What's your APA 8-ball Skill Level?

[skip100]

"Due to APA rules only a small number of players in a given league can be SL6 or SL7"

This is a true statement. If there are too many SL6 and SL7 players in an 8-ball league then it will be numerically impossible to field teams that follow APA rules.

Thanks for the stats lorider, those were similar to the league I used to be in as well, though you have more 3's than we did. My membership is inactive so I can't check the current stats.

 

[Skippy27]

There are plenty of teams with 2 6's and a 7 or a single 6 and a 7.

You just have to chose your players wisely and play your team points well.

 

[lorider]

There are plenty of teams with 2 6's and a 7 or a single 6 and a 7.

You just have to chose your players wisely and play your team points well.

I prefer 5's ..my Thursday 9 ball team has 4-5's ...4 and 3-3's . Last night we beat a team with 7...5...4....and 2-3's by 77-23. Once I beat their 7 by 14-6 my other 5'a and a 3 took care of the lower level players.

My Sunday team has 6...3-5's ...4....and a 2 . I can play a 6..3-5'a and a 2. Hard to beat that lineup .

My Scotch doubles team has 4-5's on it ..last week we beat a team with 2-6's and 2-4's 35 -25 in 9 ball and 8-2 in 8 ball.

Love a team with several strong 5's . Can hang with 6's and 7's or at least not lose too bad and can cover the lower level players teams are forced to use by having 6's and 7's on them.

 

[Celophanewrap]

"Due to APA rules only a small number of players in a given league can be SL6 or SL7"

This is a true statement. If there are too many SL6 and SL7 players in an 8-ball league then it will be numerically impossible to field teams that follow APA rules.

Thanks for the stats lorider, those were similar to the league I used to be in as well, though you have more 3's than we did. My membership is inactive so I can't check the current stats.

So, if I understand you correctly you are saying that only a finite number of players in any area can have an S/L of 6 or 7?
Like lets' say 12 out of every 100 players, just as an example.
What if more players are deserving of a 6 or 7 S/L?

 

[skip100]

So, if I understand you correctly you are saying that only a finite number of players in any area can have an S/L of 6 or 7?
Like lets' say 12 out of every 100 players, just as an example.
What if more players are deserving of a 6 or 7 S/L?

Your scenario of 12% players of SL6+ is very manageable.

Each team can only play 23 total skill level points out of five players in a match. So if your team plays...

One 7, the rest of the team has to average 4
One 7 and one 6, the rest of the team has to average 3.3.
Two 7's, the rest of the team has to average 3
One 7 and two 6's, the other players both have to be an SL2

This sets up an interesting interaction in which having more high-skilled players means you need more very weak players to offset their ratings, which is unlikely to be much fun for anyone involved.

In reality most players are a 4 or a 5. In that case teams are able to play one 7 or 6 in a typical match and one 2 or 3 for the numbers to add up.

If you get a large group of people with high SLs then those people are going to need to find new teams with weaker players, or (more likely) quit the league. Or APA would say, join Masters, which is handicap-free :wink:

 

[lorider]

Couldn't sleep so I decided to do a little more digging in other divisions. I found something unusual ...at least to me. Can you see something unusual below also?

Travel league with 9 teams

7's.....2

6's....14

5's....17

4's.....12

3's.....19

2's.....7


6 teams

7's....5

6's....6

5's....11

4's....14

3's....15

2's.....4

6 teams

7's....5

6's....4

5's....9

4's....8

3's....17

2's....5

 

[justadub]

I'll play along. 119 players in the current 8-ball session, 16 teams.

7's - 8
6's - 18
5's - 21
4's - 32
3's - 33
2's - 7

1 team with two 7's
1 team with one 7 and two 6's
3 teams with one 7 and one 6
1 team with three 6's
2 teams with two 6's

This division has gotten much tougher over the last year. We went from 12-13 teams to 15-16 teams depending on the session, and some higher level players who hadn't played in a while came back to the league. We used to be much higher weighted towards SL5's...and a few have gotten "promoted".

Our 9-ball division is smaller and not so top heavy, tho I expect the percentages are fairly similar. If I get bored later I'll try and work that out too.

 

[gpeezy]

LOL at that many people being 7s in comparison. To me a 7 should be a 'Regional Player'. Instead its just one of the best in his room. I would imagine this board attracts better players but i just see this as how evident it is that its easy to be a 7

 

[gpeezy]

more high skill levels create more teams. I will say i know of 7s that one could give the other the 5 ball playing 9 ball.

