As others mentioned, a fast cloth and clean balls, as most tournies are played under makes it surprisingly easy to make some power shots with half the effort.
That said, a good stroker can produce significantly higher cue speeds with less effort via efficient timing.
But what is timing?
It's a rather empty word that actually has a better descriptive base via terms of bio-mechanics. When you see a 180lb shot putter throw 50 feet, or a 120lb guy break the balls at 30mph they are utilizing bio-mechanical methods.
A muscle can contract (produce force) up to several times its normal amount when under isometric or eccentric phases of contractions. So trying to push all contributing muscles in the same direction at the same time is highly inefficient in producing force.
So what timing really is, is allowing certain muscles to contract before others, putting the next muscle in line to contract under tension (eccentric contraction). When this is timed right, the net force exerted to the cue, with apparently little effort can be significantly higher.
Most players achieve this intuitively after years od practice. The muscles learn to fire in the right order to make a smooth but increasingly accellerating shot.
Try flicking a coin with your thumb without it being locked under another finger first. You'll be lucky to flick it 3 inches high. Then flick as usual, (under isometric contraction from being held back by the other finger), the thumb expodes through with much greater power, sending the coing several feet into the air.
Get these type of isometric and eccentric contractions working in comination at the various points in the shoulder, elbow and wrist, via the pecs, frontal delts, lats, biceps, forearm and finger muscles and you'll increase power significantly with the appearance of minimal effort.
Colin
Everything you are asking, and much more, will be answered in those three days. You'll come away with a whole new perspective, and a complete set of "tools" to help you learn to play the way you want to! See you soon!