You might be familiar with Tiger Products, because of their great laminated cue tips like the Sniper and Everest tips.  You may not know that they make pool cues, too and they are VERY popular.

The first thing you should know about the Tiger pool cue is the unique shaft design.  They call it the Tiger X-Shaft Ultra. The shaft is a laminated shaft, but different than other laminated shafts on the market. It is called the X-Shaft, because there are 4 quadrants laminated around a center square core.  See picture below...

Illustration of Tiger X-Shaft Design

One of the unique aspects of this design is the orientation of the grain in the 4 quadrants of the radial peices.  The grain is all facing outward in an "X" pattern, hence the name.  This is supposed to be the reason for the consistent play, radially.

I would love to hear some opinions from anyone that has used this shaft.  I'm torn between transitioning to this shaft or a Z-shaft from Predator.

Here is a short video about the Tiger X-Shaft...

I found a short video of the Tiger Products shop.  check it out below...

One of the things that I noticed in the video was the application of a "layered leather wrap".   I've seen the Tiger Pool Cue with that wrap and it looks really nice.  If anyone has tried one, in person, let me know what your impression was of that wrap, please.  I'd love to get some feedback.

One last video about Tiger pool cues.  This video shows some of the cues available on the market today, including their
Tiger Icebreaker Jump Break Pool Cue Stick.  The cues are not overly fancy, but I like them.  I tend to like simple cues with traditional designs.  These cues look nice for the price-point.   Check out the video and the cues on this page and let me know what you think.

Here are a few of the cues from the video...


Tiger Icebreaker Jump Break Pool Cue Stick


Tiger Limited Edition Shawn Putnam Signature Series (SHP1)


Tiger Limited Edition Shawn Putnam Signature Series (SHP2)


Tiger Professional TPC2 - Cocobolo with Stack Leather Wrap Pool Cue


Tiger SP Professional Cues Ebony and Purple Heart

One of the things that really surprised me was the number of high-level players that play with these cues. According to Tiger, they only sponsor 5 players. Therefore, I would assume that these players use a Tiger pool cue, because they prefer it. Check out this impressive list of players:
Troy Frank, Larry Nevel, Ernesto Dominguez, Brandon Ashcraft, Tiffany Nelson, Corey Duel, Dave Hemmah, Efren Reyes, George SanSouci, James Baraks, Megan Minerich, Ikumi Ushiroda, Melissa Herndon, Melissa Morris, Alison Fisher, Gerda Hofstatter, Kelly Fisher, Tony Crosby, Max Eberle, Mazin Shooni, Rodolpho Luat, Tang Hoa, Stefano Pelinga, Shawn Putnam, Jeff Abernathy, Panela Treadway, Danny Harriman, Mike Massey, Corey Harper, Neil Fujiwara, Nick Nikolaidis, Jose Parica, Edwin Montal, Buddy Hall, Thorsten Hohmann, Josh Brothers, Jamison Neu, Jim Wych, Jeff White, Joey Korsiak, Robb Saez, Dennis Orcullo, Ismael "Morro" Paez, Kim Davenport, Chris Szuter, Michael Tosado, Louis Ulrich, Tina Pawloski, Jimmy Mendoza, Okinawa Slim, Karen Corr, Kim Shaw, Francisco Bustamante, Paul Gerni & many more.

That is an impressive list.

It is unclear to me if these players all use a Tiger pool cue or if they use a Tiger "product" of some sort. That being said, you should definitely consider these nice cues if you're in the market for a new cue or shaft.

Cheers,
Skippy

There is always a lot of debate on the subject of pool cues and deflection. One of the cues that always inspires a lot of strong opinions is the Meucci Black Dot shaft.  Bob Meucci has invested a lot of time and energy into bringing the deflection debate to the fore-front of pool cue discussions.  I've seen him travel to shows like the Valley Forge Expo and work tirelessly to show how his cues stack up against the rest of the field.

Now he has introduced the Power Piston butt, which he claims helps reduce deflection even more.  I can't say that I can make a scientific argument about his methods of measurement, but something seems a bit off when I see his results.

What do you think?

I'd love to hear your opinion on this subject.  Have you played with one of his black dot cues before?  Please, share what you've found.  I think people need to hear some unbiased reviews before buying.

Here is Bob's video showing his latest expirement with his Meucci black dot cue.

Cheers,
Skippy