Cisero Murphy clip; longest transition pause of any pro

arnaldo

arnaldo

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
A great, great player and on every shot Cisero Murphy had a deliberate, very slow backswing but most uniquely -- *the* longest complete pause before the delivery stroke of any recorded pro, possibly looonger than the pause duration of Buddy Hall and Allison Fisher *combined*. He rained 100-ball runs during competitions.

This 55-second video clip illustrates his ultra-pause in operation on four balls leading up to a 14.1 tournament break shot. It’s from 1995, just a few months before his sadly premature passing at age 59 in January of 1996.

We were fortunate enough to watch his silky-smooth playing many times at national tournaments in both LA and NYC during the 1960’s and 70’s (after the color barriers to his inclusion were thankfully lifted solely due to the very commendable protests organized by his white fellow competitors, heavily lobbying for Cisero’s groundbreaking inclusion.

He was one of only two players in pool history (as of the early 1970's) to win the world 14.1 title upon his first attempt. (Ray Martin was the other player who did so.)

Here's the link to the 55-second video clip of Cisero stroking. (Videos of Cisero are rarely seen.):

http://youtu.be/5IqA1LWgdwU

Arnaldo
 
arnaldo said:
A great, great player and on every shot Cisero Murphy had a deliberate, very slow backswing but most uniquely -- *the* longest complete pause before the delivery stroke of any recorded pro, possibly looonger than the pause duration of Buddy Hall and Allison Fisher *combined*. He rained 100-ball runs during competitions.

This 55-second video clip illustrates his ultra-pause in operation on four balls leading up to a 14.1 tournament break shot. It’s from 1995, just a few months before his sadly premature passing at age 59 in January of 1996.

We were fortunate enough to watch his silky-smooth playing many times at national tournaments in both LA and NYC during the 1960’s and 70’s (after the color barriers to his inclusion were thankfully lifted solely due to the very commendable protests organized by his white fellow competitors, heavily lobbying for Cisero’s groundbreaking inclusion.

He was one of only two players in pool history (as of the early 1970's) to win the world 14.1 title upon his first attempt. (Ray Martin was the other player who did so.)

Here's the link to the 55-second video clip of Cisero stroking. (Videos of Cisero are rarely seen.):

http://youtu.be/5IqA1LWgdwU

Arnaldo
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Never been much for that type of stroke, but that is beautiful! That's an art! Thanks for the link:)
 
He used to have one of the most pronounced slip strokes in the game...since we can't see his right hand on the clip, maybe that's what's causing the hitch?
 
Straightpool_99 said:
Hmm... I like his style but he appears to have a slight "hitch" in the beginning of his forward stroke. If you watch carefully you will see it. Still his stroke is very smooth after that and he was a master at straight pool.
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Van Boening has a similar hitch, although not as pronounced. I played around with that and found it helps avoid rushing the forward stroke. Too many players (including myself) ruin a perfectly good stroke by poor timing of the right arm acceleration, pushing too hard at the beginning and quitting on the stroke just before striking the CB. This is the opposite of what we are constantly told we should do, which is to accelerate throughout the entire stroke.
 
Thanks for the clip. I brought back memories of watching Cisero play 3-cushion in Oak Park, MI in the early 70s - he would aim like Busty starting at the bottom and side of the cueball and pivot around to where he wanted to hit the cue to get the spin he needed. It was really pronounced using the larger billiard balls. I never saw anything like it.

Dave
 
Great clip, thanks for sharing. After just having a lesson with Scott Lee, my super quick pause/transition is my #1 priority to address, and Cicero's stroke will help drive home what I need to do.
 
Is there any more of the video to share? There wasn't much more of Cisero Murphy in the video of the match with Luther Lassiter. I love watching him play.
 
Sealegs50 said:
Is there any more of the video to share? There wasn't much more of Cisero Murphy in the video of the match with Luther Lassiter. I love watching him play.
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Check out Accu-Stats. They have a couple matches of his there. One with Bill Dunsmore and the other with Mike Zuglan. Both straight pool. This clip was probably from one of those matches.
 
Chris Melling is pretty close to this long of a pause. What gets me is the position of Cisero's head over the cue. Odd....at least to me it is.
 
arnaldo said:
A great, great player and on every shot Cisero Murphy had a deliberate, very slow backswing but most uniquely -- *the* longest complete pause before the delivery stroke of any recorded pro, possibly looonger than the pause duration of Buddy Hall and Allison Fisher *combined*. He rained 100-ball runs during competitions.

This 55-second video clip illustrates his ultra-pause in operation on four balls leading up to a 14.1 tournament break shot. It’s from 1995, just a few months before his sadly premature passing at age 59 in January of 1996.

We were fortunate enough to watch his silky-smooth playing many times at national tournaments in both LA and NYC during the 1960’s and 70’s (after the color barriers to his inclusion were thankfully lifted solely due to the very commendable protests organized by his white fellow competitors, heavily lobbying for Cisero’s groundbreaking inclusion.

He was one of only two players in pool history (as of the early 1970's) to win the world 14.1 title upon his first attempt. (Ray Martin was the other player who did so.)

Here's the link to the 55-second video clip of Cisero stroking. (Videos of Cisero are rarely seen.):

http://youtu.be/5IqA1LWgdwU

Arnaldo
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Buddy Hall has long pause too
 
The way I recall Cisero's stroke (the Cobra Stroke) from the 70s, was he would slip his hand all the way to the butt and then REGRIP the cue, totally changing the position of his fingers before he started his through stroke.

I don't know if they called it the Cobra because it resembled a snake coiling to strike, or it it was because once he got you hypnotized watching that action, you were dead.
 
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old style real slip stroke

Most people today confuse what I call a stroke slip, releasing the cue during or after the forward stroke, with a slip stroke. Cisero is using a slip stroke, notice his hand on the butt cap after one shot. The grip hand slides back on the wrap at some point in the backstroke, usually near the end. His hand is still moving and regripping during much of the pronounced pause in the stick motion, maybe all of it.

A true slip stroke does look like magic, smoother than silk. I worked at it a little a few years back and found it was a great way to shoot some shots, maybe all of them. It is a great way to take a cue ball off the end rail making table length shots for one example. A lot of work to master but like a lot of things the slip stroke might be worth the effort. Start playing on five by tens with deep nap again and I'd bet on it. Still an art and skill worth keeping alive if just for the beauty of it.

Hu
 
The pause was nothing compared to the path of the tip as it came forward. It came not straight nor with a swerve but in a spiral like a corkscrew. If he shot a spot shot from the right side of the table, he would play it right handed, and if he had to play it from the left side, he would play it left handed with the same pause and corkscrew.
 
I forget who but I remember witnessing one the oddest follow-thus I've ever seen.
On his very last stroke, there was this split second "pause" at about 3 or 4 inches
before the cue ball...and then following through again before making contact.

Almost as if someone were to grab a hold of his cue as he was shooting
and then immediately letting go.

Anyone know?
 
ShootingArts said:
Most people today confuse what I call a stroke slip, releasing the cue during or after the forward stroke, with a slip stroke. Cisero is using a slip stroke, notice his hand on the butt cap after one shot. The grip hand slides back on the wrap at some point in the backstroke, usually near the end. His hand is still moving and regripping during much of the pronounced pause in the stick motion, maybe all of it.

A true slip stroke does look like magic, smoother than silk. I worked at it a little a few years back and found it was a great way to shoot some shots, maybe all of them. It is a great way to take a cue ball off the end rail making table length shots for one example. A lot of work to master but like a lot of things the slip stroke might be worth the effort. Start playing on five by tens with deep nap again and I'd bet on it. Still an art and skill worth keeping alive if just for the beauty of it.

Hu
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Hu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't quit on us, buddy.

My favorite slip-stroke was Jimmy Moore.....
..very close was Cornbread Red.
These two hit a ball as natural as water flowing downstream.
 
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