Tip tips?

[mr.boy]

So I finally got myself a cue (http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BHTVT80). It's fine for my purposes as a learner - it's straight and has a nice feel and all the extra bits.

But I am wondering if I need to work on (or replace) the tip because I struggle to get any amount of back-spin at all... and with other cues I have got a fair amount, with the club cue I even managed a decent swerve shot which I can't do at all on mine.

The thing is though, while people say "tip is a personal thing" I have no idea on what basis to start trying things. Before I start hacking at it with a file, can anyone give any basic advice on what different tip shapes/sizes do?

I'm a rank beginner so I'm not after tiny nuances... just the rough ideas.

[matt926_uk]

There are lots of threads about tips on here so do a search and see what u can find
A bad tip can make a big difference so I would change the tip, budget priced cues sometimes come fitted with inferior tips so i would put either an elk master or a blue diamond on. As you are a beginner try and get an experienced player to fit it for you or better yet a cue maker if there is one near to you. If you have to fit it yourself watch some of the many tip fitting tutorials on youtube, its better if a player can fit his/her own tip anyway. Takes a bit of practise to do a good tip but elks and blue diamonds are pretty cheap.
If your doing it yourself then tips should be gently domed, not too flat or too round. A more round tip will impart more spin but its hader to hit centre ball. If your tip is too flat you will risk mis-cuing. The curvature of the tip of your thumb is a rough guide. If your ferrule is 9.5-10mm get some 10mm tips and if needs be trim them down flush with the ferrule.
Don't leave the tip too high but leave enough meat to it so it will last a while. Depnding on how much you play you can get months out of a tip, it just might need the occasional scuff up or reshape is all.
And yeah tips are a personal thing so trial and error and feel free to disregard anything i've said

[mr.boy]

Is it worth me taking a photo of my cue/tip and posting here so people can at least say "that's WAY too ..." before I start hacking at it?

[thelongbomber]

Put a pic up yes. All the Elkmaster tips have a reputation for needing some time to bed the tip in. It might be that your tip is just new and needs some extra play time. Since you don't know if the tip is an Elkmaster or not, I would probably change it if I were in your shoes. As mentioned get an experienced player or very very carefully go through the process of doing it yourself (although I would be wary of that since you are just starting).

[andy carson]

had my tip on (blue diamond) for months now and its just about right for me now after weeks of pigging about with it!

if its the tip that came on it woud change it anyway most the time they are crap display tips more like cardboard than anything decent

[mr.boy]

As far as shaping the tip, is a standard file OK? I remember watching Ronnie with some massive DIY tool on TV... but on Amazon I see various different tools of different types.

And do I need the special super glue gel or would regular super glue work fine (since I have some of that already)?

[ADR147]

first thing - take a picture so we can see what we are dealing with - i would guess it is a cheap pressed chrome tip - usually a nail file and 10 minutes knocking it in will do it.

[mr.boy]

snookertip1.jpgsnookertip2.jpg

I measured it to be pretty exactly 10mm. Hope these are good enough angles.

[Byrom]

Most cue tips on cheap cues like this don't come with proper tips they come with something resembling a rock hard cement compound - take it off and get someone to fit you a elk or Blue Diamond or any other tip because the one you have on now is duff - it will sound terrible and play terrible until you do this.

[mr.boy]

It seems weird when a proper tip costs only pennies that they'd use something so bad - how much can it save!

I've ordered 5 BDs, some glue and a little shaper; not sure who I could find to fit it but I'll look on YouTube.

[cyberheater]

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I measured it to be pretty exactly 10mm. Hope these are good enough angles.

Looks alright to me.

I would say the issue is technique because if you hit the white right you don't even need to hit it hard to get a good screw back. Make sure you hit the white lowish and drive the cue through the white until your hand hits your chest accelerating all the way.

[mr.boy]

I can hit lower and lower until I jump the white and still get barely any back-spin... when I used a club cue before getting mine I was able to get a fair bit. I'm sure my technique does suck too of course

[marriott]

https://www.parriscues.com/gallery/videos/

The second one is a 'how to re-tip your cue' video.

[mythman69]

I can hit lower and lower until I jump the white and still get barely any back-spin... when I used a club cue before getting mine I was able to get a fair bit. I'm sure my technique does suck too of course

Try hitting the cue ball with not much power (i.e. soft screw) and practice until you can get the cue ball to come back say 1 foot. Screw without control is not much use anyway. If you can learn to soft screw say 1 foot consistently then you are on your way to improvement. Only then try hitting the cue ball with more power to get say 2 foot of screw.

[cyberheater]

Try hitting the cue ball with not much power (i.e. soft screw) and practice until you can get the cue ball to come back say 1 foot. Screw without control is not much use anyway. If you can learn to soft screw say 1 foot consistently then you are on your way to improvement. Only then try hitting the cue ball with more power to get say 2 foot of screw.

This is sound advice and in break building you'll need a soft screw a lot more then a power screw. Soft screws and stuns are the key to break building.