Pool Cue News and Review

Fabio posted a short message on his website about his “incident” at the Super Billiards Expo:

2008-03-19, SOMETHING ABOUT FABIO PETRONI!
I have the Bipolar Disturb!
I’m sorry to Allen Hopkins and all his staff and all the players and fans of pool.
Now I’m better and doctors taking care about me…
Hallo everyone and I hope to see you soon…

Obviously English isn’t his first language, but you get the idea. Bipolar disorder can cause some pretty unpredictable behavior and I honestly feel bad for the guy if that was the cause.  No snarky comments on this one.

One of the lesser known shafts in the ever-growing “performance shaft” category is the Tiger X Shaft. Just like I did with the Predator 314 Shaft, in order to really give this shaft its proper due, we have to look at the patent.

The primary feature of the X Shaft is their laminated pieces that are glued together, but what makes this one different is that the pieces are surrounded by a solid core, the “central elongated member”. According to Tiger and their claim, the structure of their design ensures that the shaft enjoys “the absence of warping along the length”. In addition, they claim that their unique design allows players to put a greater amount of English and draw on the ball compared to other shafts that use the laminated piece design.

After all that, I’ll tell you my personal experience, which as you know is worth very little. Its a pretty solid shaft. I like the 314 more, but generally speaking, its not bad. Personally, I still think the splicing thing is just marketing garbage, but the shaft does have a very nice Tiger Sniper tip and an extra long taper which does help with control. Plus, they do some cool stuff with their ferrule and as we all know, almost all the playability is in the tip and the ferrule.