1.  Do I need a break cue?  This question doesn’t have a simple answer.  If you o­nly play o­ne-Pocket or Straight Pool, then the answer is NO, unless you are very stupid or very rich or both.  Seriously, though, breaking 9-ball or 8-ball with your playing cue won’t hurt it if it’s a good quality, well-made cue.  The o­nly problems with using your playing cue are that it wears the tip down quicker, and many people have a tendency to drop their elbow, which can cause you to drag the joint area of your cue o­n the table, causing bad gouges in the finish.  Also, if you’re the kind of player that follows through o­n the break and bends his shaft o­n the table, you might cause your shaft to become crooked.  Many people call this the Mike Sigel break.
2.  What makes a good break cue?  Here again, there isn’t a good answer.  I’ll try to give you the various thoughts about break sticks and let you make up your own mind.  A few years ago, someone started thinking about using lighter cues for breaking.  The theory is that a lighter cue results in greater speed, which results in greater velocity o­n the cue ball, resulting in more splatter of the balls.  Those with a good background in Physics will know that this is true.  The velocity has more impact o­n the energy than does the mass.  In reality, however, increased speed has an adverse effect if you can’t control your accuracy.  With the ideal break, your cue ball should hit the head ball then jump back towards the center of the table, and stop there.  If it does anything else such as running around the table, drawing back to the head of the table, or if it sits and spins, then you have put energy into the cue ball that didn’t transfer to the rack.  This means you couldn’t control the velocity of the cue.
3.  Should I use a different tip o­n the break cue?  If you are o­nly using the break cue for the break, then you might want a very hard tip.  A good Water Buffalo tip will keep its shape better than any tip I know.  They make a good playing tip, but they are so hard, many new players have problems with miscues and some of the better players feel they are too loud, but they make a really good breaking tip. 

4.  My personal philosophy is that you should break with a cue that matches your playing cue as closely as possible.  Your muscles and your brain are used to your playing cue, so why confuse them with something different.  Pool is a game of concentration, so why complicate matters.

I hope this has answered some of your questions about break cues and if you have any questions, please contact me at jimbuss@insidepool.com

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