The hammer motion is one that delivers the maximum force to the tip
Sounds like the hammer grip to me.
There are MANY ways to play this game and personal preference, so if throw a ball without your fingers/wrist, throw a dart with no fingers/wrist or use a hammer with no fingers/wrist, then you have a different way of doing things than I do, and that's fine.
I'm ONLY talking to players that have the "Touch" in their fingers and experience life/games/sports/ through that type of "connection".
The hammer motion is one that delivers the maximum force to the tip (for lack of a better word) of the hammer. If you uncocked your wrist where it contacts the nail and then locked your wrist and pounded the nail in that position (with no wrist) that's one way of doing it and many players play this way.
I use a system where I pre cock my wrist/fingers and create a "groove" where my wrists/fingers must move UP AND DOWN, with no SIDE TO SIDE motion at all. It's the "Side to Side" movement that throws your cue off line and causes you to miss hit the cue ball.
When you HINGE your wrist/fingers the cue MUST go down that "groove" and CAN NOT miss hit the cue ball to the Left OR the Right!!! This puts you in a position where you MUST hit the cue ball straight. This is how champion players hit the ball so straight, we simply CAN'T do it wrong.
I'm not saying all champions do it like I do it, but they do it in their own way. We MUST create a groove/slot/hinge (whatever you want to call it) so that the cue contacts the cue ball on a straight line EVERY TIME!
If you cock your wrist/fingers up slightly and then pounded the nail you would have some "wrist/finger flick" to add to the acceleration when you hit the nail.
If you cock your wrist/fingers more you will have more "wrist flick" and you could continue this until you cocked the hammer completely up and then you would have the maximum "wrist/finger flick" when you hit the nail.
I "pre cock" my wrist/fingers more than many other players, therefore I have more energy produced from my wrist/fingers at the moment of contact. Even with this happening it is so slight that you can't see me doing it. This is the issue with trying to learn the subtle secrets that the pros are doing, you can't see it being done. I'm trying to give you a way to FEEL what it's like by using the hammer. This is a small powerful motion that you can only see on the break for the most part.
Watch the top professionals before they get down to shoot and you see them stroking their cue in the air. They are establishing their wrist/finger motion for the stroke they are about to shoot. We aren't stroking the cue to make sure it slides between our fingers smoothly, even though that is preferable, we're PREPARING our hand for the shot at hand. {pun intended}
The Key to Pool is in the Hands/Fingers/Wrists, so make sure you learn to Prepare Them For Success. 'The Game is the Teacher'
:grin-square: