Cisero Murphy clip; longest transition pause of any pro

Very nice! He was smooth. Met him once in Dover, Delaware at a tournament that Ginky won. He was playing on the front table and between racks I went up and congratulated him on making the hall of fame. He said thank you.

Thanks for the video...
 
Sloppy Pockets said:
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.
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it's actually called "anticipating the hit", amateurs suffer this the most. Very hard habit to break telling the brain "DON'T DO WHAT COMES NATURAL! damit, what did I tell you"

I'm still working on it myself
 
Don't forget a superlatively talented top-level player who had one of the prettiest and silky-smoothest of slip strokes: "Champagne Eddie" Kelly.

Arnaldo
 
kvinbrwr said:
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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Exactly - in fact, his fingers were actually split - and as the cue began to move forward, the delivery was slow and fluid - it was as if he was shifting gears as the cue moved forward. That long pause was all about control - and he never struck the cue ball until the cue felt as if it was moving perfectly. It was something that was uniquely his own - and it was very natural - and a thing of beauty.
 
Top Amateur Brian Parks has an exceptionally long pause in the back swing as well. It rivals Cisero for sure.

That pause is a great opportunity to set the eyes on the object ball and direct the mind to feel the stroke to come.
 
I played Cisero on a 9' table in a barber shop and on a Valley 7' in an all Black bar, both in Amityville, Long Island, NY. He killed me in 14.1 on the nine and I beat him on the BB. I have to admit we were both drinking heavy in the bar. I had no problems in the Black bar as I had done a big favor for the guy that controlled everything on that side of the tracks. His name was "Cigar". Big ass MFer. Cisero was a real cool dude. Johnnyt
 
Another few minutes of Cicero Murphy here vs Luther Lassiter beginning at 8:30. Both world champions with far from textbook strokes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxobcdPCYwE

I also pause like Murphy - not saying I'm even close to his ability - and my theory is helps players with an inconsistent or flawed backstroke.
 
Cisero had a wonderful dry wit. One of my favorite Cisero quips occurred when the Fed upgraded banknotes. One of the pool room regulars told about coming into the room, carrying one of the new bills and -- showing it to Cisero -- he asked: "Hey Cis, you seen the new 100-dollar bill?"

Cisero waved the guy away, saying, "Man I've never seen the old one."

Arnaldo
 
alstl said:
I also pause like Murphy - not saying I'm even close to his ability - and my theory is helps players with an inconsistent or flawed backstroke.
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I think there can be GOOD reasons for a pause.

number one....gives your eyes time to re-focus on the object-ball.

number two....no muscle pushes, they can only pull....so the pause
gives you time to relax the muscles that pulled the cue BACK...therefore
not fighting the muscles that propel the cue forward.

A couple guys in Detroit called me 'Young Cicero' when I was a kid.
The pause can become a hitch on a bad day.....:angry:
 
pt109 said:
....no muscle pushes, they can only pull....so the pause
gives you time to relax the muscles that pulled the cue BACK...therefore
not fighting the muscles that propel the cue forward.
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I don't think you can relax the muscle(s) that pulled the cue back during the pause. They are still holding the forearm up against the downward pull of gravity.

Try pausing at the end of the backstroke and reaching back with your bridge hand to feel your triceps. It should feel quite firm to you, indicating the muscle is still in tension.

I feel that the real benefit of a pause is to allow the elbow flexors (biceps and brachialis) time to completely relax. These are the muscles that will be pulling the cue straight through the forward motion in a classic pendulum stroke.
 
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