I've been using the sniper for a week now with 30 hours of table time on it and have made some conclusions about the many claims that Sniper tips produce more english than other tips.
The first thing I noticed before the tip was broken in was how soft it played and how it felt very "dead" to me. Keep in mind before this I was using a hard tip cut down very low.
At first I found myself underhitting shots and rolling short of position because the tips were softer and absorbed some of the hit energy. To combat this I started stroking the cue faster. I started to get insane english but contend that comes more from the increased stroke speed than the Sniper tip.
After about 10-15 hours the tip started to pack down and get harder. Since I'd been telling myself to stoke a little faster, I was now overhitting or rolling past position a little. To combat this I started stroking the cue a bit slower. Immediately I noticed that the insane english went away because my stroke speed had gone down.
So my thoughts about cue tips remains unchanged. That being that tip hardness or material construction mean far less towards producing spin than where the cueball is contacted, how fast the stroke is and how well the cuestick follows through the cueball.
Thought I'd post my thoughts because I read a lot of talk about the Sniper being some huge evolution when really it's more that players stroke the cueball differently when the tip is on the end of their cue stick.
Maybe they're more confident to go to the very edge of the cueball using a Sniper. This is funny because there's proof that harder tips can go further to the outer edge of a cueball than softer tips. (Softer tips sheer and glance off the cueball)
Guess I'm not one of the many Sniper converts out there, I'm sticking with tips that are hard as hell. I'm also confused by any comments that claim the Sniper is a hard tip, I would rate it as a medium at best. For those who believe a Sniper is a hard tip I suggest trying a Sumo out for a week.
The first thing I noticed before the tip was broken in was how soft it played and how it felt very "dead" to me. Keep in mind before this I was using a hard tip cut down very low.
At first I found myself underhitting shots and rolling short of position because the tips were softer and absorbed some of the hit energy. To combat this I started stroking the cue faster. I started to get insane english but contend that comes more from the increased stroke speed than the Sniper tip.
After about 10-15 hours the tip started to pack down and get harder. Since I'd been telling myself to stoke a little faster, I was now overhitting or rolling past position a little. To combat this I started stroking the cue a bit slower. Immediately I noticed that the insane english went away because my stroke speed had gone down.
So my thoughts about cue tips remains unchanged. That being that tip hardness or material construction mean far less towards producing spin than where the cueball is contacted, how fast the stroke is and how well the cuestick follows through the cueball.
Thought I'd post my thoughts because I read a lot of talk about the Sniper being some huge evolution when really it's more that players stroke the cueball differently when the tip is on the end of their cue stick.
Maybe they're more confident to go to the very edge of the cueball using a Sniper. This is funny because there's proof that harder tips can go further to the outer edge of a cueball than softer tips. (Softer tips sheer and glance off the cueball)
Guess I'm not one of the many Sniper converts out there, I'm sticking with tips that are hard as hell. I'm also confused by any comments that claim the Sniper is a hard tip, I would rate it as a medium at best. For those who believe a Sniper is a hard tip I suggest trying a Sumo out for a week.
