Tip shape
- Thread starter daphish1
- Start date
You do realize, that a cue ball would have to concave, rather than convex, to impart a shape on a tip...
All the best,
WW
mniver from Nivecraft says, "A consistent cue tip shape and roughness is the answer"
Playing with the same cue tip over and over and knowing it is exactly the same shape and roughness allows for the fastest learning needed for accurate shooting and cue ball control. There are already many variable factors in a pool game a player must adjust to like the type of felt, felt tightness, humidity, bank rubber condition, table style and flatness, cue ball weight and style. Of course there are many more. The goal is to reduce the number of variable factors by controlling those factors that we have some control of. Nivecraft has been focusing development of new products to address this. The Pocket Lathe was introduced many years ago to make tip shaping accurate, fast and easy. Nivecraft has a NEW product that is even easier and more accurate. The Pockat Lathe Pro is a shaper guide that rotates on your shaft and guides a Nickel or Dime shape Quick Tip Shaper. It makes a perfect dome on your tip with the same roughness every time, even with your eyes closed. It also minimizes tip removal to make your expensive tips last longer. Check out the details and video at www.nivecraft.com.
Playing with the same cue tip over and over and knowing it is exactly the same shape and roughness allows for the fastest learning needed for accurate shooting and cue ball control. There are already many variable factors in a pool game a player must adjust to like the type of felt, felt tightness, humidity, bank rubber condition, table style and flatness, cue ball weight and style. Of course there are many more. The goal is to reduce the number of variable factors by controlling those factors that we have some control of. Nivecraft has been focusing development of new products to address this. The Pocket Lathe was introduced many years ago to make tip shaping accurate, fast and easy. Nivecraft has a NEW product that is even easier and more accurate. The Pockat Lathe Pro is a shaper guide that rotates on your shaft and guides a Nickel or Dime shape Quick Tip Shaper. It makes a perfect dome on your tip with the same roughness every time, even with your eyes closed. It also minimizes tip removal to make your expensive tips last longer. Check out the details and video at www.nivecraft.com.
Hi Dave
Great website mate and lots of reading for everyone. I've only just discovered your site when I was searching for tip shapes as I've just written an article for snooker player pro tips in the UK.
Their tips are completely different to what you guys use but what interested me most is when I have a laminated tip on my snooker cue (eg Talisman soft) and it has virtually disappeared (so ready for a change), that's when it plays it's best.
When it's at that point, that's when it looks similar to the shape you guys have normally on your cues.
Here are some of the shapes I have collected so far:
http://www.snookercrazy.com/snooker-tip-shapes/
The interesting bit for me is that when I finally get the shape you guys have, the tip is virtually finished so I only get a few weeks out of it!
Great website mate and lots of reading for everyone. I've only just discovered your site when I was searching for tip shapes as I've just written an article for snooker player pro tips in the UK.
Their tips are completely different to what you guys use but what interested me most is when I have a laminated tip on my snooker cue (eg Talisman soft) and it has virtually disappeared (so ready for a change), that's when it plays it's best.
When it's at that point, that's when it looks similar to the shape you guys have normally on your cues.
Here are some of the shapes I have collected so far:
http://www.snookercrazy.com/snooker-tip-shapes/
The interesting bit for me is that when I finally get the shape you guys have, the tip is virtually finished so I only get a few weeks out of it!
Blimey! Some of those are rounder than Aunt Annie's fanny, I'll wager.
As you know we generally define our tip shapes relative to the curvature of nickels, or dimes. Coins of the realm over here, as it were.
The sides of our tips, however, are straight and burnished. Does the game (Snooker) account for the shapes you use? :smile:
As you know we generally define our tip shapes relative to the curvature of nickels, or dimes. Coins of the realm over here, as it were.
The sides of our tips, however, are straight and burnished. Does the game (Snooker) account for the shapes you use? :smile:
Most tips in the past have been like Anthony McGill, John Higgins and Martin Gould on that list but there has been a lot of debate and experiments over the last few years and that's why I think snooker is seeing tips heads that now overhang the ferrule e.g. larger top surface area than that of the ferrule.
Whether there is any real advantage to this I guess has yet to be proved and although I have tried them I've yet to see a benefit.
But, if you look at the amount of pro's on that list in the article it's clear that lots of the pro's feel there is an advantage.
I played Barry Hawkins in an exhibition match a few weeks ago and couldn't believe the shape of his tip. It was more like a crown as you can see in the pics (he stuffed me by the way!).
I am gonna try and learn more about the tips used in other cue sports to see what action I can get on them and see how much real difference there really is.
Whether there is any real advantage to this I guess has yet to be proved and although I have tried them I've yet to see a benefit.
But, if you look at the amount of pro's on that list in the article it's clear that lots of the pro's feel there is an advantage.
I played Barry Hawkins in an exhibition match a few weeks ago and couldn't believe the shape of his tip. It was more like a crown as you can see in the pics (he stuffed me by the way!).
I am gonna try and learn more about the tips used in other cue sports to see what action I can get on them and see how much real difference there really is.
Dime is only (marginally) better for very small tips (8-10mm), otherwise it makes no appreciable difference. So keep a nickel unless you're playing snooker.
Source: http://billiards.colostate.edu/threads/cue_tip.html#size (scroll down a little bit to the diagram).
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Once I shape the tip and play it in, when I go to reshape I do not touch the center, I just work around that center to the edges to retain the shape I want, and it pretty much stays there.
There is nothing wrong about it. If done properly, it creates a nice tip edge that keeps draw shots more consistent (or so it seems, anyway) and makes the tip look nice (just in case you miss, they'll still love you for your tip's beauty
).In fact, with a layered tip, this type of shaping is ideal as it doesn't separate the layers as does stroking upward from the tip's edge to its center.
Be sure to clean out the shaper so it doesn't gum up. I use a little strip of a green Scotch pad to easily and quickly clean the shaper.
Jeff Livingston