Cue Tips
The tip is the only part of the cue that touches the ball, and it wears out. Most players who practise regularly change theirs a few times a year, and a fresh tip on an old cue makes more difference to how the cue feels than almost anything else you can buy.
Size
Measure the ferrule on your cue before ordering, not the old tip, because a worn tip mushrooms and reads wider than it is. Snooker cues here run from 8.5mm to 10.5mm, with 9.5mm and 10mm the two most common. English pool sits around 9mm to 10mm. American pool and Chinese 8 ball go up to 11mm, 12mm and 13mm.
If your ferrule falls between two sizes, buy the larger one. A tip is trimmed down flush to the ferrule when it is fitted, so oversize works and undersize does not.
Soft, medium or hard
Hardness decides how long the tip holds its shape and how much it grips the cue ball.
- Soft. More grip and more spin, and it beds in quickly. It also mushrooms sooner and needs reshaping more often.
- Medium. What most players use and the safest choice if you have never thought about it before.
- Hard. Holds its shape for longer and gives a cleaner, firmer hit. Less forgiving if your striking is not consistent.
Makers label these differently. Elkmaster use tins colour coded green, black and red for soft, medium and hard. Triple Crown grade theirs G1 to G5. Others just print Soft, Medium and Hard on the box. They are not directly comparable across brands, so if you find one you get on with, stay with it.
Pressed, layered and single piece
A pressed tip is compressed leather, sold cheaply and usually in tins. It is what most club cues have on them and it does the job.
A layered tip is built from thin sheets of leather bonded together. It holds its shape better and stays consistent as it wears down, because each layer is the same density as the last. It costs more and it lasts longer.
Calf skin tips are a single piece of hide rather than a laminate, which some players prefer for the feel even though they need more looking after.
The brands we stock
Elkmaster are the tips most British players learned on, sold in tins by hardness. Reliable and easy to fit.
Triple Crown cover the widest range here, in pressed and X series forms, graded G1 to G5 so you can move up or down in small steps.
Kamui and Taom are at the technical end, laminated and consistent, and popular with players who practise a lot.
ADR147, Tongyi, Vortex, Pro Spin, Century, Highland Pro and AP Exotic fill in around them, along with own brand tips from Peradon, Asia Cues and Premium Cues.
Fitting
A tip needs the old one removing cleanly, the ferrule facing off flat, then gluing, trimming and shaping to a dome. If you have not done it before it is worth having done properly, because a tip glued on skew will play badly no matter how good it is. We fit tips in the shop.
To keep a tip working, chalk it every shot and give it an occasional light scuff so it holds chalk. Cue chalk is here, and if the tip is going onto a cue you travel with, a cue case stops the ferrule taking knocks.
Snooker cue tips and pool cue tips are also grouped separately if you would rather browse by game.
