You are contending Shortstop's theory on the muscle battle fails. In Shortstop's defense, he agrees with you that it is entirely normal and efficient to have the swinging action when swinging an ax, punching a body and, probably, bowling. Maybe Shortstop can explain better how that natural swinging doesn't work with a billiard stroke.
Generally, would most players have less luck dealing with stress by pausing before the last stroke than not pausing? Is this moment of silence helpful?
Instead of thinking what works for the pros, what may work for the poor players? The rapid swinging motion of some new players is random and imprecise. With that group, instituting a pause after the last backstroke and before hitting the cue ball could do wonders to the poor player's stroke. Still, telling them you can only stroke back and forth twice after pausing at the cue ball---like Efren---might work, too.
