Doesn’t Seem To Offer Any Benefit
Regardless of whether you tip is soft, medium or hard, we all know that maintaining the tips’s shape is very
important. So better players pay attention to how they apply chalk to a cue tip & closer attention to making
sure the cue tip has & keeps the right shape they prefer to play with, basically a nickel vs. dime shape tip.
The tip is like the edge on your knife. If you let the blade become dull, it doesn’t work as well. The very
same applies to a tip’s shape that changes from use. You need to not neglect it and using it for breaking
a rack in anything but 14.1 seems contrary to that objective. Pounding the cue ball on the opening break
over time gradually changes the shape of your cue tip, especially with softer tips. Why would you want to
alter, albeit even slightly, the shape of the tip you are about to use and continue using? Why introduce any
variable whatsoever to stroking the cue ball? There is zero benefit from using your playing cue to break
with from what I’ve seen. People might think it just feels better but the real question is are the results any
better? Do the balls scatter better and do you make balls on the break thus keeping control of the table?
Frankly, I think it’s more a case of just being indifferent about the opening break or perhaps just laziness
with some players but rest assured their cue’s tip changes shape as a result of slamming it on break shots.
It just seems to me that you are creating more work to maintain you tip’s shape and it wears out faster, plus
at some point over time, the shape change to the tip will influence how it strikes the cue ball and that is
a variable that can cause you to miss an important, difficult long cut shot. Even chalk you apply can start
adhering unevenly so it is important to apply chalk using a brushing motion instead of twisting the chalk.