What is wrong about a softer tip?

[SUPERSTAR]

With soft tips, I can hit the cue ball SLOW with a LONG STROKE, and it does a ton of work.

If i tried it with a hard tip, it would slip off the cue ball in a heartbeat. It doesn't grab as much at slow speeds.

What ends up happening, is with hard tips, i have to hit the ball harder just so i don't suffer miscues from my slow speed of impact.

Which in turn changes the way i play. It limits my game cause there are certain kill spin shots that i hit softly (as well as others) with that i could never do with a hard tip

 

[ragbug74]

I have heard many times that alot of the Filipino's players use elk masters, but they soak them first so they get very hard

Word is they press them under the leg of a table after whatever type of soaking they do.

 

[Patrick Johnson]

... during extreme english shots [a softer] tip shifts and creates a potential miscue.

... harder tips will cause more deflection

...Softer tips seem to spin the cue ball a little easier

... I feel harder tips are more precise and accurate when making very thin hits or long shots.

...Draw, Follow, Stun and Side spin just seem to be so much easier with these soft tips !!!

...Softer tips stay on the ball longer which causes more spin

...harder tips are more accurate due to consistency

...Sometimes with a softer tip, you will add spin to a shot that you don't want to.

...Softer tips will give someone with a poor stroke more english as they are more forgiving than a harder tip as far as mis-cuing.

...Some one with a good stroke will get more spin with a hard tip than he will with a soft one.

The one unarguable truth seems to be that nobody really knows.

But just to add my 3 cents: Assuming you keep your tip well groomed and chalked, I don't believe that tip hardness has much to do with spin or miscues. The one thing that seems clear (and logical) is that softer tips will change shape and hardness more than harder tips do over the life of the tip, for whatever that's worth (mostly feel, I think).

pj
chgo

 

[steveL75121]

Soak those tips (Elkmaster) a couple days in vitiman D milk . It helps them hold form a tad bit longer before breaking down

Don't let these guys fool you about hard tips. Talk about mis -cues. Harder to shoot slow and be consistant. Sure maybe a couple top pro's in the world
might use them but that's about it.

 

[BRKNRUN]

Efren Reyes even Loves the Elkmaster Tips !!! Thread Done !!! LOL

Well then...If you go by this thread...He probably has a poor stroke and needs the softer tip so he can get more spin.

 

[BRKNRUN]

Frankly.....The hard vs soft tip perception in Pool seems to be akin to the stiff shaft vs regular shaft or 7.5 degree vs 11.5 degree driver in Golf.


Rank ameatuers all want the low loft stiff shaft clubs cause they think that it makes them a "player"...when in reality if you looked at the label on many a touring pros irons you would see R-400 on the shaft.

 

[Patrick Johnson]

Klopek:
Personally a few benefits I've noticed when using harder tips.

1. Sound - I like the crisper "toink" a harder tips provides. Softer tips have more of a dull thud which I find offers less feedback.

2. Response - I can feel more of the hit through a harder tip as it doesn't absorb as much energy as a soft tip.

3. Consistency - Over a game, softer tips can pick up temporary flat spots caused by a really hard shot prior. You try to soft role a shot and find this bad spot, could affect accuracy. Hard tips are less prone to develop these imperfections over the course of an evening.

4. Lifespan - Because softer tips are more porous, they will compact more. They will either become undesirable to play with or too thin to continue using.

5. Break-In. Softer tips require longer to break in. A hard tip will play the way you need it to right away.

Wow. I agree with almost all of this. Whodathunkit?

pj
chgo

 

[BPG24]

Frankly.....The hard vs soft tip perception in Pool seems to be akin to the stiff shaft vs regular shaft or 7.5 degree vs 11.5 degree driver in Golf.


Rank ameatuers all want the low loft stiff shaft clubs cause they think that it makes them a "player"...when in reality if you looked at the label on many a touring pros irons you would see R-400.

Please name the guys that play R-400's. At least name the guys who are under 45 years old that do.

I bet there are near as many as you think. the average SS for the PGA tour with a driver is over 115 mph, many of the top players approach 125 and up

Which would put them in X flex shafts.

 

[steveL75121]

yeah I guess you know best if you think Efren has a bad stroke

 

[BVal]

Please name the guys that play R-400's. At least name the guys who are under 45 years old that do.

I bet there are near as many as you think. the average SS for the PGA tour with a driver is over 115 mph, many of the top players approach 125 and up

Which would put them in X flex shafts.

I use the FU24-7's and love em

BVal

 

[BPG24]

I use the FU24-7's and love em

BVal

LMAO

i have a good friend that uses those.

Do you need any cinder blocks by chance? lol

 

[BRKNRUN]

Please name the guys that play R-400's. At least name the guys who are under 45 years old that do.

I bet there are near as many as you think. the average SS for the PGA tour with a driver is over 115 mph, many of the top players approach 125 and up

Which would put them in X flex shafts.

