Shelly Li said:
Hi, I can't explain!! I'm breaking as hard as I can and the rack explodes differently than the stnger. The tip is really hard.. but no matter how hard I break w/ the xbreaker, it's just really soft. (When I break softer, the feel of the hit still remains the same..) Sorta like the cue is absorbing the impact. But even though its not a loud explosion, the balls are going all over the place. Does this make any sense? Maybe because I've only been using the cue for a week and still trying to get use to it. But one thing that's weird is the cue ball lands almost dead center of the table 80% of the time after I break. Which the stnger, I would have to be a little more controlled. And amazingly, the cue ball haven't flew off the table once w/ the xbreaker. Maybe you're right, I'm not breaking accurately....
Hi,
I am sorry it has taken me so long to reply to this post.
Thank you very much for choosing the X Breaker. Tony told me about you and said you tried to introduce the X Breaker to him. Thank you.
Actually, the X breaker is engineered to do two things for your break: to give you a good spread and to help you to control the cue ball(to keep it on the table and to park it in the middle). From what you told me, your X breaker is doing for you exactly that!
May be you are not used to the sound. I noticed that the Stinger is louder and because it is louder, it makes you feel like you are exploding the rack. But in my opinion, a loud noise is just energy lost in the form of sound, it is in no way an indication of effective energy transfer.
Like you have pointed out, with the phenolic tip, you really have to control your break and even try to reduce your breaking power a bit in order to keep the ball on the table. With the X breaker, you can go all the way. Logically, you should have more power when you are going all the way with your break, don't you think?
I am very happy to hear that you prefer the jump of the X Breaker to your Stinger. If you try a really loose grip, you can have even better result jumping with the X breaker.
I have posted soem break and jump videos of Jennifer Chen on my site. May be you can watch that and try to find some reference to your own break?
From what you have stated regarding how the cue ball stays on the table and parks in the dead center 80% of the time, and how the other balls are going all over the place with the X breaker, I think you are breaking them pretty good.

Not being able to watch you live I really cannot think of any thing else to suggest to you. May be you should ask a pro in your area such as Tony .
Once again, thank you for choosing the X breaker and for posting about your concerns. I really appreciate your willingness to introduce the X Breaker to Tony. Please tell Tony thank you for taking his time to try out my cues.
Thank you.
Richard