Bad tip?

[billiardbrain]

Is there such a thing as a "bad tip"? My brother and I have Kamui mediums that seem to be different. I play great and get amazing action with mine with very minimal miscues. He seems to miscue much more frequently. Could he have a bad tip? Bad layer? Any ideas?

 

[soulcatcher]

Is there such a thing as a "bad tip"? My brother and I have Kamui mediums that seem to be different. I play great and get amazing action with mine with very minimal miscues. He seems to miscue much more frequently. Could he have a bad tip? Bad layer? Any ideas?

Have you tried switching cues to see if you get the same results? I would bet it is in his stoke, not in the tip.

 

[Blackjack]

Have you tried switching cues to see if you get the same results? I would bet it is in his stoke, not in the tip.

Not all the time.

I've gotten bad tips before, its part of the game I guess. Sometimes I have actually had to go through 5-6 tips to find the one that I like - its well worth the hunt. A few months back I had someone put a horrible tip on my cue - I mean it was like a rock attached to my ferrule. I had Ted Harris replace it and the tip he put on there is perfect. Thanks Ted!

For me, the tip has to feel right when it hits the cue ball. If it isn't right, I know immediately that I need to find another one. When its perfect - great things happen.

 

[billiardbrain]

Not all the time.

I've gotten bad tips before, its part of the game I guess. Sometimes I have actually had to go through 5-6 tips to find the one that I like - its well worth the hunt. A few months back I had someone put a horrible tip on my cue - I mean it was like a rock attached to my ferrule. I had Ted Harris replace it and the tip he put on there is perfect. Thanks Ted!

For me, the tip has to feel right when it hits the cue ball. If it isn't right, I know immediately that I need to find another one. When its perfect - great things happen.

I was going more along the lines of having two identical tips play differently. He tried mine out before he bought his and loved it. Hence, he bought his own.

 

[Blackjack]

I was going more along the lines of having two identical tips play differently. He tried mine out before he bought his and loved it. Hence, he bought his own.

No two tips are exactly the same. When dealing with multi-layered tips, all it takes is for one of those layers to have a defect and its worthless. Every tip is different - they may look the same - they may feel similar feel when you shoot with them - but they are different just like cues are different - some tips hit better with different cue/shaft combinations - etc etc... JMO.

 

[Da Poet]

Without discounting the tip difference factor, it might be inconsistent chaulking habits.

I look at it this way, chaulking every time is important not just to grip the cue ball, but it also provides a layer of protection from wax, grease, or any other crap that might be on the cueball that could come in direct contact with the leather and stick permanently to the surface of the tip. Especially on english shots, to a certain extent, you're really scraping the side of the ball with the edge of the tip of your cue so without any chaulk, whatever waxy crap or oils that are on the cue ball is likely going to wind up permanently stuck to the leather mostly near the edge of the tip. Not a good thing.

Too long an answer and maybe not what's going on, but what the heck.

 

[the420trooper]

A great local player once told me that the miscue is simply the logical result of the worst stroke of your life. Yes, he was an asshole, but there is merit in his statement.
For me,the miscue always seems to creep in on what was going to be the greatest shot ever. It's usually when I've played myself out of line, and need to make a miraculous recovery shot. So I tense up, prepare to strike the cue ball with about 5 tips of extreme low right, and jerk at the last second.
The logical result? KKKKRRRKKKT!

 

[cubc]

A great local player once told me that the miscue is simply the logical result of the worst stroke of your life. Yes, he was an asshole, but there is merit in his statement.
For me,the miscue always seems to creep in on what was going to be the greatest shot ever. It's usually when I've played myself out of line, and need to make a miraculous recovery shot. So I tense up, prepare to strike the cue ball with about 5 tips of extreme low right, and jerk at the last second.
The logical result? KKKKRRRKKKT!

Yep when all we really have to do is just shoot it with little effort like Corey Deuel and make the cueball write out our name on the way to shape.

 

[Paul Juarez]

I do believe a mis-cue is just bad cue angle. Don't really believe its the tip, but I could be wrong. Just my opinion.

 

[Da Poet]

I do believe a mis-cue is just bad cue angle. Don't really believe its the tip, but I could be wrong. Just my opinion.

I agree bad angle is usually the culprit. This is a quick sketch of two tips after a miscue. The top tip has a half moon thing going and when I see that, I know my angle was way off. But when I see something that looks like the bottom tip after a miscue, then the angle wasn't the fault, chaulking was. And by this I mean either I didn't chaulk correctly, or maybe there's a glazed area on the tip that's making it tough to hold chaulk, or maybe there was something on the cue ball.

Even if the two tips the OP was talking about are different, with good consistent chaulking and maintenance, there shouldn't be a major difference in miscues. Something else is likely going on.

 

[softshot]

I know this thread is geared towards new tips.

however I saw something interesting recently..a close friend of mine and my main competition... bought a cue online.. it was a mid 90's McDermott Harley Davidson cue. advertized as hardly used.. and it was right down to the original tip.. I have a bag full of tip tools and he tried every one.. and cant go more than a few shots without it glossing over.. its a pain in the ass to maintain... however he swears that when it holds chalk it hits fantastic.. he loves the spin and control he gets... to my eyes its more trouble than its worth as he'll never get another to hit that way regardless of how much he loves it...

I am just curious..does anyone "age" tips to possibly make them harder or provide different characteristics??

or is he just trying to convince himself that he likes the old dried up tip because he spent so much on the cue?

 

[ob1-mackie]

will 99% be a stroke problem.either not following through or not cueing straight so it deflects off the ball.
you do get some bad tips occasionally.though this is sometime caused by bad installation rather than the tips themselves