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| KEY TAKEAWAYS Soft tips grip the ball and hold chalk better. Hard tips last longer and give a firmer hit. Medium sits between the two and suits most club players. The bigger problem is consistency. Two tips from the same box marked medium can play differently, because most tips are graded by batch rather than individually. On average, snooker cues take a 9mm to 9.5mm tip. English pool cues take 8mm to 8.5mm. Stocked tips from Britannia run from £19.95 for four hand graded Century Pro tips to £50.95 for a box of 50 Buffalo Diamond Plus, as of September 2026. Whichever tip you choose, using a £10.95 tip tool will do more for your game than trading up a tip grade. |
Grand Cue Tips, pressed leather tips in soft, medium and hard.
Choosing a snooker cue tip comes down to three things: the size your cue needs, the hardness that suits your game, and how consistent the tip is from one to the next. Snooker cues take a 9mm to 9.5mm tip and English pool cues take 8mm to 8.5mm. Soft grips and spins, hard lasts and hits firm, medium does most of what most players need from both sides.
That is the short answer, and it is where almost every other guide stops. The part worth understanding is the third one, consistency, because it is the reason a tip you loved last time can feel wrong when you fit the next one from the same box.
We have been making and supplying cues and fitting tips in Coventry for over 30 years. This is what we tell people who visit or ring up asking which tip to buy.
The tip is the only part of the cue that touches the ball. Everything the shaft and the splice do is delivered through just under a centimetre of compressed leather.
Two things happen at contact. The tip compresses slightly and grips the ball, which is what lets you apply side and screw. Then it releases, and how quickly it does that decides how much of your stroke becomes ball speed rather than being absorbed.
A softer tip compresses more, grips longer and imparts more spin. A harder tip compresses less, releases faster and returns a firmer, more direct hit. That’s the whole trade-off, and it’s why there’s no single best tip.
The tip works with the ferrule underneath it, which is why the two get discussed together. If you’re weighing up ferrule material as well, our brass vs titanium ferrule guide covers that side.
| Soft | Medium | Hard | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grip and spin | Most | Good | Least |
| Chalk retention | Best | Good | Needs more attention |
| Feel at contact | Cushioned, muted | Balanced | Firm, direct |
| Holds its shape | Mushrooms soonest | Middle | Longest |
| Replacement interval | Most often | Middle | Least often |
| Suits | Players using a lot of side | Suits most average club players | Power players, break cues |
Soft is the best choice if you play with a lot of side and screw and want the cue ball to react. You will, however, reshape it more often and replace it sooner.
Medium is the perfect place to start if you’re not sure. It’s the honest default, and it’s what most club players settle on.
Hard is the right choice if you want a firm, predictable hit, you play a lot, or the cue is used for breaking. You get fewer surprises and longer life, at the cost of some feel and spin.
One thing worth saying plainly: hardness won’t fix technique. A player miscueing because of where they’re striking the ball will miscue with any tip. If you’re miscueing regularly, chalk more carefully and check the tip shape before you change grade.
Here is the thing that causes most of the confusion we hear about.
Leather is a natural material. Density varies across a hide, and it varies between hides. Most cue tips are pressed in batches and graded as a batch, so a box of fifty tips marked medium contains tips that are genuinely medium on average, with real variation inside the box.
That means you can fit a medium tip, play well on it for six months, fit the next medium tip out of the same box, and find it feels different. Nothing has gone wrong. You have simply landed on a different part of the range.
There are two sensible responses.
Accept it and try another tip. If you are happy reshaping and bedding in each new tip, buying fifty at a time is far cheaper per tip and you will find ones you like.
Buy individually graded tips. Some tips are now graded one at a time rather than by batch, so every tip in the box is tested and marked. You pay considerably more per tip, but you get the same playing experience each time you fit one.
Which of those is right depends on whether you value cost per tip or repeatability. A player who fits their own tips two or three times a year and wants no surprises should pay for grading. A club fitting twenty rack cues probably shouldn’t.
| Tip | Price | Quantity | Grades | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Century Pro | £19.95 | Box of 4 | G1 to G4, individually graded | Players who want the same tip every time. |
| Grand Cue Tips | £29.95 | Box of 50 | Soft, medium, hard | Best value per tip with decent consistency, clubs and regular fitters. |
| Buffalo Diamond Plus | £50.95 | Box of 50 | Firmer feel | Players wanting a firmer tip that holds chalk. |
Century Pro tips are graded individually rather than by batch, using a system that tests each tip. There are four grades: G1 (softer), G2 (medium), G3 (medium to hard) and G4 (hard). Each tip is marked with its grade.
That’s why they work out at about £5 a tip, against roughly 60p for a Grand tip. You’re paying for the certainty that the next one plays like the last one. For a player who fits two or three tips a year and doesn’t want to re-learn the cue each time, that’s a reasonable trade.
Grand tips are pressed oak leather with a finer fibre than most commercial tips, and a leather coating that protects them until they’re fitted. They come in soft, medium and hard, and are fitted on every Britannia cue as standard.
At 60p a tip, they’re the sensible choice if you fit your own and don’t mind sorting through the box.
Mike Russell, seventeen times world English Billiards champion, on the soft grade:
Expert insight from Mike Russell, seventeen times world English Billiards Champion
“The soft tip is perfect for me as I use a lot of side and I don’t want the cue ball to swerve too much. I would say these are as good as any tip I’ve used; it hasn’t moved or changed shape which is great for me.”
Buffalo Diamond Plus tips are firmer than the Grand tips. They give good cue ball control and hold chalk well, and have a long-standing following among serious players. They’re among the more expensive tips available in boxes of 50 and, in our view, among the best snooker tips you can buy.
Choose these over the Grand tips if you prefer a firmer hit and you’re willing to pay about £1 a tip for it.
Get this right before anything else. A tip that’s the wrong size for the ferrule is either trimmed away to nothing or overhangs and mushrooms immediately.
If you’re unsure, always measure the ferrule rather than the old tip, because a worn tip has usually spread past the ferrule edge. Your ferrule is the true gauge.
A practical note from the workshop: always fit a slightly oversized tip and trim it down flush to the ferrule. Fitting one that’s already the exact size leaves no margin, and any tiny misalignment shows as an overhang on one side. An oversized tip gives you the best results.
Not sure what your cue is, or thinking about a new one? Our guide to choosing a snooker cue in the UK covers sizes, weights and joint types.
Most players would get more from spending around £11 on a tip tool than from moving up a tip grade. A well-shaped, properly aerated tip in the wrong grade beats a neglected tip in the right one.
| Tool | Price | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Britannia Mini 3 in 1 Tip Tool | £10.95 | Pocket sized. Shapes, scuffs, taps the tip in and aerates it, so the tip holds chalk. |
| Buffalo 3 in 1 Tip Tool | £14.50 | Shapes, scuffs and aerates. The pick opens the leather fibres so the tip holds chalk. |
| Cue Tip Shaper by Tweetens | £9.95 | Long metal shaper and scuffer, good where a lot of cues need doing. |
| Cue Tip Cement | £10.95 | Cerocite formula, thick enough not to soak into the end grain, sets fast. |
| Britannia Tip Protector | £3.95 | Stops the tip being crushed in the case. |
A glazed tip that won’t hold chalk is usually not worn out, it’s just closed up. A few passes with the pick will often bring it back, and once you’ve got the tool, it costs nothing.
Most club players replace a tip once or twice a year. Soft tips go sooner, hard tips last longer, and how much you play matters more than either.
Change it when the tip has mushroomed past the point where reshaping helps, when it’s worn too thin to hold a chalk layer, when it’s cracking or splitting, or when it stays glazed even after you’ve aerated it.
We’ve already covered fitting in detail, including removing the old tip, preparing the ferrule and curing times. Rather than repeat it here, read the tip replacement section of our complete guide to cleaning and caring for a snooker or pool cue. If you’d rather not do it yourself, most cue shops will fit one in about ten minutes for a small fee.
If you’re not sure, buy a medium and a tip tool, and give it a month before you change anything else. If you fit your own tips regularly, a box of fifty is far better value. If you want the same feel every single time, pay for individually graded tips.
Call us on 02476 461234 if you want to talk it through.
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There’s no single best tip, because it depends on how you play. Medium suits most club players and is the right starting point if you’re unsure. Players using a lot of side usually prefer soft; players wanting a firm, predictable hit prefer hard. If consistency between tips matters more to you than cost, individually graded tips such as Century Pro at £19.95 for four remove the variation you get within a box.
We would recommend medium unless you have a reason not to. Soft gives more grip and spin and holds chalk best, but mushrooms and wears fastest. Hard gives a firmer, more direct hit and lasts longest, but offers less spin and needs more attention to hold chalk. Most players who think they need a different grade actually need a better-shaped tip instead.
9mm to 9.5mm for snooker is the norm. English pool cues take 8mm to 8.5mm because the ball is smaller. Measure the ferrule rather than the old tip, since a worn tip usually spreads past the ferrule edge. We would always recommend fitting slightly oversized and trimming flush.
Because leather density varies and most tips are graded by batch, not individually. Two tips from the same box marked medium can genuinely play differently. It’s not a fault. If it bothers you, buy individually graded tips, where each one is tested and marked so the next one plays like the last.
Once or twice a year for most club players is normal. Sooner for soft tips and heavy use, longer for hard tips. Replace it when it’s mushroomed beyond reshaping, worn too thin to hold chalk, started cracking, or stayed glazed after aerating.
It has usually glazed over rather than worn out. The leather fibres have compressed and closed up. Aerate it with the pick on a tip tool to open the fibres, then scuff and reshape. That fixes it most of the time and costs nothing. If it glazes again within a session or two, the tip is done.
It depends what you’re buying. Paying more for a firmer, better-made tip such as Buffalo Diamond Plus is worth it if you prefer that feel. Paying more for individual grading is worth it if you want repeatability. Paying more in the hope it’ll improve your technique is not. A £10.95 tip tool improves most players’ games more than a dearer tip.
