For a pool cue. What kind of tip is best for the best, most aggressive draw and masse?

Question

What brand if cue tip can we agree on?

Answer 1

Ah yes, the most important part of the cue.  Tips come in a hardness range from 1-10, so to speak.  Many players find that a medium-hard to hard tip performs the best, maintains it's shape longer, and requires less overall maintenance.  Those who prefer softer tips make the argument that a softer tip will depress and conform to the curvature of the cue ball and provide longer tip to ball contact.  This may be true, but the downside of soft tips is that they tend to mushroom very quickly.  Therefore they need to be trimmed frequently to maintain proper curvature and ultimately they need to be replaced much more often.  It can become very costly over time.  You can achieve very good results with a hard tip if you utilize proper mechanics, particularly by having an accelerating stroke motion.  Excessive draw and masse shots are great for trick shot exhibitions, but you really won't be using those shots all that often if you can control the cue ball.  I'm not going to get into specific brands.  You might want to avoid water buffalo hide, though.  That's actually a little too hard for most players.  Good question.  M.D.-BCA Instructor/Referee.

Answer 2

Softer will give better draw and masse, but will cause more squirt. Generally a harder tip allows more accuracy, but requires a better stroke to control the cue ball. A softer tip is easier to get the spin desired. Its a trade off and an individual preference. As your game improves you will prefer different tips. As for brand names LePro is a good start; commonly available and inexpensive enough you can try retipping a few times and see what you prefer.