Best Break Cue Tip

By Asad | Updated 4 years ago

There is one shot that has to be played in every game of pool and that is the break shot. If you want to improve your game then you need to have the right equipment to play the most important shot of the game better. In this post, we have reviewed some of the best break cue tips and given our suggestions that would help you a lot in selecting a break cue tip that will help you in the club.

But before reading, remember there are three important things for a good break. A good break cue, a good break tip and a great breaking technique. It is only with the help of these three you will be able to break better.

So let’s begin with our review of some of the best break cue tips out there. You can get their hardness index here.

Brown Phenolic Break Tip Review

It is the most common type of break tip that comes with factory made cues. They have the least contact time because of almost zero compression on the cue tip. As a result, phenolic tips such as the brown phenolic tips help in transferring the power on to the cue ball.

But these tips are not much forgiving, you need to have a nice break cue along with the technique to hit the cue ball right in the center to hit an effective break shot. Remember break shot requires that you pass on the maximum linear momentum onto the cue ball, hitting the cue ball offset from the center will put the spin on angular momentum on the ball. This spin is useless for the break shot and represent loss of energy.

Phenolic tips have a very high miscue limit and they are very hard on the cue ball. If you are practicing with a cue ball then it is prone to cracking. But if you have a great technique and control then you will enjoy a lot playing with this break cue tip.

Samsara break tip Review

This is the most common break tip admired approved by the seasoned players. It is a leather tip as well and works great if you put it on a dedicated break cue. What I like about it, is its holding chalk ability. You don’t need to rub the chalk harder to the tip. It gets scuffed pretty easily with a slight brush.

Because it is softer than a phenolic tip you will get a slight compression with the shot but that does not mean that it takes a majority of the power away. In fact, the same amount of power is transferred but the acceleration is lowered during the impact. With lesser acceleration, you will get lower forced transferred but the benefit is the better cue ball control.

So with the negligible loss of force, you are still hitting the cue ball hard and have more control than with a phenolic tip. In comparison with a phenolic tip, it is more forgiving and has a lower chance of miscues.

If you are planning to install a samsara tip make sure that you install it the right way because they have the reputation of falling off. That can be annoying and costly.

Diamond break tip Review

It is a non-leather break cue tip with a sound lesser clingy than the phenolic tips. However, it is relatively softer than phenolic but harder than a Samsara tip. The higher hardness does not mean that it can damage the cue ball. It will break hard but still keep the cue ball safer.

Although it breaks great but it is not as good as a phenolic tip when used for the break shot. But it will play a jump shot better than a samsara break tip.

It will hold lesser than chalk than a Samsara but more than a Phenolic tip. So you will get the control which is in between both of them.

Given that it lies in between the benefits of a Samsara and a Phenolic break tip you will enjoy breaking a lot if you have a great break shot technique. Lesser miscues, more control than Phenolic and more power than Samsara.

Taom break Tip Review

It is a type of phenolic resin that works great for both jump and break cues. It is phenolic but it is attributed to give more control on the cue ball than a typical brown phenolic cue tip.

The annoying cling noise of a phenolic tip is simply not the case with a Taom break tip.  The miscues are lesser but more than that of a Samsara tip. It feels more bouncy and works great for jump shots with more control on the cue ball.

The performance is pretty similar to the diamond break tip but if you are a playing that has a bigger follow through to the shot with the tip going down then you will leave marks on the table with this tip. The rub off on the cloth can be a problem and may annoy your club crew. However, if you break like Shane Van Boening with cue tip pointing upward with the follow through then you can ignore this problem.

Sonic Break Tip Review

This tip lies in the middle of the brown phenolic and Taom tip. It is very solid in feel and gives nice feedback for the break shots. Although it is very hard but it gives a slight sense of compression which is nicer because it offers better cue ball control and lesser miscues.

In comparison with Samsara, you will enjoy breaking with this break cue tip because it gives a very nice feel on hitting the cue ball. In case of Samsara if feel more like as if you did not hit the cue ball.

Zento Break Tip Review

Not as popular as other but it is one of the best break cue tip. This tip is quite similar to Taom in terms of shot experience but it looks a lot different. It is translucent with shiny sparkles on it. It kind of look like candy but don’t go with the looks it holds the chalk well and plays a good break shot.

It is also an epoxy resin material. In direct comparison with Taom, Zento has slightly less power for the same control on the cue ball. Overall, it is a nice break tip but will get a little practice to get used to the break shot.

Hammerhead break tip review

Made by the Chris Renfro from Outsville Billiards. It is made from a special thermosetting plastic with a very high coefficient of restitution. That means the tip quickly comes back to its shape after the compression.

It holds chalk better probably the best among the phenolic resin break cue tips. Unlike, other tips who scrap from the edges, hammerhead shows no signs of wear and tear on the sides. The great thing about is the feel of the shot. It seems as if the feedback of the impact is passed on to the shaft completely. That surely helps if you have the habit of measuring the shot performance with the break shot feedback.

In this list, it can easily qualify as the first or the second best break cue tip in this list competing directly with the Samsara tip. The only bad thing about this tip is the difficulty in the installation process.

WATER BUFFALO break tip Review

There are many leather tips out there and this is one of them. Its leather is made from the hide of the Water Buffalo. In fact, water buffalo hide is the most common leather tip out there used for LePro, Triangle, Elkmaster, Champion, Crown etc. Not many players are aware of that.

A water buffalo tip like SuperPro will be a better choice because it is layered and will not blow off from the sides with a miscue. It is a nice break tip but certainly not the best leather break tip out there especially when Samsara leather break tip is around.

VERDICT: BEST BREAK CUE TIP

If there is a recipe for an awesome break shot then it has three ingredients a good break cue, great break tip, and awesome breaking technique. The above post helps in selecting the best break cue tip for your likings. Every player is different and experience for same tip varies from one player to the other.

If you have a great technique then you can excel on any table and take the lead in quick time. In the above list, I would recommend trying the Samsara or the Hammerhead cue tip.

In order to measure a tip performance, you need to break at least 50 racks with it. Just make sure that you install the tip correctly on your cue tip so it can last longer.