Billiardclick.com

Welcome to the billiards world of the unseen.
This is part 1 of our new microscopic billiards series.

Cue Tips
When you’re busy playing a game there’s no more that a little thought that goes towards the humble pool cue tip.  The poor tip is relegated to the back of your mind as you waltz around the table, yet remain so reliant on its performance.

Take a look at the image.  This is an image looking down onto a tip from above, scanned at x32 on an electron microscope.  Its amazing to see such detail.  Notice all the tiny cracks on the fibrous surface.  This is the bare surface of which the chalk will adhere to.  The chalk acts to keep these fibers from being impacted, thus keeping friction between cuetip and ball.  If you’re a greatly visual person like me then this post will help you to think why chalking needs to take place.  Next time spare a thought for the humble tip.

Image courtesy of www.8ballsecrets.com

Chalking your cue tip should be an every shot occurence.  The reason being that when we do not chalk the tip it becomes easy for the fibres within the tip to become impacted.  When they are impacted then it becomes very hard for the tip to ‘grip’ the cueball.  The chalk holds the fibres open and stops them from fusing together.

Different types of chalk can offer slightly different effects.  Some chalk has larger particles than others.  If the particles are too large it may result in ‘layering’ which is unwanted.  Layering is when too much chalk is held in microscopic layers upon the surface of the tip.  This can lead to poor contacts and miscuing.

Chalk is very much a preference item, but once you get a brand you like then stick to it.  The consistency of using the same chalk every time will help your game improve.

© Duncan Noakes - Fotolia.com