I know this is an older thread revisited, but I’ve been experimenting with soft tips lately. When new, I absolutely love them. I think there is a consensus that the biggest criticism of a soft tip even for those that like the feel of it, is the high tip maintenance a soft tip requires. Soft tips are virtually guaranteed to mushroom not only when they are new, but numerous times, requiring reshaping to get rid of the mushroom. By the time the mushrooming issue ends, the tip has become too hard and just doesn’t feel the same anymore.I think Earl has a "power stroke" and he uses an Elk Master.
Efren uses an Elk Master.
According to the Kamui website, Mika uses a Black soft, Niels uses an Original soft, Ralf uses an Original super soft, Thorsten uses an Original soft, Peach uses a Black super soft.
I've been told by many that I have a "powerful" stroke. I had one guy at a tournament keep calling me "Monster Stroke".
Whatever the case, I learned to play old-school pool many, many years ago when the table conditions dictated that you had to have a more powerful stroke to get the ball around the table than you do today.
I prefer a softer tip. I am using a G2 soft on my main playing gue and I have an Ultra Skin Soft on another cue that I just had made. Before I found G2, I had a Black super soft on my cue. Before that I had an old Moori soft.
A soft tip gives me more "feel" for the ball and I can also generate all the spin I ever need from a soft tip. Also, since I tend to hit the ball quite a bit harder than most folks, the soft tip "dampens" my stroke down a bit. When I use a hard tip and hit the balls with my normal stroke, the cue ball comes off the tip too fast and it is harder to control. I don't like babying shots...I like to hit them firm. A softer tip works better for me.
Is anyone aware of a soft tip out there that does not mushroom the way most of them do? If so, I’d like to try one out. Does the Zan premium soft mushroom any less than the Zan soft, for any of you out there that have tried them both? – Thanks