Navigator Alpha Pro MAX tips feature a new, enhanced 9-layer Japanese Pig leather construction that includes a specially-formulated bottom layer. The harder leather at the base of the tip improves stability and enhances feedback, while decreasing tip deformation. Within the Navigator tip line, Alpha Pro falls in the midrange for hardness and was created through a proprietary process of adjusting the leather fiber firmness in each layer. The higher compression of the leather will maximize grip force (contact time on the cue ball), which increases cue ball spin when English is applied.A fiber barrier has been added to each tip to prevent installation adhesives from causing chemical changes that may compromise the leather's integrity.