Question about tip shape...

Bamacues said:
I have been at this game for over 60 years.

Pretty much all I ever heard or saw was "nickel or dime" shaped playing tips.

Recently, it appears that some of the top-level players are using tips that are almost totally flat.

Some even (especially snooker players) appear to have intentional "mushroom" built into their tip install.

Am I imagining things? Is there a particular logic to the cue tip shapes that I am not getting?
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I mentioned this awhile back that I had noticed a lot of the better players tips being quite flat in the center and was basically told by a poster on here that they were wrong in doing that. Maybe, maybe not, but I would venture to say some of those players with flatish tips, were probably better players than the person that insinuated they were wrong.
Was it the tip that made them good, I doubt it, but they were very good players. Personally I'm not sure it matters, but I see a lot of really good players that don't seem to worry about their tips as much as lesser players do.
 
muskyed said:
I mentioned this awhile back that I had noticed a lot of the better players tips being quite flat in the center and was basically told by a poster on here that they were wrong in doing that. Maybe, maybe not, but I would venture to say some of those players with flatish tips, were probably better players than the person that insinuated they were wrong.
Was it the tip that made them good, I doubt it, but they were very good players. Personally I'm not sure it matters, but I see a lot of really good players that don't seem to worry about their tips as much as lesser players do.
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Its been my experience that a players equipment pickiness is often inversely proportional to their skill level. I've seen tons of ballbangers that buy the most expensive stuff and sweat tiny details where really good players generally don't sweat it as much. This is a generalization i get it but its true a lot of the time.
 
muskyed said:
I mentioned this awhile back that I had noticed a lot of the better players tips being quite flat in the center and was basically told by a poster on here that they were wrong in doing that. Maybe, maybe not, but I would venture to say some of those players with flatish tips, were probably better players than the person that insinuated they were wrong.
Was it the tip that made them good, I doubt it, but they were very good players. Personally I'm not sure it matters, but I see a lot of really good players that don't seem to worry about their tips as much as lesser players do.
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Momentarily suspending the fact that tips do deform to some degree, if you had a flat tip, or at least a flat center, finding "center ball" should be much more forgiving.

Forgive my very crude drawing that I spent about 30 seconds making. But if there was no deformation, all three of the below tip positions should produce a shot in line with the cue movement. Whereas we all know that two rounded surfaces would not. You could then round the edges slightly and still get spin when needed, you would just have to aim further off center to produce it. (I realize this example is quite exaggerated, but I figured it'd be easier to visualize.)

LCR.jpg
 
Jerry R said:
Momentarily suspending the fact that tips do deform to some degree, if you had a flat tip, or at least a flat center, finding "center ball" should be much more forgiving.

Forgive my very crude drawing that I spent about 30 seconds making. But if there was no deformation, all three of the below tip positions should produce a shot in line with the cue movement. Whereas we all know that two rounded surfaces would not. You could then round the edges slightly and still get spin when needed, you would just have to aim further off center to produce it. (I realize this example is quite exaggerated, but I figured it'd be easier to visualize.)

View attachment 876824
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Reminds me of time i played this cat in a local bar. The house cue i had to use had a near flat tip. I just played center ball shots and only spun it when i really had to. some of the best bar pool i ever played.
 
I have wondered whether a flat tip would be advantageous when shooting a cue ball frozen to the cushion. Impact point a few millimeters closer to the equator can't hurt.
 
I think very few tips have a single "radius". I think nearly all of them are flatter in the center and more curved towards the edge. That means you can have a tip that is flatter than a quarter and more round than a dime at the same time. I think my tip is like that. I don't pay any attention to it except when I put it on and if I'm miscuing more than usual.
 
Bob Jewett said:
I think very few tips have a single "radius". I think nearly all of them are flatter in the center and more curved towards the edge. That means you can have a tip that is flatter than a quarter and more round than a dime at the same time. I think my tip is like that. I don't pay any attention to it except when I put it on and if I'm miscuing more than usual.
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This is the answer folks.
 
Thanks for the input, folks.

I have always played with the dime shape... I grew up only playing snooker.

I am 74 now and have had lots of health issues, several eye surgeries, hand/wrist arthritis, etc.

I am nowhere near as shaky as Nick Varner, but I am much less stable in form/ on my feet, etc.

I saw Jason Shaw playing with what looked to be a very flat tip... and one of our "good" local players only plays with flat tips.

I realize everyone is different, and what they like is what they like... I was just curious about the mechanics/physics/logic behind it.
 
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