Cole was a fearless shot maker and used waterbuffalo. My experience is that hard tips are capable of high performance but requires more skill to control. Softer is more forgiving. 
Hitting better with a hard tip?
- Thread starter bobbydee
- Start date
boogieman
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that ping.
I play much better with a hard tip. That varies by the person but if we were all robots I think the hard tip would be the way to go, but I'm biased.
I had a hard POOL tip on my carom shaft and billiards wizard suggested I try what he uses.
I'm playing with that for about a month now and it is a whole different cue
And to the point of the thread...___
I'm playing with that for about a month now and it is a whole different cue
And to the point of the thread...___
How the hell does pocket size figure in the tip hardness choice?? WTF.
I accidentally installed a hard tip from my small collection/selection of tips. I was really bummed, since I didn't want to go through the work again, so I decided to just suck it up for a while and see. After a month or 2 of switching shafts from Med tip to Hard tip, I started to like the Hard.
There's a few other things in my upbringing that I've come back to. My mentor promoted hard Water Buffalo tips. He also couched me to stand tall, rather than get down on the shot. When an absolute beginner, 1973, I would grab the lightest cue I could find on the wall.
Currently using hard tips, getting down on shots, and play with 16.5oz cue.
I'm no expert like the Gar, I'm just suggesting that all need to experiment.
I'm no tip expert brother. Far from it. I like cheap black Ultraskins, med or hard depending on the cue. Its all just personal preference.
smiling_Hans
Well-known member
There is something to hard tips.
Water buffaloes are the special ones. Lol
There use to be guys that compress them in their special concoction to get it harder.
Water buffaloes are the special ones. Lol
There use to be guys that compress them in their special concoction to get it harder.
There is nothing like the feeling, of the CB zipping of the tip.I like that instant feeling. although you won't get it with everyone, you put on.
Like most solid tips.you got to be a bit lucky. Water buffalo is definitely my favourite. My method is to bite em. If there is not much of an imprint .then it's probably a nice one.
Older members on here, also probably remember sumo tips.I never tried them. But they where suppose to be really good as well. Harder than water buffalo, I seem to remember reading.
On a side note, Mark Williams the snooker player, is known for playing with really hard tips.
Like most solid tips.you got to be a bit lucky. Water buffalo is definitely my favourite. My method is to bite em. If there is not much of an imprint .then it's probably a nice one.
Older members on here, also probably remember sumo tips.I never tried them. But they where suppose to be really good as well. Harder than water buffalo, I seem to remember reading.
On a side note, Mark Williams the snooker player, is known for playing with really hard tips.
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I vote harder tip, if you have a good stroke. I have used a lot of house cues and they tend to have a hard tip. I have gotten used to the feel of a hard tip as long as my stroke is smooth with a good follow through. Don't like the super soft tips that are also found on some house cues.
My playing cue has been medium and they harden up over time.
My playing cue has been medium and they harden up over time.
I like hard pressed Triangles.
Keeps it simple.
They are about a buck apiece.
I think we tend to overthink and complicate the game.
Never understood the idea of a tip gripping the cue ball.
Do tips have opposable thumbs?
I think not.
It is all about your stoke and the purity of you shooting through the ball, even on soft shots.
Keeps it simple.
They are about a buck apiece.
I think we tend to overthink and complicate the game.
Never understood the idea of a tip gripping the cue ball.
Do tips have opposable thumbs?
I think not.
It is all about your stoke and the purity of you shooting through the ball, even on soft shots.
George the Greek
Well-known member
I tried Elk Masters on my snooker cue and found them too mushy and switched to Blue Diamonds and liked the hit and consistency. On my pool cue I had a med Moori put on and could do whatever I wanted with the CB. Fast forward 25 years later the same Moori is on and gone hard. It'll hold chalk but the hit isn't to my liking and feels like I'm hitting a rock. I'll be putting another med tip back on as it seems that's what works for me.
I think it's more about, You doing what works for you.I stopped using triangles,a while back I couldn't find a good one.the quality,just hasn't been the same in recent years. The older ones where always the best.I never tried pressing them. I done that with elks. you soak them in milk.
But I have found some really nice buffalo tips lately. Hard as hell!! But they play, extremely well.
Your pressed ones,do you need to do any extra shaping, once it's all done?
A little bit of shaping when newly installed.
I like to keep my whole game as simple as possible.
Still using maple shafts after trying a CF shaft.
Doesn't matter to me what chalk I use at the poolroom either
as I chalk after almost every shot as part of my PSR.
At home I use Taom because of it's cleanliness.
I still think a true lights out player can grab a stick off the wall and beat everyone in the room.
I was a big fan of the sumo tips. They played great
Unfortunately, I tend to whack balls around and therefore, miscue sometimes.
Damn sumo would lose a chunk sometimes. That was a shitty moment.
I'm with you on the shafts. Too much today is about the technology.rather than actually understanding the way the shaft deflects.as opposed to using a shaft, with the least amount of deflection possible.ridiculously expensive.and it will still take, a ton of work,to get anywhere.
I use chalk like you do, so it don't really matter,but I like masters or navigator.
Back to the the subject of this thread. At least those triangles keep there shape.once I get a tip right, I try not to mess with them. they will last ages.
I heard that about those.I seem to remember them being on sugartree cues too.from way back!!
Yeah, your not wrong.you call it a bounce.I feel it as a zip or a fizzing off of the tip. I find the really good ones are more precise.The same can be said for the medium hard.I just find them not as consistent.
They last ages and the layers never separate because they are single layer tips.
Every once in a while I'll rough them up with a good old Willards tip tool, which costs about ten bucks and lasts forever.