Are you some boxing expert too Neil ?
How ?
I was a boxing gym rat in my college days.
I frequented a boxing gym then. Trained with the pros even.
Two of my gym mates actually earned world title shots .
Are you equating punching power with fast twitch muscle gift or something ?
And you actually expect Fran to know boxing all that well ?
Like Dr Joyce Brothers winning the 64,000 Question under the tutelage of Nat Fleischer ?
Speaking of punching power, among those in the list of the hardest hitters by Nat Fleischer was the Mighty Atom, Jimmy Wilde. All 110 lbs of him . +- a pound or two. I wonder if he was as gifted in the fast twitch muscle area as Max Baer.
Does Efren have more fast twitch muscles than the usual soul ?
He was some buck 30 lbs in his prime .
Back in the mid 90's to 2000 he was using that heavy long Jessie cue.
We used to make fun of it when we played with it at his old road manager's place in Riverside . I was there the day Mark Wilson called him about the Color of Money match in HK. I asked Efren why he did not like linen wrap. He showed me his "grip" . It's not even a grip. It's a loose hold and he lets the cue go when needed. He does not muscle the ball.
Like most power stroke shots, force follow is just another skill, timing and hand to eye coordination more than muscle.
I gotta agree with Fran.
Interesting that this thread made a tangent into opinions on boxing technique.
I'm only a reasonable pool player, but am an engineer & also a martial arts student.
Power in a punch comes from the energy that can be directed from your stance, core stability & the speed of your fist THROUGH the point of contact.
Your body must operate in harmony, allowing you to transfer kinetic energy from all the areas you put in motion, coming to a focal point of delivery.
Faster punches, with the focal point beyond the actual point of contact, consistently deliver the most power, and often with less force exerted.
Snappy rather than forcefully driven.
This can be related to pool in a break shot, where often a lighter mass cue moving at higher speed is the most powerful break, transferring the highest percentage of energy developed by the player through the cue & into the CB.
You must still have the correct timing, rhythm & tip accuracy to have the power you transfer direct the CB to the desired outcome.
Where players use a heavier cue and don't generate the same speed & consequent power, they are relying on inertia, where the larger mass moving at "X" speed transfers into the CB, overcoming the resistance of the stationary CB by a factor equal to the difference in mass between cue & CB.
This will provide more predictable results for someone who's not developed the subconscious ability to generate & consistently transfer power that is achieved by repetition.
As for the "flick of the wrist" just before striking the CB, this is trying to develop more ball speed by adding english to the CB, which will cause it to accelerate after contacting the OB.
I understand the physics of this addition to the shot, but the level of consistency in timing & tip placement must be a much higher percentage to give a consistent outcome.
IMO it's an unnecessary variable, but if you're sufficiently talented/trained or at the peak of the 'bell curve', go for it & intimidate your opponent!
Aoplogies for the ramble-on!
To sum up, consistency of timing, tip to CB contact point & cue speed will give you a consistent predictable outcome in the shot. (The CB won't move as you go to strike it the way a boxing opponent would, so you already have 1pt in your favor!)
So practice well, aim for repetitions numbered in the thousands, and you will achieve!