflecting of the cue ball will increase when you strike faster.

Deflecting cues with lower deflection requires less compensation, making the game more enjoyable.

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Deflection shafts were designed to minimize deflection of the cue ball. They are the least deflecting shafts that are available. They significantly increase the chances of hitting the ball when you play English.

Do You Know? A shaft with low deflection is more precise and can help you more progress in less time.

How Low Deflection Cue Works?

To put it simply, The more flexible shaft’s top is, the smaller deflect (squirt) it creates. Standard shafts are typically constructed from a single piece of wood, which reduces the flexibility of the shaft’s tip and can cause more deflection.

The trick is to design a shaft for a cue that is the most flexible possible yet strong and well-constructed. It is also long-lasting and well-constructed. There are many different methods by which that manufacturer of cues accomplish this.

The most commonly used design for shafts with low deflection is a hollow-tipped shaft about six” in length, paired with an iron ferrule with a cushion to cushion impacts. Other companies hollow out the shaft’s top and fill it with foam, lighter wood, carbon fibre, or other materials to decrease weight and retain strength.

How To Adjust To A Low Deflection Shaft?

You won’t need to adjust your aim for English with minimal deflection as you do with a standard shaft. The less you must alter your aim point, the better your chance of hitting the ball.

You’ll make progress quickly if you’re an intermediate or novice and haven’t mastered compensating for cue ball deflection.

If you’re coming from the standard wood shaft, the deflection shaft is deflected much less than your prior shaft, so you do not have to change your deflection target the same way as with the new shaft.

If, for instance, you had to aim at a quarter-inch towards the left of the object, the ball with your old shaft, to hit it exactly where you wanted to use right English, you might need to aim half an inch to the left with the Low-Deflection shaft.

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What are the Advantages of a Low Deflection Shaft?

Here are some possible benefits of a Low Deflection Shaft:

The CB will be positioned off the cue’s edge further away from the line of aiming direction when using a sidespin. So, less adjustability or compensation for aim is needed with sidespin. It could be beneficial if you’re not good at compensating for squirts.
Additionally, when there is less compensation are more
minor errors.
An excellent analogy for squirting in the pool is to crosswinds in archery. It is best to aim less across a variety of distances.
Another excellent analogy for the more significant error when using a larger adjustment is to estimate a length within a certain accuracy. It is easier to estimate one inch (or 2.5 cm) to within 1/8 of an inch (3 millimetres) than to estimate the length of a yard (meter) to within 1/8” (3 mm).
A player may be more reliable when hitting than sidespin as the squirt distance can be smaller than the standard shafts. A minor adjustment to aiming is needed if there’s more petite squirt.
Front-hand or back-hand English (BHE or FHE) goal-and-pivot methods for goal and pivot may be more appropriate to the person’s natural bridge length using a shaft with a lower squirt.

When a bridge’s length is aligned to the natural length of the pivot for a shaft, the effect from every stroke sweep (intentional or accidental) is cancelled out for quick and short shots. It is beneficial when using a break-cue when stroking errors are more likely to occur.
Squirts resulting from accidental translation due to minor errors in off-centre alignment can be reduced.
Using the low-squirt shaft, it is possible to obtain marginally more spinning in the CB for a specific edge offset from the centre. However, this is a small amount.
Many low-squirt shafts have been constructed using carbon fibre or as a radial lamination (long wedge-shaped sections that are joined before being turned downwards using lathes) and tend to maintain their straightness as time passes (i.e., they are more likely not to break). If the wooden laminates used are chosen with care (e.g. or with specific grain orientation), they could increase the strength.
Additionally, it could assist by ensuring consistency from one shaft to the next of the similar model.
Many believe that the radial consistency helps produce more of a uniform “hit,” regardless of the direction (twist degree) in which the cue is placed. However, this is not proven.
Many believe that consistent radial aids in creating more consistent squirts. However, the effect is not as clear.
If you prefer a longer bridge length, an LD shaft would be a better option when using BHE, also known as the system for aiming with Sidespin (SAWS). If the shaft’s natural pivot length is shorter than the preferred length of the bridge, even 100 percent BHE isn’t enough to provide adequate accuracy correction for quick and quick shots.

However, as you can see from the disadvantages listed below, LD shafts might not be the ideal option for all people.

What are the Disadvantages of Low-Squirt (LD) Shafts?

Here are the disadvantages of Low-Squirt Shafts:

The low-squirt (LD) shafts available today are costly.
If someone habitually compensates for the aim of using a sidespin using a more powerful cue, It could be challenging to adapt to using a lower-squirt instrument.
Some people might not enjoy some people might not like the “feel” or “hit” or “sound” or “look” of a shaft that is low-squirt.