Never said what specific tour I just said PRO...and your right .... a significant portion will be over 45 and or produce swing speeds lower than 110.....I can't name any names as I don't keep a list of what they are using.....That really was not the point of my response though...(keep reading)

The point of my prior post was that quite a few rank ameatures "think" they need stiff shafts and low lofts becuase "thats what the pros use" or that is what deems you a "player"

Your dead on that quite a few PGA pros have swing speeds in the 115-125 range...

The fact of the matter is that there are many ameatures in Golf that only "think" they have swing speeds that high...or wish they had swing speeds that high....most of them are in the range of 105 if they are swinging with any kind of control. There is a thread on break speed somwhere a few pages back now....Did you notice the trend of players that thought they had big breaks and break speeds in the mid 20s only to find out when they got gunned that it was 18....

Perhaps pool players that use more power shots or just shoot hard in general will prefer a harder tip......and players that use softer smoother strokes may prefer a soft tip.....That does not mean that the softer smoother shooter that prefers a soft tip has a "poor" stroke.......

My intended point was that just as in golf with the stiff shaft and low lofts....The ego seems to take over and rank ameatures seem to think that if they don't use a hard tip they are not a "player"

 

[BPG24]

Never said what specific tour I just said PRO...and your right .... a significant portion will be over 45 and or produce swing speeds lower than 110.....I can't name any names as I don't keep a list of what they are using.....That really was not the point of my response though...(keep reading)

The point of my prior post was that quite a few rank ameatures "think" they need stiff shafts and low lofts becuase "thats what the pros use" or that is what deems you a "player"

Your dead on that quite a few PGA pros have swing speeds in the 115-125 range...

The fact of the matter is that there are many ameatures in Golf that only "think" they have swing speeds that high...or wish they had swing speeds that high....most of them are in the range of 105 if they are swinging with any kind of control. There is a thread on break speed somwhere a few pages back now....Did you notice the trend of players that thought they had big breaks and break speeds in the mid 20s only to find out when they got gunned that it was 18....

Perhaps pool players that use more power shots or just shoot hard in general will prefer a harder tip......and players that use softer smoother strokes may prefer a soft tip.....That does not mean that the softer smoother shooter that prefers a soft tip has a "poor" stroke.......

My intended point was that just as in golf with the stiff shaft and low lofts....The ego seems to take over and rank ameatures seem to think that if they don't use a hard tip they are not a "player"

OK OK

I agree, sorry I missed your point.

Being a golfer my whole life has humbled me about equipment in general. When i played everyday, I could use real blades (not the so called blades of today). Now I know better than to use them, not because I can't but because there is no point other than maybe to feed ones ego.

The tip thing in pool is different IMO

Alot of the guys I have been around like soft or medium/soft tips. They like the extra spin that Joe Q Leaguebanger gets from them.

I hate soft tips, not because anyone else likes or dislikes them but because they don't fit my game well. Same with whippy shafts, they work great for many people, i am not one of them. Everyone will find different results and whatever works is what they should use. So I guess we are agreeing for the most part

 

[Vahmurka]

Word is they press them under the leg of a table after whatever type of soaking they do.

aha, heard the same when I was there in Manila

 

[Duane Remick]

Most folks here seem to prefer harder tips and I certainly agree with the "feel factor", but I was wondering besides this, what are the main drawbacks to using a softer tip?

Thanks!

Tips, Like cues, are personal preference...ALOT of players insist on Steel jointed cues with hard tips, they like it, ALOT of players use a meucci with a Elkmaster tip, itss what they like...
Try the different tips/cues as youy are able to,,,make a decision what works best for you"
NOTHING WRONG WITH A SOFT TIP...ask Cliff Joyner He usually plays with a meucci and soft elkmaster tip

 

[Flex]

Nothing wrong with a soft tip, just pound it 250 times with a cue ball to put the final finishing touches to shape it, perhaps trim it then, scuff it a bit or tip pik it, chalk it, and fire away...

Flex

 

[JoeyA]

Well then...If you go by this thread...He probably has a poor stroke and needs the softer tip so he can get more spin.

OR, he has his Elkmaster tips compressed in a vice or other device.

JoeyA

 

[JoeyA]

Wow. I agree with almost all of this. Whodathunkit?

pj
chgo

Both of you must be using thin diameter, needle-like shafts.
JoeyA

 

[Scott Lee]

BPG24...This is a myth. The contact time between the tip and CB is between 1/1000th and 2/1000th's of A SECOND. Nothing changes that, not even a soft tip. This was proven by the Jacksonville Experiments, where they did super high-speed photography (4,000-12,000 frames per second), using all manner of shafts, tips, and even a stroke robot.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

Softer tips stay on the ball longer which causes more spin.QUOTE]

 

[JoeyA]

tips

BPG24...This is a myth. The contact time between the tip and CB is between 1/1000th and 2/1000th's of A SECOND. Nothing changes that, not even a soft tip. This was proven by the Jacksonville Experiments, where they did super high-speed photography (4,000-12,000 frames per second), using all manner of shafts, tips, and even a stroke robot.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

Softer tips stay on the ball longer which causes more spin.QUOTE]

I could have sworn that I read from one of the fellows that did the experiment that they said they did not use all manners of tips/try a lot of different tips. Maybe I read what I wanted to read......
JoeyA