Pulling the trigger
Contact is almost made!
At this point you've pulled your cue back to its furthest position for the shot, and now it needs to be driven through the cue ball. The transition from performing the final pull/backstroke to this step should be very fluid and natural.
Some players build their game such that they pause at the back of their final pull/backstroke, and some don't. There's a good range of options to choose from when building your own game here, but keep this in mind:
You do not want to go too fast so that your arm muscles end up pulling your arm off-line, and you don't want to pause too long such that it becomes unnatural. It should be like throwing a baseball - nice and fluid with a good follow through.