Leather tips are better for control, but Phenolic tips, which are harder, are better for power and/or lift when jumping. I have a J&J Break/Jump cue with a phenolic ferrule/tip combination that I like a lot, and they can be bought for $60/65 dollars. Phenolic tips do some getting used to though, and almost require a center ball hit. A This video gives an overview of how to use tip tools to shape and maintain your cue tip. Willard's Dime Shaper and Cuetech Bowtie Tip tool are used as exampl Some break cues come with a combo tip/ferrule that's all phenolic. The heavy duty tip construction helps create a cue that can withstand lots of forceful shots, all while creating ball speed that's superior to the speed of a regular cue that has a much softer leather tip that creates more spin. Chalk has grit in it. The grit is driven equally into the surfaces of two equally hard materials like phenolic-phenolic. For leather against phenolic, the grit goes mostly into the tip during tip-ball contact. But you don't have to take my word for it. Get a brand new ball and shoot a dozen break shots with a phenolic tip and then look at the I got one and installed. Mine is blue. I am certainly breaking better. Break is my weakest point so long way to go but this Tip is now my choice of break tip. The others that I have used are some stock phenolic (came on Elite break cue), Samsara and Mezz Sonic. I got this installed on my Mezz Break II (the shorter break cue version). BCAPL: The Official Final Phenolic Tip Ruling: Effective June 1, 2009, the Official Rules of the BCA Pool League in "Equipment Specifications" under "Cues," item d. states: "The cue tip must be composed of leather, fibrous, or pliable material. Phenolic cue tips are not permitted." .

phenolic tip vs leather tip