Most powerful stroke ever?

sjharr said:
Denny Searcy and David Howard are a couple that come to mind along with the obvious Mr. Nevel - just ridiculous how strong, powerful and true his stroke is.


Steve H.
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David Howard's break was even better than his stroke. Gunshot loud!
 
To be serious though. The Russian player Evengy Stalev sp? had one of the strongest strokes I have ever seen personally. Must have been from starting out playing pyramid billiards and those large balls.
 
Thanks Jay !

jay helfert said:
Worst was like a slightly smaller version of Mike Massey, also with huge hands and a powerful grip. Mike is very tall, maybe 6'4" or 6'5". Harold was barely 5'11" or maybe 6'. But he was a solidly built man. He probably had the most powerful stroke of his era (the 60's), along with Cornbread Red. Cornbread had a wind-up (his practice strokes) that you had to see to believe. He would whip that cue back and forth like a piston and then let it rip. He could power that cue ball around the table better than anyone else.

The interesting thing is the guys with the smoothest and prettiest strokes (Ed Kelly, Marvin Henderson and Jimmy Moore) could all do the same things with far less effort. It was all about making a good hit on the cue ball. Buddy Hall once explained it to me. He said very few pool players make a good hit on the cue ball. He told me to just listen to the hit, and sure enough only a few sounded like they were making solid contact. Now when Buddy shot, it sounded pure, such a clean hit. Only the very best players (even today) can make a perfect center ball hit. When you hear it, you'll know it.

Buddy's control was so good partly because he went through the cue ball so perfectly. He mastered the art of striking the cue ball. Sounds simple enough, but even that is an art. Buddy didn't have the most powerful stroke (although he was right up there), but he did have the most perfect stroke of his generation.

Then there's the strange case of a certain Mr. Keith McCready. He was the first player I saw who regularly hit the cue ball at different angles, and not just on one plane. He would come at the cue ball in a million different ways and cause it to react crazily sometimes. To this day I've never seen anyone else who could shoot the shots that Keith created (maybe Efren). And these were in games, not exhibitions! He was the master of innovative striking of the cue ball. Probably the Three Cushion guys would understand better what Keith was doing. I sure couldn't.

That's about all I've got for now.
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Jay, thanks for sharing all this great information and i'm glad that you mentioned the great player Marvin Henderson who i befriended at Guy's and Dolls - Silver Hill Md. in the 60's- 70's
"country" Bob
 
I think there are so many powerful stroke players out there, but you say to mention only one, then my personal favorite would be.

Earl "the pearl" strickland, his stroke not only powerful, but stable with his sweet stance which makes him hardly ever jump up after a shot. Nice stroke, and powerful.

I also love the other guys that has been mentioned in this thread, like larry, mizerak, corey deuel, and massey. but my personal favorite is Earl Strickland above all.
 
I forgot to mention that Mike Masey flip out when he saw Semih Saginer put on a exhibition on ESPN . About 2 Years ago it is on youtube
 
I think the definition needs clarification, by "Powerful" do you mean cue speed generated as in breaking or do you mean having the ability to get extreme reactions with top/draw/spin etc or does it mean getting the most with the least all round shot making?
 
Bruce Christopher

The counterfeit Super Stroke pool player's name was Bruce Christopher not Christiansen. He had the con down pretty good and wound up being able to mingle and bamboozle many Hollywood celebrities. Just some more evidence re their character judging abilities. He was giving them private lessons.

Another reason why I am so impressed with their political choices.

Beard
 
ok, I have to vote for MIKA, He can put that cue right in it's place from just about anywhere. And when he catches a gear he is almost unbeatable and it looks like he has taken ball in hand on every shot. Anyone else watch his back to back US open wins or that shellacking he put on SVB? what was that.. 8 or 9 games in a row. You can see some crazy examples of his game on those videos he did as well.
Of course you cant over look the Draw Masta himself Corey Deuel.
 
I hope Watchez doesn't mind me putting up part of an earlier post by him:

I remember one year in Olathe during a tournament, they used to have a 5 x 10 Snooker table there. Jon Kucharo got into a stroke contest with Larry where they would pocket a ball in the corner & then draw their cue ball back. Everyone in the building wanted to bet on Larry, most had seen him do shots like the jacked up draw shot off the end rail as another poster described. Whitey Walker pulled me aside & told me to empty out on Kucharo. I looked at him like he was crazy but he said told me it was a sure bet, so I did. Kucharo robbed Nevel at this every time. He would draw the cue back to the end rail and then back past the side pocket. The last bet between them, Kucharo grabbed a one piece house cue off the wall & still beat him.
 
bud green said:
I hope Watchez doesn't mind me putting up part of an earlier post by him:

I remember one year in Olathe during a tournament, they used to have a 5 x 10 Snooker table there. Jon Kucharo got into a stroke contest with Larry where they would pocket a ball in the corner & then draw their cue ball back. Everyone in the building wanted to bet on Larry, most had seen him do shots like the jacked up draw shot off the end rail as another poster described. Whitey Walker pulled me aside & told me to empty out on Kucharo. I looked at him like he was crazy but he said told me it was a sure bet, so I did. Kucharo robbed Nevel at this every time. He would draw the cue back to the end rail and then back past the side pocket. The last bet between them, Kucharo grabbed a one piece house cue off the wall & still beat him.
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Really? Jon Kucharo?
I would have never believed it.
Is he still playing....anywhere?

Steve H.
 
bud green said:
I hope Watchez doesn't mind me putting up part of an earlier post by him:

I remember one year in Olathe during a tournament, they used to have a 5 x 10 Snooker table there. Jon Kucharo got into a stroke contest with Larry where they would pocket a ball in the corner & then draw their cue ball back. Everyone in the building wanted to bet on Larry, most had seen him do shots like the jacked up draw shot off the end rail as another poster described. Whitey Walker pulled me aside & told me to empty out on Kucharo. I looked at him like he was crazy but he said told me it was a sure bet, so I did. Kucharo robbed Nevel at this every time. He would draw the cue back to the end rail and then back past the side pocket. The last bet between them, Kucharo grabbed a one piece house cue off the wall & still beat him.
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Jon Kucharo is one of the sadder stories in modern day pool. At 20 he was a sensation, playing right there with the best players in the world. He had a better break and missed fewer balls than anyone else. He was Shane before there was a Shane. As recently as ten years ago he was one of the favorites in any tournament he entered. Then it all fell apart, and fast! He went from being a choir boy who didn't smoke or drink to a full blown alcoholic.

Within a year or two he disappeared from sight, never again to regain his stature as a top player. Several years later he emerged once again as a cheap hustler at some of the national amateur championships. Another great player felled by the bottle, not his opponents. America lost two great young talents at almost the same time - Jon Kucharo and Michael Coltrain. Michael lost out to a physical condition though, not from any self inflicted damage.

One other amazingly talented player to drop out in recent years was Mark Tadd. In the 90's he was undoubtedly one of the best players in the world. And then, PHFFFT, he was gone. It's strange what can happen to pool players, here one day and gone the next. It's not an easy game to maintain your focus and desire at. The pressure to be the best can overcome a great player, if he is not mentally strong.

The only equivalent I've seen in other individual sports is David Duval. One day he was right there battling Tiger Woods, and a short time later he couldn't shoot par anymore. Ten years later he is trying to resurrect his career, with spotty results. Once they fall, they never seem able to make it back.
 
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