I think of "timing" as the synchronization of all moving body parts from the beginning of the back stroke to the end of the follow through. That synchronization can be terrible, great and everything in between. Those of you that play golf recognize the importance of good timing. Timing also plays critical roles in throwing a football, or baseball or taking a slap shot in hockey, etc. It increases power and accuracy. In most sports, especially golf, the word "efficiency" is used. A seemingly effortless golf swing but the ball goes a mile. Timing is a cousin to tempo or rhythm, but not the same. If you watch pros like Strickland, Bustamante, Van Boening (and many others), you notice how easily they move the cue ball around the table, especially with racing follow shots or English. Timing is most apparent on draw or small-angle follow shots where the cue ball needs to travel a long way after impact. My 2c anyway...
I think the interpretation of timing has kind of a "choose your own adventure" angle to it, so it can mean something different to each person. Originally, I thought it had to do with how long you spent in the pause, if you do the Set-Pause-Finish stroke. However, that is something entirely separate.
I think what you described above is pretty close to my definition. Now that I've learned a bunch of things from the knowledgeable AZB peeps, my definition of timing would be a literal one. In an earlier post, somebody mentioned the dictionary definition of timing is "when you arrive" or something close to that. So, in terms of executing the stroke, the only thing that matters is timing when the cue tip impacts the CB and, if done properly, it will be at max velocity. If you include any body synchronization such as wrist motion in the shot to fine-tune that velocity, you'll need to time when you apply them as well, e.g. applying wrist motion too early or too late may lead to bad fine tuning results. But, the wrist motion is just another variable that rolls into the timing of impact between cue tip and CB.
Other terms such as tempo, rhythm, pace of play, warmup stroke speed, pause time in the backswing, and so on are preparation events that have time aspects to them, but are not included in the timing of the stroke execution to impact the CB. Also, where the tip placement is on contact is not related to timing.
Just my 2c. I'd love to ask Mark Wilson, the pool commentator, what he thinks timing is, because he's the guy who said it, which made me start this thread. I'm glad I did, b/c I've learned a ton.:thumbup: