Anyone else prefer very hard tips??

[MorganMan84]

Anyone else just get may more action with a single piece of very hard leather, far less miscues and years of playing without tinkering?

I feel like super soft tips are marketed well so people will buy them more since they wear out faster…

Anyone share the opinion?

 

[surffisher2a]

I started playing with a super soft tip and have slowly migrated more and more towards a hard tip. I still like the multi layer tips over the single layer ones though.

When I put a new tip on my cue I start with an ultraskin medium and press it in a vice so it plays a bit harder than a traditional medium tip. Then I trim it down a few layers before shaping. This gives me a nice solid hit and I don't have to constantly keep maintaining the tip.

When I start miscuing I know its time to give it a little reshaping/scuff, usually about 1 time a month. (i play about 4 - 6 hours a week sometimes more).

The tip usually lasts me an entire year before it gets too thin and needs replaced. When I was using the Kamui soft tips I used to have to maintain it every couple of hours of playing and they lasted me 3 -4 months tops.

 

[RDeca]

I like hard and extra hard leather non layered. Try out Sumo water buffalo tips. **never mind these are not even available anymore. I guess just try a hard water buffalo tip

 

[Patrick Johnson]

Anyone else just get may more action with a single piece of very hard leather, far less miscues and years of playing without tinkering?

I use hard tips, and they can produce slightly more speed, but that doesn't mean more action / less miscues.

pj
chgo

 

[buckshotshoey]

Morri hard for me. If I miscue, it was due to poor technique. I would have miscued with a med in that case too. I get a year or more per tip.

 

[LightsOut]

Same as others, I started with soft tips and as I have matured as a player, and after years of snooker playing before coming back to pool - I now prefer a hard tip by far…

 

[Grilled Cheese]

Hard tips are more efficient, so more speed as they aren't shock absorbers. Soft tips, at least while they are new or fresh, give more more spin with less effort. I believe having a harder tip is better, because efficiency, better feedback and speed control trumps a tiny bit of grip/spin any day.

Back in the day I used to play with the original Moori MH. Always been a fan of the simple Triangle tip and used many many of those....but in the last 10-12 years I have really grown to love my own milk duds. I soak and press Elk Masters to my liking. These are the best of the best I have ever used. They never mushroom, I can keep a dime radius on them almost indefinitely without reshaping, they are toward the hard side of the spectrum but unlike most hard tips, these hold chalk very well and don't glaze. I also love the hit feel, grip and sound. You don't get the "tink" of a super hard, or the "poof" of a soft...it's just right. They are also already "short" but not thin so right off the bat they are 'broken in' and I don't have that "pencil eraser" look at the end of my cue. It's all positives, no negatives.

Laminated tips are a gimmick.

 

[boogieman]

I too prefer milk duds. I bought a press on ebay and use 14mm elkmasters. I soak them in milk overnight, then press. I make different hardness ones as I put them on friend's cues that need work. My personal stash is made on a big ass bench vise and I use a 10" cheater bar on it as hard as I can manage to press them. They hold chalk unbelievably well. No shaping after the initial shaping, no mushrooming and really never need scuffing.

 

[tomatoshooter]

I do like the crisp hit and feedback of a harder tip. I'm currently using a Le Pro but may try a Triangle next. As far as miscues go, if the tip is properly chalked and in good condition, I think that a soft tip may be able to get you a tiny bit further out from center ball, but not enough to worry about.

Why do people prefer Milk Duds to a Le Pro or Triangle?

 

[Island Drive]

Are tips now graded soft/med/hard/very hard?

Very Hard, is not a word I've heard before describing tip hardness, just askin'.

 

[cubswin]

I grew up playing then lepro's, which were thin because we were too cheap to change them often. Played sumo's and another hard tip for a long time, then I migrated over to milk dud's and now I'm using a medium layered tip which I like.

 

[WobblyStroke]

Are tips now graded soft/med/hard/very hard?

Very Hard, is not a word I've heard before describing tip hardness, just askin'.

Ye either 'very hard' on one end or 'super soft' on the other.
I'm a soft tip guy bc I prefer the feel and sound. I used to think I got more spin quality out of em but was mistaken. I can juice the ball with a hard tip too....just don't like the sound as much and was missing that smooshed leather feel of really digging into a ball with a softee. But the poolroom I came up in used the soft blue elk masters on house cues (and my first cues as well as I got them done there) so I guess my preference is borne out of that beginning in the game. Soft just feels right to me.

 

[Vahmurka]

I prefer hard tips. Not as hard as a rock though (like those you find on break cues nowadays) but pretty hard milk dud is fine. Or the hardest of reliable layered tips, used to try G2 Hard (which turned out very nice) and my latest choice has been UltraSkin HH for some years already.

I like that hard tips hardly ever mushroom and therefore don't require non-stop trimming, also my experience tells me that soft/medium tips harden in time with every punch stroke, so the feedback people pick them for don't last long actually. No doubt harder tips require proper fundamentals (otherwise your cue ball will be flying all over, jumping off the table on draw shots), and like I said there are players who simply don't fancy the feedback they get from the cue (too hard of an impact).

 

[Texas Carom Club]

Harder the better for me

 

[philly]

Hard pressed Triangles.
Love the sound of the hit and never have to worry about being between layers.

 

[straightline]

Ye either 'very hard' on one end or 'super soft' on the other.
I'm a soft tip guy bc I prefer the feel and sound. I used to think I got more spin quality out of em but was mistaken. I can juice the ball with a hard tip too....just don't like the sound as much and was missing that smooshed leather feel of really digging into a ball with a softee. But the poolroom I came up in used the soft blue elk masters on house cues (and my first cues as well as I got them done there) so I guess my preference is borne out of that beginning in the game. Soft just feels right to me.

Partially it for me. I stick with the Le Pros(e) that came with some of my shafts but also swing over to Elk Ms that I've slathered in super glue. They have a nice boing to 'em but are a breeze to shape.

 

[Woodshaft]

Hard Triangles. On a 12.9mm shaft.
They shoot straighter and the draw-- and all English-- is much more controllable/consistent.
I love watching folks try to be consistent with small diameter, soft tips lol. That's tuff!

 

[ideologist]

Anyone else just get may more action with a single piece of very hard leather, far less miscues and years of playing without tinkering?

I feel like super soft tips are marketed well so people will buy them more since they wear out faster…

Anyone share the opinion?

The benefit of soft tips is more forgiveness, not more action

 

[hang-the-9]

Anyone else just get may more action with a single piece of very hard leather, far less miscues and years of playing without tinkering?

I feel like super soft tips are marketed well so people will buy them more since they wear out faster…

Anyone share the opinion?

Nope, never liked any tip past Medium. Don't like how they feel on shots past almost straight on and even worse for soft touch spins. I don't know anyone personally that uses a hard tip, most look for soft, a bit less medium.

 

[VarmintKong]

I think the Everest tips are pretty good. That being said I’d rather make my own milk duds.

It’s fun to make your own dudded tips and they last a good bit longer. My house cue that I use as a breaker has a dud that’s been on there for close to 2 years now. When I get a good buzz kicking I’ll occasionally use as a player. I remember it being pressed out at 4.5 mm and since the initial shaping I don’t think I’ve ever even scuffed it.