Playing the "lower" ball ghost

KMRUNOUT

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'm wondering...I play the 9 ball ghost sometimes races to 9. I think it is a decent practice for actual competition. I'm curious. I have a friend who would like to try, but she isn't really ready for the 9 ball ghost. She is a 4 in the APA, so I'm thinking she might want to start playing the 4 ball ghost. My question:

My idea is that she should break, and then remove the 5 highest balls from the table before taking ball in hand to run out. This allows her to get credit for the balls made on the break, which of course is a big part of the game. Since when I play the 9 ball ghost, I get credit for mine, I figured this seemed fair. Is this how people would do it, or is there some other method for playing the "less-than-9-ball" ghost?

Thanks for any input,

KMRUNOUT
 

Johnnyt

Burn all jump cues
Silver Member
I'm wondering...I play the 9 ball ghost sometimes races to 9. I think it is a decent practice for actual competition. I'm curious. I have a friend who would like to try, but she isn't really ready for the 9 ball ghost. She is a 4 in the APA, so I'm thinking she might want to start playing the 4 ball ghost. My question:

My idea is that she should break, and then remove the 5 highest balls from the table before taking ball in hand to run out. This allows her to get credit for the balls made on the break, which of course is a big part of the game. Since when I play the 9 ball ghost, I get credit for mine, I figured this seemed fair. Is this how people would do it, or is there some other method for playing the "less-than-9-ball" ghost?

Thanks for any input,

KMRUNOUT

Sounds like a plan. When she can beat you with 4 just add a ball. The ghost and 14.1 is a good way to practice. Johnnyt
 

RobMan

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I like this format. You want her to break a full rack because that alone helps to hone that skill for real matches. Secondly, removing balls is excellent, and yes I think you get credit for balls made on the break. Personally, I remove the lower numbers because I always want to shoot at the actual nine for the win. Of course, you could remove balls below the nine and leave it.

Once she beats this fairly consistently, remove one less ball, and so on....

Good idea me thinks.
 

RunoutJJ

Professional Banger
Silver Member
Depends on the conditions.. How big is the table?? Pocket size??

Loads of different things you could do. Personally I would have her play 6 ball and give her two ball in hands considering its ridiculously hard to pocket a ball in 6 ball.

Or you could give her ball in hand twice in 7 ball if its on a barbox. You have to find a format that enables her to win games. If she can't get out a good number of times or wins maybe 1-10 it won't do her any good.

Try a few things out and find what format gives her the best chance to improve her game without getting super frustrated and giving up :thumbup2:
 

RunoutJJ

Professional Banger
Silver Member
Forgot to add that if there are two BIH's make sure she really tries hard to get out on the first BIH. Having the ol' "Well I have another shot..." won't keep her concentrated on the grand scheme of things. BIH #2 should be approached as a second chance but, she should shoot with the same amount of intensity as if she hadn't missed yet...

My .02
 

brandoncook26

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I like this format. You want her to break a full rack because that alone helps to hone that skill for real matches. Secondly, removing balls is excellent, and yes I think you get credit for balls made on the break. Personally, I remove the lower numbers because I always want to shoot at the actual nine for the win. Of course, you could remove balls below the nine and leave it.

Once she beats this fairly consistently, remove one less ball, and so on....

Good idea me thinks.

When I was originally showed different ways to play the ghost, I was given some very good advice similar to the above from a world class instructor. If you're playing 4, 6, etc., leave the higher balls on the table. If your playing 4 ball ghost, play with the 6-9. It gets you comfortable playing the end of racks so when you get to the point you can run out, you do not get nervous at the end because it is what you always play.

I think this has helped me develop. It is definitely a mental thing, but isn't everything in this game mental.
 

MitchAlsup

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
My idea is that she should break, and then remove the 5 highest balls from the table before taking ball in hand to run out.

5 might be a reasonable starting point, but when I play Ghost, I play race to 10. If Ghost beats me in a race to 10, I drop down one ball and if I beat Ghost to 10 then I add a ball. This pretty much allows ones skills to determine how many balls are in the game.
 

bbb

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
sorry for this very elementary question but
playing the ghost means breaking then starting with ball in hand
if you run out thats 1 for you
if you dont the ghost gets 1
you play the set like that
is that right??
 

3andstop

Focus
Silver Member
I'll suggest a twist for ya, (mainly because I believe straight pool is the game that brings the fastest results in terms of play improvement.)

Have her only make the 8 and 9 in rotation. The other balls can go in any order. When she gets better, include the 7 ball.

This way there are more balls to shoot on the table and she's not being asked to make a ton of multiple rail shots with limited options while she is still trying to figure out how to pocket a ball.
 

KMRUNOUT

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
When I was originally showed different ways to play the ghost, I was given some very good advice similar to the above from a world class instructor. If you're playing 4, 6, etc., leave the higher balls on the table. If your playing 4 ball ghost, play with the 6-9. It gets you comfortable playing the end of racks so when you get to the point you can run out, you do not get nervous at the end because it is what you always play.

I think this has helped me develop. It is definitely a mental thing, but isn't everything in this game mental.

I understand the reasoning here, but I was also thinking about something else. I realize that as a 4, it is probably not important yet, but for ME, I am thinking of playing shape on the low 2 balls, ideally the 1. I guess for the 4 ball ghost, it really doesn't matter. I like the idea of having to pocket the 9 ball to score the rack.

KMRUNOUT
 

KMRUNOUT

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
sorry for this very elementary question but
playing the ghost means breaking then starting with ball in hand
if you run out thats 1 for you
if you dont the ghost gets 1
you play the set like that
is that right??

Yeah, that is how I do it. Its up to you how to treat a scratch on the break, or a 9 on the break. I do it the easy way. Scratch means nothing, 9 on the break is a win. (I am a very conscientious racker, so it is very rare for me to snap the 9)

KMRUNOUT
 

KMRUNOUT

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'll suggest a twist for ya, (mainly because I believe straight pool is the game that brings the fastest results in terms of play improvement.)

Have her only make the 8 and 9 in rotation. The other balls can go in any order. When she gets better, include the 7 ball.

This way there are more balls to shoot on the table and she's not being asked to make a ton of multiple rail shots with limited options while she is still trying to figure out how to pocket a ball.

I like this a LOT. Reminds me of Fargo, which would be another great game for her (and me!) We could probably work out a fun spot. What is an A player supposed to average in Fargo...anyone know? 150-175 maybe? more?

Thanks for the suggestion,

KMRUNOUT
 

fathomblue

Rusty Shackleford
Silver Member
Sorry for this very elementary question, but
playing the ghost means breaking then starting with ball in hand. If you run out thats 1 for you. If you don't, the ghost gets 1. You play the set like that. Is that right??

Yes, that's the barebones gist of it.
 

michael4

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
reminds me of fargo, which would be another great game for her (and me!). What is an a player supposed to average in fargo...anyone know? 150-175 maybe? More?

d <60
c 60-100
b 100-130
a 130-160
aa 160-220
pro 220-300
 

softshot

Simplify
Silver Member
don't take high balls off .. take the low balls off.. shoot 6,7,8,9 practice getting out... not 1,2,3,4 then stop
 

Blue Hog ridr

World Famous Fisherman.
Silver Member
That makes sense. It will give her a better sense of accomplishment running the last 4 out.

And then as someone mentioned, when she can do that consistently, keep adding a ball.

Two BIH is a good idea too at first. She won't be quite so disappointed if she misses once and she has another try but will feel better when she can run out with one BIH which would be the eventual goal.
 

fathomblue

Rusty Shackleford
Silver Member
I think I'm going to try playing the "ghost" in this manner: (example of playing the 5-ball ghost):

1. Break. Balls that are made are left pocketed. We can work on our break here, just like is required in a normal game.

2. Leave the 1-ball (or lowest numbered remaining ball). Since that's what most of us are always griping about. Getting a quality break with shape on the 1. You can monitor your progress on getting a good opening shot.

3. Remove the 2, 3, 4, 5 balls. That means I'm faced with the 1 and the 6, 7, 8 and 9. So, I have five balls I need to run out to win. If I happen to make one of those aforementioned balls on the break, then a lower numbered ball is substituted for it. (ie. you make the 7 on the break. You would then have to leave the 5 on the table, since it's the highest numbered ball that would have normally been pulled)

4. Take ball in hand to run your five balls. Once you can beat the ghost in a race to 9, then you up it by a ball. However, if you consistently lose to the 5 ball ghost.....then obviously you drop down to a 4 ball race. However, if you beat the NEXT highest ghost, which would be the 6 ball ghost in this case.......drop back down to the 5 ball ghost and REMOVE BIH. Then you can somewhat "tweak" your skill level. You'll know what kind of player you are with and without BIH.

***So, in this above scenario, if you happen to make two balls on the break.....leaving you seven balls on the table..... you then rake two balls off and still run the remaining five. But, guess what? If you complete THAT run, then you've successfully ran a seven ball table. And that's the kind of runs that will help you beat quite a few opponents. Make a quality break. It's part of the game. Leave your cueball in a good position after the break. It's part of the game. Run out what your skill level allows you to do. It's part of the game. Sure, you're using BIH, but once you're good with a skill level....remove that BIH before truly "awarding" yourself a bump in skill level.

Does that sound like a fair game?

Obviously, "The Ghost" is a game that can be played almost an endless amount of ways to tweak it in an easier or harder fashion.

The point being to set it up in a way that it's fun, challenging and that it IMPROVES your normal game.

What does everyone think?
 
Top