See my version of playing the ghost here, and more discussion at: https://forums.azbilliards.com/threads/variations-on-playing-the-ghost.590833/

My version trains the break as well as the run. I have given it the name "modified pro". Here is my version:

1. Breaking, if one makes a ball, no ball in hand. A true break and run attempt begins when one or more balls are made on the break, with the cue ball not moving from the spot where rests after the break shot where one or more ball is made. If one successfully completes a break and run, 2 points for the shooter. If after one breaks and makes a ball, if one is stuck behind balls or there are clusters on the table, there is no ball in hand, in that way, no mercy. In my version, one would need to learn how to execute a good break, make a ball, get a good spread, and get a good shot on the next ball in sequence. If after the break and a ball is made a cluster exists, one is jumping or kicking.
2. Breaking, if one does not make a ball, one can take ball in hand. If one runs out all 9 balls, one gets 1 point.
3. No early nines. If a nine is intentionally made, it is spotted at the foot spot, but spotting the 9 should not in itself create a cluster. If one or more balls is already located at the foot spot, the 9 is spotted at the first place below them to give the player a neutral chance of making the run work. Not easy, not overly difficult positioning of the 9 below the ball(s) that are already on the foot spot.
4. No slop. A ball must be made intentionally to keep shooting. If a ball is made intentionally and legally, and a second ball slops in, that is fine, the second slopped ball can stay down. However, if after the break the first ball is blocked by one or more obstructing balls, slop is allowed when kicking or jumping at the first object ball in sequence.
5. A scratch on the break is 2 points for the ghost.
6. Any miss during a run, whether a true break and run attempt or a ball in hand 9 ball run attempt, is one point for the ghost and the game is over.

My version is for people who are inclined to put in work to earn something. Its also designed for people that want to better be able to "run a table". Progress can equal achievement. If one gets 1 point this week, then one can say "what do I need to work on to do better". Then a month later, or whenever later, one can get 3, then 5, then even beat this ghost.

maha said:

far tougher equipment in the past except for the hole size.

but the pocket angles were wider so more balls rattled.

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Mike Sigel intentionally had the tables at the IPT 8ball tour in 2006 set up with nappy cloth and only medium-tight pockets. simulating the conditions of the 1970s and early 1980s, the years of his own prime.

At the time, Mike predicted that the current crop of players would struggle with the equipment at the IPT and that the old-timers would thrive. He couldn't have been more wrong. The stars of 2006, who played well below the speed of the stars of today, made the transition to the old conditions seamlessly. Mike's prediction, for me, stands among the worst in the history of our sport, a rare miscalculation by a guy who, for me, is a top five pool player of all time.

I recall attending IPT Las Vegas at the Venetian Hotel in 2006. As I have for over 50 years, I chatted with many of the pros. The younger players did not find the equipment at the IPT to be tough, and many found it to be too easy. Prize money was huge (champion Hohmann won $350,000 that week) but each BCA Hall of Famer was to be paid the higher of $30,000 or the prize money associated with their finish. Not even one of them earned more than the minimum guaranteed.

Still, you are right to a point. More than a few players said they would welcome the reintroduction of slower cloth into the pro game. They liked the fact that a bigger stroke was needed a little more often on the nappy cloth than on Simonis cloth, also liking the fact that power stun shots really had to be hit with authority when the angle wasn't very steep. A few liked the fact that it was a little harder to make a ball on the break with the slower conditions. So, just as you suggest, the conditions were tougher in these two respects.

An anecdote of relevance is that I had a chat with Mike Sigel a long time ago in which we talked about 1983, the year we both believed to have been the one in which fast cloth replaced the old nappy cloth in top pro competition. Speaking of how it changed the game, Mike, who, like Earl Strickland, had a super-powerful stroke, said "all of a sudden, a lot of guys played like me." Although he said this over 20 years ago, he and I still laugh at his comment. In short, he noted, and bemoaned the fact, that the advantage enjoyed by those having a very powerful stroke was reduced by the introduction of faster cloth. Hence, in this respect, he agrees that the conditions were tougher, while noting that pocketng balls was much easier.

I'm of the opinion that, on the whole, the old conditions were much easier, but quickly concede that, in some ways, they were tougher.

Wayben said:

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If you want to be entertained, park near a boat ramp, sit back, and watch.

True story: one day my wife and I were at a boat ramp near Fort Lauderdale and a bunch of young guys were pulling a boat out of the water - with a Ford Ranger. The load might have been outside the towing specs for such a small pickup truck. Each time the driver tried to pull the boat up the ramp, the rear tires started spinning, and they lost ground. (Boat ramps in South Florida can be, um, slimy with mold.)

After watching a few attempts, with three of the posse animatedly standing around, scratching their heads as the situation was getting unrecoverable, my wife, OMG, she's a peach, casually walked over and told the three dudes standing around "Get in the bed of the truck."

They looked at her like she was from Mars. After a pregnant pause, one of the three goes "She's right!!! Get in the back of the truck!!"

Pulled it right out, first try. I am truly blessed; my wife is the best.