It is more challenging to masse or leap over the ball (e.g., in the case of wanting to jump just over the edges of a ball) using some LD shafts (see the video below).
Some might not be happy with the small diameter of shafts or the taper of low-squirt shafts. It is especially true when a bridge that is closed is employed.
A maple shaft with a low squirt may not be well-constructed for long-term use (i.e. the shaft’s end isn’t as robust and durable).
The natural length of the shaft pivot may not be an excellent match to the length of your bridge and can result in more mistakes when shooting high.
If you’re dealing with a shorter bridge length and a lower squirt cue can result in more significant errors in direction (as compared to a standard cue using a squirt with a shorter length of pivot) because of any accidental pivot or swing in your stroke.
If you’re familiar with a cue with a low-squirt design when you are in a location without a cue, there are only regular-squirt ones available. You cannot perform efficiently (until you’re able to adapt).
A low-squirt cue won’t allow you to compensate for throwing and swerving over a large variety of shots. For aiming shots using sidespin, various factors must be considered. For more information, refer to the compensation to aim for squirts, swerves, and throws.

Is there Low-deflection Shaft and a Low-Squirt Shaft?

Nothing. They’re identical.

A low-squirt shaft produces a more minor (“low”) cue ball squirt, but it causes an enormous (“high”) deflection of the cue (because the tip of the shaft tends to be heavier and generally more flexible.

It also deflects towards the CB more when it is hit off-centre strike). Thus the “low”-deflection shaft is “high” deflection!

It is the reason I, along with others, prefer the term “low-squirt shaft” because it is less likely to squirt CB. A “low”-deflection shaft has low CB deflection. However, it has a high deflection of the cue.

Furthermore, what it is performing (deflecting) isn’t crucial. What the CB does is essential. The CB has a lower squirt rate by using a low-squirt shaft.

Does A Low- Deflection Shaft Puts More Spin on Cue Ball?

No!

If you are comparing tips and cues, it is essential to ensure that the offset at the tip is identical for both. If the tip’s size and shape differ and the other uses “tips of English” as an indication, the perceived offset may vary from the actual offset, leading to substantial differences in the amount of spin.

LD shafts usually have more minor points than shafts that are not LD. It is why one might be able to position the tip further from the centre than the thicker non-LD shaft. Naturally, this will add more incredible spin on the CB (as long as the point of contact falls within the miscue limits).

The shape of the tip could affect the shape of the tip.

Additionally, when using draws shots, you may be used to a bigger shaft that is near to touching the cloth at the CB address, and then they place a smaller shaft in the exact location (close to touching the fabric) then the angle of contact on the ball is less.

A typical low-squirt shaft features a squirt angle around 1.8deg close to the maximum offset of the tip, as opposed to the range of 2.5deg for a regular-squirt cue. Thus, a low-squirt cue has just about 30 percent less squirt than a regular-squirt one.

If you determine the effective offsets by using the angles of squirt above the horizon, the change in practical tip offset and the resultant spin for an actual tip offset is around percent, which means that the effect is insignificant.

If you use an LD shaft to achieve an equal amount of rotation (i.e., having the same tip offset), the actual offset of the tip is slightly lower than if you use a non-LD shaft.

However, this differs only marginally when comparing typical shafts with LD and non-LD components. Furthermore, if the shaft had more than the landmass (much more than just a tiny amount), you’d be able to hit further away from the CB with a greater tip offset to achieve the same effective offset (and spin) that is produced by an LD shaft.

So, an LD shaft cannot produce more spin even though the aim and tip offset may differ slightly to achieve similar amounts in a spin.

Additionally, tip hardness may affect the degree of spin used for a specific tip offset.

Further, cue weight can impact the stroke of a player and stroke. Therefore it is crucial to consider the cue’s weight in any comparison.

For a particular stroke, heavier cues will provide faster CB speed and less rotation and wear off as it travels toward the ball (mainly when a draw shot is used due to drag) or to an OB cushion.

Additionally, when you take drawing, a faster OB will possess more backspins (for any specific edge contact) and will create more draw following the hit.

Any cue will produce the same amount of spin and offset in the tip that is a certain amount from the centre.

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Should I Switch To LD Shaft?

They are utilizing a shaft that has varying deflection and can require adjustments to how you shoot with the sidespin, as described on this sidespin’s goal compensation page. L-shafts are typically recommended since they provide real positives. However, considering the possible disadvantages

, LD shaft may not be the ideal option for everyone.

You must experiment and practice with whatever shaft you decide to use until you can adjust the deflection level. The most effective thing to do about a shaft is select one you like and stick to it. The longer you use an instrument and the more efficient you’ll get in time.

Frequently Asked Question

What is the Meaning of Deflection?

Deflection is a term used in billiard when the player strikes a cue ball out of its vertical axis to create a right or left spin.

What Makes A Cue Low-deflection?

Compared to the regular shaft, low deflection cue has lesser end mass. It helps in creating low deflection i.e. low squirt. While the CB heads ae closer to lines, even the hitting off-center leads to the side-spin.

Are Low Deflection Shafts Worth It?

Low deflection shafts are useful and can make a real difference to your game. It can be easily bend to the offside of the cue ball resulting into less squirting. Hence, low deflection shafts get you more control over the cue ball.

Are Carbon Fiber Shafts Low Deflection?

Yes! Carbon FIber shafts are low deflection as compared to the shafts made from other materials. You may also consider lightweight ferrule or shorter ferrule to get good results.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there is no definitive answer to whether or not you should switch to a low-deflection pool cue. It all depends on your personal preference, skill set, and what type of game you play.