 

[sixwillwin]

I'm bored to I guess: 11 teams in our current 8ball session. To be fair though, we have a much larger BCA league here, that most people play instead of APA. It has several hundred players, most which would be a high skill level in APA.

2- 8
3- 23
4 - 23
5- 20
6- 9
7- 3

I have played over 2 yrs, all the sessions in APA. I am a 6. I consider myself a strong 5. I spent most all my time at a 5 and moved to a 6 about 15 matches ago and have been maintaining. I usually cannot beat the 7s or the better 6s though.

I do not believe in sandbagging whatsoever. We just do the league nights and play our very best every week, every shot. I work too hard on my game to throw a ball here and there, but I do see it with some others.

Our team usually plays with 3 SL 6s and a SL 2 and a 3 for a total of 23 every week. Our 2 and 3 move around some in their rating so we have a 4 and a 5 also on the roster.

I like the format and handicap, not a huge fan of the rules, but I get why it is that way.

 

[AtLarge]

Mean for the 268 rated players in the poll as of now = 6.1.

 

[sixwillwin]

Mean for the 268 rated players in the poll as of now = 6.1.

Not sure how accurate it is though. Even some people that are replying are just guessing at their APA rating, based on another leagues rating system. But doesn't work that way.

More accurate are the actual league numbers that people have posted so far. But you would need a large number of those from a cross-section of the country to get an accurate average of skill level.

 

[Skippy27]

To me a 7 should be a 'Regional Player'. Instead its just one of the best in his room.

What do you mean by the 2 statements?

 

[skip100]

No "regional player" should be expected to be playing in a handicap league with people at the level of SL2's and 3's.

 

[Cory in DC]

Your scenario of 12% players of SL6+ is very manageable.

Each team can only play 23 total skill level points out of five players in a match. So if your team plays...

One 7, the rest of the team has to average 4
One 7 and one 6, the rest of the team has to average 3.3.
Two 7's, the rest of the team has to average 3
One 7 and two 6's, the other players both have to be an SL2

This sets up an interesting interaction in which having more high-skilled players means you need more very weak players to offset their ratings, which is unlikely to be much fun for anyone involved.

In reality most players are a 4 or a 5. In that case teams are able to play one 7 or 6 in a typical match and one 2 or 3 for the numbers to add up.

If you get a large group of people with high SLs then those people are going to need to find new teams with weaker players, or (more likely) quit the league. Or APA would say, join Masters, which is handicap-free :wink:

What you describe is exactly what happens--if you have 6s and 7s then you need 2s and 3s. And, depending on your perspective, it's either the best or worst thing about APA. If you want to maximize serious pool time, then that's a good reason why APA may not be for you. If you like helping newer players progress and socializing while having a competitive match now and then (possibly only because of the handicap--e.g., a 7 vs. a strong 4 can be a tough match for the 7), then you'll probably enjoy APA.

 

[Cory in DC]

Here's the spread in my 12-team division. Only half the teams have 7s and none of those are players I would consider regional players.

 

[bboyer1969]

I am a level 5 after 7 weeks. Started on week three and have played 4 matches. Just started back up again after 20 yrs so all records were lost :smile: Sleeper 6 my Valley captain says :thumbup:

 

[Logandgriff]

I'm a 7.


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[jasonlaus]

I prefer 5's ..my Thursday 9 ball team has 4-5's ...4 and 3-3's . Last night we beat a team with 7...5...4....and 2-3's by 77-23. Once I beat their 7 by 14-6 my other 5'a and a 3 took care of the lower level players.

My Sunday team has 6...3-5's ...4....and a 2 . I can play a 6..3-5'a and a 2. Hard to beat that lineup .

My Scotch doubles team has 4-5's on it ..last week we beat a team with 2-6's and 2-4's 35 -25 in 9 ball and 8-2 in 8 ball.

Love a team with several strong 5's . Can hang with 6's and 7's or at least not lose too bad and can cover the lower level players teams are forced to use by having 6's and 7's on them.

The gap between a 5 and a 7 is huge, although all 7's are not created equal. I do know that I would be more than happy to play 5's all day and night at 7 - 5
Jason<----- hasn't played APA in 25 years

 

[Black-Balled]

I'm an istp.