Practice partners with mismatched skill levels

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stillanoid

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When players of different skill levels practice together, what are some ways to make sure both players are challenged and get the most from practice or warmup? I am a SL7 and my regular practice partner is an SL4. When warming up for league she recently said "nothing personal but I don't want to practice with you because I never get to hit the balls". We usually play 8 ball and have tired variations where I can only shoot two balls in a row on my turn at the table or where I have to bank everything but playing like this doesn't help me to get in stroke.

I want the practice to be fun and usefull for both of us!
 
Have you thought about handicapping by ball? Say, she has to make 4 balls and then has a shot on the 8. This will give her a chance to shoot, and keep you on your toes and not slack off.
 
I'm the lowest rated player on my team and when we warm up the challenge is on me to keep those others guys from running out. if they do get out, the leave all my balls on the table and i play the rack from where they left the cb and try to get out from there, playing position on the rack-spot for the 8. it allows the loser to still hit balls and work on position - while also mimicing game situation (not letting your opponent back, or a shot if you have a play safe).

Also - if your lower ranked players are eager to learn, have them explain to you (or the other higher ranked/smarter players) why they're shooting each shot and what they want to accomplish. the higher players should give feedback on each shot explaining that it's the right shot or or why it's not. so practice is then two-fold - educational and getting in stroke.

i'm still a 4, but i beat most other 4's and some 5's because i've learned a lot from practicing like that.
 
Thats tough. I have a guy that comes in the poolroom that always wants to hit balls with me he plays probably the 8 maybe 7 under me but if I play with him for an hour he gets me so outa stroke id be lucky to win even.I hate to be rude to him but when practicing I dont want him on the table.Another guy whos a pro will hit balls with ya but if he misses a 7 or 8 he just rakes the balls and racks so u never get in stroke.
 
Interesting this came up today. Last night at our league match, I started practicing with my best buddy who is an SL7. I'm an SL5, but only just recently. (I still consider myself a four, especially after the last week and a half!:p )

My buddy isn't on a team currently, but he was there so we started playing. I play with him all the time, and have no issue with his beating me regularly. I get my licks in occasionally, and I learn alot from playing with him. But I wonder if he got me off my game last night. Playing him is a whole lot different than playing the folks I'm gonna play in league, for the most part. Position play, safeties, the whole thing is different playing him.

Then again, given how poorly I played, it really wouldn't have mattered who I warmed up with. :grin: Interesting food for thought, though...
 
I found my own system of handicaping which works just about with everyone. If my opponent is lesser skilled than me he can shoot two/three/four etc. innings to my one + breaks. You can always find a balance this way to make things competitive! :D Once you find that balance the better player mostly has to run out to win a game. This way both players get their share of balls to pot. :)
 
To expand on what Neil said, you could even alternate every shot in a scotch doubles sort of format which will force the both of you to play precise position and make your shots.
 
Re: Neil

It's really very simple. You are warming up, you aren't supposed to be trying to beat your warmup partner. If 9 ball, one of you shoot the first 4, the other shoots the last 5. Alt. each rack that way. If you miss, you keep shooting till your group is gone. Shoot some banks, some draw shots, some follow shots. See how the tables react, and how you react.
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Neil I understand what you are saying about warming up and maybe I am being too competitive. I do make sure not to play safe during warm up but if the run-out is there, I go for it. We share two tables between sometimes 8 players before our matches so I do try to win to stay at the table. I can only get to a table once a week right now and that is on league night so I am sure once I have access to my table again to actually practice (living in an apartment temporarily) I will not need as much warm up.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions, I will see what works best the next time we have some practice time.
 
I think the best way is to trade racks.

If it takes the weaker player too long to finish a rack then trade 5 min blocks instead of racks.

Noice thing about playing with yourself is that you can retry things...noice thing about the retry is that you can get a feel for subtle changes.
 
Jimbojim said:
how do they rate you by the way? I don't understand what this SL3 or SL5 mean...
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It is specific to where they play... I wouldn't worry too much about SL, for purposes here.

If you wanna know how you rate, then sorry for the ASSumption above.
 
During practice time at our league, we let teammates get ahead in the line to start, but we just play winner keeps the table. It's not very good for a cold player who gets booted though. Keeps some pressure to play well though, or else you'll get the chair! haha
 
Tell them to harden up!

The way I learned how to shoot good pool was getting my butt kicked daily by one of the best players in my state for about a year solid. But my desire to beat him drove me to watch and learn until I achieved a skill level where I could genuinely compete.

Today if I take on a practice partner who is young, inexperienced and has a lot to learn about the way around a pool table it'll only be with a kid who has fire in his/her heart and really wants to get good.
 
9 ball scotch doubles against the ghost.

Playing Safe successfully (ghost would be required to kick to hit a ball) are continuations of the teams turn with the partner getting ball in hand to continue the run.

This is a "team" against the ghost so communication is highly recommended. ("this is why I'm doing this" "this is what I want you to do", etc..))
 
snarzberry said:
Tell them to harden up!

The way I learned how to shoot good pool was getting my butt kicked daily by one of the best players in my state for about a year solid. But my desire to beat him drove me to watch and learn until I achieved a skill level where I could genuinely compete.

Today if I take on a practice partner who is young, inexperienced and has a lot to learn about the way around a pool table it'll only be with a kid who has fire in his/her heart and really wants to get good.
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This.

I don't like handicaps, and I don't like weight.

The way that I learned to play pool was by playing players who were much better than me...even. For a couple of years, I didn't win very much. I was lucky enough that a couple of those guys were friendly and knowledgeable, and willing to teach me a few things. That, coupled with endless hours of practice, allowed me to reach a decent level of play.

The first time I ever won an even match against one of my mentors was one of the sweetest moments of my life, because I got there by myself, without having them give me X number of balls or games on the wire.

As far as simply warming up for a tourney or league, I like practicing alone.
 
snarzberry said:
Tell them to harden up!

The way I learned how to shoot good pool was getting my butt kicked daily by one of the best players in my state for about a year solid. But my desire to beat him drove me to watch and learn until I achieved a skill level where I could genuinely compete.

Today if I take on a practice partner who is young, inexperienced and has a lot to learn about the way around a pool table it'll only be with a kid who has fire in his/her heart and really wants to get good.
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Amen to that!
 
You should come on here, complain that she's a being a big baby, beat your chest about how you are so good, how you practice 7 days a week, and how everyone else should just pay you money to play every time you walk into the room....

Oooops, my bad, wrong post.....I was thinking this was another world beater local beyotching about handicapping :D

I had the same exact situation....my best friend and one of my playing partners in Jacksonville was a 4.....here are a few things we did:

1. If I missed, he gets ball in hand
2. Mix up the games - he enjoyed 1 pocket and it was easy to handicap
3. When she starts to get frustrated, tank a shot, but actually plan to miss it in a specific spot, with a specific leave just to challenge yourself....

That's all I got....good luck...
 
Not that there's anything wrong with not playing for $!

the420trooper said:
This.

I don't like handicaps, and I don't like weight.

The way that I learned to play pool was by playing players who were much better than me...even. For a couple of years, I didn't win very much. I was lucky enough that a couple of those guys were friendly and knowledgeable, and willing to teach me a few things. That, coupled with endless hours of practice, allowed me to reach a decent level of play.

The first time I ever won an even match against one of my mentors was one of the sweetest moments of my life, because I got there by myself, without having them give me X number of balls or games on the wire.

As far as simply warming up for a tourney or league, I like practicing alone.
Click to expand...
 
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